Monthly Board Meeting of Sunland Division 17 Owners Association
February 9, 2022, 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., via Zoom.
Note: Washington State currently has the highest COVID-19 infection rate in the country, on a per-capita basis. Key volunteers and members have requested that Board meetings be held virtually. Accordingly, the Sunland North Board meeting will be held via Zoom. Zoom supports audio via telephone dial-in and audio-video via computer, tablet or smartphone.
Call to Order
President Gerry Hatler called meeting to order at 2:30.
Verification of Quorum
All Board members were present.
Review and approval of minutes
The January 12, 2022, Board minutes were approved as submitted.
Old Business
Sunland North Bylaws change for office address (Article I) – Ratification vote
Discussion of the Bylaws change was opened to the membership for discussion. No comments were offered. The Board ratified the amendment.
Sunland North Bylaws change for financial management (Article VII, Section 4) – Ratification vote
Discussion of the Bylaws change was opened to the membership for discussion. No comments were offered. The Board ratified the amendment.
Change email address in Rules and Regulations for general submissions (Section II, Part 10) – Ratification vote
Discussion of the Rules and Regulations change was opened to the membership for discussion. No comments were offered. The Board ratified the amendment.
Survey of trees in the natural area by an arborist
An ad hoc committee will work on getting an arborist to conduct a survey of the trees in the natural habitat area. A previous tree survey was confined to the residential area. Shirley Legg, Tom Steffen, Mike Johnson, and Susan Hamman will form the committee.
Shortage of volunteers
The pandemic has resulted in both a shortage of contractors to work on Sunland North projects and needs as well as a shortage of volunteers to perform needed tasks. Gerry Hatler will send out a letter to the membership requesting members volunteer to help.
New Business
Records disposal request
Susan Hamman, in her role as records manager, has identified more records for disposal, in accord with the Sunland North records retention schedule. The Secretary signed the request.
Landscaping contract
Shirley Legg reported that our landscaping contractor is going out of business at the end of April. Other local landscapers are in difficulty, with rising materials costs, rising labor costs, and high demand. Shirley has talked to a couple prospective landscapers but no specific commitments have been made. Tom Steffen talked to our existing landscaper, who was optimistic another landscaper could take over his business. Our existing services are set to end by the end of April 30.
The ad hoc committee on the natural area will also assist in a search for a landscaping contractor.
Officer, Committee and Coordinator Reports
President Update — Gerry Hatler
Gerry noted that at the last Board meeting, there was a question about what is happening to the slope behind the driving range. Will the debris left after cutting down trees and brush be removed? The short answer: nothing is being done. SLOA has been trying to get answers to this question, too.
Gerry invited the Sunland Water District Manager (Brian Scott) to attend the Board meeting in May, to talk about several issues of interest to Sunland North.
Secretary Update — Lawrence Charters
Lawrence discussed the website overhaul. All outdated and insecure code has been removed, the design has been completely changed, and the website now works properly with smartphones and tablets. All existing content was left unchanged. The main task remaining is to convert PDF pages (there are thousands of them) to web pages, which is a labor and time intensive task. PDFs take roughly ten times as much space on the server as web pages, do not display properly on smartphones and tablets, and are not searchable via the website search engine.
Treasurer Update — Betty Gwaltney
Monthly Expense Report: The preliminary December 2021 monthly expense report shows our total operating expenses for the month were $24,915 which brings our total year to date operating expenses to $24,915 This is $1,379 under budget year to date.
Total Funds on hand:
Operating Accounts $ 232,193
Reserve Accounts $ 616,788
TOTAL $ 848,982
Note: Transferred $150,000 from Checking to 1st Fed Money Market
No new owner letters sent out in January.
The ad hoc finance committee met to talk about investment strategies. Gerry found some certificate of deposit opportunities. The Board approved a motion for a laddered investment in CDs over a three-year period that are covered by FDIC.
Betty met with Mike Johnson and John Lewis on developing a five-year plan for major expenses. They are attempting to project costs based on a 12 or 14 year repainting cycle, plus maintenance costs for homes, plus other capital expenses. The goal is to balance out financial demands per year and stay within budget.
Vice President — Shirley Legg
Reporting on behalf of Sarah Miller, Shirley noted one owner wanted a tree to be planted in the natural area to block out view of Water District plant. Sarah discovered the gap in the tree barrier along Woodcock was a water district easement. Sunland Water District suggested planting a tree in a different place. Sunland North needs to check if there are other easements that might be involved before planting a tree. It would cost rougly $130 to purchase a Leyland cypress and place a deer-proof cage around the tree.
