August 12, 2025---THE ICPOA PAYPAL ACCOUNT IS LIVE AND CAN BE USED TO PAY PROPERTY OWNERS DUES ($20.00/PER YEAR), MAKE A DONATION TO ICPOA, OR PAY FOR AN ACTIVITY THAT HAS A COST ASSOCIATED WITH IT.  There is a $1.00 transaction fee charged to our account for each transaction, so please increase your dues payment, or donation you wish to make.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ICPOA IS NO LONGER THE HOST NON-PROFIT FOR NOFLOCO, THE FIRE MITIGATION COMPANY HERE IN FLORISSANT.  THEY ARE NOW PART OF MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COALITION, A 501©3 CORPORATION, LIKEWISE LOCATED RIGHT HERE IN FLORISSANT. 

ACCORDINGLY, IF YOU WISH TO MAKE DONATIONS TO MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY COALITION OR NOFLOCO, PLEASE VISIT THEIR WEBSITES AT:

Mountaincommunitycoalition.org

Nofloco.org

PAYPAL FOR ICPOA:  https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted button id=FD36HYKTG3XJ6 

ICPOA Member Meeting Minutes – June 2025

Indian Creek Property Owners Association

P. O. Box 111, Florissant, Colorado 80816, www.ICPOA.org

President Toni Moore: (919) 624-7641, icpoassociation@gmail.com

Vice-President Diane Luetkenhaus: (303) 887-6882, dianelhaus@aol.com

Secretary Jenn Chaney: (719) 244-3328, jennchaney2013@gmail.com

Treasurer Bob Perry: (719) 352-7575, bobncathy@comcast.net

Member at Large John Rakowski: (719) 748-3861, rakgeologist@yahoo.com

ICPOA Chicken Dinner Business Meeting June 22nd 2025

The meeting was called to order at 2 pm by President Toni Moore

Toni – I’ve been trying to get guest speakers to provide value to our meetings and have invited the Teller County Code Enforcement Officer Cy Cushenberry several times. Don will provide an update on two troublesome properties in Indian Creek.

Pledge of Allegiance

Introduce Board of Directors

Toni Moore-President, Diane Luetkenhaus-Vice President, Bob Perry-Treasurer, Jenn Chaney-Secretary, and John Rakowski-Member at Large

ICPOA motto - Having fun, making friends, and protecting our property values

We are an all-volunteer POA with no teeth; we try to take care of our neighborhood without any enforceable rules. Indian Creek Property Owners Association has been in existence since the 1960’s. When there is a problem, we all try to pull together to solve the problem. Many POA’s have a bad name for being heavy handed and act so over the top across the region and country.

Minutes from last meeting February 2025 were sent out. Motion to accept the February minutes was made by Mark Montgomery, second by Sarina Wise and the motion passed.

Treasurers’ report was given by Bob Perry. The current balance in savings is $5274.22 as of 5-30-25 including $4.48 in interest for May. The current checking balance is $4307.72 with outstanding checks the end ending balance will be $2982.36.

Bob - We ordered 3 dumpsters but Apex only delivered two because of a shortage of dumpsters. The donations received were $977 which is a poor showing for the amount of people we had come through. A handful of us Don and Toni Moore, Dave Wise, Dave Groat, and I made multiple trips to Colorado Springs to recycle some of the items collected.

A very small group of volunteers maned the dumpsters for 12 hour each day Saturday and Sunday to assist residents with their disposals. ICPOA is the largest subdivision in the country with about 1200 lots so to put this event on and add $500 out of pocket for hauling, lost tires x 4, the physical labor for a small group with little interest from the community was disappointing. ICPOA should really think before putting it on again.

Toni - The money in the savings account is for reserves. During the Hayman fire, additional fuel needed by Florissant Fire for fuel and we were able to donate to them. We should keep that money for donation for actual emergencies. The POA does a lot of good. Thanks to Jenn Chaney we filled 2 dumpsters full of rubbish from yards, got stuff out of neighborhood, to include 4000 pounds of metal for recycling, 6 pickups of recyclables; large TVS, 50+ cans of paint and chemicals, 25 mattresses and box springs, 35 tires, stuff that’s really hard to get out of neighborhood – we need to hear from you, the members, email a thank you at the minimum – if you care about it we need to hear from you!

Toni - FFPD board meeting the third Wednesday of every month at 6 pm and attendance is very important. The board members act very differently when the public is there watching. The board of directors all across the county are phoning in their efforts and your participation as residents of the county makes ALL the difference. Our fire chief said some things that were great and others not so great about fire. All the experts across the nation says WHEN Teller is going to burn not IF Teller County is going to burn. We’re all paying for the fire department, last year they spent $1 million dollars and they’re on track to spend that much this year, half is the Mill levy money. The Chief and the FFPD board say the Mill Levy will double this year. They’re all hoping for a fire in October so you’ll go vote in November to increase the Mill Levy. If they’re going to double our Mill Levy they need to use that money wisely not banning all residential slash elimination fires just after 2 full weeks of rain and for the entire summer and into fall!

A suggestion was voiced about Dumpster Days, set a deadline of June 1st for example and if there is enough participating members then hold it and if not then cancel it. The only downside to this is there is a lot of prep work that goes into holding this event with securing dumpsters, making appointments to drop off the items we can accept but can’t go in the dumpsters, advertising for the event, coordinating those involved in manning the event, etc. We will discuss in the February meeting and hopefully get more interest for participation.

John - The Florissant Museum run by the Pikes Peak Historical Society is open weekends Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from noon to 4 pm. He gave a presentation at another HOA and many were unaware cemetery plots can be obtained by Florissant residents at the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery for a nominal cost it’s about $400 for a full burial and $200 for a burial with cremains. If interested in more information contact the museum, they’re the trustees for the cemetery. Gem and Mineral show August 15th – 17th and July 26th Florissant Heritage Days, will kick off with the FFPD Pancake Breakfast (seeking donations and have auction items up for bid with information available online) with additional activities at the museum, the Grange, and presentations at the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery about Civil War veterans and their families buried there at 10 am and 1pm.

Don Moore from the N.I.C.E. committee (Non-complaint Indian Creek Estates) provided an update on 2 troublesome properties. 181 Vagabond Creek has been reported to the county by Indian Creek for a year now and he followed up with the county for an updated status and the owner to offer our assistance to help with the issue monthly since. Don received a letter in February, the owner has been contacted. The county attorney has sent a 10 day letter to clean up or a court date will be set. It will now be a disaster for the next three years. There’s a 100 black trash bags filled with really good stuff according to the owner, Don said okay we’ll put the stuff in the trailer for you, she stated “no” the trailer is full of really good stuff too. They live in Gunnison. This has been a problem for 23 years. The trash and rubbish ordinance (#21) went into effect in 2021 and now has an actual enforcement arm to it, but the past violations don’t matter, to include the $6500 in fines are non-enforceable (issued prior to 2021). Cy Cushenberry, the code enforcement officer for Teller County says the county commissioners are NOT interested in enforcing any of this. He states he’s a Rottweiler without any teeth. We keep pushing to move forward on this but we’ll continue to wait.

