Sunland North Newsletter July 2023

Kathy Gross, editor, information@sunlandnorth.org

 

Website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382

Business Hours: Monday – Friday; 9 AM – 3 PM

 

2022-2023 Sunland North Board of Directors

 

President: Gerry Hatler, president@sunlandnorth.org

Vice President: Lawrence Charters, vicepresident@sunlandnorth.org

Treasurer: Betty Gwaltney, treasurer@sunlandnorth.org

Secretary: Shirley Legg, secretary@sunlandnorth.org

Board Member-at-Large: Warren Husman, member-at-large@sunlandnorth.org

 

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.

Sunland Division 17 Owners Association (Sunland North) monthly Board meetings are open for all owners to attend. If you have concerns about landscaping, home maintenance, insurance, home modifications, traffic, parking, pets, neighborhood communications, or almost anything else dealing with our community, this is the forum where such issues are addressed. A separate “Owner Comment Period” is part of each meeting, to bring up concerns not addressed by the Board. 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.

 

If meetings cannot be held in-person meetings, meetings will be held virtually via Zoom. The Sunland North Board Meeting schedule for the third quarter of 2023:

 

• Wednesday, July 12, 2:30 to 4:30 pm

• Wednesday, August 9, 2:30 to 4:30 pm

• Wednesday, September 13, 2:30 to 4:30 pm (Annual Meeting see information below)

 

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 meetings are scheduled separately from Sunland North Division 17.

 

The Sunland Division 17 Owners Association (i.e., Sunland North) holds its annual owner meeting on September 13, 2023, at the Sunland Golf and Country Club Ballroom, 109 Hilltop Drive, with the homeowner forum starting at 2:45 p.m. Among the important activities are: a review of our fiscal situation, the election of Board members for the 2023-2025 term, and reports from the various overseeing landscaping, external maintenance, insurance, the natural habitat areas, and other concerns.

 

No major changes to by-laws or rules and regulations are anticipated at this time, but the annual meeting will approve the budget for the forthcoming year and elect new Board members. The package with materials for the annual meeting will be mailed at the end of July, and owners need to return their ballots by mail as circumstances could prevent an in-person meeting.

 

Residents who wish to bring matters before the Board at the annual meeting should consider written submissions, and submit them in advance of the annual meeting. Submissions can be sent to secretary@sunlandnorth.org; or to Sunland Division 17 Owners Association, Attn: Secretary, P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382.

 

This is also a great time to just meet your neighbors, and learn of their concerns and things that give them joy.

The Developer’s marketing materials for Sunland North referred to “condo-like living”–but what does that mean? Well, we’re not a condominium building–but owning in Sunland North is very much like living in a condominium building: You own and manage the interior of your unit, just like a condominium owner owns and manages their own living area. But as in a condominium building, you and every other Sunland North owner are also jointly responsible, by virtue of being a member of the homeowner association, for everything specified as a “Common Area.”

 

In a condominium building, the Common Area is basically everything that’s not the interior of your specific condo. Likewise, everything outside your specific unit living space is defined by the Sunland North CC&Rs as Common Area–including the roof and siding on all the units, all the landscaping and lawns combined, and the open fields that surround the development. In addition to owning your specific interior living area, you have what’s referred to as a “shared interest” in all the unit exteriors and roofs, all the lawns, and all the landscaping.

 

In Sunland North, the homeowner association (HOA) sets standards and oversees what gets done in the Common Area. But that does not mean the HOA is an “on-call” service provider. The benefit of shared ownership comes with shared responsibility. Your annual dues are not a fee you’re paying to have “your” lawn mowed, for example; rather, your annual dues go towards the shared, long-term maintenance of the entire 66-acre development, as managed by the elected Board of Directors. The value of being located within this overall community is reflected in our individual property values, just like the value of an individual condominium unit goes up or down based on what kind of shape the overall building is in. The Board must juggle competing priorities and still stay within the budget confirmed by Owners at the annual Owners meeting; they have to think about both near-term and long-term needs; and they have to weigh the desires of any one unit against what’s fair and affordable among all owners, for the near-term and the long-term.

With summer here, it has been suggested by several owners that we remind ourselves and visiting guests that we should all be mindful of wandering into a neighbor’s front or backyard. Thank you!

 

First, I would like to thank all the volunteers that have made our association successful. If we had used a management company to fulfill those responsibilities, our Homeowner’s dues would be substantially higher. I think a good estimate would be double, so you can see the benefit and value of our volunteers and why we have continuing needs for more volunteers. We have folks who have been volunteering since they moved into the community and have served on the Board as well as Committee Chairs and Committee members. As my mother used to say, “Many hands make light work!” and we need more hands. Let’s not burn out the folks who have served so faithfully or risk the need to engage a management company.

