Sunland North Owners Association

Quarterly Newsletter October 2020

Email: sunlandnorth@gmail.com
Website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382
Business Hours: Monday – Friday; 9 AM – 3 PM

Announcements

2020-2021 Sunland North Board of Directors

President: Susan Hamman
Vice President: Dianne Bresnahan (newly elected)
Treasurer: Betty Gwaltney (newly elected)
Secretary: Lawrence Charters
Board Member-at-Large: Michael Johnson

Welcome to our new Board members, Dianne Bresnahan and Betty Gwaltney. A big thank you to our continuing Board members, Susan Hamman, Mike Johnson, and Lawrence Charters (who has graciously agreed to continue as our Secretary).

Homeowners Association (HOA) Office Hours – Monday thru Friday, 9 am – 3 pm

Remember, the Board and committee chairs are volunteers and they want to be responsive and accessible. However, we need to keep in mind they have personal lives too. Homeowners Association (HOA) Office Hours should be adhered to by all of us. 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/).

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 “Virtual” Board Meetings

Homeowner Association (HOA) monthly Board business meetings are open for owner observation, and always include a separate “Owner Comment Period”. In-person gatherings continue to be prohibited under Washington State’s ongoing COVID-19 Emergency Proclamation, but the meetings are available to you via Zoom video calls (or phone audio, if you prefer). Meetings are announced in advance via email and include the Board’s meeting agenda. Board members Mike Johnson and Lawrence Charters have offered to set up one or more “practice sessions,” if you’d like a chance to play around with using the Zoom technology outside of the meeting itself (it might even be fun to try it out on the grandkids, once you get the hang of it).

Sitting in on Board meetings is a great way to learn what’s going on, and to hear from a wide range of community volunteers handling different aspects of our shared homeowner association life.

The Sunland North Board Meeting schedule for calendar year 2021 has not yet been set, but here are the upcoming meeting dates (currently anticipated as the 2nd Wednesday of each month):

• Wednesday, October 14 (2:30 to 4:30 pm)
• Wednesday, November 11 (2:30 to 4:30 pm)
• Wednesday, December 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.

Annual Sunland North December Holiday Party Cancelled Due to COVID-19

Sadly, the annual Sunland North December Holiday Party has been canceled this year, out of an abundance of caution with the current pandemic. We hope to be back in “party-mode” for 2021!

Messages and Reports from Our Volunteers

President’s Message – Susan Hamman

As Sunland North (Division 17) begins its ninth year as a homeowner managed association, I can’t help but reflect on how far we’ve come as an association and community in those intervening years. In September 2013, the second year of homeowner control, I was elected to the Board of Directors and shortly thereafter became president for the first time. There were 109 units in Sunland North; 15 buildings (30 units) were yet to be built in the Mt. Baker section of the development. 2020 saw the completion of the community to its full buildout of 139 units.

Since 2012, the Board and Committee volunteers have established standard operating procedures, revised and updated the governing documents, developed a communications platform that included a website and quarterly newsletter, built a budget to address the needs of the community, and successfully dealt with the reconstruction of a building (two units) badly damaged by a fire in 2017. This was in addition to managing external maintenance activities (both routine and major repairs as well as the repainting of all buildings on Blakely, Mendel, and Cascadia) and landscaping issues (irrigation system repairs and problems presented by mature and inappropriately planted trees and shrubs).

After all the startup issues, Sunland North is facing new challenges. These include an aging irrigation system, tile roof, and skylight repairs, concrete repairs and replacement, roof moss abatement, and gutter repairs, among others. In addition, Sunland North has an obligation to examine its existing Reserves and plan for future major repair and replacement costs.

Unlike many HOA’s, Sunland North does not employ a property management firm to handle community issues such as external maintenance repairs, landscape issues, or community insurance. All of this is done by volunteers; the chairs and committee members of External Maintenance, Architectural Control, Insurance, and Landscaping, with direction provided by the Board of Directors.

In 2020, there were 13 changes in unit ownership. A challenge for the Board has been how to effectively communicate to new and existing owners community issues as well as both Board and unit owner responsibilities to the community. This has been even more difficult in the age of COVID where in-person Board meetings have been replaced by online Zoom meetings. You, as a community member, can do your part by making sure that the Sunland North secretary has your current contact information. Help is available to you if you don’t know how to use Zoom, but wish to attend the Board meetings.