The next property is 522 Gold Creek Dr. They have had 22 yaks, multiple goats, and a huge pig on their 4 acre lot. Animal control has been called out. The mess is upsetting but the animal abuse is infuriating. Water usage wells can NOT be used to water animals, use in your garden, wash cars, etc. Neighbors have wells contiguous to this property. When a well goes dry, they will not dig it deeper, they have to find a new place on your property to sink a new well, about $80,000 currently and a 2 year waitlist. Cy Cushenberry told Don this week these properties are ordinance issues #1 and #2 for Teller County. If you have a complaint about a neighbor, something you’re seeing and don’t want to file it personally with the county, that’s what this board is for, reach out to the board. They will contact Don and he will go knock on the door and tell them there’s a complaint against them and how can WE help them. It’s mostly education. Let’s NOT let things linger and complain about it, bring it to the board and let’s handle the situation. There were three past issues in the community and we were able to solve them, generally something that needs removed from a property and they have no means, often that’s all it takes, someone offering to help.      

 Sarina Wise reported our next HOA meeting is our ice cream social Sunday June 24th at 4 pm and T-shirts are available for purchase in the back for $20.

Toni - Special guest speaker Christina Barba, Prescribed Fire and Fuels Specialist, with the US Forest Service, Pike National Forest, Pike’s Peak Ranger District, based in Colorado Springs office. Her contact information is 909-522-0359 and christina.j.barba@usda.gov. She’s going to let us know about a huge prescribed burn in our area and we’ll be impacted by the smoke (especially along Hwy 51) so she reached out to present at our meeting. If you chip slash you’re throwing that fuel back on the forest floor, hoping that it’ll rot and we know how long that takes in our area, and you’re running fossil fuels. Chips produce methane which is 11 times worse for global warming than carbon dioxide. Hauling slash away is 3 times more polluting than chipping with fossil fuel expenditure. Burning in place is more restorative and does a lot of positive things for the land.

Christina - the project (Phantom Canyon Burn) will be near Yucca Creek area with crossroads of Hwy 51 and CR 363, and the 717 trail. The Hayman fire burned near the area the prescribed burn will happen. When developing a burn project they looked at the Hayman Fire and agree with Toni, it’s not IF but WHEN a fire will happen. Her concern is a lot of it hasn’t recovered. She showed a picture of Hayman area from the early 1900’s showing the forest was a lot less dense but it became super dense, it burned, and it’s not coming back. Concerned for our community, that kind of fire behavior is not conducive to our homes and the ecological perspective, the forest should NOT be that dense, it encourages beetles and high severity fire. Traditionally frequent low severity fire (every 8 to 35 years before people were here) WOULD have kept the forests less dense and healthy. We’re trying to get back to a healthy forest with thinning and prescribed burns. The Trout West Environmental Impact, National Environmental Policy Act 1976 requires the Federal Government to analyze the impact prescribed burns will have. She showed a map of mechanical thinning treatments in the 2000’s.

We have three options to reduce our fuels problem: reducing our surface fuel loading raking pine needles and removing small brush but prescribed burning also accomplishes this, reducing ladder fuels, and increasing our canopy spacing to reduce the potential for crowning fires (fire going from one tree top to the next).

In the 2000’s the forest was more open and if you drive down Hwy 51 you’ll see some of that but there are lot of small trees growing and we hope to address those with this project. CR 363 and the 717 trail will be the footprint of the burn, still working with the land owners in Yucca Creek and most winds come out of the southwest so we’ll start there and work our way back utilizing the helicopter for ignition and what we expect is 1-2 days for ignition closing the roads outside the burn area and keeping people out of there, which may be challenging because we’re looking at burning in September or October so we’ll have to work with CPW. You’ll see an increase in fire traffic for 3-5 days and they’re may be some stumps or logs still burning within the perimeter, trails will be closed during ignition for 3 days. This is different than pile burns, this is broadcast burns. This would give us a good buffer between the forest and the subdivision in Divide to keep fire from coming south and north. The fire will NOT take out all the trees, we want the larger trees to stay and the smaller ones to be the new forest but we don’t want a continuous carpet of small trees. Normally she would bring her public information officer but she was at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb today so if you have any questions, please ask.

A member recently moved from Texas stating they do prescribed burns all the time and it doesn’t ruin the Pines or Oaks, just takes care of the thick underbrush. Are you just starting this in Colorado?  The Pikes Peak Ranger District did prescribed burns in the early 2000’s but then stopped, but started program again. We burned about 2,000 acres in the Rampart Range area and in Colorado Springs we burned near Crystal Peak reservoir and last summer burned near Monument, CO. The bipartisan infrastructure law gave the forest service a lot of money for forest treatments so with that influx of money it has allowed us to do these projects. The money is gone but we’re hoping to continue these projects on an ongoing basis but the infrastructure law wasn’t renewed and the budget for the forest service isn’t looking good for next year so we’ll have to see but we’re trying to keep going. They’ve been doing a lot of mitigation and creating big slash piles and come back in the winter and burn those piles so it’s not prescribed burning on the forest floor but its localized burns.

Toni - Colorado State Forest Service and the US Forest Service are acutely aware that some people haven’t understood prescribed burning and are very afraid of it and many remember when New Mexico let their prescribed burn get away from them. The problem is every year that goes by makes our forest burn hotter by restricting these kinds of burns so we all need to work together to let elected officials know that we understand the little risk we take now to stop the HUGE risk like California from happening down the road.

Christina - 99.3% of prescribed fires go as planned, so the 0.7% chance has consequences but they do everything in their power to ensure the safety of residents! Some people have the perception that we just go out and burn but there is a huge process to it. Some of you may be state certified burners, we took the course but weren’t allowed to burn - Teller County changed the burn permitting process to block us from getting our three prescribed burns completed. The County threw up a road block to prevent us from getting our certification. The Pikes Peak Ranger District has been working with Teller County some so they can be better informed.

There is an interagency National Wildfire Coordinating group including state, local, and county departments and all the federal agencies like BLM, Forest Service, DOD, and Fish and Wildlife Service. They regulate how we go about burning including 21 elements 136 pages. The plan requires review by a qualified burn boss, reviewed by a second qualified burn boss, and the district ranger has to sign off on it. Two really strong checks after we make the burn plan that is available online. Email me if interested and she’ll send it to you. Every day of ignitions sit with ranger and fire management officer to get re-approved with the burn plan, including the prescription for burning. 20 years of data from Cheeseman reservoir and fuel model is a numerical representation of everything that’s out there. We’ve been using this fuel model system for 50 years to predict fire behavior and then we have to check in the field to make sure the model makes sense. Flame lengths are 1-8 (the higher at the head of the fire) feet generally we look at 1-4 feet at the head of the fire, similar climate indicators to the Hayman fire with height being 25 feet flame length to compare the conditions we’re looking at, but we aren’t going to have those factors with this prescription. We’re regulated by the federal government through the clean air act to the amount of particulates we can produce (amount of smoke) during the fire. We looked at 3500 acres and it all goes into Colorado Springs. We’ll have sensors to monitor air quality. We have to get a spot forecast from the Weather Service every day we burn. Humidity levels, wind, and other factors that indicate if we’re within our prescription for burning. Will cut in fire breaks in our pre-work and reduce ladder fuels, take out smaller trees and break up those fuels. Thinning will come back in 20 years, burning comes back in 20 years, but if we do a combination of thinning and burning the impact is much less FATALITIES, reduces structure losses, and significantly reduces the severity of fires.  

