September, 2024

Dear Fellow Ptarmigan Owners,

This year I am so excited to pass on to you that all of the associations in our resort have completed their renovations. It has been a long road to get to this point. We have also completed the asphalt project for our parking areas. I was just in Pagosa for meetings and it looks great. Back in 2019 our guest satisfaction surveys sat at 74.2%. Today, they are 90.7%. This is a very significant improvement.

We have seen some changes at Pagosa Springs. Eugene Silvestri left earlier this year and Shane Prince has been promoted up to General Manager. Meghan Sheridan is back and has now taken the position of Assistant General Manager. Tom Barnes resigned as Chief Engineer, but stayed on a while to ensure the smooth transition of the job to James Garlinghouse

The area where survey results need improvement is the exterior of the units. Here the complaint is overwhelming about the condition of the roads and the pot holes in the parking areas. This is a complicated issue as some of the roads in the area are the responsibility of the State while others are the County’s responsibility. The parking areas are the responsibility of each association. But I was so happy on my trip down this week to see that progress has finally been made. The State has put new asphalt down (not filling pot holes, but putting new roads down) as well as the county. Valley View Drive which had so many pot holes has been resurfaced and is so smooth. In addition, Park Ave and Talisman have also been resurfaced. This doesn’t complete the job but it is a significant improvement.

The Board, in our latest meeting has approved the new budget for 2025. I am letting you know at this time that the Annual Maintenance Fees will increase to $1710.00. This is a 7.3% increase over last year. I know we were able to achieve below a 3% increase last year. We were very hopeful that we would be able to maintain that. However, as you can see, we were not. We truly try our best as well as the management, who does a great job. However, there are costs within our budget that are not within our control. Big hits this year were in Housekeeping, Insurance and Real Estate and Property tax. Another impact is our participation in the Pagosa Lakes Property Owner’s Association. We estimate each year what this increase will be. Last year we severely under estimated their increase. So we have to make up last year’s increase above budget as well as this year’s increase. At the President’s meeting we did get word that the PLPOA did share their projected increase prior to our budget process. This is significant to us. It allows us to budget more accurately and I hope that this is not a one off and that they continue to understand that we need to have this information as early as possible to include in our budgeting process.

While at the President’s meeting I learned some interesting things that I would like to pass on to you. If you have a smart phone, consider downloading the App “Visit Pagosa Springs”. This might help you plan for newer events and restaurants in the area. They also have some new art in the area such as a statue of a shepherd near Walmart that you might like to see. Plans for a couple of sheep around him are in the works.

I also learned more about the use of the geothermal springs. Did you know that the spring is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s deepest geothermal hot spring? The heat is also used to heat 30 businesses downtown and the sidewalks as well as the gardens in the geodesic domes. If you are in the area for longer and need something interesting to do, consider looking up the geothermal loop and go do some exploring.

The most important thing I learned is that there will be major construction starting in April- May 2025. It will be a 2 year project that will be ripping up 160 in the downtown area as well as the side walk. It will be down to 1 lane during this 2 year time frame. If you are coming to Pagosa Springs from the north, you will definitely be impacted. I would recommend that you call the resort to get the latest recommendations on how to get around the construction. Shane will be working with the city and the Colorado Department of Transportation to figure out what can be done to help visitors. They are discussing shuttle transports from uptown to downtown etc. Nothing is concrete at this time.

The Aspen trees that were planted look good so far. I hope the weather and deer are kind to them. We will be having discussions on how to improve the outside experiences for our owners and guests such as the picnic tables and Bar B Q grills etc. Feedback so far has been that people would like to have something where larger family gatherings could be held. If you have any recommendations, please email me and I will pass the information on.

As always, it is our pleasure to serve all of our valued owners. If you have any concerns, questions, etc. that you wish the board to address, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My email is kcbard@charter.net. Please put Ptarmigan somewhere in the subject heading so that it won’t get lost in the rest of my email. We have our next meeting via teleconference on February 7th, 2025. Our next meeting in Pagosa Springs is April 12th, 2025 at 9 am. If you are in the area and wish to attend, please feel welcome. We would love to see you there. You can also attend via Zoom if you wish.

Respectfully,

Karen Bard – President
Ptarmigan Association

PTARMIGAN PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
P.O. Box 4040
Pagosa Springs, CO 81147

• Ptarmigan Regular Board of Directors Meeting : 8/02/2025 : 9:00 AM (MT)
• Ptarmigan ANNUAL Board of Directors Meeting : 8/02/2025 : 10:00 AM (MT)
• Ptarmigan BUDGET Board of Directors Meeting : 9/12/2025 : 9:00 AM (MT)
• Ptarmigan Regular Board of Directors Meeting : 2/06/2026 : 9:00 AM (MT)
• Ptarmigan Regular Board of Directors Meeting : 4/10/2026 : 9:00 AM (MT)

Owners are welcome to attend any of the Board of Directors meetings.
Owners are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting. If you cannot attend please cast your vote by mail for the Director election and return your proxy.