0209 - Sector 2a at Snohomish Cascade Association

MONTHLY MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE BOARD

GOLDMAN RESIDENCE

7:00 PM

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002

MINUTES

CALL TO ORDER/APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The meeting was called to order by Mike Summitt at 7:07 pm. In attendance were Mike Summitt, Sue Ann Goldman, Bill Malowney, Betty Malowney, Steve Yandl, and Kathi Donald.

Steve Yandl distributed copies of the minutes for the July 29, 2002 meeting of the board for review. Bill Malowney requested a correction; specifically that the $1300 itemized for cleanup of the area adjacent to the fire station by Skinner landscaping was actually only $800 and that the bill for $1300 included concrete cleanup in a different area and some sprinkler repair. Mike Summitt made a motion to accept the minutes with the correction, Sue Ann Goldman seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Sue Ann Goldman presented the financial status of the association. Detailed reports with information as of August 31, 2002 including a Balance Sheet, Budget vs. Actual, Check Detail, Transaction Detail, Budget Overview, Open Invoices, Trial Balance, and P&L Year-to-Date Comparison were reviewed. Copies of these reports are held by Steve Yandl and are available for inspection along with the originals held by Sue Ann Goldman.

To summarize financial status, there is currently $14,517.31 in checking and savings. There are assets held in three separate CD accounts with staggered maturity dates totaling $30,064.03. The first CD account to mature will do so at the end of September and is valued at $10,019.13. This CD will not be renewed until it is clear that collections of the 2003 annual assessments will be available in time to handle current expenses. The year to date profit and loss shows a negative balance of $8,003.47 that includes carryover from prior year.

Steve Yandl made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Bill Malowney seconded the motion and the motion carried 6-0.

REVIEW OF MAIL TO THE BOARD

Sue Ann Goldman shared one mail item with the board. This was a copy of a letter sent to Neil and Mary Ross (Custom Craft Homes) by Linda Merchant acting as Gold Creek ACC for Leavitt Companies. The letter makes it clear that since the Custom Craft Homes are complete to the extent that potential buyers are being escorted through and front landscaping complete, the presence of the junk truck being parked in front of one or the other of the Ross’ lots constitutes a violation of the CC&Rs.

Sue Ann also brought our attention to the parks department mailing inviting community members to a meeting on the Puget Park Drive Extension and Willis D. Tucker Community Park.

Sue Ann also shared a proposal that was a response to a bid request. The company that removed our old mailboxes can remove and demolish the 29 existing roof structures at a cost of $100 each. There was a discussion over the feeling of the neighborhood and the actual cost of doing the entire job. Steve Yandl made a motion to table the decision until a new board is elected by all homeowners. Mike Summitt seconded the motion and it carried 6-0. Mike Summitt reminded the group that we needed to keep left over mail box funds earmarked for this task.

UPDATE ON CC&R ISSUES

Dale and Sandy Wise Despite numerous warnings, everyone agrees that Dale Wise has failed to comply with the time deadline regarding front, back, and side yard landscaping (over 25 months compared to a 6 month deadline). He has failed to complete his fencing or place a gate across the SE section and he failed to acquire ACC approval for his fence, his shed, or his deck. The discussion highlighted concerns that a failure to enforce the CC&Rs in this instance would render the association unable to ever force compliance with CC&R issues in the future. Bill Malowney made a motion that we have Sherman Knight send a letter to Dale & Sandy Wise giving them 30 days to have all aspects of their violations remedied or be fined $500 per day until they are in compliance. Steve Yandl seconded the motion. There was a brief discussion where it was decided that Bill Malowney would be the person to contact Mr. Knight. The motion carried 6-0.
Robert and Katie Drinkard In discussion it was decided that the association has a weak legal position regarding the nuisance animal issue. Steve Yandl will place some information in the newsletter suggesting that people continue to call the sheriff or animal control which will eventually result in the problem being corrected or fines being given to the Drinkards. Steve Yandl will also write a non threatening letter to the Drinakards advising them of the results of the survey that Ron Lee conducted and suggesting that they consider better control measures for their animals. There was no discussion of their other CC&R violations (fence color and back yard shelter)