 

We have a volunteer form you can complete on our website:

 

 

 You can send the form to me at president@sunlandnorth.org or mail it to me at:

 

Sunland Division 17 Owners Association

P. O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382

The Board has made progress in a couple of areas since I reported in March. We have approved a law firm in Seattle to review our Homeowners Association documents for current language as well as to make sure we are in compliance with current State of Washington law. We have received a letter of engagement and expect that work to begin in the near term. We will have an ad hoc committee work with the law firm and are requesting volunteers from our community to be on the committee.

 

The Board has also engaged a company to begin testing the backflow preventers (BFPs). There are an estimated 68 of those BFPs. We have contracted to pay $42 per inspection. We expect there will be ancillary expenses for replacing some of the BFPs at approximately $600.

 

As you have seen from recent Treasurer reports, we are earning approximately $1,000 per month from bank certificates of deposit where we have invested a portion of our reserve funds. In May and June, we rolled two of the certificates to longer terms and higher interest rates.

 

For people that have moved in recently, welcome to our community, and for everyone else, thanks for making this a welcoming place!

 

Hot water heaters don’t last forever and have a particularly difficult time in areas with hard (heavy mineral content) water, such as Sequim. You can extend the life of your hot water heater by partially draining the tank every six months or so. To do this, attach a hose to the drain, extend the hose out to your driveway, turn the valve screw a quarter turn (with a screwdriver), and drain the tank for 15 seconds or so. You don’t need to completely drain the tank; the minerals drop to the bottom of the tank, and 15 seconds will flush out the bulk of the sediment.

 

Why you should do this: the minerals coat the heating elements in the tank and eventually destroy them. Draining off the sediment makes the hot water heater last longer, but in any case, a hot water heater has a life expectancy of roughly 10 years, at which point it needs to be replaced. You want to monitor the health of your tank, as a failure could end up flooding your garage.

Mid-year is always a busy time for the Treasurer for Sunland North – sending out reminders for 3rd Quarter assessments, getting the Financial Review for 2022 started, initiating the Reserve Study (that looks ahead to the next year’s $$ needed to grow the reserve funds) and drafting the budget for 2024. The Reserve study is a major factor we consider in drafting a budget for the owners to consider during the annual meeting. So, I wanted to help our owners – especially new owners – understand what the Reserve Study is and its implications for Sunland North.

 

Some Background: While HOA’s are not required by State Regulations to have reserves, we are required to do a reserve study annually and per our Bylaws, Article VIII, 4(b):

 

“At least every three (3) years, the Board must initiate and conduct a Reserve Study based upon a visual site inspection conducted by a certified Reserve Study professional.”

 

Based on the above, the study was done in April 2023 and a 2024 Reserve Study Analysis was issued.

 

The annual Sunland Division 17 Reserve Study identifies major replacement expenses the Owners Association is likely to incur at some point. For each component, the study estimates both the useful life and the projected replacement cost of these various components (roofs, siding, etc.); and builds a 30-year Income/Expense Table for each of those 30 years. It uses a very detailed methodology encompassing some 45 components, and the timelines are adjusted for an “average” building in each of the six construction phases of Sunland. Funds need to be steadily accumulating to offset the daily deterioration of our homes, so components can be repaired or replaced promptly to maintain our home values.

 

The results of the study for our 2024 Reserve “needs” are as follows:

 

Projected Reserve Balance Jan 1, 2024,  $762,423 *

* (This may be closer to $815,00)

Fully Funded Reserve Balance      $2,972,831

Percent Funded            25.6% *

* (High Risk for Special Assessment)

Average Reserve (Deficit) per unit   ($15,902)

2024 “Baseline Funding” minimum to keep Reserves above $0   $7,917

 

A subcommittee of the Board met to review the report in detail. It’s available on the Sunland North website:

 

 

There was agreement that major capital $$ would be required within 10-15 years to repair/replace roofs, etc., and the cost of both tile and composite roofs has increased significantly over the past few years. Also, while the current annual Reserve Contribution is not sufficient to grow funding for the needed capital expenditure projects to come, a major increase in assessments would likely put a hardship on our owners.

 

The Subcommittee made the following recommendations recognizing that major expenses could occur earlier or later than projected, and they may cost more or less than projected:

 

1. Increase the budgeted Reserve Contribution by at least 10-15% each year to decrease the risk of Special Assessments.

2. Continue to adequately fund preventive maintenance to prolong the useful life of components (roof cleaning, repainting, etc.); and

3. Continue investment strategy with Reserve funds to maximize growth.

 

The Board is committed to being responsible in our spending now and in the future knowing that this impacts each and every owner and the value of each home in Sunland North. We welcome your input on how to maximize our funds while saving for the future.

Hi Neighbor,

 

Nothing new to report from our committee. As a reminder, if you would like to do any exterior changes to your home, stair railings, privacy fences, gates, etc., you can find the required procedures and forms on our website:

 

 

Enjoy the beautiful sunny weather…

We have experienced many lovely summer days even before summer officially began on June 21. Our mild summer weather has added luster to the beauty of spring’s arrival. Thanks to our professional landscaping crew, our lawns, bushes, and flowers look spectacular. And thanks to a growing number of owners who are regularly tidying up their bushes and beds, power washing their drive and walkways, and looking out for the occasional misguided sprinkler head. Special thanks to the volunteers who continue to beautify the entrance to our little paradise.

