Silver Springs Parks
Our Silver Springs Community Parks
as compiled by Marilyn Boland, Fred Stayrook, Lucy Archer, and others
There are two developed Park areas within the Silver Springs Community. The 2.01 acre Park (a.k.a. Parcel H) situated on the south edge of Silver Willow Lake has a small beach area, a pavilion with three 8?X4? picnic tables and a stationary grill. There is a volleyball sand court, a cement basketball court, a large children’s jungle gym, a public latrine, and plenty of grass area for Frisbee and hitting plastic baseballs. If you bring your dogs please remember to pick up after them, tie a bag or newspaper to the dog leash ready for the next use. Nothing ruins a nice outing faster than fouled shoes.
Second is the Tennis Court Park off Meadow Loop Road in the midst of Ptarmigan, Quail Meadows Townhomes, Silver Meadows, and Meadow Spring homes. The northeast section of this Park belongs to the Meadow Springs subdivision as indicated on the Section Map: SW quarter SE quarter Section 30- T1S R4E (Close up at : http://www.silverspringscommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/tenniscourts-swquartersequartersection-30-t1s-r-4e.bmp . Code for the gate lock is 153. Please do not share this code with non-residents.
Common area Parcel R , in conjunction with Parcel J, contains approximately 12 acres, located from Silver Springs NorthShore entry, runs south along Hwy 224 to the south Silver Springs entry. This long, narrow parcel could be developed as a dog park or running track.
The Master Association also owns Parcel J and the area around the west pump station on Silver Willow Lake. This parcel could be developed as a picnic area and a boat launch area. The General Membership could vote on whether the MA should buy canoes or small boats that would be stored and locked on the premises for use by our members. Liability insurance estimates need to be considered.
SILVER MINNOW POND AND OPEN SPACE
The Silver Meadows HOA holds title to the Silver Minnow Pond (”detention water pond”)
and the surrounding area. Silver Meadows HOA maintains the flower beds
and walking paths around its perimeter.
Silver Minnow Pond is accessible from Silver Springs Drive on the left (north),
and from W. Meadow Loop Road, a.k.a. Scythe Place, on the right (south),
there is also a trail from the top (east) from Silver Meadows.
SILVER SPRINGS COMMUNITY LAKE PARK
Center Entry/Exit
Park Center
Basketball and Volleyball
Our Park trees provide shade, ambiance, and privacy - also environmental benefits.
TENNIS COURT PARK AND PLAYGROUND
One court belongs to the MHOA, the NE section belongs to Meadow Springs subdivision
The two tennis courts and playground area are nestled amidst Meadow Spring on the left (north),
Silver Meadows on top (east), Ptarmigan on the right (south), and Quail Meadows Townhomes
on the bottom (west).
ROSS LLOYD POCKET PARK
The Ross Lloyd Park is a narrow strip of land on the west side of Silver Willow Pond.
- This Park was named for a resident who was killed in a car accident on Hwy. 224.
This Park was developed within the 1989 exclusive “Private Enjoyment Easement” along the perimeter of this Pond, also recorded on the SouthShore 1991 Plat map, therefore it is classified as SouthShore Private Property. There appears to be a 9′ by 52′ narrow strip of land along the west edge that runs along Silver Springs Road that may not be within the “Private Enjoyment Easement”.
Ross Lloyd Park - Winter 2007-2008
This Park was developed within the “Private Enjoyment Easement” along the perimeter of this Pond therefore it is thought to be SouthShore Private Property.
CREEKSIDE OPEN SPACE EASEMENT POCKET PARK
(open space needs development)
Creekside Open Space on corner of Silver Springs Drive and Meadows Connection - 4/2008
A stream (outlet from Silver Willow Pond) runs north through this Creek Easement Parcel, then under Silver Springs Road and into the Silver Willow Lake aka Lower Pond.
Presently it is an overgrown area that needs some landscaping care.
The Silver Springs Single Family HOA may hold title to the Creekside Open Space Easement located on the northeast corner of Silver Springs Drive and Meadows Connection, between Lots 172 and 17. Presently it is an overgrown area that needs some care and landscaping. At one point the Master Association thought this parcel was one of their parcels. Ralph Stanislaw drew up a landscape plan but the uncertainty of ownership precluded the MA from going forward with the work. More title work and searches continue. Bids for the work have been solicited and obtained, development pending board discussion and approval .
