Quarterly Newsletter January 2022
Kathy Gross, editor
Email: information@sunlandnorth.org
Website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382
Business Hours: Monday – Friday; 9 AM – 3 PM
Homeowners Association (HOA) Office Hours – Monday thru Friday, 9 am – 3 pm
We want to remind all new and current residents, the Sunland North (Division 17) Homeowners Association (HOA) Office Hours should be adhered to by all of us, except in the event of an emergency. Contact information for each Board and committee chair member is on the Sunland North Website: (https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/about-us/); or use the generic “Contact Form” that is on the website, (https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/contact-us/).
Keep in mind, we don’t have paid administrative staff, and people may be away from home or otherwise occupied; anticipate at least a few days for a response.
Upcoming Sunland North Board Meetings
Homeowner Association (HOA) monthly Board business meetings are open for all owners to attend. The Board meetings always include a separate “Owner Comment Period” in which owners are encouraged to participate. The meetings are also a good way to find out what is happening in the neighborhood and how our volunteers handle different aspects of our shared HOA life. The meetings will be held at The Gathering Place, 135 Fairway Drive.
Note: While Washington State health officials are permitting such meetings, please note it is recommended that unvaccinated folks avoid such meetings, and everyone should wear a mask when in such gatherings to protect others. Clallam County is currently seeing a High rate of COVID-19 infections. https://www.clallam.net/coronavirus/. If we cannot hold in-person meetings, meetings will be held virtually via Zoom.
The Sunland North Board Meeting schedule for the first quarter of 2022:
- Wednesday, January 12, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
- Wednesday, February 9, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
- Wednesday, March 9, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
Note: Sunland Owners Association (SLOA) is a separate, overarching HOA that includes several other divisions, the pool, and tennis courts, and all the individual homes in Sunland; their Board meeting schedule is separate from Sunland North Division 17.
Announcements
The Sunland North website has a new section for Announcements. This section includes a chronological archive of all announcements sent out via email since October 2021. If you ever find yourself wondering what the email you just discarded said, you can find it in the new Announcements section.
Messages and Reports from Our Volunteers
President – Gerry Hatler, president@sunlandnorth.org
I continue to be impressed with the amount of talent we have here in Sunland North. We had several volunteer positions open when I began my term in September. Fortunately, before the September Board meeting was concluded, all of those positions were filled. We are still looking for some backup for the Exterior Maintenance Chair. So, if you have any relevant experience and would like to actively participate in the neighborhood where you live, please let me know by emailing me at president@sunlandnorth.org. This is probably one of the more significant areas as the HOA is responsible for the exteriors of all the buildings and it represents the largest percentage of the reserve funds the HOA maintains.
The deer issue has been put in abeyance with SLOA dismissing any potential actions at this time. The Sunland North Board delivered a letter to SLOA prohibiting the trapping and/or killing of deer within the common areas of Division 17.
The much-awaited roundabout construction at the intersection of Sequim/Dungeness and Woodcock began in November with completion anticipated sometime in April. At this writing the roundabout is operational, but completion will be delayed until suitable weather for paving arrives in the spring.
One notable event during the quarter was the wind storm in mid-November. A tree in the natural habitat was blown over and damaged an RV in the RV lot. Insurance claims are still being investigated. This has prompted the Board to begin the process of evaluating other trees in our development for potential problems.
Here’s wishing you a Happy New Year, and may 2022 hold promise for us all…
Vice President – Shirley Legg, vicepresident@sunlandnorth.org
Gerry Hatler has requested that I follow through on working with an arborist to identify possible troubling trees that could result in property damage should they come down. However, with the holidays and weather, this is in the early stage.
Treasurer – Betty Gwaltney, treasurer@sunlandnorth.org
As we close out the books for 2021, I’m reminded of the many blessings we have had this year and for the wonderful neighborhood I live in. Thanks to all of you for your support in keeping our community well cared for. It’s also the time of year when the many invoices for 2022 start coming in and this can be both overwhelming and confusing. So, here’s a brief summary that I hope you find helpful. As owners of Sunland North (Division 17), we are actually members of three different organizations: Sunland Division 17 Owners Association, Sunland Owners Association (SLOA), and Sunland Water District. Each of these entities invoice for their annual dues/fees. Here is a summary, phone number, and mailing address for each:
Sunland Division 17 Owners (907-382-0848)
Annual Assessment: $3394 or paid quarterly $849 (Due Jan 1, April 1, July 1, Oct 1)
Mail to:
Sunland Division 17 Owners Association
P.O. Box 1655
ATTN: Div 17 Accountant
Sequim, WA 98382
Note: Bell & Bell CPA are now providing accounting services for Sunland Division 17. Payments can also be dropped off at: 264 W. Washington Street, Sequim.
Sunland Owners Association (SLOA) (360-683-7473)
Annual Dues: $303 Due Jan 1, 2022.
Mail to:
SLOA
135 Fairway Drive
Sequim, WA 98382
Sunland Water District (360-683-3905)
Annual fees: $1,400, or quarterly, $350
Mail to:
Sunland Water District
5762 Woodcock Road
Sequim, WA 98382
Secretary – Lawrence Charters, secretary@sunlandnorth.org
As noted above, email messages sent out to everyone in Sunland North are now going to be archived in the Sunland North website’s Announcement section. Getting copies of email messages is my most commonly requested task.
We will also be working on the underlying technical aspects of the website. The website was originally published in December 2012, and several invisible elements are in need of upgrades or replacements. There is also an excellent chance the overall look will change, but no firm date is currently set.
As mentioned in the last newsletter, we are making an effort to make as much information as possible available electronically. This both reduces the amount of volunteer time required to do many tasks as well as provides information to you on-demand by visiting the website, any time of the day or night. If you aren’t sure something is on the website, try typing a request in the Search box.
