Special Assessment for Road Improvement

December 21, 2009

TO ALL LEASEHOLDERS

The four most important infrastructure components of our SKP Co-op Park are the water delivery system, the sewer system, the electrical distribution system and our roads. These systems must be maintained and protected now and in the future.

The soils within the Co-op property have a large clay component. Clay in soils creates instability. Wet, clay-laden soils expand and contract as drying occurs. When such soils underlay asphaltic pavement, this motion de-stabilizes the asphalt creating cracks and heaves.

Starting in March of 2005, the park began a program of road maintenance using topical applications of a crack sealer, a "gator" seal compound for larger cracked areas and a sprayed on sealer for expansive areas. This was done to "seal" the roads from surface water entering the roadbed through cracks in the fairly shallow surface of our asphalt roads. A reasonable idea, but in reality it does not work because subsurface water exists regardless and water can enter under the roadway from the sides.

So long as the subsurface clay-laden roadbeds are subject to contraction and expansion from moisture, there is no amount of topical application that will preserve and protect the roads from further deterioration.

A better, well-proven method for stabilizing clay-laden soils is the application of lime slurry. In this method the existing roadway and the soil beneath it is ground up. Lime and water is mixed with the asphalt and soil to a depth of 9 or more inches. The lime activates with the application of water and a chemical reaction neutralizes the clay properties. As the mixture is graded and smoothed it hardens to a concrete-like mass that creates a very hard, nearly impenetrable slab and that becomes the new underlayment base for the roadway.

Once settled and graded, a chip and seal overlay will become the new roadway. Then a "fogging" or light application of oil restores the road to its original asphalt appearance. Once completed, occasional chip and seal applications are very effective in preserving the life of the road.

A small section of the main road was repaired with lime slurry, between Mesquite and Organ Pipe,in 1998 and is still in excellent shape. The same is true for a major portion of Mesquite Road. The lime slurry method was also used on Jojoba Lane.

On the Co-op Website, www.skpsaguaro.org - 2009 Special Road Assessment link on the side bar, you will find some pictures of various construction sites that are under preparation for a lime slurry application. It shows the variety of applications for the method. Look at the picture in the lower left and you will see, to the left of the equipment tires, what the chewed up surface, containing soil, asphalt, etc. looks like before the white lime compound in the center of the picture has been laid on top. The machine in the 5th picture, lower left, is grinding this lime and water into the alread ground-up soil misture. It is also adding water to activate the chemical process. This completed soil/lime mixture begins setting up immediately and will be worked to a hard, smooth finish. Once this "road" has set up, the black top surface and fog spray is applied.

The Facilities Committee Co-Chairs requested a bid to lime slurry four sections of our roads most in need of improvement at this time. Included are: Palo Verde (36,288 sq. ft), Organ Pipe (19,360 sq ft), Mesquite (4,320 sq ft), and Saguaro Circle North, the main entry road (43,460 sq ft), for a total of 103,500 square feet. The bid price includes the installation of Hot Hydrated Lime Slurry, pulverizing the road and lime into the soil to a depth of 9 inches, then stabilizing, compacting, and find grading roads back to proper grades, and installing a double shot chipseal using .7 gallons of CRS-2 Emulsion and 70 pounds of chips per square yard. The bid includes all clean up.

The bid prics is $137,267 dollars. Fog sealing the roads, which we recommend, adds 10% to the cost for an estimated total of $151,000.

The Board recommends proceeding with the project as described and is asking the membership to approve a road improvement Special Assessment in the amount of $510 dollars per lot. The assessment would be paid in three installments of $170 dollars each. As is the case with all assessments, your expenditure will result in added value to your leasehold lot.

If approved, the first installment would be payable on April 24, 2010, the second installment on January 1, 2011, and the third installment on January 1, 2012.

12/21/09

Don Boston, President, SKP Saguaro Co-op