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Mar-2017 Page 1
Westwood Ranch Road
Maintenance
Co-op
Annual Newsletter
As many of you know, the win-
ter of 2017 was extremely
brutal on our ranch roads.
Mother Nature held nothing
back as alternating rain &
snow storms relentlessly
pelted the ranch all winter
long.
During this time, & when the
roads were too wet, vehicles
tried to get on & off the
ranch. Our roads were se-
verely damaged.
Some vehicles were literally
left where they had gotten
stuck, & had to wait until the
roads dried. A majority of our
ranch roads have some vary-
ing level of road bed damage.
During our March road in-
spection, we found ruts up to
18” deep! Please help us
help you clean up our roads!
The roads we can’t clean up
this year will only be worse
next year!
A small annual contribution of
a $120 will go a long way in
helping our ranch to recover.
Winter 2017 on the Ranch
Arizona Game & Fish
(800) 826-3257 - Vandals
(800) 352-0700 - Violations
Arizona State Land Dept.
Chuck Hutson - Illegal Mines
(602) 542-2657
Sheriff’s Office
(928) 774-4523 Coconino
(928) 771-3266 Yavapai
Coconino County Silent Witness
(877) 292-7463
(928) 774-4523
State Fire Department
(602) 255-4052
Important Numbers
Winter 2017 On The Ranch 1
Contribution Mailing Address 1
Game & Fish 1
A Note to New Owners 2
Board of Directors 2
Roadwork on WWR 3
WWR Roads Contractors 4
WWR Co-op Elections 4
FAQ 4
2016 Density Map 5
New Color Coded Ranch Map 6
Inside this issue:
Mail $120 Contribution/payable to:
WWR Co-op
PO Box 11714
Fort Mohave AZ 86427
AZ Game & Fish
Both the WWR Co-op, & WWROA receive road maintenance
funds from Arizona Game & Fish, via the Landowner Relations
Program - Access Program.
Both road maintenance groups have each received $4000
per year, from 2013 through 2017. We appreciate their con-
tinued contributions, as these funds help offset costs of road
damaged caused by hunters.
Mar-2017 Page 2
First off: Welcome to the new lot owners on West-
wood Ranch! As new lot owners, it is important
you know that there are two road maintenance
groups on the ranch, the WWR Co-op & the West-
wood Ranches Road Owners Association
(WWROA).
Go to the websites wwrco-op.com & wwroa.com for
accurate and reliable information on these two
groups, & what they do.
On the wwrco-op.com, check out the Archive link
on the News & Information page to see previous
years’ Newsletters, Member Density Maps & previ-
ous postings of ranch activity.
The WWROA maintains the ‘Exhibit-E’ roads, the Green roads on the Color Coded Ranch Map
(attached). The WWROA, lot #s 547-1112, Phases
A Note to new Ranch Owners
VI-IX have a mandatory annual road maintenance
assessment. The Co-op contributions are volun-
tary.
Why the two organizations?
Lots 1-545 (Phases I-V) were sold off before a
state-mandated road maintenance Association
was instituted. Therefore, membership / contri-
butions are 100% voluntary. With the current Co-
op contributor base at only 10%, ‘the few have
struggled to carry the many’ for too long!
The ‘few’ are tired, & many of our roads continue
to deteriorate. We need all owners to be proac-
tive in helping to protect the value of our invest-
ment, our homes & try to ensure access to our properties.
Deonna ‘Dio’ Barraclough, Chairman
(623) 340-1330
Lori Kavanagh, Treasurer (619) 838-7590
Wayne Throw, Secretary
(602) 743-6571
George Altman, Director
(602) 361-0501
Pearl Severe, Director
(623) 694-2785
Tired of Primitive Roads in bad condition? Road Maintenance not living
up to your expectations?
Read what Coconino County says about rural living in:
Code of the West -&- Access to your Property
‘Coconino County states: The fact that you can drive to your property does not guarantee that you, your guests,
or emergency vehicles will have the same level of access at all times. Consider the following.
