Jasper Friends and Family,
There is currently an email ballot being circulated regarding proposed amendments to our community's covenants. As these updates are long overdue, I would like to commend the Jasper board for undertaking this important work. However, I believe that it is important to give all community members the opportunity to provide feedback and refine the proposed covenants.
Many of us are seeing the proposed changes for the first time, myself included, I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to review them and provide public feedback for discussion and debate. While some discussions may be taking place through email, Facebook, and phone calls, I recognize that not all members of our community participate in these forums. Therefore, I am using this publicly available forum to propose some edits and changes that I have already discussed with Kelly Slater, the president of our community.
My utmost priority is to ensure that our covenants are updated in a manner that aligns with the spirit of our community while remaining consistent with Colorado state and Rio Grande County laws and ordinances. To that end, I suggest that the board and committee retract the yes/no vote and instead allow for public comment. Public comment is an essential component of any community rulemaking process, and I believe that it is crucial for all voices to be heard.
Thanks again to our association and committee for taking up this hard but important work!
-Larry Wolcott
Don's excellent comment about the slash piles really does merit some discussion about what the community is asking members to do about slash and the implications of burning in the middle a forest. Speaking for myself only, the risk of fire is something that weighs heavily on me as a Jasper property owner. It's the #1 reason that insurance is difficult to obtain and expensive and also notable for complete communities being wiped off the map. Lacking a fire service, city water, coupled with being dry and remote and unpredictable weather, it can be a recipe for fire disaster. That said, fires can be done safely but I personally have no interest in the risk and potential liability, given the high number of things that can go wrong. When we say "easy enough to safely burn" in Jasper, it's actually not that easy, depends a lot on the weather (which changes quickly) and requires permits and good luck. Here is the USFS page:
Example, they suggest that piles need to be dry for a year before burning, proper weather, staffing, moisture and a burn plan, then permits are required, etc. Nothing about that is simple and lacking those measures, can create a significant fire risk to our community. Does this seem like a procedure that we expect ourselves and neighbors to perform in safe manner?
Sure, there are safe times, places and ways to burn but expecting the average Jasper weekend warrior (myself included) to do this is probably not ideal. Burning should be allowed but not mandated or encouraged by covenants. As such, small slash piles (what size?) should be acceptable at any given time. Finally, the POA could organize an annual wood chipping event which offers a viable alternative to fire for those of us who are uncomfortable with the risk and responsibility.
Any other thoughts or perspective would be great to hear.
-Larry