News

Jeanette Zupancic recently lost her husband, ICPOA sent a card and gift in memory of Ed, who served in the military, on the police department in Detroit, the fire department here in Florissant, was on the Board for many years, an important member of the VFW, Help the Needy and assisted the community in many other ways.

Please be Bear Aware as Spring nears. Warmer days and longer daylight may awaken bears. They will be hungry. Remember to freeze food and add to trash on day of pick up, avoid feeding pets outdoors to avoid luring wild animals to your property. Predators have a large ranging area.

NICE (Noncompliant Indian Creek Estates) – Mary Capps: Walking in the Cold essay (see below). Notification of Code enforcement properties, code enforcement complaints to ICPOA (16 Properties), signs that need replacement (5 intersections). Please respond to this email address if you know of signs that need to be replaced due to fading.

· Saddleback Creek Trail/Saddleback Creek Drive: North/east side of sign is white (Saddleback Creek Trail)

· West Bison Creek Rd/Pathfinder Road: Sign is completely missing

· East Bison Creek Trail/Rangeview Road: Faded Rangeview Road Sign

· Arapahoe Creek Trail/Arapahoe Creek Drive/East Bison Creek: Arapahoe Creek Trail faded sign

· Pathfinder Road/Fossil Creek Road: Road signs atop YIELD sign completely missing

Hydroponics in your home: Russ and Lynne presented the attached Powerpoint about hydroponic towers, how well they work, and the large amount of produce that can be harvested at a lower cost than running a greenhouse. This is a good option for those of us who are restricted to household use of water by the State Water Commissioners. (all of Indian Creek). This link will open as a Google Drive link. If it does not work for you, and you would like to see the presentation, reach out by replying to this email.

Indoor Gardening.pptx

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

Feb 17 - Save Your Home from Fire - Fire Blanket Sale at FFR, (1-3 pm)

March 23, CPR Machine Fundraiser for Florissant Fire, dinner 5-7 p m

Two EMR calls to Indian Creek required CPR. One person was revived and able to be transported to Colorado Springs because of the use of a CPR Robot. Florissant Fire and Rescue was first on scene at both of these calls, and began CPR manually, but had to wait on UPRAD (Ute Pass Ambulance District) to arrive with the machine that times compressions perfectly, never tires and compressesses the chest at the exact same depth each time. FFR is hosting a fundraiser dinner to purchase one of these CPR Robots on March 23, 5 to 7 pm. Please call the station at (719) 748-3909 to donate over the phone or send a check if you cannot attend in person and want to help the department gain this lifesaving equipment.

Neighborhood wide yard sale date: June 1

Dumpster/disposal day: June 8 (8 am to 7 pm) & 9 (noon to 6) 1045 Pathfinder Road

Sunday, June 23 ICPOA fried chicken 1 pm FFR

Saturday, July 27 Pancake Breakfast/Heritage Days in Florissant

Saturday, August 24, ICPOA Ice cream social 3-4 pm Library

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Yes, it’s cold. Sure, there’s the snow and ice.

But research shows that these conditions make strolling this winter season all the more healthful — delivering a higher calorie burn, better overall health, less stress, and even a sunnier mood. Taking walks can level-up your health; do it outside and you’ll reap a whole host of additional benefits (including ingesting Mycobacterium Vaccae — HAPPY DUST!) But what about when the weather is colder?

Well, it turns out that if you wander in the winter, when temps are low and the conditions are a bit harsher, your body and brain gain significant, long-lasting upgrades. Dealing with winter conditions bolsters your mental fitness, making you better able to stay calm and clear headed when facing real-world stressors, as does navigating your unpredictable surrounding landscape — like watching for icy or muddy patches. Essentially, the cold acts like a workout for your brain.

Here’s everything you need to know about braving the cold for a stroll. When winter causes people to move less, even a small amount of time spent walking outside can have a bigger positive impact than usual.

Walking is Great Exercise: A basic stroll can be the antidote to the lethargy that tends to set in during these darker months. Besides burning calories and maintaining muscle, just two & a half hours a week (21 minutes a day!) is enough to bump up your heart health, lower blood pressure, and reduce the odds of certain cancers and chronic disease, according to a report published by Harvard Health. And the physical perks manifest in more surprising ways as well. “Research shows that body weight on your feet while exercising compresses the major arteries, increasing blood flow to the brain,” explains Joanna Hall, a walking coach and the creator & founder of WalkActive, an educational walking program.

Walking on uneven surfaces (like Indian Creek subdivision roads) drastically improves balance, according to a study out of the Oregon Outdoor Fitness Research Institute. “One of the goals in walking outdoors is to develop your foot sensitivity. Reflexologists believe that the uneven landscape can stimulate acupressure points in the soles of the feet to relieve pain, improve sleep patterns, and enhance overall well-being .” Dozens of studies find that about 90% of people report feeling more energetic after a single bout of low-to-moderate-intensity exercise lasting from about 20 to 75 minutes,” says Patrick O’Connor, PhD, a kinesiology professor at the University of Georgia who has studied the exercise-energy link.

“Research suggests its changes in several neurotransmitters, like dopamine & norepinephrine, that likely contribute to post-exercise energy. What’s more, studies have found that feelings of energy are higher after exercising outside compared to indoors, even when the intensity & duration is the same.”

Low Temps Boost the Benefits Cold weather may invite you to stay huddled inside, but it’s actually a reason to nudge yourself out. Exposure to low temperatures has proven to shift body fat composition by activating production of brown fat, a healthy type of fat that burns a surplus of calories to create heat & manage body temperature, according to research from the National Institute of Health (NIH). In fact, one study in the American Journal of Human Biology found that people burn 34 percent more calories when they hike in cold weather than when doing so in warmer conditions. Add to that, science from NIH that finds exercising when it’s frosty is linked to greater endurance, plus that cold is associated with lower inflammation, better-quality sleep, muscle and joint health, a stronger immune system (walking in winter actually increases the number of immune cells in your body), and a more positive mood.

Certain neurotransmitters, epinephrine & norepinephrine, triggered by cold make us more alert & motivated to move. And they linger, so post-shivering, you’ll still feel energized, focused, and upbeat. Even the discomfort is good for you. The temporary hardship adds a challenge to contend with, which jump-starts something called hormesis, a type of “good” stress that strengthens your body and mind. Getting out of your own head to deal with the conditions bolsters your mental fitness, making you better able to stay calm and clearheaded when facing real-world stressors, as does navigating your unpredictable surrounding landscape — like watching for icy or muddy patches.

Essentially, the cold acts like a workout for your brain.

More On Those Mental Gains: Exercise has one of the most profound impacts on psychological health, confirms Jacob Meyer, PhD, Director of the Wellbeing and Exercise Laboratory at Iowa State University. “It’s been shown to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression both in the short time you’re moving and over the long term when you establish a regular routine.” He points out that this effect is especially powerful in the colder, more dreary months, when seasonal affective disorder can take hold.

“When winter causes people to move less, even a small amount of time spent walking outside can have a bigger positive impact than usual,” he explains. Explore your neighborhood this Winter!! Any path will change your mindset for the better. When you’re wandering, tune into the sounds around you. Studies have shown that listening to nature sounds — like birds, crunching snow or leaves, wind in the trees — can increase relaxation by a further 30%.

Although spring & summer may seem like obvious times to enjoy a scenic walk, the winter months provide just as much beauty & sense of awe. One study out of the University of Michigan found that people enjoyed the same boosts in focus & even memory when they walked outdoors in a frigid 25 degrees in January as they did during a sunny 80 degree stroll in summer. “We have a saying at Outdoor Fitness: There’s no such thing as inappropriate weather, only inappropriate clothing,” says Vindum. “Dressing appropriately is the best defense against a drop in your body temperature, & the ticket to a great workout in chilly weather.” Gear Up Cold weather dressing is all about layers & fabrics. Avoid wearing cotton, which loses much of its insulating capabilities when it’s wet — cotton clothing can actually contribute to hypothermia. Technical fabrics, such as Polartec & Gore-Tex, are created to function in frigid temperatures.

Guidelines for maintaining your core temperature & protecting your body: 1. Layer Clothing — Several thin layers work better than one heavy layer. Layers are also easier to add & remove to regulate temperature. 2. Cover Your Head — A good amount of body heat can be lost through your head. Always wear a hat or a headband. 3. Wear Gloves — To insulate & protect your hands, choose lightweight gloves that provide the greatest warmth & flexibility, preferably with rubberized or leather strips on the palm for gripping equipment. 4. Cover Your Mouth — A scarf or a mask will help to warm the air before you breathe it. This is especially important if you have respiratory problems, such as asthma, which are irritated by cold air. 5. Stay Dry — Wet, damp clothing — either from perspiration or precipitation — significantly increases heat loss, 6. Keep Your Feet Dry — Choose socks made of polypropylene, wool, or another fabric that wicks moisture & retains insulation when feet get wet.

Compiled by Mary Capps from an article in The Oprah US Magazine, Volume 2. No 4 - 2022, by Isabel Burton

August 26, 2023, Minutes

Indian Creek Property Owners Association

P. O. Box 111

Florissant, Colorado 80816

www.ICPOA.org icpoaasociation@gmail.com

The Ice Cream Social meeting began with the welcoming of each member as they entered the Florissant Fire Station Training Center and inviting them to grab a bowl of their favorite ice cream and some cookies. Then find a place to sit back and enjoy the comradeship of neighbors.

Toni and Don Moore spoke on the NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Crew as they had come in from working all morning and came to the meeting directly from burning some slash and smelling of smoke. As they spoke of their group, Don noted that there are now 386 people who work at the mitigation in Teller County. There are many who have been through the Fire Training and are Wild Fire Trained. It is a great honor for our County to be cited by the Commissioners for all that this group does. And it all started from a few members from the ICPOA Subdivision membership. Thanks to all who are a part of this safety group.

President Toni Moore stood in front of the membership and explained that she had been so busy and was apologizing for not getting out the notice of the meeting in a timely manner as well as not having time to send out an agenda. She then began to list the complaints, comments, phone calls and emails she had received regarding the Indian Creek Subdivision since the last meeting:

· Fireworks

· Off Road Vehicles on the Roads

· Trash/Junk cars laws not being enforced

· Camping Ordinance not enforced

· Barking Dogs

· Roaming Dogs

· Noise curfew

· Trash Cans out Overnight

· Dumpsters at the Driveways

· Speeders on the roads (speed limits 25-30 mph)

· Mag Chloride on the Road

· Low flying aircraft

· Mitigation

· Dry Wells

· Feeding Wildlife

· Unimproved Property

· Containers/Trash – not enforced

She briefly spoke of what the ICPOA CAN and CANNOT do. We can notify the Sheriff of problems that have a law or ordinance prohibiting that offence. We can ask our N.I.C.E. Committee to go talk to the offenders. NICE is the volunteer group who have offered to represent the Association and try to keep the peace and find a resolution to the problem without calling in the police. If there is a problem that needs to go to the officials, we need to get a written complaint that we can take to them before they will do anything. There are not enough Sheriff Deputies to handle all the nuisance calls in Teller County. We need to educate our people on the why/how to follow the laws on the books.

Why are the wells going dry? And several in the area have. All wells in the Subdivision are “Household Wells” unless you have a special permit. Household Wells are ONLY for use in the house. Not to water the garden; not to water flowers; not to water animals. If your neighbors are using water for several horses, your well may dry up soon. Make sure that your friends and neighbors understand that what they do affects you and yours as well.

