MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2003

 

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES
  1. Tim Rizzo called the meeting to order at 7:04 pm.  In attendance were Tim Rizzo, Jen Stout, Steve Yandl, Bill Malowney and Betty Malowney.
  2. Steve Yandl submitted minutes from the October board of directors meeting and reviewed the new business initiated at that meeting.  Bill Malowney moved to accept the minutes as read.  Jen Stout seconded the motion.  Motion was carried 5-0.
GROUNDS AND MAINTENANCE REPORT
  1. Bill Malowney reported that sprinkler winterization has been completed.
  2. Bill reported on plans to replace the dead shrubs along the perimeter of the ball park.  Tim Rizzo indicated that he had some plants to donate for use as common area plantings.
  3. The weed and pest treatment person was out recently.  Clover is more prevalent than expected.  Crane fly infestation is expected to be quite bad next spring and with the arrival of a new species with different timing on its life cycle we will require two separate pesticide treatments.  Moss is currently worse than usual.
  4. The bench portion of the Boy Scout project looks good.  As the Scout gets time, he will prep for the concrete pad where the picnic tables will be.
  5. Question from John Patterson, raised by Steve Yandl regarding white paint markings on small trees and shrubs along the wood chip trail opposite 156th St.  Bill was not aware of any activity to mark plants there.
  6. Question asked regarding contact by the scouts to add more chips to the trail when Christmas trees are collected and chipped.  Bill has not yet been contacted but indicated that he did have an agreement with them last year and he expects to be contacted at the end of the month or in December.
  7. Question asked regarding status of landscaping around the Clearview Water Group bunkers on Snohomish Cascade Drive.  Bill has made a recent contact and not received a reply.
STATUS OF WILLIS TUCKER MEMORIAL PARK
  1. Bill Malowney reported that he is now a parks department committee where he provides citizen input on all park projects, including Willis Tucker.
  2. Bill will be happy to take input from neighbors over the phone so he can properly represent the preferences of Gold Creek 2a.
  3. Traffic impact may not be as bad as some anticipated, despite the fact that park headquarters will be located here.  Money is available for phase I to proceed.
ACC / CC&R REPORT
  1. Steve Yandl presented the report for John Patterson.  Lot 117, Phase III has responded that he will have the siding and painting issues on his shed corrected by the end of November.
  2. Lot 20, Phase II, Block 1 provided paint paint samples for reference to establish that repainting was done with the same color as the previous paint job.  The group agrees that John Patterson may make a ruling on this as a normal ACC request.  Only if he rules against the homeowner and the homeowner wishes to appeal to the board would the board need to vote on this specific issue.
  3. Bill Malowney agreed to remain on the ACC committee.  The board determined that it would be better to not have two committee members from the same family and appointed Tim Rizzo to replace Betty Malowney on ACC.  It was agreed that John should continue running the committee as he has been since taking the chairman position over from Mike Summitt.
FREQUENCY OF NEWSLETTER PUBLICATION
  1. The idea of putting out the newsletter every other month or quarterly was discussed.  Board members did not want to pressure Steve Yandl or Sue Ann Goldman to have to put out an issue when there was no new material or if getting it out on time caused a hardship.  Other than that concern, there was little interest in putting the newsletter out less often and no vote to change was taken.
  2. Steve Yandl indicated that both he and Sue Ann should document what they do on the newsletter in sufficient detail that anyone could step in and do the job in case of conflicts that interfere with getting an issue done.  To the extent possible, this sort of documentation should be done for all our duties to make for a smoother transition if and when others are elected to take our places on the board.  One on one training of substitutes or replacements is ideal when possible but the association could really benefit from having more step by step documentation of procedures.
TREASURER’S REPORT
  1. Sue Ann Goldman prepared reports before leaving on vacation and turned them over to Bill Malowney to present.
  2. Those reports should be considered part of these minutes.  In summary, we have $6,143 in checking and $31,533 in Certificates of Deposit.
  3. Tim Rizzo commented that it might be helpful to modify the report comparing year to date expenses against budgeted amount to include percentage and percentage changes.  There are some other minor changes that might help better visualize financial status but the group found no substantive problems with the information.  Tim has agreed to work with Sue Ann on some changes but we felt it would be best to see what changes the auditor suggests first and then fine tune reports.  We felt it would be helpful to keep the new long term capital improvement fund under a completely separate account with separate budget and reports rather than have the entire block of information in a common set of reports.
  4. Bill presented a letter summarizing the findings from the October 8, 2003 meeting with regard to costs on future repairs and replacements of our two storm water detention ponds, our wood fence, and playground equipment.  As stated in the letter of supplementary information, estimates were based on best information from independent and current contractors on equipment and Snohomish County Surface Water Management staff on the detention ponds.  Bill also presented a reserve fund analysis in the form of a spreadsheet with projected data for 20 years.  This evaluation assumes that we seed the fund with $10,000 and collect $25/year/homeowner as a special assessment separate from assessments supporting operating expenses.  After review, Tim Rizzo pointed out that data for year 2016 was missing and needed to be included and that the assumed interest rate being earned on the fund needed to be shown as a footnote or notation to the spreadsheet.  The letter and the corrected spreadsheet should be considered as part of these minutes.
  5. Steve Yandl moved that we accept this corrected reserve fund analysis.  In addition, we approve transfer of $10,000 out of the funds currently in CD “05-01-04” which is currently considered to be emergency reserves.  This motion also includes charging a special assessment of $25 instead of the $20 we estimated would be required at the last board meeting meaning that the the total assessments for 2004 will be $280.00($255.00 for annual assessment + $25.00 special assessment for long term capital fund).  Tim Rizzo seconded the motion.  The motion carried 5-0.
NEW BUSINESS
  1. In consideration of the extra work that would typically be done for us by a Property Management Company, the idea of compensating the Treasurer and Secretary of the board was discussed.  Steve Yandl expressed reservations, in that, this has always been considered a volunteer effort and we have repeatedly shared that with members.  There is also concern about where we draw the line since many others contribute a great deal to the association.
  2. Tim Rizzo moved that we excuse the Treasurer and Secretary from owner assessments as compensation for the work they do in support of the association.  Bill Malowney seconded the motion.  The motion carried 4-0; Steve Yandl abstained.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:50PM

    • Next meeting, Steve Yandl’s on Wednesday, December 10.