May 14, 2025 Board Meeting
Sunland Division 17 Owner Association
May 14, 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 member 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, Mark so moved, seconded by Sunny and all approved.
Review and Approval of March Meeting Minutes
Gerry asked for the approval of the April board meeting minutes, Betty so moved, seconded by Mark, and all approved.
Old Business
North Olympic Handyman Contract – Mike Johnson
Mark spoke in Mike’s absence. North Olympic Handyman, a husband and wife contracting team, have been taking care of small repair items for Division 17. Mike has a long list of maintenance items to be performed; the team wants a contract to do so at a rate of $80 an hour + materials. The contract is based on an “as needed basis,” with either party being able to cancel at any time. The contractors don’t require a minimum hours per month to do the work. Gerry asked for a motion to approve the contract, Betty so moved, seconded by Mark, and all approved.
New Business
Annual Meeting
Per the Bylaws amendment adopted in December 2024, the annual meeting date was changed from the third quarter to the fourth quarter to make sure that all required business items were completed in time for the meeting (financial review, reserve study, finalized budget). Gerry asked for a motion to approve that the annual meeting be on October 8th, Betty so moved, seconded by Mark, and all approved. Susan will contact the Golf Course office to reserve the ballroom.
Volunteer Recruitment
Board – Two positions on the Board will be available this fall, as well as the chairs of the Architectural Control Committees and the Insurance Committee. Gerry will send out an announcement requesting volunteers. A Recruitment Committee may be formed following that announcement.
CAU Insurance – Legal Review
Susan addressed the recent CAU renewal process. Insurance went up 13% for the overall coverages, but the excess liability coverage went up 100%. In 2023-2024, that same policy went up 30%. Susan questioned whether a legal review of the policies may determine if the coverages are adequate or whether they could be reduced while still ensuring that the HOA maintains appropriate coverage. The Board discussed options and decided to first query professional community associations for insurance information. John Lewis will provide some contact information
Officer Reports
President Update – Gerry Hatler
Nothing further to report.
Vice President Update – Mark Anderson
Mark has reviewed all the association fences of which there are 235 (excluding the split rail fences). There are 4,500 linear feet of hardy plank fencing with some slat screening fences. This is equivalent to a mile of fencing throughout the HOA. It costs $80/foot for replacement fencing. If all the fencing had to be replaced at once, it would cost approximately $360,000. The fencing has about a 25 year life. No entire fences have to be replaced at the moment. Mark intends to submit this information for the reserve study so incremental replacement can be built into the HOA reserve planning.
Secretary Update – Susan Hamman
Susan meets occasionally with the other HOA insurance chairs. During these meetings, the chairs have also discussed other ways that the HOAs’ can help each other with services, such as maintenance and landscaping tips/services/contractors, etc. Betty mentioned that SLOA brought the HOAs together at one previous time. Gerry will touch base with Bob Eichhorn (SLOA president) about doing so again.
Based on recent delays in U.S. postal service delivery and escalating postal costs, Susan recommended hand delivering annual packets to the unit owners, which is allowable under the Sunland North Bylaws. The association can be divided into sectors and volunteers can hand deliver the packets to the owners. While this won’t be possible in some cases (unit owners renting out their unit or absent “snow birds”), most of the packets could be hand delivered. The Board concurred.
Treasurer Update – Betty Gwaltney
Monthly Expense Report: April 2025
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- Operating expenses: $ 34,908 YTD $80,257 Over budget $ 7,661
- Interest income YTD: $11,302
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Total Funds on hand:
Operating Accounts $ 300,689
Reserve Accounts $ 970,441 (85% in CDs)
TOTAL $ 1,271,130
Maturing CD’s
First Fed Operations -3-month at 2.71% matures May 2. CD was renewed for 3 months at 2.71% Matures 08/05/2025
Member-at-Large – Beverly (Sunny) Stern
Beverly reported that more poison hemlock had been reported on the hillside slopes, however, that property belongs to Division 11 and is their responsibility. Sarah Miller said she would contact their landscape chair.
Committee Reports
Architectural Control – Barbara Ross
A Mt. Baker unit requested a motorized screen for the patio.
A unit on Cascadia Loop is still waiting for installation of an approved storm door and front entry grab bar.
Barbara is waiting to hear from owners for final inspections: 1) a unit on Cascadia Loop for final inspection on ramp, handrail and front porch railings, 2) a Blakely unit for final inspection of a newly installed front door, and 3) a Blakely unit for the final inspection of the installed privacy fence.
Barbara received an email from a representative with Power of Attorney for a recently deceased owner on Blakely whose building is to be painted this year. The representative with Power of Attorney asked to have the building put close to the top of the painting schedule as the unit will be put up for sale. Barbara gave this request in writing to Mike Johnson.
Insurance – Susan Hamman
Nothing further to report.