Speeding and bad roads go together. Gravel roads in Indian Creek are set at 25-30 miles per hour. Those who drive 40+ mph are causing damage. Many complaints come in about those “visitors” (and many members as well) who drive through our subdivision at 40-60 MPH on our gravel roads, zipping past us on hills and curves. Then we complain about the potholes. Mag Chloride is used on heavily traveled roads but is very expensive. It also damages some of the plants along side the roads. The question put to the members was “do you think that additional speed limit signs would deter anyone from speeding?” If anyone does, please research the cost of the signs (County approved) and the cost of putting them in. Where? On whose property? Feel free to find the information and forward it to the officers of the Association.

Discussion among the members included how to get Realtors to include the information regarding Indian Creek Home Owners Association as well as the Covenants of the Association to new purchasers in the subdivision. It was decided that a committee should contact the Teller County Assessor’s Office in Cripple Creek monthly and get the name/address of new residents who have purchased property in our area. Then we could send a welcoming letter to that person/family, welcoming them into our area. Cathy Perry and Diane Luetkenhaus volunteered to author the letter and decide what could be included in the welcome package.

· If you see junk by the side of the road, call Toni and Don to report it. 719-839-0860

· If you want to start a committee or be on a committee, call Jeanette to volunteer

· A pdf on Wild Fire is available if you contact Toni

· If you have old tattered/ragged USA flags, contact Ed Z to have them retired correctly

· If you have a question on how to display your flag, contact Dave Luetkenhaus

· VP Mary Capps has maps of the area.

· There are 5 ways (so far) to use to evacuate Indian Creek in case of fire. Know Them!

· Use www.ICPOA.org and www.NoFloCo.org to get information about living in the forest

MINUTES: No changes were offered so Laura Strange made the Motion to accept the June Minutes as written. Kathy Grantz seconded and the Motion was approved.

TREAURER: Mark announced that we have $2,257.86 in the checking and $5,5067.98 in reserve savings. Our bank account also holds $5,104.52 in NoFloCo Training Grant Funds. Next up was deciding which local non-profit organizations are helpful to our members. Those are the ones that we donate our funding to each year. Don reminded the members that with the rise in assessments of our property, each of the tax-based entities will be receiving a windfall this coming year from the increase in the taxes. Therefore, he suggested that any increase we may wish for certain organizations be held off until a later time when they will need it more. After much discussion the annual donations for the year 2023 are:

Little Chapel Food Pantry $100

TCRAS $150

AARF ` $150

Lake George Fire $200

Divide Fire $200

Florissant Fire $200

Friends of Florissant Library $200

Lake George Library $ $200

VFW 11411 $100

Pikes Peak Historical Museum $100

Diane Lutkenhaus made the Motion to accept the Treasurer report along with the donations as agreed to by the membership. John Rakowski seconded the motion and all voted in the affirmative except for Don Moore’s “nay” vote. It passed.

OTHER: Questions about how to get rid of Canadian Thistle plants brought Dave Luetkenhaus to his feet with his own recipe for spraying them. If interested call Diane or Dave. Other plants that are not native included another thistle and flowering plant that contain burrs that dig into the skin or harm a dog’s foot pads You need to be wary of them.

The meeting adjourned at 3:20 by a Motion by Laura Strange and seconded by Ed Zupancic with many staying to visit while cleaning up the Fire Center.

Next meeting should be in February 2024. Remember that dues beginning in 2024 will be $20 per property.

NOTE: It is about time for an election of officers. If you are interested in any one of the offices, please let one of the current officers know. Jeanette has served our community faithfully and deserves a little break. Officers have fun, get to know many new residents and have “inside access” to all the ideas brewing for the POA. It is time for new ideas and perhaps some new faces at the front of our great organization. Thanks to those who step up.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanette Zupancic, Secretary

ICPOA is Indian Creek Property Owners Association.

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

Vice-President Mary Capps (303) 883-7557 marycpps@gmail.com

Secretary Jeanette Zupancic (719) 748-3357 jizupp@yahoo.com

Treasurer Mark Strange (719) 748-1073 MLSTRANGE54@GMAIL.COM

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

Committee Chairperson for Fire Mitigation: Mark Waldo, Wallypoonsky@gmail.com, (720) 837-7485

ICPOA Winter 2023 Newsletter

Making Friends, Having Fun, and Maintaining Property Values in Indian Creek

Upcoming February ICPOA Meeting

We will gather at the Florissant Library Meeting Room on Saturday, February 18th at 11 am for a cookies and coffee meeting to cover many important upcoming events, and just to spend some time with friends and neighbors.

Some of the items we will discuss and vote on are hosting a neighborhood wide yard sale, providing roll off dumpsters to assist with property clean up, upcoming Florissant Fire District Board Elections, improving our neighborhood fire egress and safety. We are sending invites to the candidates for Florissant Fire Protection Board and will allow them to introduce themselves so you can visit with them after the meeting. We have reserved the space from 10 am to 2 pm.

The Association fees are due. If you have not paid for 2023 we need your support to continue serving Indian Creek and thank you for your continued membership. We also invite others to become a member if they live in or near Indian Creek and, we hope, actively participate.

Our annual $15 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 $15, to: ICPOA, P.O. Box 111, Florissant, CO 80816, or email us at icpoassociation@gmail.com with the same information and pay the $16 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).

Spruce Budworm Spraying Clinic

A clinic will be hosted at the Florissant Library, on the east side of the building, near the park on Saturday, April 22, at 2 pm to 3 pm.

As long-term drought continues to be our new norm, spruce budworm is adding intolerable stress to our north slope trees. You may have noticed that our fir and spruce trees are dying. Spraying these trees is the solution, however there are problems with this solution!

Spruce budworm eats up the new growth on the trees. After two or three years of attack, the trees start to die. Using sprays reduces the worms and gives the trees the help they need to continue to survive.

Some of our neighbors do not like the idea of spaying chemicals on the trees. We understand their desire to keep our air and water clean. No one likes the idea of poisons being sprayed willy-nilly around the neighborhood.

Fortunately, there are sprays that will effectively protect our trees, but have very little or no toxicity to anything other than the spruce budworm.

If we don’t spray, we will continue to lose trees. The Colorado Forestry Division has recently released reports questioning the ability of our forest to regrow if they are decimated. Warmer, dryer weather norms lead to desert shrubs replacing alpine trees in some parts of Colorado. When this happens, the trees do not come back. We do not want to lose our forests here in the neighborhood!

Standing dead trees are a huge fire risk. Once the spruce and fir trees die, they are tinder for a spark! The preferred habitat for these trees is north slope property. This terrain is difficult to work on, complicating fire mitigation efforts. Saving these trees protects the carbon “sink” (stored up carbon), lowers wildfire risks, maintains habitat, and improves our property values.

If we work together as a neighborhood, we can give the trees the help they need to survive. Certainly, you can pay to have this work done. There are companies that will come to your property to spray and other companies that use airplanes for entire neighborhood protection. These are pricey solutions, but easy and quick. Residents with disposable income can hire this work done, and they should. If you can afford to have your trees looked at and protected, plan to do so in April or May.

Many of us care about the trees, but cannot invest the thousands of dollars that will be required to save our trees. We may be able to invest a couple hundred dollars, however. By working together, pooling the labor and materials, you and your neighbors can save your trees for hundreds of dollars instead of thousands of dollars. This “neighbor helping neighbor” method may not be pretty, but we believe it will be effective. The more we share and work together, the more trees we can save.

A side benefit of this collaboration is that the same equipment needed to spray the trees can be multipurposed to allow you some protection in case of wildfire at your property.

ICPOA has contracted with Ira Hanson of Hanson Tree Service to present a demonstration of how small groups of neighbors can band together to protect their trees from spruce budworm. Hanson will show us exactly what equipment and supplies will be needed and the exact techniques that can be used.

On Saturday morning, April 22, 2023 at the Florissant Library from 2 pm to 3 pm Hanson will have the equipment and chemicals on display and will demonstrate the techniques required to save your trees on a shoe string budget. Reach out to ICPOAssociation@gmail.com if you have questions.

PIKES PEAK HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The museum between the Outpost and the Thunderbird will open for Saturday and Sundays 1-4 PM beginning May 6 but remember, you can call for a reservation to visit the museum two days or more in advance 719-748-8259, admission is always free.

Come by yourself, or bring your family, friends or school/social/church group. Our museum entry is free and presentations by the PPHS are free.

At 2 PM on Sunday February 19 there will be a presentation about George Frost’s mansion and the Granite Canyon General Store. George Frost built the dam at Lake George for ice farming and the area was named for him.

At 2 PM on Sunday April 16 there will be a presentation about the mineral mining history of the Crystal Peak region which includes much of the Indian Creek Subdivision. These presentations are at the Lake George Charter School and are free to the public.

PPHS will have a cleanup along US 24 from the Florissant Kiosk west about 3.5 miles to Park County. PPHS volunteers will be doing the work but we’ll welcome and train any other volunteers who want to help make our area look good. CDOT will pick up our trash bags when we’re done.

PPHS is also the trustee managing the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery on behalf of Teller County. Full or cremains burials of Florissant residents still are arranged and accepted. The costs are reasonable and the location is beautiful, between Upper Twin Rock Road and the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Contact PPHS at 719-748-8259 for more information.

SIGNAGE

Fellow residents, please send a quick email to icpoassociation@gmail.com if you notice a missing street sign in your area or a street sign that is just not readable. Clear signage is needed for emergency responders to get to the site of an emergency or for people to report emergencies. When you call, be clear about the actual location of the sign. Tell us the crossroads, and we will contact Teller County Roads Department to have the signs replaced.

While we’re at it, be sure your house numbers are clearly readable both in daylight and at night, and that you mark your driveway so that the number can be read when emergency responders arrive from either direction.

ICPOA and NoFloCo

Our collaboration with NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse continues to yield positive results for our community. The grassroots volunteer work force not only works with homeowners and property owners to assist them with cleaning up their property to make it more fire safe, but they harvest the forest products to provide free firewood for our community.

NoFloCo was started by ICPOA and has fire mitigated 90 acres of property in and around Teller County neighborhoods, and generated 95 cords of firewood which was donated to local families. The group has grown to 200+ members and meets to do fire mitigation about once per month.

If you are interested in learning more about NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse, reach out to Don Moore at 719-839-0860 or at runningman2626@yahoo.com or contact the HOA/POA board.

Suppose We Have to Evacuate Quickly?

As you come and go through the neighborhood, we ask that you take a moment to study the trees along your ingress and egress routes.

Are they healthy? How many are within 50 feet of the road? Could you use this route if there is an evacuation in our subdivision? Where do you think traffic would back up and have trouble exiting the neighborhood? What roads are most in need of having problem trees removed from the roadside?

Foresters continue to tell us that it is “when” not “if” we will have a Wildland-Urban Interface fire. Many of us are working to plan and act now so that we will all be safer. If you are interested in helping with our planning, updating our Colorado Wildfire Protection Plan, or adding to our efforts in other ways, please reach out to ICPOAssociation@gamail.com

Staying Connected

There are several ways to stay in-the-know about goings on in Indian Creek. If you have not already done so, visit the ICPOA website at www.ICPOA.org.

You can connect to the ICPOA unofficial Facebook page by searching for “ICPOA residents and owners” in Facebook. Nextdoor has pages for neighborhoods and can be accessed at www.nextdoor.com.