Don – from Christina’s slide asked the members to read “thinning and burning shows the greatest efficacy in reducing mortality and structure survivability when fire occurs”. Talk with your neighbors, it’s how we vote and express to elected officials what we want we CAN make Teller County the safest county for wildland fire today.

Christina showed pictures of the Boot Leg fire in Oregon, the forest was really dense and everything is black with the canopy gone, another picture shows the forest is brown, trees died but didn’t get in canopy because of thinning, there was still a lot of forest debris causing scorching, the thinned and prescribed burn areas are still green – three pictures showing the differences post fire varying scenarios.

A member asked what the distance between trees should be. Don replied it depends on who you ask. Adhere to the US Forest service recommendations which are probably different than what your insurance company tells you (15-30 feet apart).

Christina will notify Toni with updated information and potential dates closer to the time of the prescribed burn and she will post on the website, email membership, and post on our ICPO Facebook pages well as all surrounding community pages in Divide, Lake George, in the papers (Pat Hill Pikes Peak Courier, Ute Country News and the Mountain Jackpot), and on Nextdoor. Don added if you want everyone in the county to know, tell them you’re doing it in conjunction with NoFloCo… 

A member commented that’s a big area outlined, will it be all in one shot or in phases? Christina would like to do at one time, it requires a lot of resources, road closures, and inconveniencing people with smoke and then it dissipates but if inundating people with smoke day after day it is worse but we may have to do over two days. The September to October time frame has more stable weather patterns, less heat, fire season is winding down. They’ll need two (20) person crews, 8 fire engines, and a helicopter but this all depends on many factors. A member asked about cooperation with local fire departments, lots of support NE Teller sends an engine and other resources and has been at all out burns except Monument, Four Mile and Cripple Creek has been helpful with sending engines, El Paso County is having turn over right now but they usually are supportive.

Don – how many have received or think you’ll receive a letter from your insurance company about insurance non-renewal? Three members in the audience have gotten a letter. The Senate has required starting in 2023 the insurance companies to report to the Senate finance and budget committee all non-renewals from 2018 forward by state and by county. Don has all the data if interested. There are 64 counties in Colorado, Teller County is #6 in the highest non-renewal letters as of yearend 2023, and the 2024 data isn’t available yet. Don spoke with the Rocky Mountain Insurance Institute; Colorado (25 of 50 states) is looking to go up higher. Teller County has 1 out of 52 no-renewal letters going out. They’ve gotten updated info for 2024 Teller County is now 1 of 29. He received 43 calls last week; more than 67% are non-renewal issues. The Insurance Services Office (ISO) they look at three things, how efficient is the 911 call system, effectiveness of deployment of resources, and access to water. If your home is not within 1,000 feet of water and you’re in one of these zones your ISO rating is 9 out of 10. Insurance companies look at that rating and say I don’t want to be there or you need some mitigation done.  How many members have a private pond or a cistern/tank (100) on your property? Companies are selling water tanks and portable water tanks but it’s going to cost some money. We have $5,000, that’s not enough to get us some tanks. We need to know who has private legitimate ponds on their property so can get them registered with the state as fire suppression ponds. Then we can draw radius of 1,000 feet or we as Indian Creek can start thinking about purchasing some water tanks to store water for us – something to think about. We have bigger lots than CME need more and bigger tanks than they have.

Don - I’m married to Toni, happy wife happy life, but I’m indebted to the Perry’s. I’m in a tough spot, I agree with what Bob said earlier and what John said earlier but after dumpster days on Sunday I went down to the Pioneer Cemetery and began digging my own hole. I prayed for death that day, I was done! Let’s talk about the value provided to you, the residents of Indian Creek. $1100 for dumpsters, $200 for trailers to haul everything, TV’s 20” and bigger (what this costs you to get rid of) $500, tires $450, mattress and box springs $720, paint is weighed $300 – over $3000 dollars. Dumpster Days wouldn’t have happened without Bob, Cathy, and Jenn – 12 hour days – Dumpster Days turned into Dumpster Weeks – all of the shit you brought to Dumpster Days came to Don and Toni’s property – Dave and Sarina, Russ, Mark Montgomery, Debbie Blanc, John Rakowski, Steve Prell were there – volunteer hours for ICPOA volunteer organization is $36.36/hour for $7635 for a total value of $10935. Comments WOW and Thank You. I’m not doing this next year. Think about it.

Toni - August – we really need more help even if it’s just planning between NoFloCo and ICPOA and all the phone calls for assistance, etc. It is time to vote for new officers, we’d love to have some people step up and assist, if you care about the POA, we need your help, and we need to hear from you, we need more interaction. Toni feels it’s hard to believe you’re talking with your neighbors in all directions and we’re not seeing new faces. We need to do a better job of talking with people and communicating about the POA adding value and providing education because it makes a big difference. Will be sending out reminders about the elections and looking for people to step up.

Toni - Yesterday read with some sincere concern, the children alive today will be the last ones to experience lightning bugs (fire flies). They’re under tremendous stress from other light, makes it very hard to find each other and the spraying of pesticides. Russ Rodema has a really neat map of a micro habitat in Indian Creek that has fire flies. He explained the butterfly pavilion in Denver studying fire flies and there are little pockets of them across Colorado. Go after 9 o’clock pm to where Gold Dust Creek road and Conestoga meet. There are a few ponds with a little marshy adjacent and there were dozens of them. Russ hasn’t seen fire flies since he was a kid in New Jersey. Be courteous to the neighbors but he could see them from the road.

Toni - we hope you don’t feel too fussed at, we love you and we love our community, please twist your neighbors arm to come to the next meeting, we need help to make Indian Creek great. She spoke a quick blessing over the awesome meal.

Meeting adjourned at 320 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Jenn Chaney, Secretary

August 24, 2 pm to 4 pm- ICPOA Summer Business Meeting and Ice Cream Social, Florissant Public Library, Large Meeting Room, voting for ICPOA Officers and other important business will be discussed.

ICPOA Member Meeting Minutes – February 2025

Indian Creek Property Owners Association

P. O. Box 111, Florissant, Colorado 80816, www.ICPOA.org

President Toni Moore: (919) 624-7641, icpoassociation@gmail.com

Vice-President Diane Luetkenhaus: (303) 887-6882, dianelhaus@aol.com

Secretary Jenn Chaney: (719) 244-3328, jennchaney2013@gmail.com

Treasurer Bob Perry: (719) 352-7575, bobncathy@comcast.net

Member at Large John Rakowski: (719) 748-3861, rakgeologist@yahoo.com

ICPOA Member Meeting Minutes 2-22-25

The meeting was called to order at 10:08 am at the Florissant Library conference room. Cy Cushenberry, Teller County Code Enforcement Officer, was invited and accepted as a guest speaker but was a no show (he was ill). He was going to talk to the group about the Teller County trash and rubbish ordinance (21), the complaint and investigation process, and legal recourse available to the county to enforce cleanup.

 This announcement was followed by the pledge of allegiance and the officers introduced themselves to the group. Toni thanked everyone for coming and welcomed newcomers and new members. ICPOA is a volunteer organization, designed to keep members updated with important information about the community and welcome new residents to the area.

