Leyden Rock Metropolitan District

Name: Barry Beal, Jr.

Email: newbie80439@yahoo.com

Why should I be elected to the LRMD Board?

Personal Statement
My main desire is to participate on the Board of Directors to serve the Leyden Rock community. I believe that I’m qualified to serve based on my experiences in two main areas. First I have served on the Board of Directors of a large credit union with $2.1B in assets. Additionally, I have over 40 years of financial and accounting experience. During my professional career I’ve acquired experience in financial reporting, human resources, information technology, contract administration, legal issues and management.

Financial Management / Analysis
I have over 30 years experience in corporate accounting with a heavy emphasis on financial management and analysis. The size of companies that I’ve worked for range i the low one hundred thousands to over a billion is assets. My work experience includes preparation of financial statements, budgets, cash forecasting, accounts receivabel & payable and variance analysis.

Management / Administration
I’ve had the oversight and management responsibilities for internal, external and federal audits. I’ve had the responsibility for contract administration, banking relationships, and various other reporting relationships with local, state and Federal governmental agencies.

Personnel and Supervisory
I’ve managed a staff of up to six employees that ranged from clerical through professional levels. I’ve had the responsibility of managing the human resources function and information technology for several organizations where I’ve been employed.

Board of Directors Experience
A large non-profit credit union with $2.1B in Assets.
Board of Directors – Treasurer
• Review monthly, quarterly and annual financial statements & financial condition of the organization
• Review Strategic Plan
• Develop Succession Plans
Supervisory Audit Committee – Chair
• Reviewed monthly, quarterly and annual internal audits and auditor recommendations

Name: Scott J. Plummer

Email: scott.plummer@leydenrocklife.com

Why should I be elected to the LRMD Board?

My name is Scott J Plummer, and I am running for re-election to the Leyden Rock Metropolitan District. I have lived in Leyden Rock for 6.5 years with my wife, Amy, and my 12-year-old son, Jack. I graduated with a City Planning degree from Metropolitan State University. I work in Denver’s Assessor office and am the main person who deals with the special district. You are probably asking yourself, why should I vote for this guy? Let me tell you.

In my first three years as a board member, I have fulfilled or am close to fulfilling my three main goals.

• Better board transparency & communication
• With help from the LR staff, the Leyden Rock budget, forms, and guidelines are more organized on the website.
• Worked with staff to send out more communications to residents that are clearer and more concise.
• I joined Nextdoor.com and have used it extensively to communicate with residents.
• Moved the board meeting to the evenings and had more yearly meetings. It was silly that the meetings were held during the day and were not well advertised.
• Held small or one-on-one meetings with residents from time to time.
• Trash
• This was important for me since I live on the western side of Leyden Rock.
• After a particular bad trash “storm,” I contacted every elected official I could within the Colorado Department monitoring landfills.
• With some pressure, Republic changed its processes to combat the trash blowing into our area. While I do not think we will ever eliminate the trash issue, the problem is leaps and bounds better than it was.
• Close the landfill at much lower wind speeds than industry standards.
• Have a pile of dirt close by to cover the trash when the winds pick up
• Faster response to get a crew out to pick up trash.
• Westridge Park and hill
• This is a passion project for me.
• Have helped the firm to use our capital improvement fund to enhance this area.
• Improve Culebra entrance.
• Plans have been approved, and shovels are now in the ground.

My biggest accomplishment is a huge one and one for which I am proud.

• With the help of Brett Vernon, Tim Rodgers, Leyden Rock staff, and hired consultants, we refinanced all our debt, some of it was toxic, into one senior bond and walked away with cash to enhance our subdivision.
• To finish the subdivision, the developer advanced $7 million to be repaid by future property tax revenue.
• We were not paying on this debt, so interest was accruing.
• Brett and I sat down with the developer and, through tough negotiations, got the developers to accept a small portion of the money owed.
• This means we now have about $4.5 million to enhance Leyden Rock.
• I am proud of being a part of this, and it will go down as a formative event in Leyden Rock history.
• Of all the special districts I deal with, Leyden Rock is the best case financially.
• We are now paying a singular bond, not accruing any interest from subordinate bonds.
• Where we sit now, our debt will be paid off much sooner than if we had done nothing.
• Other accomplishments
• Voted to add another full-time staff member; we wondered if the cost to employ a 2nd full-time employee will be worth it. It has been a great move, especially during our capital improvement project.
• Christine Ahern has done a fantastic job increasing and enhancing our residential events. I think these events appeal to nearly every resident in our subdivision. Especially those that do not utilize the pool or parks.
• Christine continues to work well over her part-time hours. I voted to increase her hours to full-time, but that did not pass. I will continue to work toward making her full-time so she can get benefits and sick time. More hours will allow her to add more events.
• I will continue to encourage the Board to come up with sensible paint, giving residents flexibility to paint their houses how they want and maintain the look and feel of the neighborhood.