ICPOA is Indian Creek Property Owners Association. www.ICPOA.org

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

Acting VP: Doug Lagasse: (719) 659-7911, DougLag7@gmail.com

Secretary Jeanette Zupancic: (719) 271-4636, jizupp@yahoo.com

Treasurer Mark Strange: (719) 748-1073, MLSTRANGE54@GMAIL.COM

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

Committee Chairperson for Fire Mitigation: Mark Waldo, Wallypoonsky@gmail.com, (720) 837-7485

Non-Compliant Indian Creek Estates Chairperson is Don Moore, runningman2626@yahoo.com

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).

ICPOA Fall 2022 Newsletter

Making Friends, Having Fun, and Maintaining Property Values in Indian Creek

A Word from the ICPOA President

Our beautiful, remote mountain retreats (our Indian Creek homes) are more inviting than ever. Nature, wildlife, blue skies and room to just breathe matter more than ever and give us hope. The rain we have had this summer is hard on our driveways and roads, but not having high fire danger has been a relief.

There are challenges involved in mountain living. More things to consider for safely, comfort, and protection of your investment than there are in town. Groceries and other staples of life are farther away, but thanks to Larry Clark, our local Mercantile is better stocked and more fairly priced than ever. Our roads need constant attention, and the weather can change at a moment’s notice. Wildlife wanders through, sometimes causing damage. First responder won’t show up 15 minutes after a call to 911. Still, life in the mountains is lovely and spiritual. Our neighbors are caring, insightful, and knowledgeable.

Take time to get to know your neighbors. Be sure to have their email addresses and phone numbers and be sure they have yours. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

If you are in failing health, make a plan now to arrange to stay in town with relatives or at a hotel when the occasional large winter storms roll in. That will reduce your stress, and give you quick access to medical care. Even a helicopter flight for life cannot respond to you in a snowstorm. Stay safe by planning ahead.

NICE Committee Update

There are big changes coming to our county with regard to Code Enforcement. Our toothless rules of the past are going away due to mandates from Denver. For some this will be welcomed news, for others, it may cause some concern.

Teller County Sheriff Office (TCSO) will be hiring two new enforcement officers who will be writing tickets for code and ordinance infractions. The old days of many, many warnings are going away.

Our motto is Making Friends, Having Fun, and Maintaining Property Values, so as an organization we do care about keeping the neighborhood clean, tidy, AND friendly. For that reason, we created a NICE (Noncompliant Indian Creek Estates) Committee about a year ago. This committee will respond to complaints in the neighborhood, and attempt to assist with resolving them before the authorities get involved.

Some of the calls that have been handled in Indian Creek by the ICPOA NICE Committee are:

-naked doll in a tree

-out of regulation water use (watering gardens with a household use only well)

-motocross bikes/atvs on public roads at all hours of the night

-dumped couches

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.

We thank Don Moore for his attention, time, and effort as committee chairperson of NICE.

Dealing With Eroded Driveways

None of us want to complain about the rain...

However, the roads and the driveways are washing away!!!

Once you have spent lots of money on driveway and road repair, you learn that prevention is much better than repair.

Running water follows the easiest path, and running water erodes quickly. The key to saving your driveway is to plan exits routes for the rain water. This begins with driveway location and design, and continues with consistent maintenance.

A driveway with a “crown” will allow water to shed to the left and the right, avoiding long runs of the water which digs deep into the ground.

Unfortunately, snow plows remove this “crown” so replacing/rebuilding it is necessary for a well-maintained driveway.

A simple pull behind “drag” is a low-cost way to keep your driveway in shape between major overhauls. A drag can be a long metal edge or metal I-beam with a chain pulled behind a 4-wheel drive truck or Jeep.

You may have to dig “gutters” to give rain water a proper place to run, and these gutters will sometimes fill with sand and need to be cleaned out. The same clean out routine needs to happen for culverts under your driveway. The county does not do this maintenance, and digging out a catch basin is much easier than digging out a plugged culvert.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it sure can be. Mountain driveways can hold up; however, they take a bit of effort and care. Come up with a long-term plan to shunt rain and melt water off your driveway, keep gutters dug out and clear of sand buildup, and develop a driveway crown in the center to allow water to shed. These steps, along with consistent maintenance will reduce the driveway washouts.

A Few Words from Our Sheriff

Complaining about dirt roads, long response times, poor grading, poor cell service, lack of internet, etc. will do you no good. Teller is a rural community, people moved here knowing it is rural. The county is not headed in the direction of trying to become more urban.

Ankle bracelets called Life track, are available for free for impaired folks who live in Teller County. If you have a family member who may wander off and be in danger, contact TCSO for information on this helpful, no charge service.

The TCSO has a posse you can join. This is a volunteer group (both armed and unarmed) that assists with many important tasks in our area. From street fairs, to securing crime scenes, the posse saves the county countless thousands of dollars, and makes a lasting impact on our safety. If you would be interested in joining the Posse, contact Renee Bunting at TCSO.

Nixle has gone away (8/30/2022) and is replaced by PEAK Alerts. PEAK Alerts is an opt-in service to notify you via phone, text, or email about evacuations, pre-evacuations, shelter in place, road closings, burn restrictions and more. You can put school, home, work, and parents’ addresses (5 total) into the system to get all the notifications you care about around Teller and El Paso Counties. A mailer with helpful information on signing up was sent to all Teller addresses.

The Sheriff reminds all of us that a Weather Radio (about $30) will get messages to you when no other messages will come through. He warns that cell boosters don’t work if the power is out or the cell tower is down. Weather radios will continue to work through most big issues.

ICPOA and NoFloCo

ICPOA’s collaboration with NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse continues to yield positive results for our community. The grassroots volunteer work force not only works with homeowners and property owners to assist them with cleaning up their property to make it more fire safe, but they harvest the forest products to provide free firewood for our community. The organization recently trained 30 new Wildland Firefighter Type 2.

If you are interested in learning more about NoFloCo

Fire Mitigation Posse, reach out to Don Moore at 719839-0860 or at runningman2626@yahoo.com.

Community Clean Up?

A plan is underway to host a community wide yard sale followed up community wide clean-up/recycle day/large item pick-up/and free dumpster day in 2023. The goal of this project would be to make more neighborhood connections and to assist our community in reducing debris, trash, clutter around our homes.

The tentative plan is to have the yard-sale day on the first Saturday of June, the 3rd, and the clean up day on the second Saturday of June, the 10th. This will be discussed more at our February, 2023 meeting.

Community Business Info on ICPOA Website?

ICPOA will add a page to our website for members with businesses to post contact information. There are many small business owners in Indian Creek, and many people looking for plow drivers, driveway repair, pet sitters, handyman services, etc. This would be just a short listing to help neighbors in need connect with those offering services. You must be a member of ICPOA to participate.

· Name of business

· Motto/phrase

· Proprietor(s) name(s)

· Phone, email, website

· Two sentences on this business/specialization.

Send your business information to us at icpoassociation@gmail.com to be included.

Wildflower Seed Update

Many of us have purchased and planted wildflower seeds. With our mountain weather, dry Spring, and the hungry deer and ground squirrels, we have not had great success. However, these seeds over season and some will sprout even two years after being planted.

If we continue to buy and distribute seeds, perhaps our neighborhood can have a super bloom if the weather cooperates. Watch for emails, online postings, and web updates at ICPOA.org for the next round of wildflower seed purchases.

A New Officer for ICPOA

Doug Lagasse has agreed to serve as our new Vice President. Doug is a long-time owner in Indian Creek, and community volunteer and an all-around great guy. We are excited to have him join us and will be voting to put him on the board at our February meeting, but he will be serving as Acting VP until we can elect him to the position. Thanks, Doug for all you do for the community.

If anyone in the neighborhood would like to become more involved, please to not hesitate to reach out. We love your ideas and suggestions, and have many ways you can make a difference. The time commitments are small, but the emotional rewards are huge. Email us at icpoassociation@gmail.com.

Staying Connected

There are several ways to stay in-the-know about goings on in Indian Creek. If you have not already done so, visit the ICPOA website at www.ICPOA.org.

You can connect to the ICPOA unofficial Facebook page by searching for “ICPOA residents and owners” in Facebook. Nextdoor has pages for neighborhoods and can be accessed at www.nextdoor.com.

ICPOA is Indian Creek Property Owners Association. www.ICPOA.org

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

Acting VP: Doug Lagasse: (719) 659-7911

Secretary Jeanette Zupancic: (719) 271-4636, jizupp@yahoo.com

Treasurer Mark Strange: (719) 748-1073, mlstrange2003@att.net

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

Committee Chairperson for Fire Mitigation: Mark Waldo, Wallypoonsky@gmail.com, (720) 837-7485

Non-Compliant Indian Creek Estates Chairperson is Don Moore, runningman2626@yahoo.com

ICPOA Winter 2022 Newsletter

Making Friends, Having Fun, and Maintaining Property Values in Indian Creek

A Word From the ICPOA President

2021 was a long year for many of us. The world has become a confusing, conflicted, and anxious place in many ways. It seems we will have to endure more of the same before things begin to get better. Our beautiful, remote mountain retreats (our Indian Creek homes) are more inviting than ever. Nature, wildlife, blue skies and room to just breathe matter more now and give us hope.

Folks sometimes thank me for doing the thankless job of being ICPOA president, but I don’t see it as thankless at all. I feel honored to have a position to be a cheerleader for our small yet mighty community. I am delighted to be able to encourage folks who are working hard to make the investment in their home the most it can be. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to help neighbors solve problems that have them feeling overwhelmed.

During this time of unsettled politics, pandemic, inflation, and uncertainty, realize you are an important part of our community. Indian Creek is full of hardworking, sincere, and giving people. None of us are perfect, but we each do what we can. During times of trouble, Indian Creek folks have been willing to pull together and lend a hand. If you are in need or know someone in need, please reach out.

If things look dark, know that we are all feeling some of that. Do not suffer in silence. If you are alone, need a helping hand, have a burden to heavy to lift, please reach out. If you have a small issue, but it is more than you can handle today, you can call me at 919-624-7641 or any of the ICPOA board members. They are all willing to assist any way they can, for items large or small.

Our community and county has lost nearly 20 members to suicide over the past year. These folks chose a permanent solution to a temporary crisis. If you are feeling hopeless, know that your community does care. There are solutions to help you feel better and more connected. Reach out to 800-273-TALK (8255) or locally to 800-285-1204. Together we can make it to a brighter place and time.

Spruce budworm spraying

Spruce budworm eats up the new growth on the trees. After two or three years of attack, the trees start to die. Using sprays reduces the number of worms and gives the trees the help they need to continue to survive.

Some of our neighbors do not like the idea of spraying chemicals on the trees. We understand their desire to keep our air and water clean. No one likes the idea of poisons being sprayed willy nilly around the neighborhood. Fortunately, there are sprays that will effectively protect our trees, but have very little toxicity to anything other than the insects.

If we work together as a neighborhood, we can give the trees the help they need to survive. Certainly, you can pay to have this work done. There are companies that will come to your property and spray. Other companies use airplanes to spray entire neighborhoods. These are pricey solutions, but easy and quick. Residents with disposable income can hire this work done, and they should. If you can afford to have your trees looked at and protected, plan to do so in April or May.

On Saturday morning, April 16, 2022 at the Florissant Library meeting room from 10 am to noon, Hanson will have sample equipment and chemicals on display and will demonstrate the techniques required to personally connect with your neighbors and spray your trees for spruce budworm.

