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First Half Fiscal Year 2025 Update - April 1, 2025

 

Spring has arrived and the POA now must deal with what Mother Nature has done to our roads this past winter. Any of us who’ve traveled on Big Ben and Gobbler Knob witnessed havoc on the largest scale experienced in years.

The financial impact of this past winter is going to severely impact the POA’s ability to maintain the roads for which we are responsible.  At issue is the cost of storm damage repair and minimum preventative road maintenance, which will deplete our available funds to unacceptable levels. The charter of the POA is to maintain the access roads to our community. We must maintain sufficient funds in reserve for emergencies such as what occurred this past winter. 

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FINANCIAL UPDATE

As of March 31, 2025:

63 homeowners, 23 rental property owners, and 21 lot owners contributed $44,100 to the POA Road Fund in FY25.

This represents 61% of the 141 home and rental property owners.  

Special thanks must go to Linda and Dave Bernhard whose Road Fund Challenge generated over $10,000 in needed funding for emergency road repairs.

Notably, in addition to the $1,000 from Linda & Dave, the POA received $1,000 donations each from Beth & Carlos Rubio, Rob & Sandra Smith, and James Todd.

Extra donations from 40+ other generous DoubleKnob homeowners allowed the emergency repairs on Big Ben and Gobbler Knob to get done without a more severe impact on the POA funds. 

FOR ALL OF THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS - THANK YOU!!!

 

To date, 17 homeowners who contributed a total of $6,500 in FY24 HAVE NOT YET CONTRIBUTED this year.

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Additionally, 39 home or rental property owners have not contributed at ALL in at least 2 years.

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Contributions from these 39 owners would add at least $13,000 to the Road Fund. 

Details of all contributions are listed HERE on our website.

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With the recent winter weather impact on our roads, 

it’s critical that anyone who hasn’t yet made a contribution do so as soon as possible.

 

In general, we believe that an annual homeowner contribution of $300 ($450 for Rentals) is a very small price to pay to fund the POA activity used solely for road maintenance.  The POA Website has an easy way to make an annual contribution. Simply CLICK ON THE MAKE-A-PAYMENT PAGE to contribute with a credit card.

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FINANCIAL IMPACT

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First Half Maintenance Activity/Financial Spend

The resulting road damage from the winter storms and emergency repairs cost almost $13,000 or approximately 25% of the POA’s available funds in the 5-week period starting January 30. Gobbler Knob Rd surface was severely impacted by ice, heavy vehicle traffic, and slippery conditions. These conditions caused vehicles to spin tires and destroy the paved road surface down to the clay and mud base.  No less than eight truckloads of differing grades of rock and gravel were used to make Gobbler drivable.  Storms also damaged the four Big Ben hills from Boardtown Rd to the end of the POA Maintenance. Emergency repairs were also done on these hills during this 5 week period.

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Second Half Plans

Correcting the severe deterioration of Gobbler Knob Road requires a significant expense outlay. It’s important to note that more than 60% of the homes on Double Knob are accessed using Gobbler Knob Rd. The Board has received quotes to repair 560 feet of Gobbler’s road surface with asphalt similar to what was done 2-3 years ago. The selected quote for a 16-foot wide section is for $25,000.  This asphalt paving contract will consume 61% of the currently available POA funds.

 

We are going to move forward with fixing Gobbler Knob.

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Continued regular maintenance will be made on Big Ben Rd focusing on making the four hills as solid as possible with gravel distribution and grading. Attention will be paid to ditches and culvert basins to prevent drainage overflows and road surface erosion.

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This work has been done every 6 weeks on average costing $2,500 per visit. Projecting 5 visits for the rest of the year, the estimated cost of maintaining Big Ben is $12,500.

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• The POA began FY25 with an opening bank balance of $20,781.

• The current POA bank balance as of 3/31/2025 is $41,269 reflecting road maintenance costs and winter weather repair costs.

• Considering the second half FY25 maintenance plan estimated cost of $37,500 the projected FY25 year-end balance would be less than $2,500 given normal expenses like annual meeting and other miscellaneous repair costs.

• If the POA receives the $6,500 from those who’ve made contributions last year AND the $13,000 from Non-contributors, we will be back in a comfortable position to handle emergencies like last winter.

• Without these additional funds, our future maintenance plans will have to be cut back.

 

Many of our neighbors have remarked that it is unfortunate that only 65% of the homeowners contribute to maintaining the access roads we all use. We realize that costs of everything has risen over the years but also submit that $300 per year isn’t a lot to enjoy living in our mountain community and $450 per year isn’t much for rental property owners to ensure easier access for their renters.

 

Maintaining the access roads is a worthy cause and we are appreciative for all those who donate their time and, of course, their money. It’s uncomfortable for us Board volunteers to continue to ask for contributions.  We ask for your indulgence and thank you for your continued support.

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Any efforts on your part to convince those you know who haven’t contributed to do so will be greatly appreciated.

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As always we welcome suggestions.

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