EMERGENCY RESPONSE - Response times by law enforcement, fire suppression and medical emergency ser-
vices may vary due, in part, to the County's geography, road conditions in bad weather, and the inadequacies
of rural addressing. Emergency response to outlying areas can also be very expensive. If the property you pur-
chase is not in an existing Fire District, which is often the case in rural areas, you could be billed a substantial
2017 Board Members
Code of the West - Access to your Property: An Excerpt
amount for the cost of a response to a fire or medical emer-
gency. It would be worthwhile to contact various emergency
service providers in the area before you buy land.
LEGAL ACCESS - The existence of an unobstructed road to
your property does not guarantee the road will remain open in
the future or that you will have unlimited access. The road
may cross another property. With the assistance of a title
company or private attorney, verify existing easements and
ensure that all necessary ingress/egress easements are in
place.
ROAD MAINTENANCE - Coconino County maintains 1,228
miles of roads-250 are paved and 978 are not paved. Many
rural properties are served by private roads, which are typi-
cally maintained by private road associations or individuals.
Some private roads are not maintained on a regular basis.
The County does not maintain private roads. It is very impor-
tant to know if your road was properly constructed, what type
of maintenance to expect, and who will maintain it.
Mar-2017 Page 3
The big question most fre-
quently asked: “Who Maintains
Westwood Ranches Roads”?
Many believe that ‘someone
else’ is responsible for WWR
road maintenance.
We’ve heard everything from
‘Coconino County’, ‘the original
ranch owner’, ‘Game & Fish’ &
even the ‘State of Arizona’!
The fact is that ‘for the co-op lot
#s 1-545, the lot owners them-
selves are responsible for the
condition of those ranch roads’.
Well, us & Mother Nature!
WE collectively own the ranch,
WE collectively are responsible
for caring for it!
A Little WWR History: When the
ranch was first being sold, be-
ginning with lots 1-545 (Phase I
-V), no road maintenance was
established or mandated. Per-
haps it was assumed the new
owners would maintain the
roads.
However, many owners had no
interest, or perhaps didn’t feel
responsible for the road main-
tenance. So, many roads began
to deteriorate.
When the ‘State of Arizona
Land’ sections ‘checker-
boarded’ throughout WWR (see
attached map) became difficult
to access, the State intervened.
Beginning with Phase VI, lot
547, a state mandated road
maintenance contract was in-
stated.
This contract required all new
lot purchases, beginning with
Phase VI, to be part of the new
road maintenance association,
the WWROA. Membership is a
requirement & is written into
the deeds for those lots.
The State designated & as-
signed the new Association with
the responsibility of ‘once-a-
year road maintenance’ on the
‘Exhibit-E roads’. Exhibit-E roads
are the Green roads on the
Color Coded Ranch Map
(attached).
However, Exhibit-E roads only
account for roughly half of the
roads on WWR.
For all remaining ranch roads
(Red roads on map), mainte-
nance is still the responsibility
of those lot owners.
Red roads include major artery
roads like Ranch Rd beginning
@ MM14 —> going north,
Noseeum & many secondary
roads.
Because these roads continued
to deteriorate, the WWR Co-op
was created.
The purpose of the Co-op was
to help coordinate these lot
owners, collect contributions &
facilitate roadwork for the ’Co-
op’ roads.
Co-op contributions are volun-
tary, & unfortunately 90% of the
owners have historically chosen
not to participate.
Some of these roads will need
costly repairs to get them into a
‘maintainable’ condition. An
upfront investment will be nec-
essary.
To get these bad roads fixed,
the owners that use it to access
their lots need to coordinate
the repair expense. If re-
quested, the Co-op can help
facilitate this process.
Once repaired, the road can
then be included in the Co-op
yearly maintenance program,
but only if those owners contrib-
ute enough to cover the cost of
the yearly maintenance.
