March 2025 Board Minutes

March 12, 2025 Board Meeting

Sunland Division 17 Owner Association
March 12, 2025, 2:30 p.m.
The Gathering Place, 135 Fairway Drive

Call to Order, Verification of Quorum

President Gerry Hatler called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m. The quorum was established by the board members in attendance of Gerry Hatler, Mark Anderson, Beverly (Sunny) Stern, Betty Gwaltney and Susan Hamman

Approval of Agenda

Gerry asked for a motion to approve the meeting’s agenda, Betty so moved, seconded by Mark, and all approved.

Review and Approval of February Meeting Minutes

Gerry asked for the approval of the February board meeting minutes, Mark so moved, seconded by Betty, and all approved.

Old Business

Mt. Baker Roof Inspections – Repairs – Mike Johnson

Nothing to report. This can be taken off next month’s agenda as repairs have been completed.

Concrete Repair Bids – Mike Johnson

Mike received a bid from Ground Works; he asked for a little more detail from them for the six units where repairs will take place. The bid is approximately $14,400. Mike would like to get the work done in the next couple of months (these are repairs, not replacements). The HOA has past experience using Ground Works when it was under a different company name. Gerry asked for a motion to approve the bid, Betty so moved, seconded by Mark, all approved.

Privacy Fences History – Maintenance and Repairs – Mark Anderson

Mark did a walk around the complex and counted 40 privacy fences in back yards around patios (one more was just approved by the ACC). The conditions vary on them; most appear to be in good condition, but some do not conform to the hardy plank construction now required.

In tracing the history of patio, propane tank fences, and front dividers, Mark started with the CC&R’s. Under paragraph 7, Budget, Expenses and Assessments, section 7.2 Common Expenses shall include 7.2 (b) Expenses of maintenance, repair, or replacement of the exterior of all units. This means, among other exterior maintenance, the HOA needs to set aside money for repair/replacement of fences.

Under the Bylaws (next level of governing documents), Article V Board of Directors, 10 Powers of the Board, 10 (a) adopt and publish rules and regulations governing the use of common areas and facilities and personal conduct of…

Finally, past directors took SLOA’s Rules and Regulations (R&Rs) and augmented them with Division 17’s rules. The latter states that the HOA maintains fences. Rules have an appendix which states that the HOA maintains fences (intent is all fences). Mark recommends that we clarify and clean up the R&Rs and stay in the path that the CC&Rs dictate, which is that maintenance and repair of fences is the responsibility of the HOA.

Yield Sign on Corner of West Cascadia and North Blakely – Susan Hamman

Susan contacted SLOA, who is responsible for road safety and security. Bob Eichhorn, SLOA President, said the county will not lower the yield sign nor put a yield sign at the corner of northeast Cascadia where it intersects with Blakely. However, since the yield sign was partly obscured by tree branches, Tom Steffen trimmed back the branches to make the sign clearly visible.

New Business

Board approval – Purchase of a 15-month CD – Betty Gwaltney

As a CD was maturing in mid-February, the board preliminarily approved moving the CD from US Bank to Kitsap bank for a 15-month CD at

at 4.10% APY ($107, 975 funds from matured CD at US Bank). Gerry asked for a motion to approve the transfer, Susan so moved, seconded by Mark, all approved.

Proposed by-law changes – Betty Gwaltney

As a result of the revised RCW 64.90, Betty proposes the following bylaw changes to bring the HOA into compliance with the revised law.

Currently, delinquent assessments incur a late large of $10 per month from the date of delinquency until paid. Betty proposes raising the late charge assessment to $25 per month, which brings the HOA into alignment with other associations such as ours. In addition, there is a specific “notice of delinquency” letter required by RCW 64.90.485 to go out to owners with delinquent assessments.

The revised RCW 64.90 also requires a unit resale certificate, with elements that our bylaws don’t list. There are several documents that must accompany this resale, including most recent Financial Review and Reserve studies, balance sheet and income/expense report, and governing documents, among others. The current document processing fee is $100, inadequate to cover the new requirements. Betty proposes increasing that fee to $250.

There was a discussion of whether to include the Notice of Delinquency in the Bylaws or in Policies and Procedures (P&Ps). The latter is not a common place for the owners to seek. Lawrence (webmaster and governing documents revision chair) proposed that the text of letter to go into P&Ps and a sentence be included in the Bylaws to refer unit owners to the P&Ps.

Gerry asked for a motion to adopt these changes, Sunny so moved, seconded by Mark, all approved. This is the first step in adopting the changes; a notice will be sent out to the unit owners regarding the changes and a final vote will be held at the April board meeting.

Natural Habitat Budget Proposal/Request – Sarah Miller

A large group of volunteers has been busy in the Natural Habitat area of Sunland North. Downed branches beneath the trees along Woodcock Road are being removed, as well as in a few other locations. Many piles of these branches have been accumulated over the last several months. This effort is intended to provide a margin of safety for fire prevention by decreasing the amount of dry materials that could possibly ignite due to carelessly discarded burning materials along the road.

The amount of material is large. Sarah approached Paul West, our developed landscape contractor, to provide an estimate for removal and disposal of the materials. It is clearly too large of a job for the HOA to do with strictly volunteer labor and a borrowed truck. Paul estimated the accumulated debris to be approximately 50 cubic yards (CY). Paul’s bid was a range of $1,400 to $2,000, depending upon how many CY are actually removed. He said he would not exceed $2,000, however it is difficult to firmly calculate the quantity of debris. We would contribute some volunteer labor, and Paul would have two trucks, two drivers, and himself as an equipment operator.