POSSIBLE BOAT LAUNCH OR DOG PARK OR PARK ACCESS PARKING
Common area Parcel R , in conjunction with Parcel J, included the area around the pump station on the west side of Silver Willow Lake. These parcels.contain approximately 12 acres. Parcel R, situated from top to bottom begins at the Silver Springs NorthShore entry, runs south along Hwy 224 to the south Silver Springs entry. This long, narrow parcel could be developed as a dog park or running track. Or they could be used as access and parking for a community park.
What rights does UDOT hold on these areas, future road widening, utility easements, stream/water rights?
“X” marks the areas where boat launch areas could be developed by the M.A. for the members.
The remainder of the 12+ acre area could be fenced as a dog park or used as a jogging trail.
The General Membership could vote on whether the MA should develop these parcels, and whether to buy canoes or small boats that would be stored and code locked on the premises for use by our members. Liability insurance estimates need to be considered.
Parcel J - Berm Parcel open space, could be a community garden, watered from the lakes.
There are established access rights. Walking between Park Place Lots 37 and 38.
There is another access between SouthShore lots 12 and 13 to Parcel R and J from Silver Springs Road.
This is another example of access to shared common areas where walking past homes at these points is very much like walking on the streets or near homes in the proximity of the other Community parks and amenities..
Orange lines are access parcels marked on the recorded plats..
Blue lines are stream beds and common area access banks.
Yellow lines are the Enjoyment Easement recorded on this plat.
PARKS TIME-LINE AND HISTORY NOTES
1986 - American Savings and Loan Association acquired Parcel “H” through foreclosure due to a default on the loan by InSource, Inc. and Hazelwood, Inc. This parcel was then offered in 1988 to the Silver Springs Homeowners.
1988 - American Savings and Loan Association sold Parcel “H” to the Homeowners Association for $10. for the purpose of developing a park/recreational area.
1989 - Silver Springs Development: Mike Barnes, Warrn Spieker Jr, and Richard Widdows , purchased all the real property within the Silver Springs Subdivision that was held by American Savings and Loan. (See American Savings 1986 Parcel map - includes Silver Springs Phase 1-D, 1-G)
SSD then produced a Developer- Association Agreement which required that a Master Homeowners Association, comprised of all (twelve) separate Homeowners Associations, be established within Silver Springs Communities. With this Agreement they conveyed Parcel “H” and the Tennis Park area to the Master Homeowners Association. Part of that Tennis Park had been acquired from Don Stringham.
SSD then were instrumental in forming the Master Homeowners Association through the 1989 Developer-Homeowner Agreement that was formalized in 1990:
“1. Conveyance of Park Parcel. Developer shall execute a Special Warranty Deed conveying that certain common area parcel, hereinafter described and known as the “Park Parcel”, to each of the [twelve] homeowner associations named herein, as grantees. Said deed shall be placed in escrow with Coalition Title (the “Escrow Agent”), a title company located at Park City, Utah, with escrow to commence and eventual delivery of deed to the Park Parcel to occur as follows:
(a) Developer shall deposit the Park Parcel deed into escrow immediately at such time as the governing boards of at least two-thirds of the duly constituted associations representing property owners in the Subdivision have executed this Agreement in accordance with the regulations of each respective organization…..
(e) The Park Parcel is an area of approximately 2.1 acres (SOS-A-Park), located along the southeast shore of the large pond within the Subdivision,”
The Dev-HOA Agreement continues: “2. Conveyance of Tennis Court Parcel. Developer shall execute a Special Warranty Deed conveying that certain common area parcel, hereinafter described and known as the “Tennis Court Parcel” to each of the homeowner associations named herein, as grantees. The terms and conditions of escrow, including commencement thereof and eventual delivery of deed, shall be identical to the provisions set forth in paragraph 1 concerning conveyance of the Park Parcel.
“The Tennis Court Parcel is an area of approximately 0.6 acre (PP-91) and includes one of two tennis courts installed thereon, along with a small open area immediately adjacent thereon. (The exact dimensions are unknown; survey needed to confirm exact acreage.) The other tennis court at the site is not owned by the Developer, who is under no obligation to acquire the same for the benefit of the Homeowners; however, if acquired by Developer, the other tennis court will be conveyed to the Homeowners. The Tennis Court Parcel is located in the southeastern portion of the Subdivision,….”—Dev-HOA Agreement
At the Annual General Membership meeting of the Silver Springs Single Family Homeowners Association, President Dale Boschetto informed the members of the imminent formation of the Silver Springs Master HOmeowners Association. Dale also informed the members that there would be equal assessments per Living Unit. It was announced that a Park Development Committee would begin planning during the Spring of 1990.