Calendar Update

January 31, 2022 ICOA Dues to be paid

February ICPOA Meeting: coffee and cookies, Saturday, February 26, 2022, at 4:00 p.m. at Fire House on Hwy. 24

April Spruce Bud Worm Spraying Demo: Saturday, April 16, 10 am to noon at Florissant Library, 2nd Street

Tentative June ICPOA Meeting: Sunday, June 12, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.: Chicken pot luck dinner.

Tentative August ICPOA Meeting: Sunday, August 14, 2022 at 2 p.m.: Ice Cream Social.

Restarting an Emergency Call List

By J. Zupancic

Having lived in Indian Creek for nearly 25 years, we have seen the Hayman fire, the Waldo Canyon fire, the Black Forest Fire and now the Superior/Louisville (Marshall) fire. The drought is bad again and the winds have been unbelievable this year. I think it is time (again) to form an “evacuation” plan for our neighborhood. Many of us have poor cell service at our homes, and unreliable internet. Just prior to the Hayman Fire we had what was called the I.C.E. or the Indian Creek Emergency program.

If enough residents are interested, we would ask each household to insure we have their name, address, home phone, work phones, cell phone numbers and email address as well as the names of all those living in that residence. This information would only be given to those “callers” who would notify their list of people of an emergency.

Once we had all the information, we would ask for volunteer “callers” who would be responsible to contact their list of neighbors in an emergency with the information to be given out. Perhaps a pre-evacuation notification, an alert of trouble in the area, or a warning to GET OUT NOW! in case of a coming disaster. The disaster could be a flood, avalanche, fire, or any life -threatening event approaching our subdivision. It would take a LONG time for the Sheriff’s office to go house to house to check evacuations in a timely manner. If we could be ready to assist the emergency crews by being prepared, it would save lives.

The phone tree would work like this:

Caller Director calls 10 people who have their own lists

Each of those 10 have a list of 10 to call

Those 10 may have others to call

If you know someone who MAY not be on the caller’s list, call them to let them know what is going on.

If the Caller Director cannot reach someone on his/her initial list, they will go down to the second name on that list so that each list has a caller with the information. Each caller will be instructed to call elderly and disabled members first. Others on the ICPOA Board have more information on how the original Emergency calling was set up and will be working to get it started.

Please email ICPOAssociation@gmail.com or let an ICPOA Board Member know if you are interested in being part of the Emergency notification group either as a Caller or just to have your information in the data base to be called in-case. Any suggestion or information will be gladly accepted via email or at the February meeting.

Acceptable Household

Well Water Use

When Indian Creek Subdivision was created in 1976, the state granted each 4-to-6-acre lot a household well. Household wells are water wells approved for only indoor use. The Colorado Water Resource Commission is tasked with protecting Colorado’s water. According to their website, when water is used inside a home, 90% of that water returns to the underground water table from the household’s septic system. That means water used to brush teeth, wash dishes, take showers or flush toilets enters your septic system, then leaches back into the ground, and eventually will reach the water table to be reused after years of natural filtration. Because of conservation of the water, this type of use is considered to be just 10% “lost”. Water used outdoors is considered to be 100% lost.

Water used to hydrate horses, cattle, goats, greenhouses, or outdoor plants, water used to wash cars, fill pools or hot tubs is all 100% “lost”. These are not approved uses of water in our subdivision.

“Why should I care about these rules”, you may be asking yourself. Mountain folk don’t really want to be told what to do. We worked hard to get to a place in our life where we could buy property away from the crowd. We like to be independent.

Still, we need to be aware that even out here, what we do affects our neighbors and what our neighbors do, affects us. With continued annual rainfall shortages, drought, and reduced snowfall, more wells being sunk, part time families becoming year-round residents and increased construction in the neighborhood there is more pressure on our wells than ever before. Misuse of our wells contributes to an ever-lowering water table and wells going dry.

If you think limiting the use of your well is inconvenient, imagine how inconvenient having no well water would be!

“What if I have horses or a greenhouse on my property?” The easiest fix is to purchase a water storage tank, and buy water for these non-approved uses. The water stations in Divide and Florissant can provide you with a couple hundred gallons for less than $20.

Sierra Water Service, a local water hauler, will deliver up to 1500 gallons of water to your home for $120 and refill your hot tub for $85. Call (719) 687-8113 to order water from Sierra. Other suppliers are Native Water, Luke Ellsworth, (719) 322-3299 and Gold Rush, (719) 687-9769.

ICPOA and NoFloCo

CORE Electric Co-op has promised to continue their support of the group’s efforts and will be sending out volunteers to assist with the actual labor during 2022. Don Moore, the NoFloCo founder, recently requested funds to pay for hardhats and leather gloves, and for food for the group from the grant money CORE provided.

NoFloCo has fire mitigated 40 acres of property in and around Indian Creek, and generated 41 cords of firewood which was donated to local families. The group has grown to 60 members and meets to do fire mitigation about once per month.

If you are interested in learning more about NoFloCo Fire Mitigation Posse, reach out to Don Moore at 719-839-0860 or at runningman2626@yahoo.com. Their next fire mitigation effort will be held on November 22.

Your ICPOA Dues are Due

ICPOA’s bylaws indicate that annual dues are to be paid in January for the upcoming year. Our $15 annual dues are kept low to encourage neighbor involvement. Our organization does not have many expenses, and we strive to do most things on a volunteer basis. Our motto/goal is Making Friends, Having Fun, and Maintaining Property Values in Indian Creek.

We like to think we are the anti-homeowner’s association; we are a friendly homeowners association to a group of friendly, savvy, tough mountain property owners. We are proud to represent and serve the residents of Indian Creek Subdivision, and hope that as a member, you will promote ICPOA to your neighbors and encourage them to join as well.

ICPOA wants to be “value added” to each of our members. Our board of directors met in December of 2021 to discuss plans for 2022. Some of our initiatives for 2022 include updating and expanding the ICPOA website (ww.ICPOA.org), improving our educational efforts for essential and lifesaving mountain-living knowledge, hosting a large item/recyclable pick up/disposal day, hosting 3 social meetings/events, recreating the “phone tree” for quick notifications for the non-techy types, and donating money to several local nonprofits which serve our neighborhood.

We will present some additional ideas to the membership at our upcoming meeting in February to find out if the neighborhood would be interested in a neighborhood wide yard sale date, having a fundraiser to allow us to donate additional funds to the organizations we support, and checking for interest in an off-site group adventure to a professional ball game or other shared outing.

To pay your 2022 dues, send a check for $15 along with your name(s), address(es), email(s), and phone number(s) to PO Box 111, Florissant, CO 80816 or pay by PayPal at icpoassociation@gmail.com . Be sure to include the same information as paying by check so that we can keep our records up to date and properly credit your payment.

What We Learned From the Power Outage

1. Once power to the neighborhood is restored, if YOUR power is still off YOU must reach out to CORE. Power restored to the neighborhood, does not necessarily mean every home is restored.

2. Having a backup heat source is important. Some pellet stoves need electricity.

3. It is good to know your neighbor and your neighbor’s neighbor.

4. Having the old-fashioned call list was a good idea. (Our ICPOA secretary is recreating this phone tree for us.)

5. Keeping nonperishable, shelf stable food on hand is a good idea. Keeping a few gallons of water on hand is a good idea, too.

6. There is nothing like being out of power for 12+ hours to make one appreciate modern conveniences.

From our friend and neighbor, Doug Lagasse, some philosophical thoughts along with some wind damage reported on the Fans of Red Green Facebook Page:

Protect your footing from the rot of influences around you.

Props and coping mechanisms may not be sufficient.

If you only get surface sustenance, your lack of depth leaves you vulnerable.

Even the strong sometimes break. Growing in community helps us manage our losses.

Wild Fires and Our Mountain Home

The natural disaster we are most likely to face is wildland fire. We are too high to have much flooding, Teller is not an earthquake zone, our altitude does not allow storms to turn into strong tornados, and our desert like environment doesn’t lend itself to catastrophic snowfall. Fires, however, do spread quickly on the wind up here.

Many of our community members have vivid memories from the Hayman Fire of 2002. Even more of us remember the other smaller fires that have been battled west of Colorado Springs in recent years.

What will you and your family do if we have to face one of these disasters? Most experts say it is when we will deal with wildfire, not if.

You have surely seen the disaster “bug out bag” lists of things to have packed and ready for an evacuation. A quick google search will give you a variety of these lists to work from. They are a smart first step to becoming more prepared.

We have learned from the folks who lived through the High Chateau and Waldo evacuations and fires and gained even more helpful insights.

You may get the notice to evacuate while working, shopping, or visiting out of town friends/relatives. If so, most likely you will not be allowed to return to your home to do any prep work, rescue your pets, or get your keepsakes/important papers. This is a stressful complication to the evacuation that many end up facing.

Should the wildfire be pushed by high winds, homes will be consumed before any help arrives. Our firefighters and first responders are wonderful and hardworking. They will do everything possible to protect our properties, but they must also balance what they do for us with protecting themselves.

When a wildfire situation occurs, firefighters are looking for spaces they can defend safely. If you have fire mitigated around your home and created a space for the defenders to work, they have a realistic hope of saving your property. If you have not done the work of removing the hazards around your home, they cannot begin to protect your space. An unmitigated property is a threat to the life and safety of the firefighters. They have no choice but to abandon that property and go to one they can safely defend.

To learn more about fire mitigation, make a plan to create a defensible space, or to assist others in the neighborhood with making their property safer, reach out to Don Moore at NoFloCo or contact one of the many for-profit fire mitigation companies in the area, like Stone Mountain at 719-367-1589, or Tiptop Tree Cultivation at 719-646-8818

NoFloCo is the grassroots volunteer organization that began right here in Indian Creek Subdivision. They assist property owners with fire mitigation at no cost and donate the firewood harvested to families for home heating. (See the article on NoFloCo here in this newsletter for more information and Don’s contacts.)

Be aware that all homeowner’s insurance is not the same. Riders, replacement cost, current value, and other special considerations should be evaluated to be certain that you have the coverage you think you have.

Another important consideration is exiting routes should all of us be leaving at the same time and knowing multiple ways in and out of the subdivision. Indian Creek is lucky and unusual in that we have 5 routes in and out of the subdivision, where most Teller County subdivisions have just one or two. If you do not know multiple routes in and out of the subdivision, take a Sunday afternoon or two and do some exploring. This can really increase your safety and reduce your anxiety should an evacuation be called for.

Ordinances in Teller County

Our property owners’ association is volunteer and we strive to make it a friendly HOA with a focus on building friendships, having fun, and protecting our property values. We have no enforceable codes or standards and simply follow Teller County Ordinances. Most of us moved up to the mountains to be in nature, away from the rat race, and to live in peace without being imposed upon.

The ordinance that comes up most often is Teller Ordinance 11: Trash and Rubbish. There have been many concerns through the years of neighbors being unhappy with abandoned vehicles or trash on adjacent properties.

To resolve these issues currently, one must fill out an official complaint and turn it in to the Teller County Sheriff’s Office. Some of our residents have found this to be frustrating, without satisfactory resolution. Our Sheriff’s enforcement frequently requires multiple complaints and many follow ups.

ICPOA may be able to assist with streamlining the process. If we create a Code Enforcement Committee to be the first contact for property owners who have these concerns, and have the committee reach out to the offending property owner with the ordinance and an offer to assist them or help them find resources to resolve the issue, we believe we can resolve most complaints quickly. Should contacting authorities become necessary, we will have a paper trail of our attempts to solve it without asking for the county’s assistance. This should motivate the county to act swiftly on our behalf.

