MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTOR’S MEETING
SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION
7:00 PM TUESDAY JANUARY 5, 2010
CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES
SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION
7:00 PM TUESDAY JANUARY 5, 2010
CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES
- Bill Steenis called the meeting to order at 7:20pm. Present were Bill Steenis, Duane Oord, Trina Coleman, Steve Yandl, Cheryl Carlson and Joyce Bowen.
- Trina Coleman presented the minutes from the December 2009 meeting. There were no changes requested. Steve Yandl moved to accept the minutes, Joyce Bowen seconded and motion passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT
- Steve Yandl reported that the reports from the bookkeeper had been received but not yet posted to the web page. In lieu of that, copies of bank statements were distributed for review.
- We have $7,639.81 in checking with $4,341 in outstanding checks. Anticipated expenses through the end of the year that represent goods or services received in 2009 take the yearend balance to $544. Considering the $13.3k fine collected in 2009 and the starting balance for checking on 1/1/2009 we spent about $20k over budget (although reserve funds were not spent).
- We also have $23,875 in the operational reserve and $69,226 in the long term capital replacement/repair fund.
MAINTENANCE
- Cheryl Carlson reported that we had minimal repairs and upkeep in the past month.
- There was a brief discussion on getting the new section of common area fence painted. The work will be done by Skinner but the plan is to wait until spring when the weather can be counted on to stay nice for days in a row. Steve Yandl reported that Brian Skinner was willing to pre-paint fence boards in his shop so the fence repairs can be done with already painted lumber.
- Discussed the fact that the decrepit sections of fence on the east side of 68th Ave immediately south of the Puget Park Drive entrance to Willis Tucker Park belong to Gold Creek 1, not us. We do own a section of that fence on the west side of our NW corner detention pond. The decision had previously been made to replace that section of fence with earth tone cyclone fence when replacement or major repair becomes necessary.
ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT
- Joyce Bowen reported that she had received an approval request for a remodel although the request was more in the format of an announcement rather than a request for approval. Joyce was planning to get back to the homeowners and request actual plans and more specifics prior to asking the committee to consider approval.
- This time of year there are relatively few complaints on yards, in large part because plants (including weeds) are dormant or growing slowly. Several yards to watch as we get into spring were mentioned and Joyce will follow up as we get into spring and summer.
YARD AND HOLIDAY DECORATION MERIT AWARDS
- Bill Steenis indicated he would like to turn this program over to someone else. He wanted a notice in the upcoming newsletter to solicit interested folks who might want to manage the program in the future.
OLD BUSINESS
- Rentals – Sharma to Gillum
- No real change here.
- Yandl reports that Gillum paid HOA dues for 2008 and will probably do the same for 2009. Invoice was made to the group of part owners rather than any particular owner. This was to make sure we were not acknowledging full ownership by Gillum, even though he is the HOA member by virtue of the fact that title is in his name (for a 1% ownership interest).
- No real change here.
- Rentals – Guimont lawsuit.
- Most officers and directors received several mailings, presumably from Aaron Guimont and one written response was sent to Aaron Guimont. Those mailings were discussed.
- HOA’s attorney had checked with Guimont’s attorney after the initial mailed packet was received. Guimont’s attorney indicated he still represented them and that he was aware of the letter which had been mailed over his strong objections.
- Steve Yandl had responded to the initial packet in writing, primarily to advise Aaron Guimont that his offer to settle with the HOA for $5,000 rather than the $52,500 held in the Court registry wasn’t acceptable.
- Bill Steenis suggested some possible responses the HOA could send to the second mailing. Since the second mailing did not include any new offer for a settlement to consider, it was decided that no additional response would be sent to Aaron Guimont at this point.
- HOA’s attorney had checked with Guimont’s attorney after the initial mailed packet was received. Guimont’s attorney indicated he still represented them and that he was aware of the letter which had been mailed over his strong objections.
- A significant part of the mailed information from Aaron Guimont was documentation regarding his large debts accompanied with the claim that he would likely have to seek bankruptcy protection if the HOA would not forgive a significant portion of his fines for renting without approval. The HOA attorney feels that the money in the registry of the Court constitutes cash security and that our position relative to the multiple unsecured creditors (several of whom have filed lawsuits in Superior Court to recover debts) is strong but it’s difficult to be certain in the context of new bankruptcy rules.
- The decision was made to ‘wait and see’ regarding bankruptcy. If nothing new comes up in the next weeks or months, we will proceed with getting a deposition from Melissa Withey, the previous tenant in the unapproved rental situation.
- Most officers and directors received several mailings, presumably from Aaron Guimont and one written response was sent to Aaron Guimont. Those mailings were discussed.
- Rentals – Warner lawsuit.
- Bill Steenis reported on the three questions (admission inquiries) he had to answer in response to the Warner’s summons and complaint. The inquiries were regarding statements Warner alleges Steenis made that supposedly led them to believe approval to rent would be simple to obtain. Bill denied all three in his mailed response. Bill also shared his more detailed explanations regarding the conversations so the Board would know what to expect if Bill is later called to testify.
- Steve Yandl reported that he has nearly completed responses to the 20 interrogatories and associated requests for submission from the summons and complaint. Officers and directors were asked to provide Steve with information on any organizations they’d served on as well as any lawsuits they had participated in so the responses on the interrogatories could be accurate and complete.
- Trina Coleman suggested we get the name of the VP for HR at Starbucks as a possible witness to corroborate (or deny) Jason Warner’s claim that he would have been transferred to Asia if he had remained with Starbucks (used as part of argument that they faced a severe hardship worthy of a waiver on the rental prohibition).
NEW BUSINESS
- Bill Steenis reported on the three questions (admission inquiries) he had to answer in response to the Warner’s summons and complaint. The inquiries were regarding statements Warner alleges Steenis made that supposedly led them to believe approval to rent would be simple to obtain. Bill denied all three in his mailed response. Bill also shared his more detailed explanations regarding the conversations so the Board would know what to expect if Bill is later called to testify.
- Joyce Bowen expressed frustration that a number of paint jobs ended up with colors that were not the colors approved by the ACC. She is looking for a remedy to this chronic problem. No specific solutions were put forth for a vote but a commitment was made to revisit the idea of a fine ($100 was discussed in the past) for doing something contrary to what had been approved, even if the result was something the ACC would likely have approved.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:30 PM.