Minutes – Board Meeting – August 6, 2013

Sunland Division 17 Owners Association

Board of Directors/Annual Meeting August 6, 2013

Location: Sunland Golf & Country Club “Poolside Room”

(Approved September 3, 2013)

Homeowner Forum.

Per established board procedure, the meeting was preceded by an open Homeowners Forum. One owner spoke.

Call to Order:

The annual meeting of the Sunland Division 17 Owners Association was called to order at 1:05 PM by President Jim Karr.

Roll Call and Quorum.

The chair confirmed a quorum of the board with all four members present: Jim Karr (President), Lee Cox (Treasurer), Cindy Rhodes (Secretary) and Gene Ross (Board Member). There were no board members absent. Secretary Cindy Rhodes separately confirmed a quorum of owners present and/or by proxy for purposes of the annual meeting.

Introductions:

The chair introduced the 2012-2013 board members (see above), and also the 2013-2014 board candidates: Judy Field, Susan Hamman, Jim Karr and Cindy Rhodes.

Purpose:

The chair explained three main purposes of the meeting: To communicate with owners about the board’s activities and plans, including seeking homeowner approval of the proposed 2014 budget; to carry out several required board actions; and to provide an opportunity for owners to hear a presentation by and ask questions of the association’s insurer, Community Association Underwriters.

Review and approval of minutes.

Draft minutes from the July 6 board meeting had been circulated to the board members in advance, and provided in their meeting packets, with two suggested corrections.

Motion by Lee Cox to approve the corrected minutes as provided in the board packet; the motion was seconded and approved.

Presidents Report:

As his report, the chair took the opportunity to name and thank a large number of homeowner volunteers who had helped in many different ways to make it a successful year. He acknowledged retiring board member Lee Cox’s five years of service, providing an important transition from the declarant board to the new homeowner board, and the chair thanked his fellow board members, as well.

Announcement of Deadline for Casting Ballots:

At 1:40 PM, the President announced the approaching 1:45 PM deadline for casting ballots.

Committee Reports

1. Treasurer’s Report: Lee Cox reported that as of July 31, the association had $167,912 in its Reserves account and $61,054 in its checking account, for total funds of $228,977. He said the association’s total funds in December 2012 were $189,382.

The chair expanded on the Treasurer’s Report, indicating that the current balance still includes the pending 2012 Reserves contribution, and that later in August, $20,000 would be moved from checking to Reserves. The chair also recommended a new approach to processing Reserve funds, starting in 2013: Rather than wait until late in the subsequent year, half of the budgeted 2013 Reserve funds be moved in the third quarter of the year they are accumulated (e.g., August 2013) and the other half in the first quarter of the next year (e.g., February 2014). He also indicated that as of July 31, just over halfway through the budget year, the association had expended 59% of its budgeted funds.

2. Developed Landscape: Volunteer Coordinator Eldon Dennis reported on several current landscape issues:

–Dry spots in lawns. Dry spots in parts of the maintained lawns can be due to soil removal during construction; he also said that it is challenging in some areas to apply enough water without making other areas soggy.

–Irrigation repairs. A series of repairs have been needed this year, and were taken care of by Sanford Irrigation.

–Planned tree removal on Blakely. A tree planted too close to a power box (between 360 and 370 Blakely) will have to be removed; the tree will be cut down and the stump treated, but to avoid potential damage to the power box itself there would be no attempt to remove the roots.

–Moles. Moles have returned to some areas, particularly along the fence line on Blakely, and a new mole remediation contractor was now trapping them (preferred to poison control), at a cost of $50/mole. Seven moles have been successfully trapped.

–Trimming & weeding. The landscape contractor mows all lawns weekly, but trimming and weeding are done less regularly, on a rotational basis, working in one-third of the division each week. –Trimming by owners. In response to an inquiry, homeowners are asked to contact Eldon about landscaping near their house that appears to need trimming, rather than trimming it themselves; however, owners were also reminded that in general, anything planted by the homeowner becomes the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain.

–Enclosed areas not maintained by contractor. Eldon also confirmed that any area enclosed by a fence and gate also becomes the homeowner’s responsibility.

–Watching for insect infestations in trees. In response to another inquiry, Eldon stated that watching for and treating insect infestations in the trees, such as aphids, are not part of the landscaper’s contract, and that instead, he (Eldon) should be contacted; he noted that the contractor has on occasion implemented subsequent treatment.