Paul would track all employee hours, and submit receipts for dump fees.

There is a volunteer work day scheduled for Monday, March 17th; Paul can make that day work for his schedule if we have the approval to proceed. He said that the sooner the better to get this work done, as it will be more difficult to remove from higher grass.

Since this work is within the scope of the Natural Habitat budget, no formal approval was needed by the Board to proceed.

Officer Reports

President Update – Gerry Hatler

Gerry noted that March 25th is National Medal of Honor Day, the highest military decoration in the U.S.

Vice President Update – Mark Anderson

Nothing further to report.

Secretary Update – Susan Hamman

A unit owner received a letter stating that the HOA would no longer be insuring the exterior of the buildings. This letter was an obvious scam but the owner didn’t know that. Lawrence stated that owners with area codes of California, Texas, and Oklahoma cell phones seem to be ones receiving scam letters such as this one. An e-mail will go out to unit owners to watch out for this kind of scam.

Treasurer Update – Betty Gwaltney

Monthly Expense Report February 2025

- Operating expenses: $14,351 YTD $56,602 Over budget $3,885
- Interest income $1850 YTD: $4051

Total Funds on hand:

- Operating Accounts $ 280,876
- Reserve Accounts $ 966,225 (84% in CDs)
- TOTAL $ 1,247,101

Financial Transactions:

- Purchased new CD at Kitsap Bank 15 month 4.1%Yield Matures 05/19/2026

Member-at-Large – Beverly (Sunny) Stern

See Tom Steffen’s update below in Landscaping report. Sunny and Tom visited 231/241 Mt. Baker; there were concerns about the trees increasing the moss growth on the roofs. Five trees will be trimmed at a cost of $1,200.

Committee Reports

Architectural Control – Barbara Ross

The handrails were installed at a Cascadia unit. The final inspection has been approved by the committee.

The privacy fence at a Blakely unit was approved by the committee (being installed by Platinum Earthworks ).

Mark Anderson is joining the ACC as a committee member.

With the discussion of privacy fences still continuing, Barbara reviewed her personal files. She had a privacy fence installed in 2006 (the HOA was still under Estes developer control). Joanne Estes’ answer in part to her request stated, “Keep in mind that the Association bears the cost of all future maintenance and repair of the proposed fence” There were four requirements to be met…and were.

The garages were left off the paint forms for two buildings on Blakely; that was remedied and Barbara will give those colors to Mike Johnson.

Barbara collected the paint colors for two of the remaining buildings for the 2025 painting. The committee hasn’t seen them yet as Barbara is waiting for the last building on Blakely to be finalized. One of the units is a rental and the owner was difficult to get in touch with.

One of the Blakely units being painted wants to buy a new door. Mike Johnson explained to the owner that if they purchase the door, they are responsible for it, not the HOA. That is in limbo as Barbara wants to see a picture of the door that will be chosen. The ACC and Mike Johnson need to approve it before it is purchased.

Insurance – Susan Hamman

Division 17 received a notice of policy conditional renewal dated Feb.12, 2025. The notice is to advise that CAU is agreeable to renewing the policy subject to no changes to current exposures and a favorable loss history (we’ve had no losses in the past insured year). The renewal premium may increase by more than 10%.

Just before this board meeting, Dianna Kaspar sent an e-mail requesting documents needed from the HOA to proceed with the renewal.

Developed Landscape – Tom Steffen

Spring is fast approaching. Our contracted crew completed the first mowing of 2025. The winter pruning work is nearly complete; this year the bottom portions of the evergreen trees have been raised up, which allows for easier mowing.

Our irrigation plumber and our landscape contractor are planning to better coordinate (with Tom and each other) how simple irrigation issues are addressed (e.g., broken sprinkler heads, adjusting watering times, etc.). Tom shared with them a list of eight issues that have been reported via our website portal. In addition, our irrigation plumber plans on repairing or replacing another six backflow preventers this year.

A couple weeks ago we sent out an email to owners updating them on plans to conserve irrigation water without diminishing the beauty of our grounds. Irrigation boxes on Mendel, Mt. Baker and Cascadia Loop contain laminated guides

that specify the location of each zone (most have between six and eight zones); in May we will bring boxes on Blakely online. Most zones for plants/shrubs will be set to run between six to eight minutes; lawn zones will be set to run 10 minutes for fixed position heads and up to 20 minutes for zones with rotary heads. Special thanks to John Lewis, Pete Farley, Alan Morris, Howard Harrow, Fritz Field, George and Roni Bannon, and Eric Mahnerd.

As in the past, if you notice something that concerns you, please send an email to landscaping@sunlandnorth.org via the portal on the Div 17 webpage.

Exterior Maintenance – Mike Johnson

32 items currently on the repair list; 9 are on the Foremost builders list, other ones are to be completed by North Olympic handyman.

Natural Habitat – Sarah Miller

See Sarah’s report above under new business

Welcome Committee – Kay Hatler

Nothing to report.

Communications and Outreach – Kathy Gross and Lawrence Charters

Lawrence requests that reports for the next newsletter be sent to information@sunlandnorth.org by no later than March 25, 2025.