As a Mammoth Creek Homeowner, you received two pieces of certified mail in the past month regarding the Gap Bike Path Project proposal to replace the dirt path on the south edge of our property with a paved bike path. As these documents have some short deadlines combined with the possibility of the town using eminent domain to acquire the property, here is an update from the Board regarding what is being done.
The HOA Board of Directors and several members had a conference call meeting with Town representatives on Wednesday night, December 13. The HOA’s attorney and a board member had a subsequent conference call with the Town representatives on Friday, December 15 to discuss the requirement to appear before the Town Council on December 20 to protect our rights to challenge the right of the Town to acquire our property by eminent domain. Our attorney will be drafting a letter and getting it to the Town by the deadline to protect us on this matter.
The Board and Town are anxious to start the formal negotiation process on this project. Our first meeting is scheduled for January 9, 2018 in Mammoth Lakes. The board has appointed Gary Drlik (gdrlik@gmail.com) and Tom Waller (trw2001@sbcglobal.net) to be the HOA’s representatives to negotiate with the Town on this project.
The Board plans to try to come up with a settlement package that addresses homeowner concerns, while simultaneously accumulating concrete reasons that will effectively challenge the eminent domain resolution of necessity should we be unable to reach a settlement, or the settlement does not receive the necessary votes for approval.
Since there is a very tight time line that the Town needs to adhere to for funding for this project (obtain the property by April 30, 2017) the board is requesting any owner that has information that they want the negotiation team to consider before we start the negotiations with the Town to contact either/or both Gary and Tom by December 27, 2017. This will allow the Board and the negotiation team to prepare our side for negotiations with the Town. It is the Board’s and the Town’s hope that acquisition of the property needed for the Gap Bike Path project can be successfully negotiated which would eliminate the need for the Town to obtain our property by eminent domain.
If we can reach a negotiated settlement with the Town, the agreement would need 2/3 approval by our HOA members. We hope to have a voting package out to all members before the middle of March, to meet the Town’s requirement of obtaining the property by April 30, 2017. Once you receive this package please vote ASAP.
We will try and keep updated info on this project on our HOA web site.
Any questions please contact Tom or Gary.
Thank you,
Your Mammoth Creek Board Members