A motion to accept the minutes from the 8-24-24 meeting was made by Sarina Wise, seconded by Dave Luetkenhaus, and passed unanimously. Ten copies of the minutes were made available for anyone interested at the meeting, posted to the website, and emailed on 2-21-25 for review.

We’re a voluntary and toothless POA (property owners association). There are mandatory POA’s that can put a lean on your property and people have had issues with POA’s in other parts of the county. Ours is education based, friendly, and helpful.

Treasurer’s report as of 2-21-25: Checking Account $18,843.06, ICPOA $2,502.02, NoFloCo $15,353.81, and Savings $5,256.91.

Ten copies of the accounting books were made available for review. The last names were redacted to protect the privacy of members. We value transparency, we’re fallible and we’ll make mistakes, but we’ll make them right in front of you. When you’re fully transparent, no one can point a finger or criticize you later.

Bob explained several large corporate donations were sought to offset the costs of the Christmas Tree Giveaway and other events sponsored by ICPOA and NoFloCo. The main ones were CORE Electric of $1,000 and Chief Petroleum of $500. The Yahtzee tournament brought in $1156 and generous attendee donations given at the last 2 home hardening classes given by Don and Toni Moore brought in $428.

Bob became treasurer during the 8-24-24 meeting and the first entry in the accounting books was on 9-11-24 and the account balance at that time was $3487. Bob mentioned if our charitable donations remain the same as 2024 of $1500, it would bring the balance below $1,000. Toni explained that NoFloCo has made transfers over the last few years as a thank you and appreciation for ICPOA’s continued support. Don Moore made a motion, seconded by Sarina Wise to have NoFloCo transfer $1,000 to ICPOA and it passed unanimously. Bob was asked to transfer $1,000 from NoFloCo to ICPOA to increase the balance in our general fund.

A motion was made to accept the treasurer’s report by Sarina Wise, seconded by Heather Swarthout, and passed unanimously.

There was great information given by Toni about how charitable donating began for ICPOA, instead of saving the money which nonprofit laws don’t like. The membership and board felt it should give back to organizations assisting our community members. Toni explained the reasoning behind the donation to TCRAS is if an animal gets dropped in the neighborhood, TCRAS is a place someone can take the animal to be cared for and adopted out. John explained one of the fire departments ran short on funds during the Hayman fire, and ICPOA donated funds for truck fuel.

The ICPOA donations for 2024 were the Pikes Peak Historical Society $100, Teller County Regional Animal Shelter $150, Divide Fire Protection District $200, Florissant Fire Protection District $200, Lake George Fire Protection District $200, Friends of Florissant Library $200, Lake George Public Library $200, VFW Post 11411 $100, and Little Chapel Food Pantry $150, for a total of $1500.

The proposed 2025 donations would remain to the same organizations and amounts as in 2024. A motion was made to accept our donations by Sarina Wise, seconded by Dave Wise. There was a great and lengthy discussion about the organizations to be donated to and the amounts. The fire departments benefited financially about 43% from the increase in property taxes. John Whitted mentioned the Senior Coalition and Jeanette explained they have free bingo nights twice a month and they provide rides to medical appointments, rides to shopping, and will begin offering senior trips to residents. Dave Wise mentioned seeing their vehicles in Indian Creek often. The membership and board felt this was a deserving organization to receive funds as they are donation and grant based. There was a discussion about decreasing the donations to the three fire departments amounts by $50 or $100 each. Toni explained Indian Creek is the largest land subdivision in the country and has addresses in Florissant, Divide, and Lake George. She has thought about having a fundraiser at some point sponsored by ICPOA with the goal of raising $5,000 to donate. She as POA president would like to form a fundraising committee to hammer out the details and needs someone to step up and head this effort.

Allan Schultz stated Florissant Fire recently denied a grant for the community, however Toni said that hasn’t been made public and she was asked not to discuss the matter at this time.

Heather Swarthout moved to amend the current motion to either decrease the amount to the fire departments by either $50 each giving $150 to Senior Coalition or $100 each giving Senior Coalition $300, based on our vote. This amended motion was seconded by Dave Swarthout and the $50 amount passed unanimously.

When Don and Toni began NoFloCo in 2019, they were seeking an entity to house a committee within to work within the community to do fire mitigation work and build wheelchair ramps for those in need. They approached the Grange and The Coalition a historical and environmental organization, but both declined. When they approached the ICPOA board, they were very happy to partner with them and two of the ICPOA members were the first two volunteers with NoFloCo.  

NoFloCo has grown from 2 founding members and 2 volunteers to 798 volunteers and needs to separate from ICPOA (a 501c4 organization) to Mountain Community Coalition (501c3) tax exempt with a separate checking, savings, PO Box, mission statement, and Logo. Bob and John would go to the bank together to complete the transfer for transparency purposes. The NoFloCo funds will be transferred to the new organization MoCoCo. A motion was made to approve the transfer by Heather Swarthout, seconded by John Whitted and it passed unanimously. There was a short discussion about ICPOA being safer from harassment and hate by the Sheriff’s department with NoFloCo leaving ICPOA and moving under MoCoCo,

Don gave an update on the N.I.C.E. (Non-Compliant Indian Creek Estates) committee activity. He received a call regarding a property owner using house well water to water cattle, horses, and goats without a domestic well permit, which is against the state water law. Don will reach out to the property owner and let them know.

The NICE committee filed a complaint in July 2024 on behalf of the ICPOA board about the property at181Vagabond Creek. Don reached out to the home owner on several occasions and had lengthy discussions with her including his repeated offers to clean up the property for her. These offers were declined as she claims all of the items in the bags and the trailer house are very important items to her. The investigation has been completed by the county, they began legal action, and they’re currently looking for someone to clean up the property. Don has offered NoFloCo to do the work but has not heard back as of yet.

In Teller County, property owners are not to have a spigot outside the house, but your insurance company says they must have a spigot. Toni explained to water animals and other needs outside your home, you can put a water tank in your pickup and pay $8.00 for 250 gallons in Florissant for outside use.. ICPOA and the NICE committee are not going to harass anyone but we think it’s important for property owners to know and understand the law and the associated restrictions. The NICE committee and the ICPOA are in the education and being helpful business.

A member asked about collecting rain water. Toni explained property owners can have two 55-gallon collection barrels, for a total of 110 gallons stored at any given time.

The NICE committee will continue to educate neighbors on the laws of the county and state regarding water use, trash and rubbish Ordinance 21, feeding wildlife, and the need for mitigation because those who don’t take these items seriously are hurting their neighbors. ICPOA is a toothless association designed to help protect our property values. Approaching issues can make a big difference in the neighborhood.

A member asked Don if NoFloCo does tall and overgrown grasses. Don said the trash and rubbish ordinance addresses trash, appliances, leaf litter, and organic material (link is attached below for review). A complaint can be filed with the board, citing an overabundance of rubbish, organic material, etc. and we’ll help get that filed with the appropriate authorities.