$4.5 million capital improvement

• Brett and I have had five park chats through the subdivision to get input from the residents
• All be it slowly; we are well on our way to spending that money
• Money that has already been spent and organizational issues that have been implemented:
• New AV system in our clubhouse. This will allow us to have in-person and virtual board meetings
• The pool will look drastically different this coming May.
• New shelters will be added to the pool area, including a large gazebo-like structure in the grass area.
• New and more pool furniture.
• Met with the company that employs our pool attendants. They are on board with the pool attendants being more active.
• New clocks, including a lap swim clock.
• Earlier lap swim hours. Last season I could add a lap swim time at the end of the day.
• Still reviewing adult swim times throughout the day.
• Working out the details to get the pool up and running much faster and have a solid brownout.
• Figured out a pool temperature that is a compromise between lap swimmers and daily pool users.
• Just approved the plans and costs for the entrance enhancements. You will be amazed at how good they look, especially at the Culebra and Yule entrances and Christmas lights.
• Working with our design firm to enhance empty lots in our subdivision, Westridge Park, and the hill. This includes the row of open lots along W 88th If all goes to plan, it will look like a long park.
• Will continue to work with Arvada to add some enhancements to city parks.
• Support other board members to enhance and increase our trial network.
• I am sure I am missing something.

So, what about the next four years

• The main reason I am running for reelection is to see our capital improvements completed.
• Continue to honor my fiduciary responsibility and keep Leyden Rock financially healthy.
• Will continue to insist on better signage throughout the neighborhood.
• Continue to use Nextdoor.com as my main way to communicate with residents.
• Will continue working diligently with Republic to prevent as much trash as possible from entering our area.

Thanks so much for reading this. I enjoyed my first three years on the Leyden Rock board and am proud to say we accomplished a lot. I was honored that you voted for me the first time and will be honored if you vote for me again. One of my favorite parts of being a board member is meeting all of you. I am old-fashioned in that I like meeting people in person. You can continue to contact mean any time.

I hope you will vote for Brett Vernon as well, everything I listed above would not have been possible without Brett’s support and knowledge. Especially the bonds refinance, he was instrumental in getting it done. It was his baby, and I was there to support him.

Name: Brett G. Vernon

Email: brett.vernon@leydenrocklife.com

Why should I be elected to the LRMD Board?

I’m pleased to announce that I’m running for re-election to the Leyden Rock Metropolitan District Board. If re-elected it would be my second term and likely my last due to a self-imposed term limit. I’m requesting your vote so I can help finish what I and my fellow board members have started.

I was first elected to the board in May of 2020. Prior to then the board was controlled by our developer. Since my election, the board has:

• Dramatically increased communication from the district. When I first took office communication was very limited. The board and I have worked with our management company to increase communication exponentially. I hope everyone is reading the Hogback Herald!
• Fundamentally improved the financial footing of the district and its residents by refinancing the bonds we are all paying on through our property taxes.
  • Before the refinance, we had $56.4 million of debt and accrued interest. After the refinance we have $45.8 million of debt, no accrued interest and $4.7 million of cash in our pocket.
  • Before the refinance we had three series of bonds and a developer note with rates running from 4.0% to 10.75%. We now have one bond series with effective rates of 1.99% to 2.09%
  • The refinance allowed us to reduce the mill levy by 7 mills, which we used to offset the $360 annual fee that was charged to all residents during the holidays.
  • The refinance saved this community $32.3 million and each household $22 thousand over the 30-year life of the bonds.
  • More details about the refinance are available on Leyden Rock’s YouTube channel. The video is titled “Community Meeting News Release 12/9/21”
  • This would be the most important service I could ever provide to my community, I’m very pleased with the result.
• Maintained strong fiscal stewardship over our operating budget, holding the average annual increase for the operating budget to 2.7% over the last 3 years, while increasing the staff from 1 to 3. I’m very committed to maintaining this fiscal discipline.
• Kept the pool open through the Covid pandemic. Neighboring neighborhoods were unable to do this
• Engaged with the community, holding several park chats across the community to let you all know what’s going on and to get your feedback.
• Accepted every meeting requested of us.
• The current board is stocked with amazing people with accretive skill sets. The current board members all bring incredibly valuable ideas and values. It’s an honor to serve this community with them

Here’s what I intend to do if re-elected:

• Finish the community improvements enabled by the $4.7 million of bond proceeds we received.
  • We didn’t seek out these funds; we were required to accept them or turn them over to our developer. Now that we have them, we will do our best to deploy them to increase the property values for each home in Leyden Rock
  • Improvements to the AV system and Wifi and the Clubhouse are contracted and will be completed in April.
  • Improvements to the pool area are contracted and set to be completed before the pool opens on Memorial Day weekend
  • Plans for the entrances have been approved by the board and are ready for submission to the City.
  • We are evaluating over 30 vista and trailhead sites for beautification and improvement
  • Addition landscape and trail improvements are in the planning stages.
  • So are improvements to the area under the powerlines on 88th, to the parks, and to the hillside in front of Westridge Park.
• I’ll continue my advocacy for fire safety and fire exits. Based on my request the City has commissioned a regional review of emergency response, access constraints, and roadway capacity. The review and recommendation should be completed by August.
• I’ll continue my work with my fellow board members to maintain fiscal discipline with the operating budget.

I hope I’ve earned your vote for reelection in May!

Thanks,

Brett