Harris Ranch Neighborhood Assn Meeting

The Harris Ranch Neighborhood Association is meeting this week at the Mill District Community Center on Thursday, September 10th at 6:30PM.

Agenda items include:
Traffic on Warm Springs and the cut-off
New board members selection in October
Intersection of Sawmill Way and Mill Site Ave
Overgrown weeds fronting Warm Springs and Golden Dawn

And a farewell to Lyn Keefer who is leaving the area. He served the community as HRNA president for over two years and as a board member of the Homeowners Association.

Graffiti Update

The Boise police graffiti unit took pictures of the damage to compare with other incidents. One officer said that the tags on the building were known to them. If they know the person they aren't sharing the information with anyone.

I've also been unable to confirm a report that a juvenile was arrested in early June and confessed to tagging the water tank, the abandoned mill building by the dam and possibly HR property. All details are unavailable due to the age of the person.

It should be only a matter of time before we have an ID on the videotaped tagger and can press charges.

After the taggers start using wash-off paint I'll agree that graffiti is an example of creative artistic expression. Till then it's vandalism.

Graffiti Makes News

After another incident earlier this month the HROA board asked the Boise Police if they could step up the investigation. Repainting the damaged areas has already cost several thousand dollars.

AMI provided a clip from the surveillance camera and this week the police department's Crime Stoppers headlined the incident and several TV stations had stories asking for imformation. Here's a link to one article: http://www.2news.tv/news/local/55400547.html

Mill District Traffic Survey

At the request of a homeowner ACHD is conducting a traffic survey in the Mill District for the next two weeks. The opening of the last section of Sawmill Lane last fall created a short cut through the neighborhood from Eckert to Riverstone International School. Increased traffic and speeding was noticed on Sawmill in the morning and and mid-afternoon as parents ferried their kids to and from school. The devices can log direction, time and speed. The results of the survey will help ACHD determine what traffic mitigation actions, if any, should be taken.

Unfortunately, with the last day of school at Riverstone on June 4th the survey will not capture traffic from the school. It would make more sense now to delay the study until after East Junior High opens and any cut through traffic due to both schools can be evaluated.

Brighton Meeting June 4, 6:30PM

Brighton Corporation will hold a neighborhood meeting at the Mill District clubhouse to get input on Harris Ranch Phase 12. This is the area along Eckert Road near Lucky 13. The plan is to have mostly single family homes in the area with townhouses along Mill Station. To fit the homes in the space, Brighton plans to ask the city to reduce the street width from what was approved for the Barber Valley Specific Plan in 2007.

Some streets in Mill District, such as Mill Site Ave. and Barber Station Drive are reduced width which is why parking is allowed on one side only. The significance here is that the plan provided by Brighton has the garage as the only off-street parking available for the homeowners. For most of the homes, the alley driveway is only about 10 feet long -- too short to park most cars.

Keeping the street width as originally planned may force Brighton to propose higher density housing.

Irrigation System Overload at 6:30 AM

You may have noticed that the irrigation system was not working on several mornings this week. Hopkins, our landscaping company, determined that pumps shut down about 6:30 AM from too much demand for water. Our system is not very complicated and with good management, can easily handle Harris Ranch and more.

Irrigation water from the Penitentiary Canal and the Golden Dawn well flow into a suction chamber in the Spring Creek pump house. When the pumps draw more water out than flows in, the water level in the chamber drops and the pumps shut down to avoid damage. Restarting the pumps requires a visit from the landscaping company.

We can't control the amount of water flowing in, but we can control the amount coming out. For the past couple of years the HROA has not enforced an irrigation schedule. To avoid a schedule and the headaches that go with it, please ensure that you schedule your sprinklers at some time other than 5 to 7 AM. Try picking the hour that corresponds with the last digit on your house number.

With proper management, we can keep the water flowing for everyone.

International Space Station flies over Riverstone International School

The excellent weather this week was perfect for pleasant evening walks and a bit of star gazing. Just after 10PM this evening I was able to photograph a man-made star: the International Space Station heading east over Boise. The 20 second exposure shows the ISS in the center along with two planes heading west to the airport. The ISS rose out of the west and was visible for about 3 minutes as it flew overhead.

For a few days each month the ISS orbit takes it over Boise just after sunset. With the sky getting dark here, the ISS is high enough, at 300-700 miles, to still be illuminated by sun. The large solar panels are also great solar reflectors.

Wednesday night, the 28th, has two passes that might provide an opportunity to see the ISS. At 8:47PM the ISS will rise out the NW, climb nearly overhead and set in the east. If the sky is dark enough it may be visible from about 8:50 when it's overhead. Later, at 10:23PM it will rise in the west, climb low in the southwest sky and set towards the south. It may be visible for only a minute or two around 10:27PM.

Find out more at NASA's website: spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/sightings

Click on "Start Applet" and enter your zip code to run the application.

Traffic Issues in Harris Ranch

At the Homeowner's Association meeting on Monday the 18th, the board will hear concerns about increased traffic and speeding on Harris Ranch Road. Much of the traffic was due to the recent Warm Springs Road detour and has decreased now that Warm Springs is open again. A homeowner has asked to speak to the board to see what can be done to minimize traffic impact during upcoming detours as bridge construction continues.

