The Falcon Highlands Metropolitan District has changed the makeup of its board of directors, early recall election results indicate.

The quasigovernmental district near Peyton entered an off-cycle recall election this month for three of the board’s five members. The recall of board members Erin Ganaway, Leo Schuhmacher and Tim Dickey were each a yes-or-no question on the ballot. Voters could then choose among replacement candidates for each position.

Preliminary results show a majority of Falcon Highlands voters chose to approve the recall of each board member on the ballot, with 277 out of 291 voters for the recall of Ganaway, 276 for the recall of Schuhmacher and 280 for the recall of Dickey.

Designated election official Wayne Williams said the nearly 35% election turnout was “impressive,” considering it surpassed the recent El Paso County primary turnout — 28.5% — that included a congressional race.

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He said that the initial collection of recall election petition signatures, about 400 out of 850 registered voters, predicted a well-run recall campaign.

“You had a group that was very organized,” he said.

Candidate Ainsley Sinclaire has the votes to replace Ganaway, Bob Aamodt will likely have Schuhmacher’s seat, and Curtis Fletcher is the likely winner of Tim Dickey’s seat.

The new board members will serve until the regular district election in May 2025.

The recall election came together out of resident dissatisfaction with the handling of an infrastructure issue affecting the community’s groundwater underdrain and the ties of board members to developer Challenger Homes.

Recall committee chair Kayla Higbee said she was pleased with results.

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“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity that we have for the community to do things for the community,” she said.

Higbee, along with other Falcon Highlands residents, became concerned with the board’s handling of the housing development’s aging and partially collapsed underdrain system last year. The issue, coupled with high groundwater, caused several homes to sustain flood damage while pumping excess water out of basements.

The metro district started to take measures to fix the drainage issue this spring at a pace that dissatisfied some residents.

Higbee said she hoped the new board would start by hiring a different management company and legal counsel.

Another point of contention for some voters were the ties of two board members to Challenger Homes, the development company active in the district. Challenger gained county approval to raise the amount of allowed single family homes in an undeveloped section of the district from 138 to 378, despite concerns raised about water availability.

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Higbee has said in the past that the ties of Ganaway and Schuhmacher, who are Challenger employees, prevented the board from making objective decisions to benefit the community. She said she felt the recall was a way for citizens to gain back power.

“This really shows that when community becomes informed with what’s going on we have the power to make change,” she said.