According to the enforcement office, most folks want to do the right thing. They are not scofflaws or bad neighbors; life just gets overwhelming for them. Many of our long-time residents are older now, dealing with poor health, widowed, have no nearby family, no truck to remove old grills/debris, etc. A committee to assist these folks with clean-up will be a huge blessing for them and help make the subdivision better for everyone. If you are interested in a committee like this, reach out to ICPOA president Toni Moore at (919) 624-7641.

Along these same lines, ICPOA is thinking about starting an annual large item drop off to assist with removing clutter and rubbish from our properties. The idea would be a large, monitored dumpster for residents/members to use one day annually, along with a group of workers to pick up and assist with getting items to the dumpster/recycling area. This will be discussed more at our upcoming February meeting.

Wildflower Seed Update

ICPOA president Toni Moore wanted to plant wildflower seeds on her property back in 2019. She ordered a pound of seeds from Park Seeds, and was disappointed with the results. Next, she tried the seeds sold by the Park/Teller Conservation District, and included ICPOA members in her order. A total of 8 pounds of seeds were purchased, distributed and planted. Most everyone who purchased these seeds were underwhelmed with their performance.

Next, she contacted and purchased mountain grass seeds for erosion from Arkansas Valley Seeds in Denver, and added a pound of wildflower seeds to test out. These wildflower and grass seeds seemed very vigorous and ready to grow. The wildflower seeds arrived in a nice one-pound bag with instructions.

Since she found seeds that seemed to be better than average, she opened up ordering to ICPOA members. Arkansas Valley Seeds has a flat shipping charge of $45, which makes small orders impractical. By combining orders, everyone could participate in buying seeds.

From the time the original seeds orders were accepted at the beginning of October 2021 until she placed the orders the first week of November 2021, the price of the seeds doubled! When she contacted Arkansas Valley, they reported that the large price increase was due to supply chain issues and the pandemic, and agreed to sell her seeds at wholesale prices, as her order was nearly 50 pounds.

When her order for ICPOA arrived, it was a bulk order, in large 25-pound bags! She had to recruit ICPOA secretary J. Zupancic to measure out the one-pound seed orders and distribute them. Wow, what a saga.

Still, despite all stumbling blocks, our subdivision has nearly 50-pounds of wildflower seeds distributed. Wildflower seeds grow plants that attract bees, birds and wildlife as well as add color. These seeds over season and some will sprout even two years after being planted. If we continue to buy and distribute seeds, perhaps our neighborhood can have a super bloom if the weather cooperates. Watch for emails, online postings, and web updates at ICPOA.org for the next round of wildflower seed purchases.

Staying Connected

There are several ways to stay in-the-know about goings on in Indian Creek. If you have not already done so, visit the ICPOA website at www.ICPOA.org. You can connect to the ICPOA unofficial Facebook page by searching for “ICPOA residents and owners” in Facebook. Nextdoor has pages for neighborhoods and can be accessed at www.nextdoor.com.

ICPOA is Indian Creek Property Owners Association.

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

Vice-President: Amanda Sutton, amanda@goatmessage.com, (949) 842-6897

Secretary Jeanette Zupancic: (719) 271-4636, jizupp@yahoo.com

Treasurer Mark Strange: (719) 748-1073, mlstrange2003@att.net

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

Committee Chairperson for Fire Mitigation: Mark Waldo, Wallypoonsky@gmail.com, (720) 837-7485

Get advance notice on what will be delivered to your mailbox

Did you know that you can get an email from the US Post Office every morning telling you what will be delivered to your mailbox? This service is free, easy to sign up for, and will allow you to know in advance what is at your mailbox cluster awaiting pick up. The automated system sends you actual photos of the envelopes scheduled for delivery to your box. It is called "Informed Delivery". By signing up you can do other important functions with your mail, such as having a "hold" put on your mail if you are out of town, ill, or indisposed and will not be able to pick up your mail from 3 to 30 days. The hold will keep it safe and secure at the post office until the day you request it be delivered.

ICPOA residents have experienced mailbox cluster break-in in the past (especially near Christmas) and this service will give you peace of mind, and a heads up when important mail is about to be delivered to you. As our neighborhood is remote, and our weather is sometimes difficult, please do consider signing up for this service. It is a small thing that can make a big difference. Click here to learn more: https://informeddelivery.usps.com/.../intro/start.action

Newsletter Summer 2021

Sherri Piccone Stepping Down as ICPOA President

Sherri Piccone, ICPOA President elected in 2018, has served our organization with great success for over two years. She has announced she is stepping down and will be splitting her time between Florissant and Arizona.

Sherri accepted the role of President, having no ICPOA board experience, a daunting task. She has done a wonderful job leading, addressing concerns, implementing changes, and bringing on new members.

ICPOA has improved in many ways under her tenure. Early in her term, Sherri created a survey that brought to light many concerns and opportunities for the organization to address. Her leadership resulted in everyone being better heard.

She purged the membership list of outdated information, put everyone’s email address into a distribution list, and spoke to many inactive members by telephone.

After a break-in at the ICPOA mailbox cluster, the Post Master contacted the Caldwells who let Sherri know. She looked into what could be done to add some security to the area. Sherri and her husband created a lighted mailbox cluster monitoring system, purchased the necessary items and installed it. She then made a public commitment to assist any other ICPOA residents who wanted a similar security set up at their mail box cluster.

She reached out to Tim LaBlanc about the faded Indian Creek signs around the neighborhood. He volunteered to repaint them and reinstall them. Her leadership got this job done.

Under her term, she reached out to Teller County roads about our neighborhood’s faded road signs, addressed member concerns regarding Ordinance 11 (Trash and Rubbish), County Road erosion issues, and realtor questions regarding the POA.

She led educational efforts to inform residents about Indian Creek well permits and legal use of Residential v. Domestic wells. Other topics of her focus include living with wildlife and fire safety/fire mitigation. Sherri’s commitment to informing our neighborhood included a new, informative website for our group (www.icpoa.org).

She presided over several social gatherings to promote friendships and cooperation in the subdivision, and guided us through the uncertain early days of the pandemic.

We are very appreciative of Sherri, her commitment to bettering our neighborhood, the time, energy and effort she has given to the POA. We wish her well and thank her for all that she has done.

Protect Your Well

Water continues to be a troublesome issue across the southwest. As population growth and flight from urban areas continue, the need for groundwater access will continue to grow. Our water wells are one of our property’s most important and valuable features.

Small changes and simple awareness can lead to us all working together to protect our groundwater and wells.

Very small amounts of fossil fuels can pollute a water well. Two or 3 parts per billion of gasoline are enough to make well water undrinkable. Never allow any spills or leakage from combustion engines, grills, generators, storage tanks, or other fuel sources to be above or near your well.

Know your well type, its legal usage and limitations. You can find out more about any well, its permitting, etc. by searching for the address at this website: https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/WellPermits

Small leaks can waste lots of water. Let Youtube or a friend show you how easy it is to fix a dripping faucet. A few drops of food coloring in the tank of your toilet will reveal water wasting tank leaks. If you have a domestic well (that allows outside water usage), make sure your outdoor spigots are not leaking or dripping.

Turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth, purchasing high efficiency appliances, and any other conservation efforts we make will add up to longer lived and safe wells for us all.

Closure of Private Pathfinder Road

This popular short cut is no longer available to the public. After many attempts to avoid closing access, the four property owners who own the private road have ended through traffic. If you were in the habit of directing others to use this route, you will want to update them with directions to use public, county roads. Continue on Wildhorn Road, turn right on Conestoga Creek, and right on Kiowa Road to get to Pathfinder Road. The private road is not in Indian Creek and is not a part of Indian Creek Subdivision.

Spruce Budworm Spraying

is More Important Now Than Ever

Spruce bud worm is working its way up the Ute Pass. Take a moment to look closely at the trees above Cascade and Green Mountain Falls. The destruction of the forest is surprising. That same destruction has started in our neighborhood.

Local forestry experts have noticed that as our woodlands burn or get deforested by infestation, the ecosystems are not recovering. Climate change is promoting dessert shrub growth over pine, fir, or aspen.

For these reasons it is more important than ever for you to protect your forested property. Removing dead tree debris from the forest floor, thinning “weed” trees, and spraying for pests will help your trees stay healthy and alive.

Take time to pick up dead and downed limbs, pine cones, and other wood debris from the forest floor. Chip them or stack them on your driveway to burn during or after a winter storm. Cut down smaller, crowded, spindly or diseased trees. Doing so will allow the little precipitation we get to supply your trees with water and keep them heathier.

Although many of us do not like spraying with insecticides, keep in mind that current sprays for Spruce Bud Worm are targeted and trees can be sprayed one at a time to limit the spread of any chemicals.

Protect Your Septic

Septic systems are rated for a home’s occupancy. The number of people who live in the home, use showers and bathrooms, laundry, dishwashing, etc. all increase with added persons. Excess use and poor maintenance will bring you unwanted septic troubles and lead to expensive repairs.

New regulations have increased the cost of installing a septic system $25 to $40K for most homes in Teller County. It is much smarter to protect your investment than to have to dig up a system and replace parts of it. A vacation rental home in the area was allowing small events/gatherings of up to 50 people. They did not upgrade their septic, rent port-o-potties, or constantly pump their septic tank. Withing 6 months, they were out of business and had a $40K repair to contend with. Toilet paper slurry had filled their septic lines and could not be resolved.

Septic experts recommend annual service, but many homeowners have their system pumped every other or every 3 years. If you want to push maintenance out beyond annually, be smart about what you flush. Most of the water you send to your septic system is cleaned and filtered naturally as it makes its way to the aquafer. Limiting the solids that are flushed will preserve your septic.

Other countries in the North and South American continents never flush toilet paper, as it is a leading cause of solids in your septic. “Flushable wipes” are not flushable at all. Items like dental floss, condoms, feminine hygiene products, and paper towels should not be flushed. Heavy use of garbage disposals, flushing cigarette butts, coffee grounds, and even lint from synthetic fabric can build up in septic systems and not decompose.

Products that kill bacteria should be used in limited quantities. Antibacterial soaps, bleaches, disinfectants, etc. can negatively impact your septic tank if over used. Your septic system’s bacterial colonies are key to its proper function. Adding bacteria supplements have been shown to be beneficial by recent research.

Some additional items that should never be put down the drain or flushed into a septic system are: insect or weed killers, motor oil, cat litter, earplugs, plastic of any kind, grease, fat, oil, or solvents.

Noxious Weed Control

Our area has both native thistle and invasive thistle. The native varieties have natural predators that keep them in check, the invasive ones were brought in and do not have any local means of natural control. Birds, bees and butterflies benefit from the naturally occurring thistle, but the invasive varieties will take over your lot, choking out native plants and become a nuisance.

It can take a bit of study to know the difference between the two types. None are endangered, plus they can be unpleasant to step on, so eradicating them all from your property may be a reasonable goal. There is no real need to know the difference in the species, just get rid of all of them.

Pulling, while insuring you have as much of the taproot as possible, is a very effective method of eradication. It is not a one-time effort, however. According to Department of Natural Resources, it usually takes about three consecutive years of digging and pulling to eliminate thistle from your property.

Of all the invasive thistle species, the most troublesome is Canada Thistle. This variety is smaller stemmed, is tall, has small flowers, and blooms purple. It reproduces and spreads rapidly by rhizomes and by seed.

Another noxious weed showing up in our area is known by several names: hogweed, cow parsley, cartwheel flower, common hemlock, giant cow parsnip. This one is a mean one. It has a chemical located in its sap that is phytophoto reactive. The sap on your skin when exposed to sun light cause extreme blisters: scary, scary blisters (see image).