Dave Groat is representing our fire mitigation committee. We will need members to serve on the committee since NoFloCo is leaving ICPOA. On Tuesday February 18th, NoFloCo was notified that after being nominated by Lydia Willauer and Diane Luetkenhaus, both of Florissant, Donald F. Moore, Jr and NoFloCo Mitigation Posse were selected to receive the 2025 Fire Mitigation Award. The national Fire Mitigation Award was established in 2014 by the National Association of State Foresters, National Fire Protection Association, USDA Forest Service and the International Association of Fire Chiefs in response to the need to recognize the large number of wildfire mitigation programs and projects making a difference on the ground in the United States today. The WMA is the highest national honor one can receive for outstanding work and significant program impact in wildfire preparedness and mitigation.

As of February 21st, NoFloCo by the numbers: total members 798, total purple helmets 98, total property assessments 412, fire mitigation projects completed 208, acres mitigated 280, cords of fire wood donated 309.75, subdivisions impacted 23, volunteer hours 8,099, formally trained fire fighter II’s 42, Wildland Sawyers formally trained, type A & B 16, Colorado classroom trained certified burners 17, BTU’s of fuel removed from forests 8,462,000,000      

We can prevent a fire better than we can fight one after it starts!

In addition to the prestigious WMA, in collaboration with members of Colorado Mountain Estates and Druid Hills subdivisions, NoFloCo has been selected by two (2) international wildland fire innovators, one is headquartered in the United Kingdom and one is located in Canada, to participate in the International Fire Grand Challenge as part of the Moore Foundation’s work to bring innovative technology to fire mitigation, forest health, and neighborhood protection. NoFloCo is honored to be part of this amazing opportunity for our volunteers, the wider community, and the world.

Sarina Wise discussed upcoming events: June 22nd is our Fried Chicken Dinner meeting during which we will accept nominations for officers for the next two years. If you are interested in becoming part of our board or any committees, please volunteer. We meet 3 times a year with a commitment of a few hours a week. August 24th is our Ice Cream Social meeting. The President runs the meetings and forms committees to meet our objectives, the Vice President and members at large are a great stepping stone to increased leadership, as these positions allow members to be involved, give advice, and work with other great leaders to help our members. It is difficult to get to know others as we are the largest subdivision in the country and so spread out, but this is a great way to get to know others in the area. The Secretary and Treasurer seats are the workhorses of the board that require excellent record keeping and willingness to give attention to the POA every week. The NICE committee assists residents in conflict with Teller county regulations or other rules, the Fire Mitigation committee, the Activities committee, the Community Wide Yard Sale committee, and the Dumpster Days committee are all looking for volunteers to help out. We are all here to support you in your willingness to get involved.  We all love our community and are here to make it better for all of us.

John Rakowski updated the group about an event at the Florissant Museum on July 26th sponsored by the Gem and Mineral Club – lapidary artwork, and cutting gemstones during Florissant Heritage Days. The Museum will be open the first full weekend in May on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with increased hours later in the summer to include Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

The Pikes Peak Historical Society takes care of the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery and residents of 80816 can make arrangements for burial of your loved ones and it is much cheaper than other parts of the country. If you have questions about arrangements for either a cremains or for a full burial contact John or the Museum.

Toni gave an update about the mailbox cluster at the intersection of Wildhorn and Conestoga Creek Roads.  An Apex trash truck crashed into that cluster during one of our snow storms recently and this has happened several times in the last 40 years because of where it is located.  John, our local historian had really good records of past information and the POA made it very clear that this was not Indian Creek property, nor the POA’s responsibility. The Indian Creek sign is more than a mile from where our subdivision starts. The Postmaster in Florissant told Toni and everyone asking about the cluster that it was the POA’s responsibility. Toni’s understanding from Clint Waller is that the Postmaster did submit the claim for insurance, the damaged cluster was removed, and will be replaced at that same location by the Post Office.

Mr. Sutton was supposed to be in attendance but was a no show. He paid his membership dues one time and three (3) years later wanted to inspect our records. He sent several requests demanding our records be copied and turned over to him because he was a member. We try very hard to bend over backwards to be transparent as we have nothing to hide, but we aren’t going to take random demands from random people in the community to inspect our records who aren’t members of our POA. We wanted to change our by-laws and add 14 words because he believed paying his dues one time made him a member for life. The current sentence says “yearly dues shall be assessed in an amount voted on by the association members, those members with dues one year in arrears, shall be placed on the inactive list and shall not receive the newsletter. The new portion will read “they will not be considered members and will not have any rights as members”. Heather Swarthout made a motion to accept the change to the by-laws that one must pay annually to be a member, was seconded by Dave Swarthout and passed unanimously. Our by-laws are pretty straight forward but we’re going to start a review committee to clarify, update, and/or propose any other changes needing to be made during the next meeting.

Indian Creek Property Owners T-shirts are for sale for $20 and laminated neighborhood maps are $5. Owner directory information is available at the county assessors’ website. Going back to the previously discussed records request, this was to include all your personal information addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. This request was absurd and the POA takes the security of your personal information very seriously.   A member asked if the by-laws should be amended to state this information would not be made available for extra protection. The board stated this was the first and only record request in 40+ years. Regardless of whether it is specified in the by-laws or not, and it can be added per a proposal by the review committee, the boards’ responsibility is to safe guard this information.

Dave Luetkenhaus wanted to add that americanforcestravel.com is available to all active and retired veterans. He shared he has saved thousands of dollars on travel and accommodations, very worth looking into.

ACE is now accepting for a set fee bagged trash including large items, aluminum, mattresses, refrigerators, etc.

Dave announced on March 16th at 2 pm the Pikes Peak Historical Society is hosting a free presentation at the Lake George Charter school about Civil War veterans and their families buried in the Florissant cemetery. This will include stories about the families and other historical information.

NoFloCo will be having more Home Hardening seminars, up to 96% of homes who mitigate and home harden their homes can survive a wildfire. They’re two totally different tasks and both are equally important. The next seminars will be March 10th at Lake George library and March 11th at Woodland Park library.

A member discussed their home owners insurance and the requirement for properties to be mitigated, so why are there people in our area complaining and trying to negate the work NoFloCo is doing to help their neighbors and communities to do what is being required when no one else will?  The answer is “What a great question!” The other question NoFloCo gets all the time is why do these people hate you so much and try to tear you down all the time? We don’t know the answer because those complaining and negating WON’T talk to us despite numerous repeated requests. Don met with Sheriff Mikesell on Jan 31st 2024 with a packet of prepared information. The Sheriff shook his finger at Don for 30 minutes and left the room leaving the paperwork on the table. Members discussed asking him these questions if they run into him in public.

Please pay your POA dues of $20 per property for 2025. Check with Bob if you have any questions, he has an updated list of current members.

A member asked if it was the POA’s responsibility to clean up the Vagabond property? We’re not sure how to answer that question, but we’ve offered. Code enforcement officer Cy Cushenberry agreed to come, address the group, and discuss the process involved with complaints, investigations, and legal actions available to solve issues, but then didn’t respond to numerous attempts to contact him. We don’t know the reason why?  A member made the comment he was probably told by someone not to come!

Friday March 28th at the Woodland Park library at 10 am, NoFloCo is having our press conference announcing out national award and next Saturday from 4-7 at the Woodland Park library, we will be having an open house to celebrate with NoFloCo.

Meeting adjourned at 1150 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Jenn Chaney, Secretary

https://www.tellercounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1430/Junk-and-Rubbish-Ordinance-21-PDF%20Opens%20in%20new%20window

Winter 2025 Newsletter Making Friends, Having Fun, and Maintaining Property Values in Indian Creek.

