Sunland Division 17 Owners Association
November Meeting of the Board of Directors
November 7, 2018 2:30 PM
Location: The Gathering Place
Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 2:30 p.m. by Board President Gary Fortmann.
Verification of Quorum
Present were President Gary Fortmann, Vice President John Lewis, Treasurer Jim Jones, and Secretary Lawrence Charters. Mike Johnson, Member-at-Large, was excused due to illness.
Approval of minutes
The minutes of the October 10, 2018, were not available for review, and this action was postponed until December.
Old Business
Mailing of Special Assessment
Treasurer Jim Jones explained the process Board went through to review the Special Assessment in light of updated Washington State law. The association attorney reviewed the assessment and membership approval in light of current law, and concurred with Board’s interpretation that the vote met the standard for passage. The special assessment was mailed out by Board accountant, with payment due no later than December 15, 2018.
Review of Sunland North communications tools
Secretary Lawrence Charters reviewed the work of an ad hoc working group seeking to make improvements to Sunland North communications tools. There was a brief demonstration of the Association website, and discussion of how the recommendations would work, who would do the work, and costs. (See attachment.) The Board approved the recommendations, assigned the action to the Secretary for execution, and requested an update at a future meeting.
Owner survey
The Secretary reported that a proposed test-flight of a web-based survey of Sunland North residents has not yet been carried out, but is still planned, using Sunland North officers and committee chairs as test subjects.
New Business
Discussion of RCW 64.90 as basis of CC&Rs versus staying with RCW 64.38.
Vice President John Lewis offered a quick overview of changes to Washington State law dealing with “common interest communities,” which include home owners associations. Under the revised laws which came into effect in July 2018, HOAs have the option to reorganize under the new law or stay under the old law, with exceptions. Budgeting procedures, for example, must follow new law. The question for the Board is: does Sunland North stay with the old statute or go with the new, redoing our governance documents as required. Sunland Owners Association and the other subordinate HOAs are also facing this question. Lewis recommended setting up a study group to examine the old and new law and decide on what to do. It was suggested that we work with other PUDs (Planned Unit Developments) to see what they were planning on doing as well, and pool our findings. The Board approved a motion to set up an ad hoc committee to study the old law versus the new law. Jim Jones was drafted to head the committee.
Officer, Committee and Coordinator Reports
President:
Gary Fortmann briefly reviewed the status of Cascadia Loop 191 and 201 fire update. A court hearing on the lawsuit against the Association was scheduled for last Friday, but the attorney for the party asked for continuance. December 7 is the new court date, at the Court House in Port Angeles: Colburn-Berger vs. Division 17 Sunland North.
Secretary:
No report.
Treasurer:
Monthly Expense Report: The preliminary October, 2018 expense report shows total expenses for the month were $12,609 which brings year to date total expenses to $269,071. Operating Expenses are $17,767 higher than Budget due primarily to our 2018/2019 insurance, landscaping, and legal expenses all being higher than planned, partially offset by lower than planned minor maintenance expenses. At the end of October our Operating Funds totaled $73,078, and our Reserve Funds totaled $290,423.
Fire Trust Fund: As shown in the Fire Trust Fund Summary report, we earned $152.75 in bank interest during October. At the end of the month the Fire Trust Fund balance was $510,499.
Special Assessment: On October 26 we received the reply to our October 10 email from our attorney, Curtis Johnson, after he had completed his review of RCW 64.90, which became effective July 1, 2018, and its impact on Division 17. Mr. Johnson concluded that the Board’s interpretation, as presented in the motion at the October 10 Board meeting to adopt the special assessment, was correct considering that the vote at the annual meeting on the special assessment for 2018 had 73 votes in favor and 6 votes against and therefore passed because RCW 64.90 superseded the Division 17 CCRs on the matter of special assessments. Our accountant, Robin Reese, mailed the special assessment invoices on November 1.
