Lorian HOA Update, January 2025
Dear Owners,
Happy New Year! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable holiday and will at some point get to Telluride for the winter ski season. Here is an HOA update to kick off the year.
Budget
In December 2024, the Board approved, and Owners ratified, our 2025 budget. With a $200K reduction in our property insurance premiums for 2025, we were able to reflect this in our 2025 operating budget. As a result, we will see a 17.76 percent reduction in our monthly HOA assessments this year.
Reserve funding for 2025 has been approved for the new hot tub and for associated design and architectural services related to improvements such as stucco, exterior painting, lighting, etc. We will update Owners as the information on needed work is presented to the Board.
It’s important to note that while we did not increase the Reserve budget assessment, priority investments needed for our property will certainly exceed our available Reserves this fiscal year. Since we are still in litigation with our roof and associated insurance carriers, the Board will assess our options as estimates come in for work needed, balanced with any settlements that may be reached. Also, remember that while our legal issues remain open, we are required to keep $235K of Reserves set aside for any possible settlement against us. These Reserve funds of $235K will be released back to us once our legal disputes are closed and will be available for property improvements.
Our 2025 approved budget can be found on our HOA website at The Lorian under the “Documents” tab.
Capital Improvements
The Sundeck-Catwalk project is essentially complete. Additionally, we were able to replace the cracked tile in the Phase 2 elevator with a new tile that matches the catwalk.
Because of the $200K reduction in our 2025 insurance premiums, we were able to fund an additional boiler to handle our snow melt needs and get the fiber installation to our property completed. These are important investments, and it’s good to have this done. Please stay tuned for details from Telluride Consulting on getting fiber installed into each unit.
Telluride Consulting is working on getting us a hot tub solution for this year; we will update Owners when options are available, and decisions are made.
Other improvements we will prioritize for the coming year include (but are not limited to):
Fire risk mitigation
Stucco repairs, retexture, and recolor
Exterior painting (wood, railings, trim, etc.)
Phase 2 improvements (entry, lower-level walkway)
Landscape improvements
Phase 2 elevator upgrade, including elevator landings
Clubhouse renovations
Roof Update
Our new roof is complete and is now under warranty. The construction defect corrections on the Phase 2–3 snow melt system are about 95 percent complete. The overall snow melt system is operating fully this winter as directly connected to the newly upgraded electrical source. We are still waiting on the custom panels that will manage the entire snow melt system on an automated, weather-sensing basis. When these arrive and are installed, we will be completely done. Having a functional snow melt roofing system on all three phases this winter has been a huge improvement over what we’ve had in the past.
Again, many thanks to the Board and Owners for approving the 2023 assessment to have our roof repairs made before any legal settlement was reached. The snow melt repairs have been significant (close to $500K) and have been added to our legal damages claim. Any settlements prior to all this work would have excluded these expenses and would have resulted in an enormous financial burden on the Lorian.
Legal Update
One of our insurance carriers (bonding company), Argonaut, recently filed a motion with the San Miguel County District Court demanding a portion of their deposition be stricken from the record. Their goal was to minimize their exposure to our claim against their refusal to perform during trial. The Court denied this motion on December 29, 2024, and we were pleased to see this ruling emphasizing Argonaut’s obligations.
As stated previously, we have a second mediation scheduled for January 28–29, 2025, in Denver. I will update Owners on the outcome of this negotiation. Our trial date remains May 12–23, 2025, in Telluride.
Board and Owner Meetings
Our next Board meeting is January 21, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Owners are always welcome to join in and listen if interested and available, and minutes are always posted on our website. Details on joining and the agenda will be sent soon.
Have a great winter season wherever you may be.
Warm regards,
Christy Agan
Board President, Lorian at Prospect Creek Owners Association, Inc.
