Sunland North Owners Association
Quarterly Newsletter April 2020
Email: sunlandnorth@gmail.com
Website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382
Vice-President’s Report – John Lewis (Volunteer)
At times like this, it would be nice if I had some profound words to offer our members; but I do not. I’m sure most of us have been bombarded with all the bad news you may ever want to hear. My only comment is to stay safe, stay healthy and stay home. I am confident that in a short time and with your understanding we will get our lives and our community back to normal.
Treasurer’s Report – Susan Hamman (Volunteer)
As of March, the last developer-controlled building in the Mt. Baker circle came into the HOA fold when 231 Mt. Baker sold and 221 Mt. Baker went under contract. Division 17 has reached its maximum growth of 139 units. One developer unit remains to be sold at the time of this writing.
The February monthly expense report shows total operating expenses for the month at $13,524, bringing the year to date total expenses to $35,343. No accounts are in arrears.
The second quarter assessment of $710 is due before or on April 1, 2020. Checks are to be made out to Division 17 and sent to Division 17, P. O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382. These checks are not to be sent to SLOA! Sending your assessment to SLOA may delay your payment, which can result in late charges to your account.
There was no activity in the fire trust fund in February. The fund earned $2.69 in interest in the month of February. The Fire Trust Fund balance at the end of February was $19,221.83
Secretary’s Report – Lawrence Charters (Volunteer)
Coronavirus Crisis
You may be getting tired of the phrase “social distancing,” and references to the “unprecedented crisis” facing our neighborhood, town, state, country, and the planet. But the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented: we’ve never had a pandemic in an age of jet air travel, mass telecommunications, and a highly infectious disease with no prior exposure to humans and no known cure — except stopping the spread through isolation.
Complicating matters: while modern telecommunications can keep us much better informed than in the past, it can also keep us seriously misinformed, and at lightning speed. Please consider using these sites as authoritative sources of information.
Official US site for Coronavirus information (US Centers for Disease Control)
https://www.coronavirus.gov
Official Washington State site for Coronavirus information:
https://coronavirus.wa.gov
Map and current reported statistics on Coronavirus (courtesy Johns Hopkins University)
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Board meetings modified
Sunland North has a long history of having public, friendly meetings, with members invited to attend in person. These in-person meetings were suspended even before Washington State issued their Stay Home, Stay Healthy directive, as the Board was very much aware our resident population is heavily skewed to those found most “at-risk” for COVID-19.
While the public meetings have been suspended, Board responsibilities continue. The Board has been discussing “virtual meetings” conducted via videoconferencing technology, with Board members isolated in their homes and “meeting” via their computers, or meetings in an open space restricted to just members of the Board. Technology limitations and service costs suggest these meetings will be limited to Board members and possibly committee chairs, but Sunland North members will be notified of agenda items, and minutes will be posted on the website. If, after some experimentation, we find that we can open these meetings to the entire membership, or authorities authorize public meetings, we will.
Help your community
Though you may feel that there isn’t much you can do to help combat the Coronavirus menace, there are several things you can do to keep the community healthy and robust.
- Most importantly, practice social distancing. Stay home except for essential trips (food, health care).
- When outside with your pets, keep your pets from playing with other pets. While pets are not susceptible to Coronavirus, their fur can transport the virus, and pass it on to other pets, which can pass it on to humans when they pet their pets.
- Please do not put sanitary wipes, napkins, or diapers down your drain. The entire neighborhood would be most unhappy if the sewers clog.
- Do not put medicines, gasoline, oil, or other chemicals down the drain. These toxic agents kill the bacteria used by the treatment plant to break down sewage.
- Notify Exterior Maintenance if your streetlight isn’t functioning. Streetlights make the entire community safer and are an invaluable aid to first responders.
- Help one another keep debris from storms and other sources off driveways, walkways, and lawns.
Finally: Do — keep your contact information current. Sunland North is required by law to maintain current contact information for all our residents, both owners, and renters. If you haven’t filled out a Contact Form, or your contact information has changed, please download a copy of the form, fill it out, and either email or mail it in so we can keep our records straight.
Photos
If you have some photos you’d like to provide for sprucing up the Sunland North website, or newsletter, please consider sending them to sunlandnorthsecretary@gmail.com. Please submit only your own photos, and include your name (for photo credit) and a short suggested caption for the photo.
Architectural Control Committee’s (ACC) Report – Dick Helmenstine (Volunteer)
As we approach the warmer season ahead, everyone is reminded to submit all architectural requests as soon as possible to ensure timely processing of your request. SLOA has adopted a new decorative fence guideline that could affect your plans to have one installed.
The new guidelines state that all solid fences can still be 6′ maximum, but now must have a 14″ decorative top and each request must be approved by Sunland North and SLOA.
SLOA is attempting to discourage solid privacy fences, and when approved, to make them a little more attractive. The primary requirement always has been that they cannot “unreasonably restrict the view of adjacent neighbors”. That means you can restrict your neighbor’s view of your property if it doesn’t block their view of a parkway, mountains, etc. It always has been ambiguous enough to give us an approval option on a case by case basis.