Earlier this year the board worked with ACHD to determine the best way to handle increased traffic on Sawmill Road after Riverstone School parents discovered the shortcut off of Eckert Road. Results included ACHD committing to a traffic study, Boise police offering to set up a speed trap and the Director of Riverstone School notifying parents to drive carefully through the neighborhood. Speeding has decreased. 

Graffiti Video

The quality of the video is as good as we can get with the export program on the security system. The original video is much better. Note the surgical mask, details of the backpack and the shoe design. Please contact AMI or the Boise Police if you have information.

Irrigation System Shutdown

The Penitentiary Canal suffered a failure yesterday and canal water is draining back into the river. The Boise Project is working on repairs and does not know when service will be restored.

The well owned by the HROA is not large enough to supply the neighborhood without the water from the canal.

Note: If you turn on city water to irrigate your lawn, please remember to shut off the connection to the pressurized irrigation system or your city water will flow into the neighborhood system.

Video Released

The Harris Ranch Owner's Association released an image of the graffiti tagger caught on video April 1st at 11:45pm. This week's vandalism was at 1:45am. If you know this person or have any suspicions, please contact the Boise police.

Graffiti Getting Worse

The damage to homeowner's property continues with new instances of graffiti at the Spring Creek clubhouse and other areas in the neighborhood. Repairing the damage from just one incident costs up to $800 - more than a homeowner's yearly assessment.

More Graffiti Found

On the night of April 1st the graffiti tagger returned to complete a more extensive display of his/her work. More than a dozen locations were found including the cedar fence on Warm Springs, the Spring Creek Clubhouse, several utility boxes and a few stop signs. Cleaning up requires a fair amount of labor and paint.

The homeowners association has a video of the person and has provided it to the Boise police. When convicted, the person may be liable for all the costs incurred to remove the spray paint and marker.

Spring Creek Graffiti Continues

For the second time in a month graffiti was found on the Spring Creek Clubhouse. Boise Police sent an officer over to photograph and catalog the markings. The officer mentioned that a home under construction at Triplett was also tagged. 

Mark Jones, AMI Community Manager, said it costs the homeowners several hundred dollars each time to remove the graffiti and repaint the area. The January incident included damage to the pool cover from one of the pool chairs. The HROA board is looking at various security options, though there is no guarantee that any will stop future incidents. Give the police a call if you notice suspicious activity by the clubhouse. 

Join the HROA Board

Want to meet your neighbors? Learn more about what is happening in the neighborhood? Have a say in the operation of the homeowner's association? As a member of the HROA board, you get all this and more. The board meets on the third Monday of the month for a couple of hours to review reports and develop policy. Most of the work is carried out by AMI and contractors, but you can be involved in committees and other activities.

The board is responsible for landscaping, the irrigation system, the two community centers and pools, social activities, contracts and finances. Bring your existing skills and interests and learn something new at the same time. Elections are at the annual meeting in March.

Give Jeff Steele, board president, (or any board member) a call to find out more and get your name on the ballot.

Riverstone Housing Plan Halted

A plan to build boarding houses for high school students in the Mill District was shelved by Riverstone International School on Friday. According to Andrew Derry, Head of School, the board voted unanimously to stop the project due to neighborhood opposition.

The plan called for three homes, similar in design to existing Mill District homes, that would house up to 10 students and two adults each. Since this type of housing is not permitted in the city's R-1-C zoning district, the school needed a conditional use permit in addition to city council approval. A meeting with affected neighbors on January 20 was the first step in the process. However, none of the approximately 40 Harris Ranch neighbors attending the meeting were in favor of the project.

Digital TV Reception in Harris Ranch?

It looks like the switch to digital TV will go as planned in February. Recent articles in the Idaho Statesman quotes Idaho Public TV as saying that several Treasure Valley areas may not be able to pick up the new signals, specifically Emmett, Idaho City and Harris Ranch. Rich Van Genderen of Idaho Public TV kindly sent me two maps showing the results of a digital TV reception study in Boise. High strength is in warm colors and low strength in cool colors. In these maps you can see Columbia Village has high signal strength. Harris Ranch, outlined by the red box, is dark blue, a poor reception area. With our location tucked up against the foothills the Harris Ranch neighborhood is in a reception shadow. According to Rich, this area will need "deep fringe antennas" to even try to receive the DTV signals.

The transmitters are not far away, only about 13 miles due north near Bogus Basin. Results for digital channel 12 is the top map and channel 21 (IPTV) is on the bottom.
A weak signal on analog TV is snowy and fades in and out, but at least there's something to watch. Digital TV, however, requires a consistently strong signal for the receiver to decode the information, otherwise the screen is blank. In addition, these signals don't 'bend' around obstructions like lower frequency analog signals. You would likely need to install a 100 to 150 foot tower to pick up the DTV signals here.
So if you don't already have cable or satellite to watch TV, you are out of luck for the time being. Rich said there is an effort to buy and operate 'translators' that will cover the area, but funding is not certain.
If you still want to try to receive free digital TV, by federal law you may install an antenna in order to receive local channels. It must be a safe installation and not higher than 12 feet above the roof. Any higher could require an engineer's review. The homeowners association can not stop you from installing an antenna and is only allowed to regulate where the antenna is located. You still need a review from the ACC for the location of the antenna.
Read more about the issue in this article from Idaho Statesman. If you've tried to receive the digital signals in Harris Ranch, let us know in the comments.