The Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs and the High Park Fire west of Fort Collins brought destruction to mountain community homeowners, challenged emergency responders and local, state and federal resources and had a major impact on homeowner associations (HOAs).
HOAs typically deal with day-to-day covenant enforcement issues like parking and property upkeep but the fires of 2012 are forcing homeowner associations in the Springs and outside Ft. Collins to rebuild their communities from scratch, while addressing issues like home design, size and setbacks.
In order to help HOAs prepare for and respond to natural disasters like forest fires, the Community Associations Institute will be offering an educational session on risk management and fire mitigation at their 9th annual Mountain Conference and Tradeshow, being held on Friday, October 5 in Vail.
“The Waldo Canyon and High Park Fires are presenting enormously complex situations to mountain community HOAs,” said Terry Jarrett, president of the Community Associations Institute – Rocky Mountain Chapter. “We want to educate HOA boards and managers on the lessons learned from these fires and inform them on proactive risk management and fire suppression/mitigation techniques for their communities.”
According to Jarrett, mountain community HOAs have been impacted by declining tourism numbers, declines in the real estate market and high unemployment rates.
“Our conference is designed to provide education on a number of HOA-related issues including manager licensure, the importance of HOA reserves/reserve studies, the legality of ‘remote’ meetings and a look at what type of legislation we expect to see in 2013 that could impact HOAs,” said Jarrett.
The Mountain Conference will be held on Friday, October 5 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Vail Cascade Resort and Spa, 1300 Westhaven Drive in Vail. While there is a fee to attend this event, it includes a continental breakfast and lunch, eight educational programs and access to the tradeshow.
For more information on the Mountain Conference or to resister, call 303-951-4973 or go online at here.
The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Community Associations Institute is the primary organization in Colorado dedicated to fostering vibrant, responsive and competent community associations through education.