1. It is very important that all of the valves on the homeowner’s system be CLOSED by Thursday, April 18th, before water is turned on for the first time. Close the valve on your system before water is turned on April 19th to avoid flooding of your yard when water enters our irrigation system. Too many of us have learned this from experience.

2. Please make any needed repairs ahead of time with the repair company of the homeowner’s choice. Determine whether your system needs repairs between now and Friday, April 19th. This would include any visible problems to your pipes/pumps or any known/existing problems.

3. We ask that all homeowners and tenants bring their home irrigation systems on line as soon as the water becomes available on April 19th. Chuck’s Sprinkler Services will perform the opening of the main valve on Friday, April 19th. Check later in the morning (probably after 10 am) to see if your water has arrived by turning your valve on.

• If it seems to be working fine, you can turn off your valve and open it when you intend on using the water for your yard.
• If your system springs a leak or isn’t working, Chuck’s Sprinkler Services will have several crews and trucks available in the area to perform immediate repairs to systems that exhibit leaks on start up. Please contact Chuck’s Sprinkler at 970-243-6294 for these immediate repairs on that day. Some leaks or system problems may require an immediate shut down of the system to complete repairs.
• To minimize additional stress on our irrigation system and disruptions in homeowner’s normal lawn care cycles we ask that all homeowners check their systems on April 19th. In years past, some homeowners delayed initial use of their systems for up to 3 weeks, only to discover a problem that required a shut-down of the system to fix. These additional start-ups and shut-downs could have possibly been avoided, and we would like to minimize these as much as possible.
  • If a homeowner is going to be out of town the week of April 19th, it would be very beneficial if they could arrange for a neighbor or trusted friend to check their system on Friday and help coordinate any access and repairs if they are needed.

4. Questions?

• If you are new to Grand Valley irrigation systems, you might talk to your neighbors to get a few pointers.
• Questions about this announcement and preparations for “water on” please call as follows:
  1. Chuck’s Sprinkler: 970-243-6294
  2. Property Manager Lori Wood: 970-234-5674
  3. HOA President Jim Jackson: 314-973-8498

Our annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 10th at 7pm. The meeting will take place at Cavalcade Performing Arts Center at 201 E Aspen Ave. We hope to see you there!

Our irrigation water will be shut off, Saturday, October 28th.

The following information is available on our website:

CRITICAL: After the HOA irrigation water has been turned OFF and the underground system allowed to drain (approx. 24 hrs.) each homeowner must OPEN their main supply valve in order to drain any residual water out of the internal components of their valve.

Water trapped in the valve WILL FREEZE and expand which will cause the valve body to crack. In most cases, this will not be apparent until Spring startup when the cracked valve fails catastrophically and the entire HOA system must be turned off in order for the Homeowner to conduct the repair.

Each Homeowner should have their irrigation system drained and blown out with compressed air in order to prevent the freezing and rupture of their lines, valves, and sprinkler heads.

Several companies in the Grand Valley provide this service. Please schedule them ahead of time because they are very busy during shutdown time and a freeze may occur before they can service your system.

A homeowner may choose to do his/her own system blow out. Most home air compressors can provide enough pressure (~30-70 PSI), however, many cannot provide the volume of air (CFM) required to completely remove the water. CFM requirements are dependent on individual zone demand. All zones including those not in use must be blown out.

If you cannot get your irrigation system blown out before we experience freezing temperatures, see info below….

Close your main valve. Depending on how cold and for how long the temperature remains below freezing, you may need to take additional precautions to prevent the main valve and standpipe from freezing. Many times, a blanket and/or a heavy cardboard box to trap the ground heat in with the main valve will suffice. For additional protection, wrap an electric heating pad snugly around the main valve and protect it from wetness. It ONLY needs to keep the main valve and standpipe above freezing; so the warm or medium setting should be more than plenty.

Open all of the downstream valves and spigots in your system. This will help drain as much water as possible. The idea is to drain the water out of all the above-ground plumbing. Underground valves and lines should be OK provided the ground does not freeze deep.

Remove your primary and secondary sediment screens. Screens in individual sprinkler heads do not necessarily need to be removed unless your sprinkler manufacturer advises doing so.

Drain your pump housing. There will be at least 1 but likely 2 pipe plugs or drain valves on your pump housing. Remove or open these and allow the water to drain out. Once drained, replace/close the plugs or keep them out until the system is blown out.

Remember to OPEN your main valve after the HOA water is off and drained.

The Comstock Estates HOA Board meeting will be this Wednesday, October 11th at 7pm. The meeting will be held at Cavalcade on Aspen Street in downtown Fruita. Hope to see you there!

The repair has been completed and the irrigation water is back on.

The irrigation water is off and will probably be off for several days. This is due to a large break that couldn’t be isolated. An email will be sent when the water is turned back on.

If your property includes HOA owned fencing, the exterior facing side will be painted this week. Notifications have previously been sent to clear the area inside the fence. This was to be done in case the posts/pickets need to be changed out AND due to potential overspray. Some of the paint may spray over and enter between the fence. If there are things of value near the fence, paint may end up on these items. Please also ensure any vegetation has been removed that is hanging over/on the fence that may impact the painters ability to access the fence.

The paint being used by the painters will be on file at Home Depot under “Comstock Estates Fence”.

Join us tonight, August 1st, on the South End of Prospector Park between 6:30 and 8:30pm. You will have a chance to meet some of the Fruita Police officers, firefighters, as well as parks and rec staff. We will also have Enstrom’s Ice Cream to hand out. Come out and meet your neighbors!

The city is making some repairs in Prospector Park and had to turn the irrigation water off to the entire subdivision. It is expected to be back on later today.

The board invites you to the next meeting, Wednesday, July 12th, at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be held at Calvacade Event Center in Fruita. Calvacade is located at the corner of Aspen and Mulberry.