Beautiful south beach of Silver Willow Lake - trees muffle noise and provide privacy and shade.
1990 - The Master HOA was incorporated. The Park Development Committee began planning to break ground for a community Park beginning in the Spring of 1990. The Parks Development Committee representative, Randy Arnold, presented the Parks Plan and Budget. Linda Karz, a Silver Springs resident designed the Park and its landscaping. The Capital Improvements Assessment for that year were announced as $160 per Living Unit. It was announced that this money would be paid from an Equity Fund set up for the Homeowners Association members.
1991 - At the Annual Silver Springs SIngle Family Homeowners Association Meeting the Parks Development Committee representative, Randy Arnold, gave an update on the Parks:
$40,000 of the proposed $64,000 budget had been collected from the homeowners.
$32,000 of the anticipated $50,000 had been spent .
The Parks are under budget and the Committee will have the money to complete the Park.
1992 - The Master Association recommended that an additional $115 Special Assessment be collected from each Living Unit to allow completion of the Parks. The Silver Springs Single Family Homeowners Association Board of Trustees calls a Special Meeting to vote on this Special Assessment, as provided in our CC&Rs.
Pond/Lake Cleanup and Proper Plantings
2008 - Keith B. Clapier, owner of Park City Arborist, was hired by the HOA at Deer Lake Village on Queen Esther Drive to clean up their 1.5 acre pond. Besides removing 1,000 pounds of goldfish from the water the pond is being cleaned by big mouth bass and plantings around the perimeter of the pond. Clapier is an expert on surveying wetlands and riparian habitats (areas bordering waterways). Clapier will be planting riparian zone trees like cottonwood and birch as well as introducing native grasses and aquatic plants to the Deer Valley pond. “Ideally, 100 percent of the shoreline will be covered in plants,” he said, Clapier is a 20-year native of the U.S. Forest Service. “Trees placed in the right places will not obstruct views, but will provide the water with cooling shade and over-hanging branches from which insects fall in, nourishing the fish and amphibians (frogs, salamanders)….Properly placed aquatic plants in ponds and streams have dense, fibrous root systems that filter out sediment and contaminants, and remove fertilizer nitrogen that causes algae to bloom and thrive.” Properly planned and planted waterways attract water fowl, deer and moose, and are visually more attractive and beautiful to look at and enjoy. Clapier can be contacted at 435-513-2188
Silver Springs Park Pavilion and playground equipment - 2008
July 25, 2009 - Trees add ambiance, shade, privacy, and beauty.
2009 - August 2 , Silver Springs Master HOA had the park trees and vegetation pruned and cut down leaving a bare shoreline.
HOW WE FINANCE THE MAINTENANCE ON OUR PARKS
1988 - May - American Savings and Loan Association sold Parcel “H” to the Homeowners Association for $10.00 for the purpose of developing a park/recreational area. [search for this deed]
1989 - Silver Springs Development (SSD): Mike Barnes, Warren Spieker Jr., and Richard Widdows, purchased all real property within Silver Springs Subdivision from American Savings and Loan Association
1990 - At the Annual Silver Springs Single Family Homeowners Association Meeting, President Dale Boschetto informed the membership of the newly formed Master Homeowners Association. Dale also informed the members that there would be equal assessments for each Living Unit per Section 5(a),
The discrepancy of interpretation of the two pertinent documents that govern the Silver Springs HOAs, namely the MAHOA and the individual subdivision CCRs, was resolved by a 1995 Amendment to the Silver Springs Single Family CC&Rs showing a differentiation between Membership and Voting rights, and between SSSFHOA fee assessments from those by the Master Homeowners Association. as stated below :
“ARTICLE III
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1. Membership. Every person or entity who is record owner of a fee or undivided fee interest in any lot which is subject by covenants of record to assessment by the Association, shall be a member of the Association.
Section 3 . Voting Rights The Association shall have one class of voting membership which Members shall be all those Owners as defined in Section I above and each Owner shall be entitled to one (1) vote appurtenant to each Lot in which an Owner holds the interest required for membership by Section l.”
Assessments for the maintenance of the Lakes and common areas should be assessed according to ascribed and realized benefits, use, and access of these amenities, not by the three property ownership categories, but amended to two categories: Living Units with a lake view frontage; Living Units without a lake view frontage..
