Road Committee Updates
April 2023 Update
On April 15th 2023, the Road Committee shared background, project scope, cost estimates, and financing with the community. While we had some difficulties livestreaming the event, we have the majority of the presentation available on YouTube at the following link: 2023 ILPOA Roads Forum (1) - YouTube
Road Committee Overview
One of the board and the community’s main priorities for the past several years has been road infrastructure, and there has been a great deal of background work completed by prior boards on the roads. In 2016, the board commissioned a road study with BFA to evaluate the condition of our roads, and develop a cost estimate for repairing the road infrastructure. After the failure of a community vote in 2016 for several projects, subsequent boards made a decision to prioritize the Cove 9 bridge and the Lake Restoration effort. The Indian Hills community has taken substantial steps forward with the success of these two major projects over the last 5 years. These projects also have provided a blueprint for successful projects in our community:
1) Use professionals (engineers) to provide the community with an independent assessment of what is needed for our community (and not the opinion of board members or committee volunteers who may not be experts)
2) Involve volunteers outside of the board of directors to make recommendations and chart a path forward.
3) Engage with Members, be clear with project goals, and provide forums to solicit feedback from the community
The Cove 9 bridge project was successful due to the use of Cochran engineering, and most importantly an army of volunteers that provided their support for the project by leading information sessions and driving the design and construction phases. Lake Restoration’s success can be attributed to Ed Weston and Mike Schwartze’s truly remarkable efforts, the support of our partners at SIS Bio and Lake Restorative Services, and the widespread support across our community with volunteers pitching in across all facets of the project. The hallmark of these projects is that they were not “board led” – they were led by members of our community who had a vested interest in making sure that our community is moving forward.
Throughout 2022, the current board has held several discussions regarding what our path forward should be to address the road infrastructure. The board decided in April 2022 that we needed to update the 2016 engineering study, and invest in a more thorough ditch and culvert study to help determine what investments were needed to improve the road infrastructure. The board requested bids and selected Cochran Engineering to provide the studies. These studies are posted below.
As of the first quarter of 2023, the Road Committee has reviewed the road study, engaged with contractors, and is going to be presenting the latest recommendation to the community over the next several weeks. Additional information regarding community meetings and Q&A sessions will be shared as soon as those are finalized.
If you have any immediate questions, please send a note to roads@ilpoa.org and the committee will respond as quickly as we can.