Hogweed is growing along several local streams, including along Wildhorn and Arapahoe Creek Roads. It is in our area, and it should be eliminated when found. If you encounter Hogweed, it can be killed by placing a black plastic trash bag around the green and growing parts, it can be dug up, or sprayed with weed killer. Be careful to wear pants, boots, and long sleeves when working with or around this weed, avoid sunlight (work in the evening), and upon completion, clean up carefully with soap and water.

ICPOA Supporting Wildflower Growth

Our area has a rich variety of naturally occuring wildflowers. These native plants add color and beautiy to our surroundings while feeding deer, bees, birds and other animals. ICPOA supports promoting wildflower colonies by distibuting beneficial species seeds.

Park/Teller Conservation District sells mountain wildflower seed blends. These seeds can be picked up at their office in Woodland Park. Toni Moore recently purchased these seeds and compared their growth/germinations to seeds purchased from Arkansas Valley Seeds (AVS).

The Park/Teller Conservation District Seeds were $30 per pound and did germinate if watered, but seemed less than vigours and may have been old.

Arkansas Valley Seeds in Denver sells a wide variety of seeds appropriate for high altitude envrionments, dry climates, and cold winters. Recent plantings from AVS found these seeds to be fresh and vigorous growers.

Shipping costs from AVS is expensive, however. The company has a flat charge for all shipments of $45 per order, making small orders cost prohibative. In person purchases can be made only on M-F, 9 am-5 pm from the office in Denver. For this reason, Don and Toni Moore will place an order and absorb the cost of shipping to make these seeds more accessible to residents this Fall.

Recommend seed blends from AVS are Perinnial Wildflower Mix, Wildflower Seeds for Wild Birds, and Mountain Wildflower Seed Mix.

Wildflower seeds are usually very small and do not need to be covered with soil. The tiny seeds drop from the flowers in the fall and overwinter, then germinate in the spiring. If you are planting wildflower seeds, you can do so by “broadcasting” them. Simply drop them on the soil. Doing so just before a big snow storm will ensure that they are pushed onto the soil.

If you are interested in purchasing wildflower seeds for your property, contact Don and Toni Moore before November 1st at Tihsreed@gmail.com and let them know which seed blend you want. They will get back to you with directions on how to pay and keep you updated on the order, delivery, and distribuiton of the seeds.

Stay Connected in Case of Emergency

ICPOA desires to be proactive to assist should disease, weather, fire, or other disaster happen. Instead of replacing existing services, but we are hoping to remove some of the burden of first responders where we can.

We encourage all members of our neighborhood to:

§ Join ICPOA

§ Join Everbridge : https://member.everbridge.net/1772417038942752/new (choose America/Denver for your time zone).

(NOTE: The "old" emergency notification system, NIXLE, has been replaced by Everbridge, a more reliable system with phone apps and newer technology.)

§ Join Indian Creek Property Owners & Residents Facebook Page

§ Give ICPOA contact info to your close family and friends so they can have a neighborhood contact in case of an emergency. We can send someone to check on you/anyone who has failed to respond to calls.

The ICPOA needs your support to continue serving Indian Creek and invites you to become a member and, we hope, actively participate. Our annual $15 voluntary membership fee is a bargain to help keep you informed. To become a member, send your property address, permanent address, email address, a personal check for $15, and phone number to: ICPOA, P.O. Box 111, Florissant, CO 80816, or email us at icpoassociation@gmail.com and pay the $15 fee via PayPal at the same email address: icpoassociation@gmail.com

Newsletter Fall 2020

Debris homeowner had to remove after tenants vacated.

Jim Tesch loads up earthmover after grading driveway.

Appliance tossed or dropped to Indian Creek roadside.

Indian paintbrush, one of the many types of wildflowers that live in our neighborhood.

Penstemon grows well in our climate.

Unsuccessful beetle "pitched" from pine tree

Characteristic bluing of beetle killed pine

ACE Hardware Paves Parking Area

Our local ACE Hardware has been a real blessing to Indian Creek neighborhood since its opening a few years ago. Mur Woods, Jr. is not only a local, Teller County business man (he owns the ACE in Cripple Creek) but he took an empty Florissant building and refitted it for the hardware store. He and his staff have been a helpful and positive addition to Florissant. ACE is an employer and a source of materials and supplies when any of us homeowners are mid project and need a widget or gadget. Pam, Diana and Julie are all residents of Indian Creek who work at Florissant ACE.

At the end of September 2020, Mr. Woods made another big improvement to his retails space: a paved parking area. This investment in his store should pay multiple dividends to his customers. Not only will the smooth surface make walking into and out of the store more pleasant and safe, but the black top should absorb the sun’s energy in the winter and assist with melting off snow and ice. Covering the gravel/dirt with clean pavement will assist the staff in keeping mud and dirt out of the store.

We salute ACE Hardware, the owners, and staff for being great community members.

Tenants Leave Mess for Homeowner

Linda McGregar, a property owner in Indian Creek, gave home rental a try. Her efforts to assist a family with housing turned sour and resulted in a lot more trouble than it should have been. Linda’s tenants moved in and shortly thereafter stopped paying. She loves Indian Creek and her slice of heaven in Teller County, so she was very disappointed to see the debris, junked cars, wrecked furniture and trash her tenets left behind. Not only did they leave debris in and near the house, but they left a large pile at the end of the driveway. Worst of all, these tenants left junked cars/ATVs/debris on Linda’s neighbor’s property.

Because of restrictions put in place due to COVID19, she had extra hurdles to overcome in her attempt to have these bad tenants removed and to legally clean up all their belongings left behind. On September 23, 2020 she got the posting from Teller County notifying the tenants they had 48 hours to quit the property, and as soon as the time expired, she began contacting folks to assist with cleaning up the mess left roadside, at the house, and on the neighbor’s property.

Linda also reached out to ICPOA to let the board know what was going on with the tenants, and that she was working to handle the mess she was stuck with. Her proactive approach in contacting ICPOA shows she cares about her home, her neighbors, and the environment. We appreciate her willingness to reach out. ICPOA was happy to work with her, providing her with a sounding board, encouragement, and a little assistance as she navigated this difficult time.

As of October 2, the McGregars had nearly all the abandoned items removed and a plan for the final couple of items to be taken away. Thanks, McGregars, for handling this situation with class, integrity, and promptly! Indian Creek is honored to have you as a member of our neighborhood and we appreciate your desire to be a good neighbor, protect property values, and do the right thing.

Getting Ready for Snowfall

Now is the time to get ready for Winter weather. We have had a year of low rain fall, so most of our driveways have not had the erosion problems thunderstorms often bring, but gravity always moves our gravel driveways down the hill. A new neighbor to Indian Creek, hired High Maintenance to recontour and impove their driveway in September.

Proper grading allows rain and snow melt to shed off the driveway without washing away gravel or causing deep rivulets that make access difficult. Many professional earth movers have the experience and intuition to know what works best in our area. Fighting mother nature is never a good idea. Identify where water naturally wants to flow, and find ways to assist that natural flow to protect access up your driveway. Divert water away from your driveway when you can, into side gutters, and toward culverts when the only option is crossing the driveway. Simply sitting in your vehicle and watching the flow of water during a rain storm will tell you a lot. Some areas may just need large rocks to slow the flow or a bit of work with a shovel to remove sand and grit that have washed into your guttering. These are two easy fixes that can prevent a costly washout.

If your driveway is washed out, there are lots of folks locally who have the equipment to assist you. Check the ICPOA Facebook page (use the search feature with the keyword driveway or grading). To reach High Maintenance, call 785-423-1829. Jim Tesch, owner at High Maintenance, does all kinds of residential and commercial building and property maintenance from his home in Florissant, including grading and snow removal.

It is Your Property, Protect Its Value!

On a recent drive through Indian Creek, several dumping spots were seen. This photo shows a washing machine that appears to have been dumped or fallen from a truck. Littering and dumping are never acceptable, even on your own property. Teller County Ordinance 11 prohibits this behavior.

https://www.co.teller.co.us/CountyOrdinances/ORDINANCE_Rubbish07062001.pdf

Whether a person leaves debris, junked cars, worn out furniture, old trailers or household trash along the roadside or in their yard, they are littering. Indian Creek is our home. There is no good excuse for trashing it. If you see this behavior reach out, if you are guilty of this, ask for assistance.

Residents who have debris to dispose of and having trouble finding a way to get rid of it should try posting on the Indian Creek Facebook page or calling an ICPOA board member. Indian Creek has great neighbors who are willing to pull together to solve problems and assist whenever the need arises.

Some Indian Creek owners recycle metal, others have trucks and muscle to assist. Remember, you subject yourself to fines and liens when you litter. Your actions affect the property values, safety and ecology of the neighborhood. Do the right thing to protect our home in lovely Teller County.

Water Regulations and Drought Complicate Country Living

Water rights in Colorado are complex. Turns out every drop of rain is accounted for before it falls. Until 2016 it was illegal to even collect water in a rain barrel on your own property. The regulation changed, but still restrict users to two 50-gallon rain barrels to be filled at any time.

One thing many Indian Creek residents would be shocked to learn is that virtually all the wells in the subdivision were designated as household use only wells when the subdivision was created. This created both a positive and negative for property purchasers. On the positive side, all lots are grandfathered to be allowed a household well permit. That has become a more and more valuable asset through the years. Some homesites outside our neighborhood have a much more difficult battle to dig a well with many regulations and restrictions to navigate. If you own in Indian Creek, your household well permit came with your property purchase.

On the negative side of the ledger, most all the well permits are for “Household/Residential” wells only. What that means is outside spigots are a no-no. Any outside use of water is prohibited when it comes to water from these wells. That means washing your car, watering your flower bed, or watering horses or livestock from household wells in Indian Creek is not allowed. Even watering your pet dog outside is officially not allowed!!! Outdoor uses are restricted to property owners with “domestic well” designation. How do you know which well designation you have at your property? It is easy to find out. Go to this website and enter your address. https://dwr.state.co.us/Tools/WellPermits

The records for well types are public information. You will learn when your well was permitted and which designation your well has.

Why care? Several wells in Indian Creek have very low production and some have even stopped producing. This can be an expensive problem for a homeowner. Some homeowners have chosen to install a cistern to augment their water resources. Low production wells (a few gallons a minute) can fill cisterns so that when water is required, higher flow rates are available from the cistern. Other homeowners have installed cisterns and pay for water delivery from water haulers like Gold Dust Water Haulers, a local company that delivers drinking water to our area.

If you are using your household well in unauthorized ways, you are exposing yourself to legal action. All outdoor use of water from a household well requires prior approval from the Colorado Department of Water Resources, and a Substitute Water Supply Plan. If you want to avoid civil action because your neighbors’ well has gone dry, and don’t want the expense and trouble of a Substitute Water Supply Plan, simply purchase water to be delivered for watering horses, livestock, greenhouses, and gardens.

Wildflower Seeds for Our Area Available from Teller/Park Conservation District

Teller/Park Conservation District offer one-pound bags of locally viable wildflower seeds (Native and non-invasive introduced species) for under $40. These seeds have been assembled with our climate in mind. The species featured not only add color and beauty to our properties, but they are designed to be drought tolerant, withstand the harsh winter climate, and come back year after year. They are also nontoxic to cattle; help stabilize soil and provide ground cover. These flower plants are appropriate forage for wildlife in our area.

