SUNLAND DIVISION 17 OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Board of Directors Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Location: Sunland’s “The Gathering Place,” Ground Floor Meeting Room
Homeowner Forum/Comment Period
There were 17 Homeowners in attendance. The following topics were discussed during the homeowner comment period: securing of propane tanks and whether this should be an owner or HOA responsibility; existence of an easement along the RV Lot that could be used for access between Mt. Baker Drive and Woodcock Road; a ’Map Your Neighborhood’ training meeting is scheduled for December 15, 2016; the potential for bird feeders in the community providing a source of food for; and several occurrences of pets off-leash, contrary to SLOA and Div 17 rules & regulations.
Call to Order
The regular meeting of the Sunland Division 17 Owners Association board of directors was called to order by Board Chair at 2:30 PM and confirmed a quorum with five members of the board present: Gary Fortmann (president), Jim Voorheis (vice-president), David Walp (secretary), Jim Jones (treasurer), and Jim Hammond member-at-large.
Review/Approval of Board meeting Minutes
David Walp, secretary, recommended approval of the draft meeting minutes from November 2, 2016. The draft meeting minutes were accepted as presented. Secretary was directed to provide website coordinator the final minutes for posting.
Old Business
1. Common Area Maintenance going forward: (Agenda item was combined with agenda item 2)
2. Exterior Maintenance Coordination: (discussion included Agenda items 1 & 2) Board President, Gary Fortmann, noted that there was still a need for someone to take over the role of Exterior Maintenance Coordinator. John Lewis has indicated he is interested in taking on the role but wants to meet with Richard Helmenstine and get a better understanding of the scope and responsibilities before committing. GaryFortmann took an action to arrange a meeting within the coming week.
3. Removal of trellis at 201 Cascadia Loop: Discussion postponed to new business segment.
4. Street Light ongoing discussion: Board decided to create a project to replace all existing street lights, poles and fixtures, with ones similar to those being installed on Mt. Baker Drive. Jim Hammond, Member at Large, will lead the project to get quotes and bids for replacement of poles and prepare a proposal for inclusion in budget (s) for 2018 and beyond. The proposal is scheduled to be ready for board review by the April 2017 regular meeting. John Lewis, David Jelen and RichardHelmenstine offered to assist in preparing the proposal. Until board decides on the plan for replacement of all fixtures, single failures will need to be addressed as maintenance actions via Base Camp.
5. Mailbox replacement project: Jim Hammond, Member at Large reported on a survey of the existing street side mailboxes. Three options going forward were discussed: repaint boxes as they are noted to be in need using the Base Camp maintenance process; replace existing boxes with similar boxes; or replace all street side mailboxes with mail box clusters similar to those on Mt. Baker Drive. The board decided to have Jim Hammond prepare a cost proposal for the April 2017 board meeting to replace the existing mailboxes with similar boxes on the same mounting posts and brackets.
New Business
1. Exterior Change Request for 41 Mt. Baker Drive: Board listened to the report on the proposed change from the Architecture Control Committee. There was discussion of concerns about the current owner returning the deck to the original condition of they decide to sell the property or remove the hot tub. At issue is how the Board of Directors can enforce the change back to the original deck condition. The board decided that the request should be annotated to reflect that the current owner was responsible to return the deck to its current configuration if the hot tub was removed or if the property was sold and the new owner did not want the hot tub to remain. The owner will be required to sign that they agree to the conditions Upon receipt of the signed annotated Exterior Change Request approval shall be granted.
2. Landscape contract renewal: Following a discussion of costs of the 2017 contract, the Landscape Coordinator Valerie Holland was asked to add a clause/condition to the contract that all workers wear safety vests at all times when in the community. The vests are to ensure better visibility of workers when around the streets. Treasurer, Jim Jones offered that the surplus funds from the 2016 budget versus expenses could be used to fund the increase in cost of the 2017 contract not included in the 2017 budget. Board Secretary, David Walp, made a motion to approve the contract with the added condition. The motion was seconded by Jim Hammond and approved by unanimous voice vote of the Board.