Developed Landscape – Tom Steffen
Irrigation— The process of reactivating our extensive irrigation systems is nearly complete. This process takes several weeks to activate, repair and replace, as well as adjust spray patterns. In keeping with the Sunland Water District’s invitation to conserve water, Division 17 will closely monitor irrigation water usage. Owners should continue to report irrigation issues by submitting a maintenance request form via the Landscaping portal available on Div 17’s website.
Plants and Bushes— The landscaping crew worked extra hard to prune and remove our bushes and trees during the fall and winter. They will continue to thin out undesirable bushes and remove dead ones. As is our practice, not all dead plants will be replaced, since some locations are overcrowded with plants. Owners should continue to report landscaping issues by submitting a maintenance request form via the Landscaping portal available on Div 17’s website.
Spit Rail Fence— Owner and volunteer John Meyer prepared a two-page document regarding the split rail fence condition for the Board. 13 posts need replacement on Cascadia Loop along with 1 repair; 3 posts need replacement on Blakely Blvd. and 1 post needs replacement on Mt. Baker along with 8 repairs. Volunteers are needed to repair/replace these items. John estimates that approximately $420.00 will cover all fences that are broken/rotted. Gerry noted that the dollar amount is within the purview of the Landscaping budget so does not need additional Board approval to proceed with the post replacement/repairs.
Volunteer help— More and more, owners seem to enjoy tidying up the landscaping beds around their locations, which is not only good therapy for the soul but helps keep our HOA looking great. Small amounts of clippings can be placed on a driveway next to the street on Wednesdays for our landscaping crew to pick up (hopefully) by the weekend. It is best to bag leaves because of windy conditions. Never put out food scraps, trash or piles of dirt. Tom will prepare an e-mail to send out to unit owners with these instructions.
Lawn fertilizer treatment— The spring process of fertilizing the lawns is underway.
Exterior Maintenance – Mike Johnson
Mike and Mark Anderson met with a roof inspection/ repair contractor named Eric Wasankari, whose expertise is tile roof construction/repair/maintenance. Eric pointed out some issues among various roofs in the HOA. Mike asked Eric for an estimate to review ten buildings (two buildings have asphalt roofs; eight have tile).
Natural Habitat – Sarah Miller
Sarah reports that these have been busy days with the Natural Habitat, although no fawns have been spotted as of yet.
There have been a couple of recent work parties, one to clean up the pocket park behind the postal kiosk, and the other to receive training from Sam Fischbein, the Clallam County noxious weed inspector. These both happened on April 21st, and involved the usual dedicated cadre of volunteers.
Pocket Park Volunteers: Julie Anderson, Barry Burns, Teresa Frank, Rindy Hainstock, Susan Hamman, and Elaine Mae Starz-Brown.
Poison Hemlock Volunteers: Diana Burns, Gerry Busch, Tom Hamman, Gary Jubien, Greg King, and Sandy Reed.
Industrial strength vinegar worked fairly well on the moss in the pocket park. Sarah will schedule another work party in mid-June to finish up the job.
Jim Rossi mowed the fields right on schedule – he usually mows Mother’s Day weekend, Father’s Day weekend, and lastly the weekend after Labor Day. The Poison Hemlock Team will be out spraying on May 25th and 26th, as Sam Fischbein recommended that we spray again two weeks after mowing.
Sarah submitted a reimbursement request for the new herbicide supplies needed. This included the purchase of several pressure sprayers, as well as the chemicals. Many thanks to Betty for hand-delivering the check about 15 minutes after Sarah made the request!
The efforts in clearing branches out from under the tree line also uncovered some large debris items such as old tires and large foam pieces. Barry Burns will be out combing the area for more garbage in the next week. There needs to be some way to haul this stuff to the transfer station/dump. One thought is to use the utility trailer loaned out for bark pickup. Sarah can tow it if it has a 7-pin wiring harness.
Welcome Committee – Kay Hatler
Nothing to report.
Communications and Outreach – Kathy Gross and Lawrence Charters
Lawrence reported that attacks on the HOA website continue with 7000 attacks in one hour just recently. Lawrence remains vigilant monitoring activity with security software.
Owner Comment Period
Gerry opened up the owner comment period
Sarah Miller reported that the security light in front of her unit is still not operational. Mike believes there may be a short in the underground cable. She also reported that there has been a lot of car engine noise in the adjacent RV park during the evening hours. It will be reported to SLOA.
Teresa Frank brought up a concern about the landscaping crew spraying for weeds. The chemical spray has a seven-day life. The crew member apparently did not know what was a flower and what was a weed, so several flowers were destroyed during the spraying. The Franks do a lot of their own weeding and pruning and use a non-toxic mix of Dawn soap, salt, and industrial vinegar to kill the weeds. Teresa requested that the landscapers not spray on their property
Adjournment
With no further comments, Gerry adjourned the meeting at 3:59 p.m.