To:  Victory Heights Property Owners

 

From:  xxx

            Victory Heights Residents

 

Date:  April 28, 2006

 

Subject:  Petition to Form the Victory Heights Road Maintenance District

 

Based on the positive results of the survey of Victory Heights property owners, we are proceeding with the next step in forming the Victory Heights Maintenance District (MD), which is the Petition for Establishment of a Road Maintenance District.  This petition requires the signatures of a majority of the property owners or the owners of 51% or more of the property within the MD, in order for us to proceed further.

 

The remainder of this memo summarizes the need for this MD, provides details of an information meeting to which all property owners are invited, and provides instructions for signing the Petition.

Need Summary

The need for forming this MD has been spelled out in detail in the information included in the survey which was sent to all property owners this past December.  The following is a summary:

 

This past year, we have approached Navajo County representatives regarding the possibility of the County providing maintenance for the roads within the Victory Heights community.  After very lengthy discussions, we have accepted the fact that the County is prevented by Arizona State Statute from providing this maintenance.  The basic problem is that the County is currently accepting only paved roads for inclusion into the County highway system.  Although there is a statute which provides for County maintenance of “primitive roads” which were in existence and dedicated to public use before 1975, our roads do not qualify since they were not properly dedicated to public use before 1978. 

 

We are then left with three alternatives:

  1. Forming an Improvement District to bring the Victory Heights roads up to County standards, so that the County can maintain them.  Initial estimates are that this would cost about $2,000,000, which is far more than our small community can afford.  Therefore, this alternative was rejected.
  2. Continue as we are, with limited voluntary maintenance of our roads and inequitable contributions from our property owners.  Although this has worked (after a fashion) in the past, this approach becomes unworkable as the number of residents grows.  The roads will experience heavier traffic, requiring more maintenance, and it will be difficult to obtain fair, equitable contributions from everyone (on a voluntary basis) to fund this maintenance.  Therefore, we feel that this alternative should also be rejected.
  3. Form an MD to contract with a private contractor to make limited maintenance-related improvements to the roads and to maintain the roads on a periodic basis.  All work will be financed by the levying of secondary property taxes on all taxable parcels in the MD.  We have estimates from two qualified contractors that these improvements and maintenance can be accomplished for $16,000 per year.  All of you have been provided with an individual estimate of the impact of this MD on your property taxes, as part of our initial survey.  We feel that this alternative provides systematic, enhanced maintenance of our roads at a price we can afford, and therefore should be accepted.  The purpose of the attached petition is to initiate the formation of this MD.

Information Meeting

It is likely that many of you have questions regarding the formation of the proposed MD.  In order to provide the opportunity for you to obtain answers to your questions, we have scheduled an Information Meeting for all Victory Heights property owners.  Meeting details are as follows:

 

Date:  Saturday, May 20, 2006

Time:  1:00 PM Lunch (hot dogs, chips, sodas), with the meeting to follow

Location:  D&J Ranch (formerly the Victory Heights Bible Camp), to the right off Victory Heights Road shortly after entering from Highway 260

 

In addition to Sam and myself, we will be joined by David Tenney, who is the Navajo County Supervisor representing our District, and by Dusty Parsons, who is the Director of Public Works for Navajo County.  They will also be available to answer your questions.

 

In addition to obtaining additional information about the proposed MD, you will also have an opportunity to sign the petition to form the MD.

 

We will also be providing hot dogs, sodas, and chips for everyone who attends.  We have scheduled this meeting on a weekend, to make it possible for property owners not living here to also attend. 

 

We strongly encourage all Victory Heights property owners to attend this meeting.  Even if you do not favor the formation of the MD, this will provide an opportunity to meet your neighbors and get to know them better.

Instructions for Signing the Petition

 

If you attend the Information Meeting:

 

You will have an opportunity to sign the petition at the meeting, and instructions will be provided there.  Please bring a photo ID (for example, a valid driver’s license) so that we can verify your identity.  This is especially important for those of you who are not full time residents of the Victory Heights area.

 

If your property is owned jointly, all owners should sign the petition.  If this is not possible, and if the attendee is authorized to sign for the other owners, the person signing must indicate that they are signing “on behalf of” the other owners.  If the property is owned by a corporation, partnership, trust, or other legal entity, only one authorized individual must sign.

 

If you do not support the formation of the MD and do not wish to be contacted again for your signature, you may sign the Indication of Non-Support.

 

If you are unable to attend the Information Meeting:

 

You may sign the petition, have your signature notarized, and return the signed petition using the enclosed, pre-addressed envelope.  Specific instructions are as follows:

  1. Take the petition (Attachment 1), a blank signature sheet (Attachment 2), and the notarization form (Attachment 3) to a Notary Public.
  2. Sign the blank signature sheet in the presence of the Notary Public, and have your signature notarized using the notarization form.  Note that if you own your property jointly, all owners should sign in the presence of the Notary Public.  If this is not possible, the person signing should indicate by their signature “on my behalf and on behalf of <list of other owner(s)>”.  Note also that if your property is owned by a corporation, partnership, trust, or other legal entity, only one authorized individual must sign.
  3. Return the signed signature sheet and the completed notarization form using the enclosed, pre-addressed envelope.

 

If you do not support the formation of the MD and do not wish to be contacted again for your signature, you may sign the Indication of Non-Support (Attachment 4), and return it using the enclosed, pre-addressed envelope.

 

We would like your response (either notarized signature or Indication of Non-Support) no later than May 31.

 

If any of you have any questions or concerns, please contact xxx or Jim xxx.  You can also send email to Jim at xxx

 

We would like to thank everyone for your consideration and support.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

xxx                                           xxx

 

Attachments:

  1. Petition for Establishment of a Road Maintenance District (including Exhibit A – Maintenance District Description and Map)
  2. Blank Signature Sheet
  3. Notarization for Signatures Obtained by Mail
  4. Indication of Non-Support
  5. Pre-Addressed Envelope