Two long-range planning workshops were held in 2019-2020 to seek owners’ input on the HOA’s greenspace/natural habitat area and landscaping, as well as an owner survey to determine issues of importance to the unit owners. Additional workshops are planned in the coming year, so please attend and contribute your ideas!

Resident volunteers are the backbone of this community. Volunteer efforts help keep Sunland North a desirable place to live, aid in containing assessment increases to the actual needs of the community, and help maintain property values for all unit owners. Are you interested in volunteering to help keep this community a great place to live? Then please contact any one of your Board or Committee members to see how you can help!

Treasurer Report – Betty Gwaltney

The fourth quarter Division 17 assessment of $710 is due before or on October 1, 2020. Checks are to be made out to Division 17 and sent to Division 17, P. O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382. Please do not send your check to SLOA!

The preliminary September monthly expense report shows total operating expenses for the month at $22, 661, bringing the year to date total expenses to $241,113. There were heavier than normal expenditures this month with external maintenance and irrigation repairs.

The 2021 budget was approved by the unit owners on September 8, 2020, at the Annual Meeting. The yearly assessment will rise slightly on January 1, 2021, to $2,968 or $742 a quarter. Budget detail can be found on Sunland North’s website: www.sunlandnorthownersassociation.com under the Owner Information tab.

Secretary’s Report – Lawrence Charters

Annual Member Meeting

Sunland Division 17 (Sunland North) held its annual meeting on September 9, 2020, via Zoom. We had 92 signed quorum forms, and two dozen virtual attendees.

The 2021 proposed budget was accepted by a vote of 103 to 0. The financial review versus financial audit question had 95 votes for a financial review and 5 for a full audit. The Board subsequently adopted the 2021 budget and voted for a financial review.

The Board election saw Dianne Bresnahan and Betty Gwaltney elected to the Board, and Lawrence Charters elected to a second term.

Communications Changes

Kay Hatler has retired as editor of the Sunland North newsletter. Kathy Gross has volunteered to take over as editor, and brought together this issue. We are grateful for Kay’s work over the past two and a half years, and her cheerful, encouraging support of neighbors and community volunteers.

We are rolling out changes in how you reach the Board and major Sunland North functions. We have changed Board officer email addresses to something shorter and more predictable, an example being sunlandnorthsecretary@gmail.com changing to the more approachable secretary@sunlandnorth.org. We will be adding similar sunlandnorth.org addresses for the major committees, though these may not be in place before this newsletter is released.

Susan Hamman, president@sunlandnorth.org
Dianne Bresnahan, vicepresident@sunlandnorth.org
Betty Gwaltney, treasurer@sunlandnorth.org
Lawrence Charters, secretary@sunlandnorth.org
Michael Johnson, member-at-large@sunlandnorth.org

With the change in Board and calendar, a number of pages, forms, and documents on the website need to be updated. If you happen to see something that is obsolete, or difficult to understand, please feel free to contact us (secretary@sunlandnorth.org) and tell us what you found.

Check on Neighbors

The pandemic has cut down greatly on neighborly conversation, with good reason. But do consider taking the time to see that those immediately around you are well. The Board has received a number of calls and email messages asking for a check on a neighbor that hadn’t been seen for a while. While you might be reluctant to intrude, checking on your neighbors is an act of compassion, and can be done without checking with the Board. If you think it appropriate, Clallam County Fire District 3 will conduct a “Wellness Check” if you call 911.

Exterior Maintenance Committee Report – Gerry Busch and Michael Johnson

With the resignation by Gerry Busch, our neighborhood was set to experience a big gulf in leadership on the Exterior Maintenance Committee. However, with Michael VanDiver (and his wife, Debra, as his support staff) taking over, we anticipate a seamless changeover.

The best way to alert Mike about your exterior maintenance issues is to use the submission form on the Sunland North website. The website form can be found at https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/homeowners-forms/sunland-north-exterior-maintenance-request/.

This has been a busy season for exterior maintenance. Shortages of materials caused by pandemic issues and work crew availability have caused our local contractors to overcome difficulties related to providing us with the services we require.