–Cherry tree suckers. In response to an inquiry about cherry trees that put out numerous suckers, Eldon noted the landscape contractor will do a round of trimming to control suckers each year.

3. UCS (Undeveloped Common Space): Volunteer coordinator Tim Paschal reported that as of his inspection just a few days ago, there was no evidence of Poison Hemlock, and thus a scheduled fourth mowing to control it’s growth may not be needed. His focus has shifted to controlling Canada thistle, which has included herbicide spraying with unavoidable drift into some blackberry bushes in three areas, which he has marked and signed. Spraying is no longer effective once the plant is not actively growing, so current steps are removal of flower heads and seed pods, and he invited volunteers to help with the scheduled work. He stated that unfortunately both the Poison Hemlock and Canada thistle will return next year. The chair reminded the audience that remediation is expected to be a 3–5 year effort. The UCS committee, made up of Tim Paschal, Susan Hamman and Renee Jones, will soon begin exploring longer-term ideas for the 33 acre undeveloped common space once the noxious weeds have been controlled. In response to an audience question, Tim said that each mowing of the UCS costs around $1500; and that it is based on an hourly rate that involves not only a large area but difficult areas, since it has to be comprehensive for weed control. In response to a question, Tim said mowing just the previously required 100-foot border was easier and less time-consuming, and cost about $500.
4. Architecture/Exterior Change Requests: Volunteer Coordinator Cindy Meek reported that since the previous board meeting there had been no exterior change requests.
5. Exterior Maintenance and Inspection: Volunteer Coordinator Richard Helmenstine reported that trim work this year continued on schedule, as had the work to replace damaged fence tops. There are still problem with leaky gutters to be addressed. In response to a question, Richard reported the previous contractor who was doing roof cleaning and treatment died in an unrelated accident, and that he is looking for a new contractor.
6. Governing Documents Review: Board member Gene Ross reported his committee has begun their review of the Sunland Division 17 CC&Rs; there are some 23 pages to the most recent version, plus elements from earlier phases, so it is slow going. He commended his committee, who in addition to himself includes Cindy Meek, Tim Paschal and Cindy Rhodes. They have been meeting weekly since January 17.
7. Grievance Committee: Homeowner volunteer Judy Field reported there had been no grievances submitted or referred to her committee.
8. Secretary:

–Owner Stats. Cindy Rhodes reported that out of the 109 built units in Division 17, fifteen are registered with SLOA as “Rentals.” Separately, out of the same 109 built units, eight are listed “For Sale,” of which four are new and never-occupied units on Mt. Baker owned by Kevin Estes Homes. Two of the “For Sale” units are pending sales with estimated closing dates.

— Reserve Study. There was some confusion about some of the input data to the association’s required annual Reserve Study, and it has now been resubmitted to the firm that has done the Division’s reserve study in the past, with results expected within a few weeks. [The Reserve Study projects maintenance and replacement costs over a 30-year horizon, and evaluates how well the association is saving towards those projected costs.]

–Election Packets: Cindy reported 105 election packets were sent to all registered owners as of July 7, along with the quarterly newsletter; two were returned as not deliverable.

–Official Owner Roster. Cindy will be updating the official Division 17 Owner roster for the board and committee chairs before the board’s next meeting.

–Contact Forms. Of the contact forms distributed as part of the annual election materials, so far 59 have been returned. [The association is required by law to maintain an accurate record of owners and their address/contact info, and to update this information on at least an annual basis.]

–Official Association Files. Cindy reported that the association is required to maintain records of all Division 17 correspondence and other official written documents, and she asked all board members to provide her with the originals of such documents within the next two weeks, so that she can wrap up the official 2012-2013 board year files.