ICPOA had a banner 2024 

A new resident’s reception was held by ICPOA at the end of Summer to welcome new homeowners in our area. Our completely voluntary POA has no enforceable rules and seeks only to assist, educate and improve life here in Indian Creek. 

This year we completed our yard sale, dumpster days, our three social meetings, hosted many NoFloCo events, and more. 

Please let us know which properties in Indian Creek you think have done a great job with fire mitigation and/or have a great curb side appeal for special recognition from the POA. We seek to show our appreciation for property owners who are great neighbors. 

ICPOA has maps available showing the Indian Creek subdivision and the emergency escape routes marked. Did you know there are 5 ways in and out of the subdivision? 

No Flo Co will be hosting training classes for those interested in certified burning, female chainsaw user, and advanced fire mitigation. Details will follow when available. 

Emergency preparedness should be on everyone’s minds these days. Most likely disaster in our area would be a wildfire or a snow event. Things to consider are food, water, electricity, and medication. 

Changes Coming to ICPOA

ICPOA will be meeting February 22, 2025, 10 am to noon at Florissant Library for our annual cookies and coffee meeting. This will be a very important business meeting as well.

Our POA has grown and become more relevant to all of the community. Those of you who are members know and understand that ICPOA has no authority nor interest in controlling homeowners or inserting itself into the private business of our residents. We do try to support our neighbors, educate the community, and do what we can to assist others with following state and county regulations designed to protect communities and the environment.

ICPOA has accomplished much, and parts of our organizations are outgrowing the POA. Other important issues have come up and need discussion, input, and voting. Some topics to be discussed and voted on include: changing from a 501C4 to C3, updating our bylaws and constitution (they have not been updated in 20 years), status of NoFoCo as a committee of ICPOA.

A friendly reminder from our treasurer

ICPOA members: The 2025 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES ARE NOW DUE AT $20.00 PER HOUSEHOLD. Please either bring your dues by personal check or cash to our February meeting, or you can utilize the PayPal feature on our website www.ICPOA.org to pay your dues on line. Also, please talk with your friends and neighbors about this February meeting and invite them to attend! 

Mitigation Matters

Welcome to the New Year. As we commence the implementation of our newly formed resolutions, I challenge each of you to consider adding a goal of being situationally aware and understanding the responsibility you have for residing within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). The Indian Creek Property Owners Association (ICPOA) has provided the guidance and support for the NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse' over the past four years, and as a result we all have accomplished much, however there is much more that needs our attention and action.

Some of you have been residents and property owners within ICPOA for decades, while others are relatively new to the area. No matter your tenure here in the WUI, you are all encouraged to proactively prepare your property and structure for the event and impact of a wildland fire - perhaps our number one risk for residing in and calling Indian Creek our home. Understanding the science and research that has been conducted addressing the benefits of proactive fire mitigation and home hardening must be of primary concern for all residents.

As you look forward to the opportunities in the new year ahead, please know there are also some threats that we need to be aware of and actively address. I encourage each of you to take some steps to address the threat of fire in our area. If you need assistance or would like to get involved in reducing and perhaps eliminating this threat, join NoFloCo - it is an enjoyable journey. No matter the headwinds, the naysayers, the obstacles, or the adversity, NoFloCo is a united force that continues to "do the right thing" and improve the life, health, and safety of our community. NoFloCo Mission: To assist private property owners within the Wildland Urban Interface footprint with fire mitigation, fire awareness, forest health and follow the tenets of the Cohesive Strategy to make the community safer from fire danger, improve property appearance, and have fun. 

2024 NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse' Achievements 

• 86 Property Assessments 

• 37 Projects 

• 57.5 Acres Mitigated 

• 121.5 Cords of Firewood Donated 

• 3,209,527 BTU's of Fuel Eliminated 

• 147 New Members 

• 21 Purple Helmets and Nicknames Awarded 

• 40 NoFloCo Awardee Jackets 

• First Place Bed Race and Best Bed Award 

• 2nd Annual Christmas Tree Give-Away 

• Commencement of NoFloCo University 

• Numerous Educational Posts and Discussions on Social Media 

• Increased Input into Regional and State-wide Programs 

• Continued Support of Corporate Sponsors and Organizations 

• Improved Challenging of the "status quo" 

• 252 County Residents Received Home Hardening and ASIP Training via NoFloCo University 

• Countless Friendships Created 

• AND so much more 

I may be biased, but I would have to say "Mission Accomplished". It is now time to set larger goals and assist more private property owners.

DonMoore@NoFloCo.org 

Fire Mitigation Posse 

Florissant, Colorado 

719-839-0860 

www.NoFloCo.org.

Restoring Evergreen Diversity to our Forests By Lynne R. 

Many of us in Indian Creek are familiar with beautiful Aspen, Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir and Blue Spruce Pine trees. Some of us may have a few Lodgepole Pine trees and, on a rare occasion, some may encounter the rare Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine tree.

Bristlecone Pine trees provide a lot of benefits including seeds for birds and other wildlife. They hold carbon in their wood, which helps to reduce climate change. They contribute to the water cycle by pulling water through their roots and transpiring it through their needles.

All bristlecone pines are slow-growing. Slow-growing trees tend to mean strong and long-lasting, and that’s particularly true in this case. However, this strength and longevity are more often seen in bristlecone pines growing in natural settings, rather than in landscaped yards. These trees are known for their twisting, with rounded, flattened or irregular crown. 

The tree has distinctive “prickly” cones – purple shade fades to brown as they mature. The bark is red-brown, gray on older trees. Bristlecone pines can produce seeds for thousands of years, but produce fewer as they age. They are the longest lived species in the world. 

Bristlecone pines can reach a height of 9 to 40 feet. Depending on the weather, they can grow only 1/100th of an inch a year! They also have been known to not add any rings to their trunk during seasons of drought, and the other growth rings can be incredibly narrow. In the wild, bristlecone pines are thought to grow slowly because of cold weather, high winds, dry soils, and short growing seasons. 

They’re most often found on rocky ground, usually on a southern-facing slope, and typically grow at higher elevations (between 7,000 to 13,000 feet). The Bristlecone Pine is drought-tolerant, which makes it ideal for our climate. Overwatering or standing water can kill the bristlecone pine. This tree can survive low-severity fires, but not severe ones. 

An exciting project for our Indian Creek subdivision and a wonderful gift for generations to come may occur soon as NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse has recently begun work on reintroducing Bristlecone Pines to our area as part of their forest health and diversity work. 

Goals and mission of ICPOA

“Having fun making friends and protecting our property values” is the mission statement for Indian Creek POA. 

As an organization we care about keeping the neighborhood clean, tidy, AND friendly. We created a NICE (Noncompliant Indian Creek Estates) Committee to respond to complaints and assist with resolving them before the Teller County Code Enforcement gets involved. 

Indian Creek NICE Committee has assisted with removing a naked doll in a tree, out-of-regulation water use (watering gardens with a household use only well), motocross bikes/atv's on public roads at all hours of the night and removing/disposing dumped furniture, and dumped trash from a short term rental home. 