A six-week shutdown of construction and maintenance put the county behind schedule on such activities. When work resumed, we found contractors to be very busy and very choosy about projects they accepted. It has been difficult to find contractors for some jobs. As with other pandemic-related shortages, we expect these issues will resolve in time.

Our contractor unexpectedly ran out of moss treatment spray after starting our annual treatment program. The spray is currently out of stock at several suppliers they have contacted. They completed 10 out of 33 scheduled units. The procedure is that they spray to kill the moss, then come back in a number of months to clean the gutters as dead moss weathers off the roofs. The roofs that have been treated will have their gutters cleaned later in the season. The contractor informed us recently of his intention to discontinue his moss treatment program next year. The Exterior Maintenance Committee will take this as an opportunity to explore other options.

The annual inspection of homes was carried out during the last half of June by a dozen or so volunteers. Their findings were logged into our maintenance database. Most of their findings were minor, and none were critical. The most striking takeaway from the findings has been the deteriorating condition of gutters throughout the division. More than half of all our maintenance issues are gutter-related, either cleaning clogs or repair of leaks. The effort to continue correcting these defects will continue through the coming fall and winter, weather permitting. Much effort and cost went into addressing the most urgent of those issues.

Our painting contractor completed the exterior painting of two units on their 12-year cycle. The weather cooperated, and painting went smoothly. Two units are scheduled for painting next year on their 12th birthdays.

Mike Johnson has been experimenting with photographing roofs, using a drone. He is doing this to determine the feasibility of inspecting the roofs, looking for defects in the tiles. Michael VanDiver has also shared some ideas regarding preventing moss from growing on the roofs in the future. More study will be needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of his ideas.

Michael VanDiver has also made a recommendation to help us to avoid a repeat of a water damage incident that resulted when a homeowner inadvertently left a hose attached to an outside hose spigot/faucet, which then froze. Using an outdoor faucet cover/freeze cap is worth the small investment required and the committee agrees.

Mike has a one-page flyer about tips for winterizing your home; we will probably send this out as an independent message to our owners.

Maintenance of the exterior of your home cannot be left to just an annual inspection by volunteers. Please let us know if you observe any problems. Using our website and forms provided is an effective method of notifying the HOA Board and chairman of problems, while they are still small.

Architectural Control Committee Report – Richard Helmenstine

There have been 21 various requests for changes ranging from installing stand-alone fireplaces/stoves, fences, railings to installing solar tubes. We currently have a couple of requests left for completion where the unit owners are awaiting materials to finish the projects.

As a reminder, the instructions for submitting requests for changes are clearly posted on the Sunland North web site. Architectural Control has a 30-day window for approval. Both Sunland North and SLOA’s approval are required before any work can take place. Owners need to consider that there will be slowdowns due to the availability of various contractors during these uncertain times.

If anyone is unsure about taking on any self-help projects or what you can and cannot do, please check with an Architectural Control Committee member prior to doing so. We make every effort to accommodate our owners’ requests in accordance with the directives of the HOA.

Established Landscape Committee Report – Eric Mahnerd and Gerry Hatler

It has been a busy summer. Since May 19, 2020, we have received almost 70 landscape requests and the majority have to do with sprinkler issues.

• Sprinkler Issues
  • Our landscaper is constantly adjusting the system to eliminate over or under watering situations
  • With water leaks, it usually requires us to go to a commercial firm to investigate and, where necessary, replace valves
  • If you have a problem, please Don’t try to adjust the sprinkler control, but contact a Committee member instead
  • Our landscaper has shut off the sprinkler systems
  • Don’t forget to detach your hoses from the outside faucets as it won’t be long before the temperatures will start dropping
• Emergency Tree Removal
  • Unfortunately, we recently had to remove four trees because of root incursion on the fire hydrant main water line
  • If the roots had broken the main water line, the results could have been catastrophic
  • An audit of the entire sub-division is being conducted to identify other problem areas
• Summer Pruning
  • Pruning continues throughout the sub-division
  • Pruning of the wilted Lavender plants has started
  • Please be patient as we have a large sub-division and it is impossible to get to everyone at the same time
• Mulching
  • Mulching will begin this winter once the dormant plant pruning is completed
  • We plan to mulch the entire sub-division
• Fall Fertilizing
  • Fall fertilizing of the grass has begun
  • The west side of the sub-division is complete and they will be moving to the east side this week
• Line of the Month” heard by Landscape workers from our residents: “I know I’m NOT supposed to talk to you BUT….”
  • Once again, we ask if you have a problem or request, please contact the Landscaping Committee
  • With 139 units, you can imagine how much time is taken from the crews if we are out there making special requests
  • They have a set contract and they are NOT allowed to do special favors or projects for the residents

Well, that’s all for now. Get out and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather!