Old Business

1. Status of road turnover: The chair reported he had checked with Kevin Estes Homes, who was told that the developer’s request to transfer division roads to the county, per previous commitments, was pending behind a number of other larger projects, including the Deer Park Overpass, but that things may move forward more promptly after mandatory county furloughs are complete in late July.
2. Status of water meter and splitter installment in Sunland North. Lee Cox, who has served as point on this issue for some time, reported that homeowner costs for meter setters installed so far have been $450-$500, which is higher than the figure of $300-$400 mentioned in earlier meetings. [NOTE: A letter from SunLand Water District outlining some of the complications of these installations will be posted on the Div 17 website in September.] In response to homeowner questions, Lee and Jim explained that the installation of meters is a result of a state requirement to account for water use, and will help identify potential problems such as leaks, but that the Sunland Water District has not announced any plans to charge by use.
3. Implementing document processing fee. The chair explained that as of August 1, Division 17 has implemented a fee for processing the documents that escrow companies require the association to fill out for all home sales. The fee is $100, and covers the staff and board time required to complete the forms; the fee is also a way to ensure that the association is notified when there is a sale. The association is required to maintain accurate records, but is not always notified of a change in ownership. In one instance, a unit was 5 months behind in its assessment payment because the association was not advised of the sale to send a bill to the new owner. SLOA also charges a $100 fee for the same reason. This is a seller or buyer expense passed through the escrow company, who pays it to the association. Other organizations charge similar fees, and depending on their complexity and how much photocopying is involved, can range from $250 to $400. Division 17 has placed most of the documents that would need to be photocopied (such as bylaws, CC&Rs, and minutes of board meetings) on its Website, so that escrow companies can just print them out for themselves.

Presentation by Community Association Underwriters (CAU)

The chair introduced special invited guest speaker Amy Rieger, from Community Association Underwriters (CAU), the company that provides the association’s master insurance policy. Amy’s presentation is outlined in her five-page handout (filed with these minutes). She introduced key aspects of the policy such as deductibles; and explained that her client is the association, so any claims are submitted by the board, not individual homeowners. She also answered questions from homeowners, and provided the toll-free number for her office if people have further questions (1-800-228-1930; ask for the Bellevue office, or Extension 7161).

New Business

1. Future Meetings:

–The next meeting of the board will be the required organizational meeting following the board election, to be held Wednesday, August 7, 9:00 AM at the small meeting room above “The Gathering Place.” The chair noted that owners are welcome to attend all board meetings, including this organizational meeting, as observers.

–The outgoing board had set a schedule of meeting the first Tuesday of each month, from 9:00 to 11:00 AM, at SLOA’s “The Gathering Place.” Future board meeting dates and their frequency will be determined by the new board and be posted on the Sunland Division 17 Web site.

–Per the proposed new bylaws, beginning in 2014 the Sunland Division 17 Owners Association annual meeting will be scheduled in September, rather than August, which is expected to be more convenient for owners and be better in terms of planning for the next year’s budget.

2. Appointment of Election Inspectors for 2014: The association bylaws require appointment of new election inspectors at the annual meeting.

Motion by Gene Ross to appoint Terry Main and Dave Froula as the 2014 Election Inspectors for Division 17; the motion was seconded and approved.

3. Tree cutting access request from Division 17: The board received a written request from Lloyd Hightower, Director in Charge of Maintenance for Sunland Division 7Condo Association, requesting Division 17 permission to traverse Division 17 hillside property bordering Division 7 for the purpose of cutting and removing two trees on their property, near the crest of the hill, that had been deemed dangerous and approved for removal by SLOA. Discussion from board members and homeowners included the desire to be good neighbors, concern about past and future damage to the scenic and ecological value of the hillside, and potential alternative methods of removal.

Motion by Gene Ross that the board deny access to Division 7 for the felling of the two trees onto Division 17 property and their removal through Division 17 property, as described in their correspondence dated July 27, 2013, because we believe there is an alternative that would not damage Division 17 property. The motion was seconded and approved with three yes votes and one abstention.

Election Results:

The chair announced the election results provided by the 2013 election inspectors, Fritz Field and Richard Helmenstine. The successful board candidates, in alphabetical order, were Judy Field, Susan Hamman, Jim Karr and Cindy Rhodes. The proposed 2014 budget was approved (63 in favor and 3 opposed), as was a CPA review (65 votes in favor) in place of a full financial audit (one vote).

Additional Board Actions:

1. Decision on 2014 budget:

Motion by Cindy Rhodes that the board adopt the proposed 2014 budget included in the board briefing packet; the motion was seconded and approved.

2. Decision on revised bylaws:

Motion by Gene Ross that the board table discussion of the proposed revised bylaws until the September meeting. The motion was seconded and approved.

3. Decision on CPA review vs. full audit:

Motion by Lee Cox that the board have a CPA review instead of a full audit; the motion was seconded and approved.

Adjourned at 4:03 PM

Motion by Lee Cox to adjourn the meeting; it was seconded and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 4:03 PM.

Minutes compiled by: Barbara Brooner, Volunteer Recorder