Sunland North Owners Association
Quarterly Newsletter January 2019
Email: sunlandnorth@gmail.com
Website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382
The next three Sunland North monthly board meetings are scheduled for January 9th, February 13th, and March 13th, starting at 2:30 PM at The Gathering Place, 135 Fairway Drive.
Welcome to all our new residents: As a reminder, please review Sunland North Homeowners Association Governing Documents (CC&R’s, By-laws, and Rules and Regulations) available on Sunland North’s website.
Vice-President’s Report – John Lewis (Volunteer)
Most of my efforts have been, and will continue to be, dedicated to the Fire Restoration Project. The building permit applications were signed and are now with the County for plan review. When the review is complete, the permits will be issued and construction will be ready to start. In addition, I will continue to support Doug Hale, our new Exterior Maintenance Chair, in whatever capacity I can.
Treasurer’s Report – Jim Jones (Volunteer)
At the end of 2018 there were 133 units with six units under construction so we expect Sunland North to be at full capacity of 139 units by the end of 2019. Final year-end figures are not yet available at this writing, but annual Operating expenses are projected to be $322,170 which is $27,584 higher than the 2018 Budget.
Funds that went to Reserves are projected to be $80,627 which is $24,173 less than the 2018 Budget. Normally, we try to maintain a minimum checking account (Operating Fund) balance of at least $20,000, but we ended the year with a checking account balance of approximately $45,000 because at the December 28 court hearing, the judge ordered Division 17 to provide a bond of $250,000 for the 191/201 Cascadia Loop fire restoration project. We do not yet know the cost of the premium to acquire the bond, but we held that additional $25,000 Operating Funds to hopefully cover this unexpected expense for acquiring the bond in January. This is the reason the amount of funds going to Reserves in 2018 were less than Budget. To be clear, Reserve Funds are for specific future major maintenance requirements that we know will be required. Based on our most recent Reserve Study we have only 31% of the amount of Reserves we should have at this time.
Finally, the year-end Fire Trust Fund balance is projected to be $510,800. Because the total of all Division 17 funds approaches $1,000,000 at times, especially during the first half of the year, Division 17 currently has accounts in four different banks to ensure that we do not exceed the maximum insurance limit of $250,000 for each bank as provided by FDIC.
2019 first quarter assessment payments were due January 1 so hopefully you have made your payment. Please note that payments for Division 17 should be sent to PO Box 1655 or dropped off in the payment box at our accountant’s office, Sequim Tax Service, on Sequim Avenue. Do not send your Division 17 payments to SLOA as they have to forward your checks to Division 17. Of course as members of SLOA, payments for the SLOA annual assessment should be sent to SLOA.
Secretary’s Report – Lawrence Charters (Volunteer)
The Newsletter will now be sent as text in an email and will also be located on the website at: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/newsletters/
Please use the e-mail address sunlandnorthsecretary@gmail.com to contact me regarding board business.
Architectural Control Committee’s (ACC) Report – Susan Hamman (Volunteer)
Sunland North Architectural Control Committee (ACC) received 30 Exterior Change Requests for the year 2018 and approved 29 of the requested changes.
If you have an exterior change you’d like to request, please go to the Sunland North website, click on “Forms” and print these three forms: Exterior Change Request, Hold Harmless Agreement, and Neighbor Consent form: (https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/homeowners-forms/). Fill them out and send them to Sunland Division 17 Owners Association, P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382. The Architectural Control Committee has 30 days to respond to your request, although the process usually goes much more quickly than the 30 day limit. After ACC approves the change, we submit it to SLOA’s ACC for final approval. If you have any questions about the process, please call Susan Hamman at (360) 683-1800.
Reminder: do not schedule any contractor work until you’ve received approval by the Sunland North ACC.
The 2019 building painting schedule will get under way in the summer months of the year. The ACC will send unit owners an email notice once the Board has approved the list of units for 2019 painting. Any changes to the original paint colors will be approved only if they conform to the general aesthetic and decorative theme of Sunland North and are similar in color and tone to existing units within your area. The unit owners within each building must agree on color changes prior to submitting the change request to the ACC. An Exterior Paint Color Change Request form is available on the Sunland North website which must be completed by the unit owners and turned in to the ACC well ahead of the painting schedule deadlines.
Exterior Maintenance & Inspection Report – Doug Hale (Volunteer)
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Doug Hale and I am the new exterior maintenance volunteer coordinator.
My wife and I have lived in the Sequim area for 16 years, after moving from the San Francisco Bay Area and have lived in Sunland North for three years now. I recently retired from being a Realtor, so now that I have more time to spend at home, my wife Jann has decided that I needed a new job “to keep me busy”. I urge you to visit the Sunland North Homeowners website, as there is a wealth of information within the website that will give you an idea of the different coordinator’s duties as well as the forms for requesting Exterior Maintenance issues.
I can be reached at doughale@olypen.com, or by phone at 360 340-9220.
Welcome Committee’s Report – Leah Prince (Volunteer)
One new welcome visit was completed last month, and two more are scheduled in the near future.
Landscape Coordinator’s Report – Eric Mahnerd and Gerry Hatler (Volunteers)
The fourth quarter saw the end of the regular weekly lawn mowing. Lawns will now be mowed on an as needed basis until the beginning of the growing season in 2019.
Winter fertilizing was done for root system growth in the lawns.
Pruning began in mid-December and will continue during the upcoming weeks. Once the trees and shrubs around your residence have been pruned, if you feel that more needs to be done, send an email to sunlandnorthlandscape@googlegroups.com telling us what additional pruning you feel needs to be done and we will contact the landscaping company to have them return.
A new contract for landscaping was signed in late December for the year 2019.
Website Coordinator’s Report – Lawrence Charters (Volunteer)
Don’t forget we have a great Online Owner’s Manual! There’s lots of useful information for HOA residents, so check it out at https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com. The website now has a search function which should simplify finding things on the site. Enter a search term into the box next to the magnifying glass.
The site is now encrypted which makes it safer to visit and helps to ensure identity, authenticity, and reliability to our website. Please note that this changes the website URL prefix slightly from http:// to https://. If you do a Google search for Sunland North Owners Association, the search will provide the site and you can click on that.
Additional Information/Friendly Reminders
- Please, dog owners/walkers, pick up after your dog whether in the greenspace and/or in the landscape areas. Pet waste is not something Sunland North residents want to see when out enjoying the fresh air.
- We have several new volunteers for the various committees and board positions. Thank you to all those who are able to participate and contribute their ideas and skills. We are still looking for a volunteer to attend the Sunland Water District board meetings and report on issues that affect Sunland North. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact a board member for additional information.
- While we legally are known as Sunland, Division 17, to avoid confusion and to be consistent, we will refer to ourselves as Sunland North.
2019 Sunland North Board Members
President – Gary Fortmann
Vice President – John Lewis
Treasurer – Jim Jones
Secretary – Lawrence Charters
Member at large – Mike Johnson
Kay Hatler – Newsletter Editor, kay.hatler@gmail.com