How were these items resolved? A bit of detective work, reaching out to all parties involved, solving the issue, and returning to inform all interested parties of the outcome, always remembering the need to project patience, kindness, and understanding. 

Junk and Rubbish Update 

Enforcement of Teller County’s Junk-and-RubbishOrdinance-21-PDF was historically with Teller County Planning, then in November of 2022, it went to Sheriff Office due to “several weeks of listening to the public about a revised rubbish ordinance, Teller County commissioners Bob Campbell, Erik Stone and Dan Williams approved the measure Sept. 22, 2022.” 

A quick google search will bring up a dozen news articles heralding this important change to Teller County. According to one article in the Pikes Peak Courier (Teller County commissioners pass junk ordinance | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com, this restructuring was necessary and going to be very positive for residents, help the Sheriff identify other scofflaws, and clean up trash AND crime in Teller. 

After just two short years and without fanfare, press releases, news articles or big pronouncements, the enforcement has returned to Teller Planning Department and now lies with Mr. Cushionberry. It seems enforcement has less teeth and action now than ever. 

Here in Indian Creek, we are dealing with this issue. After several calls to the property owner offering to assist her with clean up using volunteers and her refusal to agree to any effort to clean up, a complaint was filed with Teller County. 

For more than a month, no updates or responses were received from Teller Planning/Code Enforcement. After submitting many photographs and a detailed list of contacts and efforts between the resident and ICPOA’s NICE Committee, NICE finally reached out repeatedly to get an update. 

ICPOA eventually heard back from Mr. Cushionberry: “Thank you for getting back in touch. To my knowledge, 181 Vagabond Creek Drive is still in the hands of our Teller County attorney. On Tuesday, December 10, 2024, I sent an email to the attorney’s office concerning various properties throughout Teller County and 181 Vagabond was at the top of the list as properties I expect to see abated. To my knowledge, their office is expected to file a suit against the property owner/s, but I have not yet received confirmation from them. If anything should arise, I shall keep you posted.” –Cy Cushenberry, cushenberryc@tellercounty.gov.

Mr. Cushenberry has since been invited to come to ICPOA to discuss "Code Enforcement for dummies" in 2025, and we all look forward to his visit. 

If you have a problem with code enforcement near your property, reach out to ICPOA at ICPOAssociation@gmail.com, and we will refer your concerns to our NICE (Non-Compliant Indian Creek Estates) Committee to assist in resolving the problem. We use helpful approaches, that give more weight to your complaint should you need to file with the county. 

ICPOA Hosts Classes at Florissant Library 

Free classes for community members during January will be hosted at the Florissant Library by ICPOA. 

Some small business owners, families, or organizations need an easy, free, or nearly free way to create an internet website presence. Google Sites has a free website building application and Toni Moore, ICPOA President, has created dozens of these webpages. She is hosting a no-charge, stepby-step class to teach those who want a webpage, but don't have the money to pay someone to create the page and do the updating, how to build a website for little or no charge. Reach out to ICPOAssociation@gmail.com to reserve a spot at the class and to get pre-class instructions to complete before attending. Class is scheduled for Jan 11, 2025, 10 am to noon. 

Don Moore will be hosting a “Hardening You Home to Survive Wildland Fire” Class on January 25, 2025, 10 am to noon, at Florissant Library, downstairs meeting room. Residents who want to learn quick, low cost ways to improve your property making your home 96% likely to withstand a wildland fire should make time to attend. 

Pikes Peak Historical Society – Museums and Cemetery 

The Pikes Peak Historical Society tries to preserve the history of the Florissant Area in terms of people, places and things. PPHS operates our main Museum located between the Thunderbird and the Outpost on Teller 1.

Our exhibits include rocks/minerals of the area, Ute information and early settler information. The museum is open on weekend afternoons from May to October or by reservation. PPHS also operates the Teacherage Museum open by reservation next to the old 1800s Florissant Schoolhouse, now the Grange. We also maintain the Kiosk on the east side of Florissant on US 24 and the stone FLORISSANT signs on the east, west and south sides of Florissant. Our Museums are supported by volunteers and donations – a community organization, not tax-supported. 

Dying is a part of life and PPHS has been designated as Trustee and caretaker of the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery on Teller CR 421, Upper Twin Rock Road. Burials date from the 1870s to recent. If you are a current full-time resident you qualify for consideration of obtaining or reserving a gravesite for full burial or for burial of cremains. Contact John or Kathy at the Museum 719-748-8259 for details.

PPHS invites you to consider membership at only $30/year for a family to help support our efforts and to help keep our Museums and Cemetery activity strong. Volunteering and participating in our activities is a great way to learn about the area and meet other interesting people.

Calendar 

Jan – Colorado Certified Burner training burns in Jan and February Watch for emails, FB posts. Smoke will be in the air. 

Jan 11, 2025 10 am – noon Florissant Library – Create a free website 

Jan 17, 2025, 8:30 am – NoFloCo Full Scope Project – visit www.NoFloCo.org for more info 

Jan 25, 2025, 10 am – noon, Florissant Library – Learn to harden you home to wildland fire 

Feb 1, Florissant Library – Cupid Yahtzee – Join ICPOA & NoFloCo for an evening of fun, games and love/Valentine related prizes and gifts 

Feb 21, 2025, 8:30 am – NoFloCo Full Scope Project – visit www.NoFloCo.org for more info 

February 22, 2025, 10 am – noon, Florissant Library – ICPOA Winter Meeting 

Winterizing your home tips from grangeinsurance.com:

1. Check the gutters - Prevent ice dams by cleaning out your gutters, installing gutter guards and making sure your attic floor is properly insulated. The attic itself should be well-ventilated and about 10 degrees warmer than the temperature outside. 

2. Protect the pipes - Protect against frozen pipes by insulating those that could be susceptible to freezing. When the temperature drops below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, keep a stream of water running in a few faucets to guard against freezing and bursting. To protect plumbing under kitchen and bathroom sinks, consider opening the cabinet doors so warm air can surround the pipes. 

3. Seal the cracks - Caulk holes and openings around windows, doors, air conditioners and mail chutes to help prevent cold air from seeping in. You can also install weather stripping and seals for an additional heat loss protection method. 

4. Stop the slips, trips, and falls - Keep driveways and sidewalks clear of ice and snow and repair any issues with steps and handrails. You can also be prepared for winter weather safety by keeping deicing salt handy for sprinkling on steps, sidewalks and your driveway. Be sure to read the directions for proper distribution and protective gear. 

5 Install an emergency release - Consider installing an emergency pressure release valve in your plumbing system. This will protect against increased pressure caused by freezing pipes and can prevent them from bursting. It’s also a good idea to learn how to shut the water off and know where your pipes are located. 

6. Keep it cozy - Set your thermostat to at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit and make sure your house or apartment is well-insulated. Consider installing an energy efficient or programmable thermostat to help you keep warm air in the rooms you use the most without racking up high energy bills. 

7. Have your heating systems checked - Furnaces, boilers and chimneys should be serviced at least once a year to clear any buildup and to keep them running efficiently. 

8. Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors - Residential fires are more common in winter, so it is important that all your smoke detectors work. Check them monthly and replace batteries as needed. You should also consider installing a carbon monoxide detector to avoid inadvertently trapping the toxic gas in your home. 