 

The large hedges of Escallonia around the power boxes on Blakely, Cascadian Loop and Mendel were damaged again this winter. A few owners have volunteered to water, fertilize and thin out the dead branches. In some cases, new growth is pushing through with early signs of recovery. If you are so inclined, please feel free to adopt a hedge near you, and see what kind of results you get.

 

The certification of our backflow preventers (BFPs), now required annually by the State of Washington, has begun. We have located 68 BFPs, approximately one per building, designed so that irrigation water cannot contaminate our domestic water. BFPs are in a box and located near a water meter; sadly, many we have located are buried in dirt/clay and must be retrieved before they can be certified. If you would like to help clear a box or two, please contact Tom Steffen at landscaping@sunlandnorth.org.

 

If you have questions or requests concerning landscaping and irrigation issues, please continue to use the email link prominently displayed on our website. By communicating via our website link, we have a record of requests that allows us a way to keep track of the ongoing issues in our community. Currently, we receive up to seven requests per week, which I cut, paste and then print each week for our contractor and his crew to address.

Dianna Kaspar, from Community Association Underwriters (CAU; Sunland North Division 17’s master insurance carrier) will give an insurance presentation to us on Monday, August 14, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. at the Sunland Golf Course ballroom. Many new Sunland North owners may not understand how CAU’s master policy works or what kind of personal insurance they will need to purchase on their own (known as an HO6 condo policy). If you would like to attend, please send an email to SusanRainsHamman@gmail.com or call Susan at (360) 683-1800 and leave a message. We would like to get an approximate count of how many people plan to attend.

 

Two Sunland North unit owners requested that the Board investigate obtaining earthquake insurance. The Insurance Committee requested earthquake quotes from CAU; the following market indicators were the responses:

 

1) One market offered a $50,000,000 loss limit policy with a 10% deductible for Named Peril Earthquake with an annual premium of $200,000 plus taxes and fees.

2) EQ One offered a $10,000,000 limited liability with a 10% deductible for Named Perils Earthquake with an annual premium of $150,700 plus fees.

3) RLI offered a $10,000,000 limited liability with a 10% deductible for Named Perils Earthquake with an annual premium of $160,000 plus fees.

4) Vikco offered a $10,000,000 limited liability with a 10% deductible for Named Perils Earthquake with an annual premium of $125,000 plus fees.

5) Palomar offered a $10,000,000 limited liability with a 10% deductible per unit/$50K minimum for Named Perils Earthquake with an annual premium of $131,000 plus fees.

6) Market (unnamed) offered a $5,000,000 limit with a 10% deductible and an annual premium of $100,000, did not include infrastructures.

 

The lowest estimate (and less coverage) would add $719 per unit/per year to the HOA assessments. The highest estimate (and most coverage) would add $1,439 per unit/per year to the HOA assessments. 2015 was the last year that Division 17 had earthquake insurance and in the past eight years, earthquake premiums have gone up significantly.

Some of our Sunland North residents prefer the look of ‘waves of grain (grass)’ to the freshly mowed appearance of our Natural Habitat fields. I wanted to give an explanation of the reasons we mow the fields several times each growing season.

 

1) We must retain a 100-foot fire buffer beyond the perimeter fence;

2) SLOA requires that open spaces be maintained in appearance (no excessive growth, weeds, etc.) and

3) to help control the growth of poison hemlock, infestations and spread of which we are required by Clallam County to control (and we have been working to do so for at least ten years).

 

While we are on the topic of poison hemlock, we are in need of some volunteers to assist with our control efforts in this area. Our poison hemlock control teams have worked for many years to get this Class-B noxious weed under control, and they have done a fine job. It is time for them to ‘hang up their hemlock hats’ (thanks Barbara Brooner for that great quote!). If volunteers don’t step up, we will see a significant increase in the costs of accomplishing this work.

 

According to Barbara Brooner, ‘Hemlock duty is a satisfying job, and the hemlock in the area where we’ve been working is now well under control. It should be an easy job for someone to take over, or even be adequately controlled for at least a few years with just regular mowing and periodic spot-checking for any “rogue” blooms before they go to seed.

 

Barbara Brooner and Alan Morris have offered to “show the ropes,” to any new volunteers during the upcoming year. It’s not a particularly hard job anymore, though one does need to be steady on their feet because of the uneven surfaces of the open space.

 

Many thanks to the volunteers who continue to step up to the challenges of maintaining our Natural Habitat, from tree watering, weeding and mowing; to trash pickup duties; to poison hemlock control. Sunland North is a healthier and more beautiful place to live because of you!

 

Please contact me (sarah0458@gmail.com or 206-947-1347) to volunteer for Poison Hemlock control or any other Natural Habitat activities.

 

Have a safe and Happy Independence Day!

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.