If owners are unwilling to work
together & share the costs,
then other options are:
1) Hire your own contractor
2) Purchase heavy equipment &
do your own roadwork
3) Get your Phase Annexed into
the WWROA (FAQ #3)
The Co-op is a cost sharing ar-
rangement where costs in-
curred to achieve the common
goal are divided among partici-
pating parties.
As far back as there is record
of, the Co-op has yet to have
more then 10% of Co-op lot
owners contributing in any
given year.
Without cooperation & contribu-
tions from Co-op lot owners,
there will be little-to-no money
for roadwork. We will not be
able to expand roadwork be-
yond the major artery roads we
currently do: Ranch Rd (MM
14 )→ OlivasAlone, Noseeum
→ Flat Tank & 9 Shooter.
People have said to me ”When
you fix my road, I will consider
contributing”. Well, that would
be impossible. You see, with-
out owner contributions, there
is no money for roadwork!
Send in your contribution.
Be part of making WWR better.
Be Part of the Solution!
Roadwork on Westwood Ranch
Mar-2017 Page 4
WWR Road Contractors
Elliott Excavating: Phil Elliott has been the
WWROA road contractor just over 10 years, &
his 5th year working with the WWR Co-op. Phil’s
brother Ed works with him, running a second
piece of equipment, when needed.
Phil’s services can be contracted by individual
lot owners needing work on their property or
private roads. Licensed, Bonded & Insured.
(928) 713-5409
Questions received via email
& phone calls have prompted
this FAQ section.
FAQ #1: Why wasn’t my road
graded?
Answer: The #1 challenge for
the Co-op remains ‘member
density’. Having only 1 or 2
members in a section of 16
parcels does not provide
enough funding. More
neighbors need to be encour-
aged to contribute.
FAQ #2: I own a co-op lot, but
I don’t drive on the ‘co-op
roads’ - Why should I contrib-
ute?
Answer: Whether you rarely
drive on ranch roads, your lot
is investment property or you
live full-time on the ranch,
everyone should pay their
share. If you don’t pay your
share, someone else has to.
The alternative is ‘little-to-no
roadwork’.
FAQ #3: Can co-op lot owners
join, or be forced to join the
WWROA?
Answer: Not forced. However,
per the WWROA REMO con-
tract, Addendum I with the
State of Arizona, for Phases I-
V, annexation into the WWROA
can occur under strict condi-
tions, involving voting by both
the co-op landowners & the
WWROA membership.
Currently, it is unknown what
expenses the WWROA &/or
WWR Co-op would incur to
successfully annex a Phase
into the WWROA
FAQ #4: Why do you want my
email address?
Answer: Using USPS is expen-
sive. Emailing information
saves more money for road-
work!
FAQ #5: What happened to the
potlucks we used to have?
Answer: Honestly, the Board
struggles with this, but there
are two main reasons:
1) Potlucks were stopped be-
cause of a lawsuit that oc-
curred at the last pot luck
event. Our insurance com-
pany helped settle the
claim. But, our insurance
premium has almost dou-
bled.
2) A property owner throwing
a private party is different
from a Co-op potluck in
that the WWR Co-op does
not own land. Our insur-
ance company informed us
that when a WWR Co-op
sponsored potluck is held
on private property, the
homeowner is accepting
some liability & risk. A sup-
plemental policy can be
purchased to cover the
event. But, the risk is
higher when attendance is
open to anyone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Co-op Elections
No elections have been held for the last four
years due to zero interest. Other than the existing
Board members, there has been zero nomina-
tions, & zero inquiries from any contributing co-op
lot owners.
This means that we choose to spend contribution
monies on the roadwork, verses spending money
on owner mailings that no one has interest in.
If you would like to join the WWR Co-op Board,
please supply your, or your nominees information
to our Secretary by May 15th, at the latest. You
must be a co-op contributor to qualify.
If any nominations are received, & nominees
qualify, we will then send out Ballot forms to con-
tributing members for vote.
Mar-2017 Page 5
Mar-2017 Page 6