These carefully designed seed blends are preferable to commercial blends that may have invasive species seeds and may not be adaptable to our harsh climate.

Planting wildflowers is easy. The ground can be raked and the soil over turned, but you do not have to do this step. The seeds can simply be broadcast over the area in the late Autumn or Winter. These wild seeds will over winter and emerge when the weather is right for them. Wildflowers provide food for birds and bees and make our neighborhood more beautiful.

Can you imagine how lovely Indian Creek could become if we all worked together to have these colorful wildflowers added to the natural species that already make our properties bloom?

The specially designed blend available from the Conservation District includes Indian Paintbrush, California Poppy, Lupine, Coneflower, Penstemon, Wild Asters and others. Call or email (719) 472-3671, tellerparkcd@gmail.com for more information to pick up your seeds at the municipal complex Tuesday to Thursday, 9 am to 4 pm, at 800 Research Drive, just off Highway 67 North in Woodland Park.

Fire Mitigation Matters

As some of you are aware, the ICPOA has created a loosely knit group known as the Fire Mitigation Committee (FMC). The mission of the FMC is to educate, assist, and, benefit ICPOA members with their fire mitigation and management efforts while at the same time building fellowship and community within Indian Creek.

Educate – The FMC does not profess to have all the answers to every fire mitigation circumstance; however, the FMC does have knowledge and experience in dealing with mitigation efforts and priorities of the Colorado State Forestry Division. For the residents that have been living here in Indian Creek a long time, the FMC can provide you with information about new areas of concern as directed by the Colorado State Forestry Division. For new residents here in Indian Creek experiencing forest living for the first time, FMC can provide you with an assessment of your property with regards to fire mitigation priorities.

Assist – The FMC schedules and performs fire mitigation workdays for ICPOA members on a quarterly basis. We are notified by the property owner that they would like assistance with their fire mitigation efforts. This includes picking up the forest floor, removing ladder fuels from live trees, eliminating dead standing trees, and marking for removal those trees that are either diseased or questionable to the health of the forest. The FMC will produce firewood or other products from the harvested trees. This firewood can be used by the property owner, or the FMC will deliver the firewood to an ICPOA member that has need for firewood.

Benefit – The FMC understands that there is a great deal of forested property within Indian Creek. Each small step taken in the mitigation of individual properties benefits not just the property owner, but all of the property owners in Indian Creek.

Some of the current items to be working on are:

Diseased and Distressed Trees – Due to the lack of moisture and perhaps an overgrowth of the forest many trees are currently in distress. It may be beneficial to remove these trees. Stressed trees will attract the attention of the mountain pine beetle and/or the ips beetle next spring. Removal of significantly distressed trees as this time may improve the health of your forest next spring. Diseased trees such as those impacted by the mountain pine beetle or dwarf mistletoe should be removed as well.

Ladder Fuels – While the fall weather remains mild and the sun is still shining, walk your forest and continue the removal of ladder fuels. Ladder fuels are those low hanging branches that allow a fire burning along the ground to climb up a tree. Removing these ladder fuels (up to the 8 to 10 feet height) will provide fire mitigation, it will also improve the appearance of your property. Find an open area to stack your ladder fuels (away from tree cover/roots), cover them with a tarp, and after obtaining your Teller County Burn Permit, burn them on a snowy day. If you do not feel comfortable burning, load them in your truck and haul them away to a slash site.

Defensible Space – We should all be looking at the defensible space around our home and buildings. Focus on the first 30 to 50 feet radius around your buildings to ensure: tree crowning touching or above any structures are eliminated; ladder fuels are removed; and the forest floor is clear of debris. In addition, be sure to limit flammable materials close to structures, this includes wood piles, leaf/needle debris (check your gutters if you have them), jute or rope door mats, etc. Once you have identified and cleaned up your defensible space, be sure to document your efforts and report to your insurance company – it might just safe you a few bucks.

As you can see fire mitigation does matter. Each small step taken will assist in limiting the risk of loss through a fire. While this will not happen overnight the FMC is here to assist ICPOA members. If you would like to be involved with the FMC and our efforts please let us know – the more the better. Our next work day is schedule for: 10/31/2020 8 am to 11 am and 11/14/2020 8 am to 11 am. Call 719-839-0860 for more information.

Tax Credits and Matching Funds for Fire Mitigation

Both Colorado state and the federal government have tax credits available for property owners who hire fire mitigation work done. Matching funds are also available from CUSP (Coalition of the Upper South Platt) to fire mitigate along evacuation routes throughout Indian Creek Subdivision.

Each of these programs will reduce the overall cost of fire mitigation by fifty percent. There are restriction and rules involved, so do your homework before committing to pay for mitigation work if you are counting on partial reimbursement from one of these entities.

The CUSP program seeks to recruit land owners along major ingress and egress routes. Officials will assist in identifying areas of possible blockage of exit routes in case of wildfire or other natural disaster. If the homeowner remediates these areas, a matching funds grant will refund them a part of the expense. This CUSP program requires multiple properties to collaborate. For more information about this effort, contact Jane Mannon, Development & Outreach Director Coalition for the Upper South Platte, Coalitions & Collaboratives, Inc. (719) 748-0033, (719) 313-7121.

To learn more about direct tax credits to defray the cost of fire mitigation on your property, go to https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb16-1052#:~:text=The%20bill%20allows%20a%20landowner,tax%20liability%20for%205%20years.

ICPOA is Indian Creek Property Owners Association

www.icpoa.org

§ President: Sherri Piccione, (719)-748-5131, icpoassociation@gmail.com

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

§ Secretary Toni Moore: (719) 839-0860, tihsreed@gmail.com

§ Treasurer Mark Strange: (719) 748-1073, mlstrange2003@att.net

§ Member-at-Large: John Rakowski, (719) 748-3861, rakgeologist@hughes.net

The Indian Creek Property Owners Association invites you to participate in our voluntary property owner’s association if you own property in Indian Creek or immediately adjacent. Here is why: We represent the largest development area in Teller County, Colorado. ICPOA was incorporated under Colorado law in 1976 and we do not own property, handle land sales, or advertise sales. Our members are from all over the nation, many are permanent residents, and others are planning on retiring or moving here in the future. Some members are using the investments made in land as a hedge against inflation.

We do not share our addresses or email lists with anyone else. ICPOA is a non-profit IRS 501 (C-4) organization. The officers are concerned members who donate their time and talents to the Association. It is not just “Social Club”, although there is an annual Pot Luck Dinner and other opportunities to socialize with your neighbors.

ICPOA traditionally hosts a dinner in June of each year, and Ice Cream Social in August. Our meetings help members meet neighbors. There are usually three meetings each year: February, June and August and are at the Florissant Grange (Old Schoolhouse) at 4 PM on those Saturdays. Newsletters are mailed each winter and as needed to help members keep up to date. If we have your email address, we also send copies of Meeting Minutes or other timely news items.

Problems and concerns of our officers and members are no doubt similar to those you have in protecting your interests and investment here. Some areas in which we are trying to give help to our members are: increased law enforcement, better fire protection, improvements in road maintenance, emergency medical service, recognition and protection of property rights. We try to act as an avenue of communication with local, county and state government. Being sure our members stay informed of issues pertinent to them and their property here in Indian Creek is an important goal of ICPOA. Membership is particularly useful to non-resident landowners to be informed of happenings here.

ICPOA belongs to the Teller County Alliance of Property Owners Associations. That group was formed in 1989 to coordinate efforts of property owners in Teller County and to provide an organized forum for discussion and action on such matters as may be in the interest of the area.

The Association needs your support to continue serving Indian Creek and invites you to become a member and, we hope, actively participate.

Our annual $15 voluntary membership fee is a bargain to help keep you informed. To become a member, send your property address, permanent address, email address, a personal check for $15, and phone number to: ICPOA, P.O. Box 111, Florissant, CO 80816, or email us at icpoassociation@gmail.com and pay the $15 fee via PayPal at the same email address: icpoassociation@gmail.com.

Visit us on the web at www.icpoa.org

Join our community Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/245285565863817

Newsletter 2020

Message from the President

As we a say farewell to 2019, we say Hello 2020 and our vision and plan for the new year.

The ICPOA vision and plan for 2020 is for the association to provide increased value for our residents. Value in the form of membership growth, community fire protection, increased communication/social media presence, road improvements, an avenue of communication with county and state government along with recognition and protection of property rights.

During 2019, ICPOA began to post meeting and community information on the local Facebook page, Indian Creek Property Owners and Residents Indian Creek Facebook Page.

Or type this address into your browser: https://www.facebook.com/groups/245285565863817/

We are excited to announce that we now have a website established and will be using the website as well as the Facebook page to communicate with our Indian Creek community. The website address is: Indian Creek Property Owners Association Please take the time to check out our new website

Or type this address into your browser: https://sites.google.com/view/indiancreek/

An ICPOA Fire Mitigation Committee has been established. Fire mitigation was completed on a local property during October and the wood collected was donated to another Indian Creek resident. Future mitigation dates are scheduled for March 21, 2020 and April 25, 2020. Information will be distributed by email prior to the mitigation dates. We need volunteers and this is a great way to meet your neighbors while protecting our community with adequate fire mitigation.

ICPOA wants to increase value and increase membership. Currently membership is approximately 20% of the total properties in Indian Creek. Please invite your neighbors to visit the Facebook Page, visit our website, and encourage them to join our volunteer association.

“Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work” -- Vince Lombardi

Membership dues are due by February 15, 2020 and are only $15.00. A remittance form is attached. We are now able to accept dues payments via PayPal.

After logging into your PayPal account, chose “send money”, to: type the email address

ICPOAssociation@gmail.com, $15.00, “Friend” to avoid fees. Enter your last name and ICPOA dues so we can correctly credit the payment.

Dues can also be paid at our first meeting on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at 2:00 pm at the Florissant Grange.

Sincerely,

Sherri Piccione

2020 Community Meetings

We have 4 community meetings scheduled this year. Three meetings will be held at the Florissant Grange. (The End of Summer Picnic Bash location will be announced at a later date)

February 22, 2020 at 2:00 pm

Cookie exchange so bring your favorite cookie and recipe to share.

Guest Speaker: IREA

June 6, 2020 at 4:00 pm

Pot Luck Meeting. ICPOA provides chicken. Members are encouraged to bring side dish or dessert. Guest Speaker: Joe Kraudelt will give an extensive bear/cougar awareness and safety presentation. (nail and electric non-welcome mats) how to make and set them up as well as how to set up electric fence protections for chickens, goats or other domestic critters.

August 22, 2020 at 4:00 pm

Ice Cream Social Meeting. ICPOA provides Ice Cream and toppings.

Guest Speaker: to be determined

September 26, 2020 at 2:00 pm

End of Summer Picnic Bash Details will be announced at a later date

Treasurer’s Comments

Mark Strange is stepping down as the Treasurer of ICPOA. Work obligations and travel are making it difficult to devote the time necessary to continue serving in that role.

As a result, we are currently seeking a new candidate willing to serve as the ICPOA Treasurer. If you would be interested or know of someone that might be interested, please contact the ICPOA at ICPOAssociation@gmail.com or you can call Sherri Piccione 719-748-5131.

Pikes Peak Historical Society Information

PPHS operates the museum between the Thunderbird and the Outpost on Teller 1, just south of US 24. The museum is open in the spring and fall from 1-4 PM on Saturdays and Sundays but between Memorial Day and Labor Day we are open from 10 AM-4 PM on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays; Sunday is open 1-4 PM. Museum entry is free! We also are Trustees for Teller County in maintaining the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery and arranging new burials. PPHS has a US 24 highway cleanup day in late spring from the Park – Teller County line east to the Kiosk on the east side of Florissant (Volunteers welcomed). PPHS arranges for flowers to decorate the Post Office, the main museum and the Teacherage Museum next to the Grange.