Natural Habitat/Greenspace Report – Sarah Miller

We want to give a special thank you to Tom Hammam for managing the work of this committee for the last two and a half years. Sarah Miller is the new Natural Habitat Coordinator for Sunland North. She is a new resident, having moved here from elsewhere in Sequim this past January. She is interested in nearly every area of the natural world, so is a good fit for our NH Coordinator role. Sarah volunteers with the Clallam Conservation District at their annual Native Plant sale each year, and on occasional native plant restoration projects.

Our mowing contractor performed the third and final mowing of the natural areas in September. Teams patrolling for poison hemlock also wrapped up their efforts for the year; inspection and eradication efforts will continue when the spring growing season begins.

Thank you to the many Sunland North residents who stepped up to foster some of the native plants that we received from the Clallam Conservation District last winter. The Conservation District gave Sunland North the plants as appreciation for our tolerance for the disruption associated with the irrigation district piping project. We now have more than 20 healthy Douglas firs, along with a handful of miscellaneous other shrubs and trees to plant during this upcoming rainy season.

Our plan is to plant many of the Douglas firs such that they will provide a barrier between Sunland North and the future traffic circle to be constructed at Woodcock Road and Sequim-Dungeness Way. These plants are known to be ‘candy’ for the deer, of which Sunland has many. So, we will also be installing deer barriers to protect these tiny plants in the first few years of their lives. The plants will need to be watered regularly through their first two or three summers. After that, they should be well on their way and able to survive any but the driest years.

Watch for upcoming opportunities to volunteer for a couple of planting parties or deer fencing parties!

Thank you!

An enormous “thank you” to retiring Board members, Gary Fortmann and John Lewis, each of whom served two back-to-back, two-year terms in order to see the HOA through the challenges of the fire reconstruction project and related legal issues.

As always, we thank all of 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.

Again, thank you to Kay Hatler, who served as our Sunland North newsletter editor for the last two and a half years.

Special thanks also to our 2020 election inspectors, Judy Field and Eileen Farley, for stepping in again this year to collect quorum forms, count ballots and tally the votes, in our first-ever virtual annual meeting!

Special Report: Asian Giant Hornets

You will notice in the Natural Habitat update that we have a new Natural Habitat coordinator, Sarah Miller. Sarah has been volunteering with the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) in the effort to trap for the Asian Giant Hornet. The Asian Giant Hornet (AGH) has erroneously been called the ‘Murder Hornet’ by the media (in case 2020 has not given us enough to be concerned about!).

The good news is that no AGHs have been found in Clallam County. These are the world’s largest hornets, and can reach a size of two inches in length. Multiple stings can cause death in people who are allergic, just as bee stings or wasp stings can. However, they are not aggressive to people unless they or their below-ground nest are threatened.

The biggest problem with the Asian Giant Hornet is that they target our native and honey bee populations, and they can decimate a hive in short order. This is of course a huge issue for agricultural crops. A total of ten AGHs have been found this year in Washington State, all in Whatcom County.

Sarah has baited and checked her AGH trap (photo below), which hangs on a tree near her residence, weekly since July 1st. The bait is a mixture of mirin rice wine and orange juice, which the hornets, if they are in the area, are attracted to. Sarah sieves and rinses the trap contents, then mail them to the WSDA office, where staff positively identifies the contents. Each week, the trap has mostly contained bald-faced hornets, fruit flies, earwigs, and moths. The trapping effort will wrap up at the end of October.

If you would like to learn more about this, check the following link:
https://agr.wa.gov/departments/insects-pests-and-and-weeds/insects/hornets