​SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
This meeting was conducted using Zoom.
CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
  1. Board President, Matt Hale called the meeting to order at 7:04.
  2. Board members present (Zoom conference) were Matt Hale, Steve Yandl, Gary Hebert, Bill Steenis, Tanya Edwards, and John Alleman.  David Divoky was absent due to a previously identified commitment. This was a quorum.
REVIEW OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING
  1. The minutes of the February 2022 meeting were unanimously approved without change.
GENERAL BUSINESS
  1. Matt discussed the conversation with Amazon (old business from February 2021).
TREASURER’S REPORT
  1. Account status
    1. Operations (checking): $141,383.
    2. Operational reserve (money market):  $5,712.
    3. Reserve fund (long term reserve held in CD): $16,940.
  2. The audit ended well. Not as many journal entries required to be entered as corrections.
  3. Collections for 2022 dues continue:
    1. 85% of households have paid by the end of February. All but 40 have been received. 2 people paid $450 vs. the required $540.
  4. Voting thus far:
    1. Ratification of budget; 148 yes, 8 no.
    2. Proxy award; 130 yes.
  5. Other issues:
    1. We remain underfunded in the reserve but not to the point where we require a special assessment.

 
MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
  1. Tanya: Boat Park drainage (where the boat was located) remains an unaddressed issue.
  2. Matt Hale has assumed additional new role as member of the Maintenance Committee
    1. Matt has called for the Maintenance Committee to produce a prioritized maintenance plan that can be put in front of the board for funding and approval
    2. John Alleman recommends using Smartsheet to maintain an accountable plan
    3. Tanya Edwards agrees that forecasting costs like sprinkler replacement will be beneficial to managing future budgets
    4. Matt Hale has suggested that the community’s early relationship with Amazon might help to support
  3. John discussed the email from John Paterson about concerns that Skinner Landscaping had exceeded their contract terms by landscaping trails
    1. Matt: Upon review of the contract, the trails are maintained twice per year to include pruning back the vegetation.
    2. Steve: The association pays Skinner Landscaping a flat fee for normal maintenance with additional fees for activities like replacing sprinklers
    3. Matt suggested that members of the maintenance committee occasionally do a walkthrough with Skinner Landscaping to ensure we understand what they’re doing, and they know that we have a good understanding of their work. Steve emphasized that we don’t want to micromanage Skinner’s work and not lose sight of the fact that the contract is being fulfilled for the agreed upon price.
  4. Steve does have a quote from Kenny Tree for about $3,000 to remove 3 trees in the greenbelt adjacent to the Paullin’s house (15807 68th Ave SE). See new business for further discussion of this topic.
ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT
  1. John Alleman reported.  Details mentioned below are tracked in Smartsheets.
  2. Project requests, approvals, and issue (https://app.smartsheet.com/sheets/hWjXhp369Mm7qPqgM8hXrhG8CQfWpg99mPM4Jw41)
    1. Fleischmann – Front yard landscaping and tree removal; Approved.
    2. Paullin – Tree removal in association buffer area; Pending.
  3. CC&R violation issues. (https://app.smartsheet.com/sheets/3P29h84c97P8XqqwpjXmw5h6MpGM8PfcxpwMmPF1)
    1. Lowell – Travel trailer in driveway over 72 hours. Warning letter sent on 2/24. Trailer was gone as of 2/28.
    2. The committee has noted many recycling cans outside of the fence. This might be a good topic for the newsletter.

 
OLD BUSINESS
  1. No news on the Amazon conversation regarding sponsorship of the Tot Park on 72nd. We’ll keep the discussion going. Matt suggested that we should put together a “pitch sheet” of several options we could present them. Tanya discussed that options might be limited based on the grade and limited drainage. A very rough estimate indicates above $50,000 might be in order.
  2. John sent a certified letter to Harischandra Dubey re: board’s decision from the January 2022 special meeting. The letter was sent to their neighborhood address, and 2 delivery attempts were made by USPS and the letter has been returned to John and remains unopened. This fulfills the legal interpretation of notification should this ever become an issue.
NEW BUSINESS
  1. Steve discussed the tree removal issue especially in common areas which adjoin homeowner’s property. This is especially pertinent given the Paullin request to remove several trees from the buffer area adjoining their backyard.
    1. Steve Yandl proposes that we risk setting an expensive and uncontrollable precedent by accepting the assessment and bid without an arborist assessment.
    2. Matt indicated that all the trees will eventually die, and we should rely upon a certified arborist to make the judgment on the risk associated with the tree(s).
    3. As it specifically relates to the Paullin house, John did inspect the location and evaluates that the trees are in a distressed state and might pose a threat to fence or covered patio structures, but he stresses that he is not an arborist
    4. John suggested that the homeowner should have some financial participation and obligation in the removal of trees.
    5. Gary emphasized that the homeowner’s would also have to be responsible to not cut live roots if they lie in their property. John stressed that the homeowner should share in the cost which is a premium for living alongside a greenbelt.
    6. Gary suggested that one approach could involve a complete evaluation of buffer zones by an arborist, remove all distressed trees and apply a special assessment to cover these unbudgeted costs. Furthermore, the board will need to ensure future association dues reflect cost trends for removal of trees in buffer zones.
    7. Steve summarized the common law addressing a tree on neighbor’s property: If it was a known hazard and causes damage to their neighbor’s property, the then the owner of the tree is responsible. If the tree was not a known hazard and causes damage due to an Act of God then the owner of the tree is not liable.
    8. The challenge is we need to balance our legal obligation of mitigating hazards vs. not allowing costs to escalate out of control. Any policy we set needs to take this into consideration. All our common area trees are aging and they will become a hazard at some point.
    9. Steve proposes that we keep the policy as written in place: A certified arborist needs to assess the tree at the request of the homeowner. Based upon the judgment of the arborist, the maintenance committee then would consider the tree removal on a case basis of whether, or not, the association would share in the costs for removal.
  2. Steve discussed amending the bylaws to:
    1. Allow for ACH payment of some association bills,
    2. Ensure all checks intended for disbursement of association funds require two signatories with exception of some payments which are done via ACH. This has been the bank’s policy for our checking account but putting this in the bylaws would codify this procedure.  
    3. Added email as an option for recordation of things writing,
    4. The amended bylaws were unanimously approved by the board. (A copy has been appended to the minutes).
  3. Steve is working on the newsletter.
MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:32 PM
 

John Alleman, Secretary