To further illustrate the need for amending and implementing a fair maintenance assessment we need to acknowledge that since the recordation of the Dev-HOA Agreement the Lake view owners removed the Lake Enjoyment Easement circa 1989 from access and use by the general membership. This was accomplished by the capitulation of Lynn Stevens, manager of the Silver Springs Water Company, pressured by the attorney for the lake view residents and a number of lake view owners themselves. Stevens deeded the Enjoyment Easement property to the lake view owners group. New Silver Springs President Fred Stayrook was informed after the deed was transferred of the seized rights without a vote or consideration of the general membership. Our Lake Enjoyment Easement was parceled and absorbed by these lake view lots. Therefore, the assessment for maintenance should reflect this change and who is almost exclusively benefiting from these marvelous amenities and therefore the lake view lots should be assessed the majority of the cost to maintain them. (An example is that there are approximately 25 little lake and 29 large lake view owners and 508 +4 residential unit owners in the Silver Springs Community. The 458 non-lake view owners would be assessed a base fee , while the lake view owners would pay 5 times the base fee. The base fee would vary by what the budgeted maintenance items were required and approved for the year.)
The lake Park is watered by use of the original irrigation system. The original pump house is located on the east side of the park. Using this system saves on water costs but there is a Pacificorp electric meter for running the pump. This metered electricity is part of the MHOA Budget.
The Park lawn care, trash hauling, weed control, cleaning of the latrine, and other unenumerated work is performed by PCGreenleaf. No Service Contract for property maintenance and work liability has been negotiated nor employed.
[A Service Contract protects the MA and its members. Value for work performed should be established. A Service Contract should look at the following items: establish extent of work expected to be done, cost of additional work, timetable/schedule of work completed, is company on-call for emergencies at what length of response time, bottom-line expenditures no open-ended accounts, cost per hour/per man, what work is expected on undeveloped common area parcels specifically weed control, degree of accountability to Board of Trustees, itemized monthly statements (separate from Budget list), is service bonded and insured, assignment of liability, equipment availability, etc. Every four or five years bids should be obtained to maintain fair market contract pricing.This protects both the service provider and the MHOA.]
1991- At the Annual Silver Springs Single Family Homeowners Association Meeting, the Parks Development Committee representative, Randy Arnold, gave an update on the Parks:
“$40,000 of the proposed $64,000 Budget had been collected.
$32,000 of the anticipated $50,000 had been spent
The Parks are under budget and the Committee will have the money to complete the work.”
TAXES ON OUR PARKS
I talked to Steve Martin the head assessor at the Summit County Courthouse regarding how taxes are assessed and billed on our Parks and other common areas. What I understand is that the common areas do not have tax parcel numbers nor tax serial numbers and do not show up as an item on the list of assessments on our tax bills each November.. If set up correctly, the common areas, like the Park, are undivided interests distributed among all of the Master HOA property owners. So individually these parcels are valueless as such to each member. However, having common areas can enhance the value of properties. He said he knows that the homes on the lake receive quite a bit of enhanced value, in some cases twice as much, as evidenced by the Multiple Listing Service. Properties radiating away from the lake receive less enhanced value, and after a block or so receive almost no enhanced value. Another factor is that the majority of the properties around the lake perimeter are larger and have added higher cost items which contributes to the enhanced values seen on the MLS.
Common area parcels like the Parks or tennis courts or other common space usually do not add value because of the mixed perception that either the areas are an extension of space and view or they are a source of noise, traffic, and interference. However, if the common area has a spectacular view, is on a ski slope, or is expansive like the Swaner Nature Park, then these areas can add enhanced value to a property.
If a common area does have a tax serial number and it is owned by the MHOA then the MHOA pays for the taxes from our annual dues. So indirectly each member pays property taxes as an even share. (I have not been able to get information from the MA regarding how much each MHOA subdivision pays so I do not know if indeed our MHOA has made the share even or tiered).
There are benefits to having the MHOA own the undivided common areas for member joint ownership. The MHOA is an entity that lies between the common area and the individual homeowners should liability issues arise. I am fairly sure that the MHOA has liability on the Board of Trustees and on the two lakes but I do not know if they have insurance on the Park or the other common areas. If I learn about this I will add it here.
—If anyone has more information or input please send to webmaster@silverspringscommunity.com
2009, August 2, Park trees and bush willows were unceremoniously cut down, duck habitat destroyed, while Park maintenance is the worst it has been in years. Recommended Park Maintenance