Please make sure your contact information is current. If you’ve changed email providers, or dropped your landline phone, or made some other communications change, please update your information using our Owner Contact Information Form.
Communications Committee, information@sunlandnorth.org
The Welcome team is continuing to meet with new owners and acquaint them with the neighborhood, within the constraints of the pandemic. If you need help with a neighborhood issue or resource but don’t know where to find it, write to information@sunlandnorth.org.
Insurance Committee – Susan Hamman
An insurance claim has been opened up with Community Association Underwriters after a Douglas fir tree segment fell on a trailer in the adjacent RV park. The claim is still under investigation and more information will be shared when available.
Exterior Maintenance Committee – John Lewis, maintenance@sunlandnorth.org
This is my first report since resuming the exterior maintenance responsibilities that I had a few years ago. As you may expect, exterior work during the winter months is confined to urgent items that cannot wait until spring. Do not hesitate to submit a work request for something that needs repair immediately. The forms can be found at:https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/homeowners-forms/sunland-north-exterior-maintenance-request/
Because of all the disruptions due to the pandemic, there is a large list of work to be implemented from last summer’s inspections. We now have a new handyman/contractor to start working through the list as weather permits.
At the November board meeting, I mentioned in my report that the services of a member to serve either as the co-chair of the committee or as an assistant will be welcomed. If you have some technical knowledge (DIY qualifies) and would like to participate on a regular basis, please contact me at: maintenance@sunlandnorth.org.
Finally, my best wishes to all our residents for an improved 2022 and stay safe.
Developed Landscaping Committee – Tom Steffen, landscaping@sunlandnorth.org
January is the beginning of a new calendar year but the continuance of dark and wet days that seem almost suspended in time. Writers of various genres refer to these days as “fallow time,” an annual call to the nearly action-less activity of winter. You can do your own research concerning what exactly our manicured lawns and plantings are up to these days; fallow time is as fascinating as it is mysterious.
Our contracted team of professionals finished the mowing, leaf pickup, and fertilizing before the first hard frost, and they are nearly finished with the end of the year pruning. Irrigation systems at each building were turned off when the fall rains started. The annual repairs to irrigation lines and replacing sprinkler heads will begin again in the spring.
Here are a few reminders to ponder during these fallow days:
- Check that all hose bibbs are securely covered with insulated caps;
- Report incidents of unusual water that is running or standing near your building or in common areas;
- Try to reduce traffic on your lawn when temperatures are low and the ground is soaked;
- Remember that planting bushes and bulbs in common areas is not allowed. The following is taken from the minutes of the December meeting of the Board of Directors: “[Planting in common areas] creates both additional work and expense for our landscaping contractors as well as genuine hazards, as sometimes the plantings create safety issues for the landscaping crew, and sometimes the plants are invasive.”
Continue to communicate your landscaping issues via our website or through email, landscaping@sunlandnorth.org. I look forward to doing whatever I can to address your concerns.
Let’s have a great new year!
Natural Habitat/Greenspace – Sarah Miller
The late fall and early winter can bring dramatic weather events to Sequim. November’s windstorm brought many branches down in our Natural Habitat, including one that did significant damage to one of the RVs in the storage lot.
For those of us who enjoy a white Christmas, I guess Santa delivered – just a day late. It is beautiful, as long as one doesn’t need to travel. We got a helpful reminder of the value of Clallam PUD; several times throughout the day today (December 26th), they were struggling to get power on to the 40% of their customers who had no electricity.
Now, back to the discussion of downed branches – we are assembling a volunteer team to help gather said branches to transport to Cascade Bark. This effort will no doubt take several weeks, as it did in early 2021. Our first Monday work party will be Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday on January 17th. Please bring your gloves, pruning saws, loppers and meet at 10 am at Blakely Blvd and Woodcock Rd. Please let me know if you can help, and thank you in advance!
Please keep reporting any poison hemlock you see growing in the Natural Habitat; its growth slows during the winter, but it doesn’t go completely dormant. Thank you to Tom Hamman, Doug Hale, Barbara Brooner, and Alan Morris for their ongoing poison hemlock control efforts.
Many thanks also to Tom and Juli Steffen for pruning the elderberry at the base of Blakely Blvd hill, and to Dianne Bresnahan, Tom and Susan Hamman, and John Meyer for reporting and assisting with the dead deer removal last month. Upon close inspection by Fish & Wildlife staff, they believe the deer was struck by a car, probably on Woodcock Road.
I encourage all of you to get out to see the trumpeter swans (the heaviest bird in North America, as well as the largest species of waterfowl) that over-winter around Sequim each year. They frequently use the fields along Evans Road for daytime foraging, so they are very close by.
Contrast the size of the trumpeter swans with that of a year-round resident of Sequim, the tiny Anna’s Hummingbird! The ones I have visiting my feeder were a bit frantic today as their sugar water froze in the feeder. I quickly swapped it out for fresh nectar. With the freezing temperatures, these little birds need to take advantage of every opportunity to refuel.
Everyone stay safe and warm!
Thank You!
It takes a great deal of time and effort to keep our HOA operational and maintained so as always, we thank all our Board members, coordinators, and committee members for their ongoing support and the volunteer time they donate to our community – we couldn’t do it without you.
Since COVID did not allow us to get together for our annual Christmas party, we want to give special thanks to Betty Gwaltney, Mike Johnson, Gerry Hatler, and all of the other volunteers who brought Christmas cheer to our neighborhood on December 19 with the Christmas Parade.
As always, we thank all our Board members, coordinators, and committee members for their ongoing support and the volunteer time they provide to our community – we couldn’t do it without you.