3. Graysmarsh Sign at corner of Woodcock Road and Sequim-Dungeness Road: There was a discussion about the location of the sign and concerns that it interfered with sight lines for traffic stopping at the intersection on Woodcock Road. Gary Fortmann volunteered to contact the county regarding sign placement and size with a goal of having the sign located further east along Woodcock road.
4. 2017 Unit painting schedule: Retired Exterior Maintenance Coordinator, Richard Helmenstine indicated that there are 8 units scheduled for painting in 2017. Richard will work with the new coordinator and contractor Lopez painting to arrange the schedule. Gary Fortmann will join the discussion to seek information about full painting versus touchup painting is some cases would be sufficient as a potential cost savings.
5. 2017 Mulching: the Landscape Coordinator was asked to get multiple bids for having the tri-annual mulching completed. There is a line item in the budget to cover the cost of the mulching although bids were not solicited before the budget was created.
6. Pet violation reports: The secretary was directed to draft a letter for board review and approval for the violations reported against resident/owner at 150 Cascadia Loop. The letter will be a warning against any future occurrence of pet policy and rule violation(s). Additionally, an email/mailing about the pet policy, rules and fines for violations will be sent reminding all owners and renters of the responsibilities they agreed to when joining the community.
7. 201 Cascadia Loop: Jim Jones brought to the board a letter received from the owner regarding the ongoing dispute. Gary Fortmann took an action to get copies made and distributed for the board members to review.
OFFICER, COMMITTEE, AND COORDINATOR 2015-16 SUMMARIES
Secretary – A work order to have the broken trellis at 201 Cascadia Loop removed was submitted. Kevin Royall was asked to provide an estimate for the removal/repair of the broken trellis.
No new or updated owner information forms were received this past month. If anyone has any please forward to me so I can add them to the master hardcopy file.
Our community continues to grow with 114 units occupied. Lot 51, units 141 and 151 and lot 58, units 281 and 291 will be starting construction soon. Real Estate activity since November 2, 2016:
Currently active listings in Sunland North
180 Cascadia Loop $348,500
60 Mendel Drive $299,500
161 Mount Baker $389,000
Currently Under Contract (seller has accepted an offer)
80 Cascadia Loop
150 Mount Baker
Units sold/closed/occupied since Nov 2, 2016
241 Cascadia Loop
91 Mount Baker
Treasurer – Jim Jones provided written monthly financial summary for November that was accepted as written. The monthly financial status reports are also posted to the Div 17 Website.
Member at Large – Nothing to report
Architecture Control Committee – Susan Ross reported approval of an Exterior Change Request for Solar tubes at 71 Mendel Drive, Confirmed that the board approved the request for 41 Mt. Baker Drive, reported that the new owner at 241 Cascadia Loop submitted an Exterior Change Request for a non-approved gate installation as requested and that the request was approved. Finally, the committee will research methods for propane tank anchoring and report back in 90 days.
Insurance Committee – Lindsay Busch was not present and there was no report.
Developed Landscape – Nothing to report
Exterior Maintenance & Inspection – Gutter cleaning will continue, weather permitting.
Greenbelt– Tom Steffen was not present and there was no report.
Newsletter– The quarterly Newsletter was published to the website and emailed to distribution.
Welcome Committee – Barbara Gruner reported that 3 visits have been made this month, 2 on Cascadia Loop 1 on Mount Baker Drive.
Website – Barbara Brooner described the Div 17 Website as one of the major “faces” of the association and of the board. She provided statistics indicating that in the two months since the new board came on there had been 331 “sessions” by 227 unique users, averaging almost 7 pages and 3 minutes per session. She also cited intriguing exceptions, such as four sessions originating from Bonney Lake that registered as 4 unique visitors averaging 23 pages each. She flagged several items that need board attention (committees list, Sunland North Gmail account, and the board’s 2017 meeting schedule), and reminded the board of the reference section that had been established for their use, such as job descriptions for each board position.
Sunland Water District – Gary Fortmann reported that the Water District monthly meeting was scheduled for November 9, 2016.
Homeowner Forum/Comments
No further comments from the homeowners present.
ADJOURNED AT 4:25 PM, by consensus.
Submitted by David Walp, Secretary of the Board of Directors