My thoughts for 2020/2021 in the upcoming meeting Dec 3:

 

Overall road conditions are decent going into the winter season. We spent a lot of effort working on drainage systems for lowest Cedar way and Cedar Ct, hoping that the spring melt out doesn't bring the usual potholes. Time will tell.

 

Road widths thru the road system are at this point, wide enough that 2 vehicles can pass on slick roads in most but not all spots. Widening the roads has been an expensive but worthwhile endeavor in my opinion. The wider roadways have also allowed crews to install a more functional system of ditches with more moderate grades off the shoulders hopefully resulting in fewer stuck vehicles for Steve and Blue to deal with.

 

Additional parking at the student drop-off location should be helpful during major storms but I wonder if signage showing the proper direction to orient vehicles might allow more people to use the new spots. I see cars and trucks parked parallel to Balsam rather than nosing up towards Kilby.

 

The Entry Area looks much improved!

 

The Potts have generously offered to let TSSD park the plow truck in their heated RV garage this winter.

 

2021 Projects:

 

1. I would like to add permanent curbing to the creek crossings the big T intersection of Ponderosa and Bristlecone. We have a lot of runoff going to the creeks and it loosens the rocks placed there at which point they fall into the creek. I think we can do a better job of controlling the runoff if we reinforce the edges over the creeks. Ballpark $10k for 4 retaining wall/curb installations. 

2.  I am not sure as to the best system but is it worth reinforcing the edge of Ponderosa below Douglas to try and stop the inevitable slide-offs we seem to have every couple years? We have a few rocks placed there but until snow builds up from plowing, they have not consistently stopped sliding vehicles.

3. Traction spreading continues to be needed on the roads and we continue to have a freezing problem. The bottom line is that TSSD needs the ability to put traction aggregate out 7 days a week. The Potts donating the use of their garage is not a long-term solution. 

 

Pre-loading the plow truck only works if the truck is kept in a warm environment. All aggregate seems to have enough moisture that a day or two of cold temps results in the operators dealing with a giant frozen mass of material that actively resists going into the auger to be spread. Alternatively, it jams the auger and then requires hand shoveling to un-plug. 

 

The solution that seems best would be to have the means to load the hopper of the sander and immediately spread the product. There are a couple self-loading spreader designs out there, I would like to budget $7000 to acquire one. 

 

4. Paving. As paved roads appear to be more slick than the gravel surfaced ones (at least early season), TSSD should get our traction spreading capacity improved prior to adding more asphalt. Should the board vote to add pavement, plan on roughly $4 sq/ft.  For example, paving the steep Ponderosa section from the T to the horse sheds would run about $20,000. Currently the RAP seems to be holding up well.

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5. Lower Balsam extension. We have been exploring extending lower Balsam downhill and tying back in to Kilby about 150' past the last home. While there are only six homes on this section of road, having the garbage truck backing out towards the mailbox kiosk and other traffic seems sub-optimal given a history of collisions at that intersection. We have approval from PCFD but would need a variance from the county and engineered drawings. Kyle and I met with Derick Radke (Summit County) this summer and came away thinking that it could be done fairly affordably if the county planning commission signs off on the idea. Without engineered drawings, Morgans has not felt confident in submitting an estimate.

 

These are just my thoughts for next summer and budget dollars.

 

Thanks much,

Respectfully, Tor Boschen