Currently, anyone who already has a request in progress will be grandfathered in. Also, when a project is completed, it is the homeowner’s responsibility to let the ACC know so that a signature on the copy that gets returned to SLOA, is obtained and the work can be inspected by the ACC. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Exterior Maintenance & Inspection Report – Gerry Busch (Volunteer)
Gerry Busch has officially taken over the responsibilities of the Exterior Maintenance Committee. Doug Hale will remain on the committee and I want to thank him for all his time and accomplishments as the past Coordinator of this committee.
Our website has a form to request repairs for exterior maintenance if you have any issues that require attention. The form is on the right side of the home page of our website,
Insurance Review Committee Report – Donna Carson (Volunteer)
There was nothing to report regarding Insurance this quarter.
Communications and Outreach Committee Report – Kay Hatler (Volunteer)
Leah Prince completed one welcome visit this quarter and has two additional visits scheduled in the near future. The Welcome packet was updated and includes the new board member’s information, new fee schedules, board meeting dates for 2020, and Volunteer Committees information. Also included in the welcome packet is information about Sunland North including the CC&R’s and Rules and Regulations. Now that we all have additional time on our hands Staying at Home, we have time to read up on our HOAs.
Living in an HOA has many advantages, but you may encounter some surprises, especially if you’ve never lived in an HOA before. Here’s a link to an article about HOAs in general, a good place to start: “Guide to Understanding Homeowner Associations” at:
https://www.hoa-usa.com/files/documents/HOA- USA_Guide_to_Understanding_Homeowner_Associations.pdf
There are also state laws that govern how homeowner associations operate; the Washington State law can be read at:
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=64.38
And it’s a perfect time to read through the Association’s own governing documents, which can be found on the Sunland North website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/ In fact, now’s a good time to spend a little time exploring the entire Sunland North Website–it’s there to help you!
Landscape Coordinator’s Report – Gerry Hatler (Volunteer)
The Landscape Committee is comprised of two Coordinators. Eric Mahnerd handles requests from May through October and Gerry Hatler handles November through April.
Several things have changed since the December report. The bark/mulching that was scheduled for this spring has been deferred until 2021. This Board decision was made for budgetary considerations. If homeowners would like to apply bark/mulch similar to what was done last time at their own expense for their home it is OK to do that without approval from the landscape committee as it is not a change to your landscaping.
You received notice from the Board recently about changes to lawn mowing schedules due to the current gubernatorial orders as part of the Covid-19 outbreak. The landscaper will be doing the mowing without a crew so the cuttings may be longer in between the normal schedule of once a week. We anticipate the schedule of edging every third week will also be impacted due to lack of crew. Please be patient as our landscaper works diligently to get as much of the work done as is possible with the limitations he is experiencing.
The dormant season pruning was completed as scheduled. The irrigation systems activation is scheduled to take place in May. Systems will be tested; broken sprinkler heads will be repaired and the automatic sprinkler schedule will be activated. Please do not access the sprinkler control boxes on your own.
As a reminder, the landscape committee has up to 30 days to respond to landscape change requests. If you send the committee requests and additional information is required or if an appointment needs to be made for the committee to come to your property to review changes requested, please be courteous enough to respond to the appointment requests. The committee members are volunteers and their time schedule may not always coincide with your desires.
Greenspace Report – Tom Hamman (Volunteer)
With spring, the poison hemlock has started to grow once again. The greenspace patrol has been on the lookout for it and will spray it once the outdoor temperature reaches 50 degrees or more.
The irrigation ditch project has been completed by the county and the ground reseeded. Some replacement trees will be planted in the fall.
Miscellaneous
Thanks to George Bannon for fixing the Little Library door that was damaged during a recent wind storm!
Please be sure to help your neighbors during this stressful Stay Home-Stay Healthy time. There may be many that are not able to get out and do their usual errands and would appreciate a helping hand.
There are lots of things to do during our Stay Home and several Sunland North Neighbors have sent suggestions:
- Free online courses at universities
- Explore new apps for your smartphone
- Practice making video calls with your neighbors, family, and friends using Skype, Facetime, Hangouts, Duo or Zoom
- Review your emergency preparedness lists
- Backup your computer files
- The National Emergency Library, https://archive.org/details/nationalemergencylibrary has provided free online access until June 30th
- Ancestry.com is being made available free through our library. Log in to nols.org and access by clicking Online Resources or access directly at
https://www.ancestry.com/cs/nara?o_xid=107566&o_lid=107566 - After Girl Scouts of the USA suspended door-to-door sales and cookie booths because of the spread of COVID-19, the organization moved to take the cookie season online. Girl Scouts announced that you can buy Tagalongs, Samoas and other cookies online at girlscouts.org/cookiecare. You can also donate a box of cookies to first responders, volunteers and local causes at the same address.
2019/2020 Sunland North Board Members
President – Gary Fortmann
Vice President – John Lewis
Treasurer – Susan Hamman
Secretary – Lawrence Charters
Member at Large – Mike Johnson
Kay Hatler – Newsletter Editor, kay.hatler@gmail.com