PPHS installed and maintains the kiosk and the three “FLORISSANT 1870” stone signs you see when entering town. PPHS was instrumental in restoration of the Florissant school complex, one of the few complete groupings of school buildings in the western region. The Grange now owns all but the Teacherage Museum which we maintain. We provide a series of informative Chautauqua presentations free to the public on historical items or natural history which take place on six Sunday afternoons during the year at the Lake George Charter School auditorium.

Our mission is to encourage the preservation of the historical integrity of the Florissant region and the west slope of Pikes Peak and to educate the public regarding the rich historical heritage of Florissant and the west slope of Pikes Peak. We welcome new members and volunteers. Volunteering just a few hours a month with PPHS is a superb way to meet folks not only from this immediate area but also from around the world. For information call 719-748-8259 or visit our website at: www.PikesPeakHSMuseum.org

Florissant Grange Information

Today's Florissant Grange #420 operates out of the Old Florissant School House on the corner of CR 31 and CR 3 (aka Wildhorn Road) and the Grange operates 100% on donations and volunteers. The Grange provides an opportunity to serve by providing leadership for local community service projects.

The following are regularly scheduled events at the Florissant Grange. Please call 719-748-5008 to confirm and for more information.

· Grange meetings are the 2nd Monday of each month at 5:30 pm.

· The second Saturday of each month, from 9-13 pine needle basket class & gourd class.

· The Florissant Grange Quilt of Valor Guild meets the second Tuesday of each month from 9-12. Quilts are awarded to Teller County Vets during the year.

April - Easter Party with the Easter Bunny/Easter Egg Hunt, April 4th from 1-2:30. Also in April (date TBD) look forward to another in a series of Dinner concerts.

May - Spring Craft Show. Date TBD.

June - A BBQ and music from the Lima Street Band. An annual concert with these musicians who volunteer their time and music for the Grange. Most likely June 27th.

July - The month for Heritage Day in Florissant, July 25th. The Grange will have Crafters and vendors and music on this day of celebration.

August - An outdoor flea market.

October - Fall Craft Show and the annual Halloween Party with the maze, crafts and goodies for the kiddos.

November - Free Thanksgiving Dinner.

December - Annual Christmas Party with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

New Businesses in Florissant

Mountain Key Pharmacy is open in Florissant. The pharmacy provides the following services: pharmacy, chronic pain, flu and strep testing, medications for pets, Medicare open enrollment along with many other services. The Owner, Dr. Brent Stein grew up in Parker Colorado and he is a native to Colorado.

Second Nature Rock Shop is located at 18172 Teller 1 in the Park State Bank and Trust building in Florissant. You will find minerals, fossils, gemstones, antique documents, photos, Native American artifacts, stamps, coins, and jewelry.

NEXT MEETING: Saturday, February 22, 2019 @ 2:00 pm Cookie Exchange/Cookie Swap

What’s a cookie swap? Each person brings one type of cookie to share with the group along with the recipe. (Suggestion: 1 dozen or more if you so desire) At the meeting we will sample the cookies, and we can trade recipes.

Bring a neighbor with you!!!!!

Newsletter 2019

Message from the President

Welcome to 2019 all of my fellow Indian Creek Residents. May we all be blessed with snow and moisture, without any of the torrential rains or any fires.

This will be my first year as President of the Indian Creek Property Owners Association. I want to take the time to pay my respect to the past president, Alan Caldwell and for that matter any president that proceeded me. Joe Kraudelt, John Rakowski just to name a couple. They have really taken an interest in our POA and have laid an awesome groundwork for us to build on.

Thank you, Ron Deutsch and Mark Strange for volunteering and taking on the Board roles of Secretary and Treasurer with me. Both of these men are an asset to our community. I am so grateful for their knowledge and insight.

The Board would like to congratulate a previous ICPOA President, Joe Kraudelt on 30 + years volunteer service for the Colorado Department of Wildlife. What a commitment he has given to the Colorado Department of Wildlife, THANK YOU JOE….

I am sure everyone has knowledge and is aware of internet sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Nextdoor. The board is aware of these sites and would like to remind our members and non-members that the Association DOES NOT participate in these internet forums. Please o not represent our Association on such forums and protect yourselves by researching any information given out through such internet forums.

Familiarize yourself with the new Camping Ordinance: Amendment to LUR Section 2.4 Camping and Temporary Housing. This Amendment addresses issues with camping in Teller County for both property owners, visitors and vagrants. Please see the link below or you will find the final Amendment to LUR Section 2.4 Camping and Temporary Housing under the Teller County 2018 Planning Commission Meeting Schedule Meeting Date 11-13-2018 Staffing Report Item #2 Camping.

http://www.co.teller.co.us/CDSD/Planning/PCAgendas/2018Agendas/Section%202.4%20Camping%20Staff%20Report%20for%20Distribution%20(004)%20(002).pdf

Please see below for the schedule of ICPOA meetings to include events at the Grange and the Pikes Peak Historical Society.

Thank you all for choosing Indian Creek. I look forward to meeting you throughout the year.

Remember dues are due by March 15, 2019 and are only $15.00. You can use the attached dues remittance form and mail your dues check or you can pay your dues in person at our first meeting on Saturday, March 2, 2019 at 4:00 pm at the Florissant Grange.

Sincerely

Sherri Piccione

2019 Community Meetings

Our three (3) community meetings this year will be held at the Florissant Grange Hall (The Old Florissant School House) and will start at 4 PM on the following Saturdays:

March 2

There will be a cookie exchange so bring your favorite cookie and recipe to share. We are planning a special guest to discuss water use and rights in Indian Creek.

June 15

Pot Luck Meeting. ICPOA provides chicken. Members are encouraged to bring side dish or dessert. We are planning a guest and discussion about getting internet service in all areas of Indian Creek.

August 10th

Ice Cream Social Meeting. ICPOA provides Ice Cream and toppings guest speaker and discussion of Florissant area history.

Treasurer’s Comments

As of January 2019:

Checking $1,932.68

Savings $5,009.37

2019 Dues are “Due” Please complete, detach and return the annual dues notice on the last page of this letter. You may pay for past, current and future dues if you would like. Your cancelled check will be your receipt. Our annual dues are very small compared to other POAs. The money is used for informational newsletters, donations to local associations, ICPOA social events and other items voted on by membership or board members.

Please include your email address to receive notices and newsletters promptly. ICPOA does not

share or sell your information to anyone.

We encourage all members to attend our general meetings. Please bring a neighbor! There are maps and windshield decals for sale at our meetings as well as a number of free informational handouts.

Florissant Grange Information

The Grange, more than an Agricultural organization, is a Fraternal Organization founded in 1867. They are a non-profit, non- partisan organization that advocates for rural America and we are the only one of its kind in the world.

Today's Florissant Grange #420 operates out of the Old Florissant School House on the corner of CR 31 and CR 3 (aka Wildhorn Road) and they operate 100% on donations and volunteers. The Grange provides an opportunity to serve by providing leadership for local community service projects. Examples of some of their projects include:

Providing a community center: VFW, AA, Friends of the NRA; Indian Creek Property Owners Association; Druid Hill Home Owners Association, Gold Belt Tour organization; Senior Health Screenings, Sponsoring community activities: Christmas Party, Easter Party, Thanksgiving Dinner; Craft Shows, Flea Markets, Providing interesting classes: Pine Needle Basket Making, Crafting with Gourds, Painting, Glass Painting, Living with Bears and Lions, Gardening, quilting, Quilt of Valor, Guild, sewing, Music: Jam/Potluck night, Drum and Guitar Lessons, Dinner Concerts for our Community, and much more: Yoga, Zumba, Plays, Heritage Day; Game night; Breakfasts... The Grange reaches out to all people in an effort to respond to their needs. It helps create community strength by providing a space to bring people together. In working together, the Grange builds community and people. The fellowship, recreation and social activities in the Grange are developed with the family in mind – all are welcome at the Grange. 2019Activities (call 719-748-5004 for more information)

 Game Night – To Be announced

 Basket Making 2nd Saturday of each month (unless changed) from 9-12.00

 Glass Paining – (more to be scheduled depending on interest)

 Florissant Grange Quilt of Valor Guild – 2 nd Tuesday of each month from 9-12

 Valentine Breakfast from 8 – 11 February 16.

 Spring Craft Fair, March 16 from 9-3

 Dinner Concert with Backroad Bluegrass Boys, March 30 th from 6-9

 Easter Party with the Easter Bunny April 6 th

 Flea market and Craft Fair June 8 th from 9-3

 Basket Class June 15 from 9-12

 Beach Party Dinner Concert with Kon Tiki, June 2 from 5-8

 Heritage Day – July 27 th

 Aug 17 Late Afternoon Concert and Dinner with Lima Street Band 4-7

 Flea Market & Fall Craft Show Sept 14 9-3

 Treat Street Halloween Party October 26 from 2-4

 Free Thanksgiving Dinner Nov 20 th

 Christmas Craft Show Dec 4 th

 Christmas Party Dec 11th

 Christmas Angel Boxes pack and deliver Dec 18

We welcome everyone at our Grange. Please join us for a meeting and see what we are all about: We meet the 2 nd Monday of each month at 5:30 pm. Our meetings generally last about 1.5 hours while we are taking care of business.

Pikes Peak Historical Society Information

PPHS operates the museum between the Thunderbird and the Outpost on Teller 1, just south of US 24. The museum is open in the spring and fall from 1-4 PM on Saturdays and Sundays but between Memorial Day and Labor Day we are open from 10 AM-4 PM on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays; Sunday is open 1-4 PM. We also are Trustees for Teller County in maintaining the Florissant Pioneer Cemetery and arranging new burials. PPHS has a US 24 highway cleanup day in late spring from the Park – Teller County line east to the Kiosk on the east side of Florissant (Volunteers welcomed). PPHS arranges for flowers to decorate the Post Office, the main museum and the Teacherage Museum next to the Grange.

PPHS installed and maintains the kiosk and the three FLORISSANT 1870” stone signs you see when entering town. PPHS was instrumental in restoration of the Florissant school complex, one of the few complete groupings of school buildings in the western region. The Grange now owns all but the Teacherage Museum which we maintain. We provide a series of informative Chautauqua presentations on historical items or natural history which take place on six Sunday afternoons during the year at the Lake George Charter School auditorium. We have an active group which documents Ute culturally modified trees in the area. Our mission is to encourage the preservation of the historical integrity of the Florissant region and the west slope of Pikes Peak and to educate the public regarding the rich historical heritage of Florissant and the west slope of Pikes Peak. We welcome new members and volunteers. Volunteering just a few hours a month with PPHS is a superb way to meet folks not only from this immediate area but also from around the world. For information call 719-748-8259 or visit our website at: www.PikesPeakHSMuseum.org

New Businesses in Florissant

A pharmacy providing prescription filling for human and animal medications with the capacity for compounding has opened on the first floor of the former Park State Bank next to the Post Office. Practitioner is opening an office on the north side while a rock shop/jewelry shop has opened on the south side next to the Post Office. A motorsports company is going to move into the former Fossil Inn.

NEXT MEETING: Saturday, March 2, 2019 @ 4:00 pm Cookie

Exchange/Cookie Swap. Bring a neighbor with you!

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