Board Member at Large — Mike Johnson
Mike received an easement request and survey from the Sequim Prairie Tri-irrigation Association. John Lewis and Mike will review the easement and survey documents. The easement essentially documents the work the irrigation association has already completed.
Architectural Control Committee — Mike Johnson (acting)
Two residents have requested privacy fences. Everyone seems to want a fence that is slightly different from those already approved. Jim Rozanski and Rob Crombie are assisting Mike in ACC duties.
Insurance Committee — Susan Hamman
Regarding the trailer destroyed in the SLOA RV park during November’s storm, the owner has been reimbursed by their insurance company. CAU contacted us a couple days ago to start the process for renewal of the District 17 insurance policy. Our current policy ends at the end of April, and a new policy would begin at the start of May.
Developed Landscape — Tom Steffen
There has been little activity relating to landscaping the past month. Tom remains in weekly contact (in person, by email or phone) with the staff of the landscaping contractor. After receiving a letter from Parisnen Landscaping, which indicated the likely future termination of its service, Tom met with two members of the Board to discuss next steps.
Various factors have contributed to slow this year’s pruning. The work will be completed this week.
Tom had a telephone conversation with a backflow inspection specialist to inquire about inspections for Division 17. He is interested in helping us if we ever need his assistance.
Tom will be available only by phone and text during the month of March.
It is encouraging to see the early signs of spring poking up through the soil. Longer and brighter days are coming!
Exterior Maintenance and Inspection — John Lewis
After the recent snow storm, two roof leaks were reported. The roofing contractor inspected the roofs; there was no damage. The leaks were due to ice dams blocking gutters. The contractor did notice one unit had plastic roof vents that had deteriorated and are being replaced. One unit required some drywall repair.
Our painting contractor was asked for a quote for two units to be painted in 2022.
Doug Hale put in several hours documenting location of irrigation controllers. John thanked Doug.
John is resigning as Exterior Maintenance Chair as of March 31.
Natural Habitat — Sarah Miller
Thank you to all the volunteers who showed up for our Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday Day of Service. Several hardy folks showed up on a beautiful winter day and made short work of many downed branches and many trips to Cascade Bark. The old cottonwood is looking great! At the risk of leaving someone out, here is the list of participants: Fritz Field, Mike Bresnahan, Kay & Gerry Hatler, George Bannon, Tom Steffen, Gerry Busch, and Sarah.
There are poison hemlock patches here and there, which will soon feel the spring warmth and start shooting up their leaves. Once the nighttime temperatures get consistently above 50°, we will re-institute the spraying program.
In walking around the perimeter of the Natural Habitat, Sarah spotted a new (to her) plant that looked invasive. After checking the Washington State Noxious Weed list, the plant was identified as ‘Euphorbia Lathyris’ or moleplant, and is on the monitor list, but doesn’t require removal. However, in the interest of not letting it take over, Sarah decided to remove it, easily accomplished through hand-pulling. If you find this plant (see photo) around, be sure you wear gloves and long sleeves because the sap can burn your skin. All parts of the plant are toxic.
Sarah made an inquiry to the Sunland Water and Sewer District regarding the location of the sewer lines leading to the Waste Water Reclamation Plant (WWRP). A neighbor has requested that we plant a tree in a gap in the treeline along Woodcock Road to screen their view of the plant. The sewer trunk line will restrict any tree planting to the western gap in the treeline, as the sewer line crosses Woodcock in alignment with the eastern gap. Planting a tree in the western gap will make a substantial improvement in the view. Materials for this tree, along with deer fencing to protect it from herbivory for a few years, total approximately $130.
Communications and Outreach — Kathy Gross
There have been some questions about where to send assessment payments, and about when checks are deposited. The Welcome Committee has been quiet, as there are few new owners in winter.
Sunland Water District Update — Tom Hamman
Tom has no report.
Homeowner Comment Period
Kathy Gross asked when will paving for the new roundabout be finished. The informal answer from the county is that it should be completed sometime in March or April.
Lawrence noted that when our old bookkeeping service decided to suddenly get out of supporting homeowner associations, this change took other Sequim HOAs by surprise, too. Several have experienced financial disruptions as January assessments were either not mailed out or were sent to the wrong address.
Adjournment
The President adjourned the meeting at 3:43 p.m.