UPDATE ON GRONDS AND MAINTENANCE

RainBird Sprinkler Controls Brian Skinner had contacted RainBird regarding the high failure rate of controls in our sprinkler system. RainBird agreed to replace hardware and pay for all but about $500 worth of labor in the replacement. They recently amended their offer to cover the entire cost of replacement. Since we were just outside of the warranty period, it was decided that both RainBird and Skinner deserve a special mention in the newsletter.
Maintenance of the area adjacent to fire station Feeling bad that his original charges had been excessive, Skinner has done a bit of follow up work at no charge. It was agreed that doing ongoing maintenance for the older Gold Creek divisions will be a waste and lead to more abuse by their association. Kathi Donald will speak to the lieutenants at the fire station and see if they are willing to help with general lawn care on their side of the street. Bill Malowney will regularly register complaints with the county to force the county to do some basic upkeep and perhaps fine Gold Creek HOA. To do a proper clean up would require about $2000 once and an increase of $200 per month to our landscaping bill and we didn’t feel this was something we want to burden our homeowners with.
Bids to repair and repaint the common area fence We had a bid for $1.80 per linear foot over 5,000 ft of fence but that bid has been withdrawn. It doesn’t appear that many contractors are excited about bidding on this sort of job. An honest estimate of the final cost plus tax if done n the next year will be $13,000 - $15,000 but we need to get a firm quote before taking this further.
Trees on ballpark behind Eldean Vernon’s house Bill Malowney will be contacting Eldean’s landscaper about replacing the couple of trees that have not survived. If necessary, he will put a claim into the landscaper’s insurance carrier. Had the dead trees been due to a lack of watering as suggested by Kathleen Roberts (Eldean’s daughter) the entire collection of trees would be suffering. Since it is only a few, it is probably a problem with improper planting depth.

UPDATE FROM EVENTS COMMITTEE Kathi Donald had concerns that she was expected to recover all or most of her expenditures through collections from those who attend. She indicated that last year she didn’t do pony rides and some other activities at the Fall celebration for fear of spending outside her limit, even though there was sufficient budget money. She was encouraged to spend the money in her budget without being frivolous, recover what she could from attendees but not to worry about using money that has been budgeted.

Kathi Donald excused herself and was not present for the remainder of the meeting.

UPDATE ON NEWSLETTER

Steve Yandl reported no issues with the newsletter. He will contact David Beardsley once more and see if we can’t get the web page up to speed.

NEW BUSINESS

Annual Assessment for 2003 Bill Malowney made a motion to raise the annual assessment for 2003 to $215. Steve Yandl seconded the motion. There was a brief discussion. A vote was taken and the motion carried 5-0. The hope is that we avoid any special assessments although it is recognized that the fence repair and painting might require such a special assessment. The goal will be to maintain one year operating expense as emergency funds and keep most of those funds invested in CDs or other secure interest yielding investments.
Select a President to replace Nancy Popham who resigned the previous week. No selection was made. We agree that the position demands a stable long term presence and the decision need not be made quickly. For the present, Mike Summitt, the Vice President, will run meetings. We discussed making the chairpersons of each committee members of the board. It was agreed that Nancy Popham should be removed from the signature card on our checking account and Bill Malowney added.
Election Procedure when Leavitt turns over the association. Mike Summitt shared a newsletter from the association at his time share as a model for how we might handle a vote and manage to get a quorum to participate. The key is to mail proxy forms to all homeowners to allow us to conduct a vote where we don’t have to have over 50% of the owners present to make the vote valid.
Next Meeting. There was a discussion on the need for regular monthly meetings so we will be able to get through the required material in a reasonable time frame. Bill Malowney made a motion that we set board meetings to be held at 7:00 PM, the second Wednesday of every month. Sue Ann Goldman seconded the motion and it was carried 5-0. The October 9 meeting will be held at Steve Yandl’s. The November meeting will be at Malowney’s and the December meeting will be at Sue Ann Goldman’s.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 9:20 PM.