No funds have been shifted to the Association reserve account; this is pending receipt of the supplemental assessment. Five owners were sent letters for being more than 30 days late for 4th quarter.
Vice President:
No report.
Board Member at Large:
Not present.
Insurance Committee:
Donna Carson reported that our policy renewal is due in May 2019.
Architectural Control Committee:
Susan Hamman reported that requests are slowing down, which is normal for the season, with only one storm door and one screen door approved.
Developed Landscape:
Gerry Hatler reports winter fertilizing was completed by landscaping. The contractor is going to an as-needed mowing schedule. Winter pruning will start soon. Landscaping contract for next year needs to be completed in December.
Exterior Maintenance and Inspection:
Volunteer needed.
Open Space:
Susan Hamman reported on RV park tree maintenance. A meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (November 8) with SLOA to examine the issue of trees overhanging the RV park fence.
Newsletter:
Kay Hatler said the fourth quarter newsletter will be published at the end of December.
Welcome Committee:
Leah Prince made her first visits as Welcome Committee chair to new neighbors. She had some questions on process, and made suggestions to changes in the Welcome packet.
Website Coordinator:
Lawrence Charters reported that Barbara Brooner has resigned as website coordinator, and he will be taking over the role at her suggestion.
Sunland Water District:
Volunteer needed.
Homeowner Comment Period
The Holiday Party Committee delivered flyers to all residents, and all residents are invited to attend. The party will be December 6, at the 7 Cedars Casino. Residents are also invited to a more informal party at The Gathering Place on December 12.
Several individuals spoke of their concerns regarding the fire on Cascadia Loop, the slow pace of restoration, and limited information on the lawsuit.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:41 p.m.
Attachment:
Communications Review Recommendations
A Sunland North group (Barbara Brooner, Susan Hamman, Cindy Rhodes, Kay Hatler, Lawrence Charters) met October 26, 2018, and in subsequent discussions help assemble the following recommendations for changes to the website, the newsletter, and electronic communications.
Look and feel (no cost; can begin immediately)
Recommendation: refer to the Association as “Sunland North” in all communications with members and residents. The name is “blessed” in the Bylaws, Article 1, Section 1, and is “friendlier” than the more bureaucratic, all-caps SUNLAND DIVISION 17 OWNERS ASSOCIATION. Sunland Division 17 Owners Association would be used for legal communications and communications with SLOA.
Recommendation: use a simple logo in all communications.
Recommendation: avoid use of personal email addresses. Standardize on a format of sunlandnorth[whatever]@gmail.com, for officers, committees and working groups. Use only standardized addresses on the website and in communications.
Domain Name
Recommendation: work with Dynamic Graphics to transfer ownership (and renewal responsibility) of sunlandnorthownersassociation.com to the Association. (No additional cost.)
Recommendation: investigate purchasing sunlandnorthownersassociation.org as an alias, to prevent hijacking. Contact Estes Builders about status of sunlandnorth.com (registration expires January 2019). (Cost of adding an alias would be $8 to $25 per year.)
Recommendation: work with Dynamic Graphics to transfer ownership of the security certificate to the Association. (No additional cost.)
Website Structure
Recommendation: work with Dynamic Graphics to provide an admin account for the Association to directly audit the site, checking themes, plug-ins, image optimization, broken links, and security issues. (No additional cost; could begin immediately after consulting with Dynamic Graphics. Work would take a couple weeks at most.)
Recommendation: work with Dynamic Graphics to provide Editor and Contributor accounts to investigate the Association directly placing and editing content on the site as pages rather than as PDFs. (No additional cost; could begin immediately after consulting with Dynamic Graphics. Training a Sunland volunteer or volunteers would take a couple weeks.)
Newsletter
Recommendation: send out the Newsletter as a formatted email, with embedded graphics, allowing it to “reflow” onto device screens without launching some application to read it.
Recommendation: post newsletters and governing documents on the website as searchable pages, and not PDFs. (Could begin with next newsletter.)