9. Clear your yard - Keep the trees trimmed and remove dead branches and debris from your yard. Ice, snow and wind can weaken trees and cause branches to fall and potentially damage your home, car or even yourself and others.

10. House the hose - Remove all garden hoses that are attached to the house, drain them and store them away. Shut off the valves and insulate the faucet. 

If you’re heading south for the winter, you need to take extra precautions. Turn the water completely off and consider having the plumbing system drained to keep pipes from freezing. Also, have a friend or neighbor check on your home regularly to look for any issues. If a problem is detected, act quickly to minimize potential damage to your property. 

11-3-2024 - ICPOA is now able to accept PayPal transactions ($1 fee per transaction). These transactions can include property owners dues of $20 annually, any type of donations to ICPOA and/or NoFloCo for mitigation services on properties, firewood derived from mitigation projects, supporting the Teller County mitigation efforts, and educating the public through the NoFloCo University. Recurring donations can be established through this same PayPal link. Please address any questions to Bob Perry at 719-352-7575.

https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=FD36HYKTG3XJ6

Indian Creek Property Owners Association

P. O. Box 111, Florissant, Colorado 80816, www.ICPOA.org

ICPOA Member Meeting Minutes 8-24-24

The meeting was called to order at 3:15 pm at the Florissant Library conference room, followed by the pledge of allegiance and reading of the ICPOA mission statement. A challenge was issued by Toni Moore to reach out to neighbors about our POA and what it can do for members, adding value is important. The ICPOA is a volunteer organization, designed to keep members updated with important information about the community and welcome new residents to the area.

Toni explained the hallmark of any organization is cultivating leadership. Being an ICPOA leader doesn’t take a lot of effort or time with only 3 official meetings per year. There are other ways to be involved with your community (special district) friends of the library, library district board, and Florissant Fire Protection District board as some are 2 year and 4 year terms. It would be good to have one of our members to be a part of this board as there is a large budget for serving our community and maintaining transparency is important.

ICPOA t-shirts are on sale for $20 with Don Moore appropriately modeling one for everyone to see.

There was a motion made by Laura and seconded by Debbie to accept the official minutes of the last meeting.

Mark Strange gave the Treasurer's report: Checking $15905.41 - NoFloCo portion $12014.44 = $3890.97, Savings $5222.12 Total $9113.09.

Present the slate of the board members for election:

President - Toni Moore

Vice President - Diane Luetkenhaus

Secretary - Jenn Chaney

Treasurer - Bob Perry

Member at Large - John Rakowski

As the board members ran unopposed, a motion was made by John and seconded by Danny to accept the roster of board members as stated. The vote was taken, and it was unanimously accepted.

A motion was made to have John Rakowski and Bob Perry as the signers on the ICPOA bank accounts at Park State Bank, to have Bob Perry get a debit card for the checking account, and to remove all other signers on the account (Sherri – the former president who now lives in AZ, and Mark, outgoing Treasurer). The motion was made by Rob and seconded by Danny. The vote was unanimously accepted.

Donations for 2024 to causes that benefit the POA members and our community: Pikes Peak Historical Society $100, Teller County Regional Animal Shelter $150, Divide Fire Protection District $200, Florissant Fire Protection District $200, Lake George Fire Protection District $200, Friends of Florissant Library $200, Lake George Public Library $200, VFW Post 11411 $100, and Little Chapel Food Pantry increase from $100 to $150, for a total of $1500.

The ARF disbanded last year and returned the check from 2023. A suggestion was made to put the money back in the account for dumpster day’s expenses in 2025.

A motion to approve the donations as listed was made by Jeanette Z. and seconded by Laura Strange and passed unanimously.

NoFloCo (North Florissant, Colorado) grew out of the ICPOA, starting with 2 volunteers, has grown to 600. The N.I.C.E. (Non-compliant Indian Creek Estates) committee informs property owners to follow Teller County and Colorado State requirements. Don’t just complain, it’s up to the ICPOA members to contact the board by email to report speeders, noise, trash collecting on properties, etc. We offer to assist and will eventually report the problem to code enforcement if the property owner is unwilling to solve the problem, even with community assistance.

Most property owners do the right thing when they know what the right thing is. The property on Vagabond was contacted about a water usage concern. Don Moore contacted the property owners and they were unaware of the regulation. Approaching issues can make a big difference in the neighborhood. The dilapidated trailer on Wild Horn is now gone, the tiny home property is now gone. The encampment just before Kiowa was discussed. These issues have to go through code enforcement with documentation of what has been done by our community to solve the issue, don’t just call the sheriff, as that is not going to get the issues solved.

The next NoFloCo event is October 26th with 3 connecting properties at Kiowa and Fossil Creek in our subdivision.  Creating pods of mitigated properties will make our entire community safer in the event of a wildfire. A 20 foot tall purple tube man on the worksite will help people find the project site within neighborhoods. There have been 161 projects completed, 362 assessments, 268 acres mitigated, 296 cords of wood donated, and 7.6 billion BTU’s removed from the forest. Wednesday the FFPD adopted NoFloCo’s format for home assessments. Don Moore sends each assessment to the fire chief. It has been proven that trees don’t catch houses on fire, houses catch trees on fire. Don Moore has been asked to present on Sept 24th to the real estate association and the CO rotary association. A class will be held Sept 13 at the Woodland Park Library at 5:30 pm on protecting one’s home from wildland fire.

NoFloCo thanks ICPOA for their support. A $2,500 grant from Cruise above the Cloud is coming to support NoFloCo, which is the largest volunteer fire mitigation group in the USA.  NoFloCo can be separated from ICPOA if that becomes necessary. John Rakowski explained 10-15 years ago a fire mitigation survey was conducted but a concerted effort fell apart due to a lack of volunteers. Toni Moore reaches out regularly to the Valley High and Florissant Heights neighborhoods.  Indian Creek encompasses part of Divide, Florissant, and Lake George, so our POA can show leadership in the area if we choose to.

Toni Moore would like to host a new resident welcome reception on Sept 17 from 5:30 to 7 pm by sending out a postcard inviting them to stop by, enjoy light snacks, receive a packet of information, and a gift. Mark Strange made a motion to approve the new resident procedure, Danny provided a second, and it unanimously passed.

Meeting adjourned at 402 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Jenn Chaney, Secretary

Yard Sales June 1, 2024

• Email ICPOAssociation@gmail.com if you want to be added to the Yard Sale Map for that day.

The Association needs your support to continue serving Indian Creek and thanks you for your continued membership. We also invite you to become a member if you live in or near Indian Creek and, we hope, actively participate. Our annual $20 voluntary membership fee is a bargain to help keep you informed. To become a member or pay your dues for next year, send your current or changes to you property address, permanent address, email address, a personal check, and phone number along with a personal check for $20,  to: ICPOA, P.O. Box 111, Florissant, CO 80816, or email us at icpoassociation@gmail.com with the same information and pay the $21 fee via PayPal at the same email address: icpoassociation@gmail.com (PayPal charges a $1 fee unless you make the payment "friends and family" method). 

Also consider joining the ICPOA non official Facebook Page for local info and updates.https://www.facebook.com/groups/245285565863817 and our local Nextdoor Page: Indian Creek, Florissant, CO neighborhood | Nextdoor