Division 17 Board Meeting
November. 8, 2023, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Gathering Place
Call to Order
President Gerry Hatler called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.
Verification of Quorum
Board members present were Gerry Hatler, Mark Anderson, and Betty Gwaltney. Absent were Lawrence Charters and Warren Husman.
Approval of Agenda
Gerry called for approval of the Board agenda, Betty made the motion, Mark seconded it, all approved.
Approval of Minutes
Gerry asked for approval of the October board minutes, Betty made the motion to approve and Mark seconded it, all approved.
Old Business
Filing cabinets project completion
Susan Hamman reported that the records retention schedule had been applied to Division 17’s records and several boxes had been disposed of according to the retention requirements. The remaining records were categorized according to the records retention schedule and were neatly labeled. The current filing system list was posted on the HOA shared drive.
Review of Welcome Packet
Gerry asked for feedback on the revised Welcome Packet. Since some members had not received it for review, Kay Hatler will send the current packet for Board member review and approval at the December board meeting.
Backflow preventers update
Tom Steffen received the completed backflow report from the investigator: 40% passed (approximately 24-25 of the total number of backflows in the division). The rest remain untested or failed the inspection. The full report will be available at December’s board meeting. $10,000 is budgeted for 2024 for valve replacement. The cost is approximately $600 per valve.
Governing document review status
The cleaned-up drafts of the governing documents have come back from attorney review. Some of the changes include moving the annual meeting date to the fourth quarter, putting applicable government regulations in the CC&Rs rather than the Bylaws, some changes to the insurance section, including deleting the requirement for unit owners to submit a copy of their HO-6 insurance policy to the HOA. That latter provision is not required legally, so it was removed from the insurance section. The partition wall between units was more accurately defined. Betty stated that the attorney did a very thorough job of reviewing the documents.
A question from the audience concerned the privacy fences around units. This topic was not a part of the governing documents review. It will be covered at a later date with the attorneys. Gerry stated that the changes will be summarized for the unit owners and sent to them along with the draft documents for review before any vote is taken to approve them.
Field Mowing Contract Status
No report received from Warren on this issue.
New Business
No items under new business
Officer and Committee Reports
President – Gerry Hatler
Gerry reminded the audience of the upcoming Division 17 holiday party, Dec. 7th from 5 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Seven Cedars hotel.
Vice President – Mark Anderson
Mark had nothing to report.
Secretary – Lawrence Charters
No report.
Treasurer – Betty Gwaltney
Betty reported as follows:
1) Monthly Expense Report:
a. Operating expenses for October are $28,606 and total year to date operating expenses are $289,536. This is $44,779 UNDER year to date for Operational expenses.
b. Interest income YTD is $13,219
2) Total Funds on hand:
Operating Accounts $ 150,425
Reserve Accounts $ 782,568
TOTAL $932,993
3) Pre-Paid Income Tax: $6000 estimated taxes were paid on Sept 25th for FY 2023. Betty worked with Bell & Bell (accountants) to set up quarterly IRS payments for 2024.
Committee Reports
Architectural Control Committee – Eric Mahnerd
Eric received no architectural change requests for the past month.
Insurance Committee – Susan Hamman
Susan reported that Divisions 11 and 16 recently went through the renewal process with Community Association Underwriters (CAU). Division 16 sought other insurance providers as alternatives to CAU but did not find any that could match the coverage and premium provided by CAU. Division 16 reports a 15% increase in their premium over last year (and were happy that it was only 15%).
Division 11 will remain with CAU; their premium went up 20%. The annual premium per unit is $1,507, of which $334 is the earthquake premium.
Division 7’s renewal is in March 2024. They are looking at increasing their water damage deductible from $10,000 to $25,000 and lowering their demolition cost coverage to either $500,000 or $750,000.
Division 17’s annual renewal process will start in January 2024.
No further water damage claims will be filed for 360 Blakely. The remediation is complete for the unit.
Developed Landscaping Committee – Tom Steffen
Tom reported that we’ve had a beautiful early autumn with a few showers, several days of partial sun and normally expected temperatures. Our lawns are green and leaves beginning to fall. The occasional stronger winds have resulted in no reported damage.
Two trees have been removed since the last meeting of the Board. One removal was at the expense of the home owner. The work of pruning is still taking place.
Irrigation systems have been turned off for the fall, winter and early spring seasons. If you discover that a system is still activating (seeing suspicious water or sprinkler heads in upright position), please contact Tom Steffen at landscaping@sunlandnorth.org. If you receive an email from Sunland Water District indicating that you have higher than expected usage recorded on your water meter, please contact Tom Steffen at landscaping@sunlandnorth.org. We will attempt to turn off your irrigation water line at the meter.
There will be a few more mowings once the lawns dry out a bit. Once all the leaves fall, the crew will do a final sweep before winter.
Exterior Maintenance Committee – Mike Johnson
Mike asked Northwest Gutter Pros for estimates for 2024 roof and gutter cleaning. The painting contract has been signed with Lopez Painting, so Eric Mahnerd (ACC) can now reach out to unit owners to determine if they want a color change on their buildings. Six buildings will be painted (12 units). Mike also requested that the flowering plum trees need to be trimmed in the neighborhood because their growth is getting out of hand. Gerry will contact Tom Steffen on that issue.
Natural Habitat Committee – Sarah Miller
No report.
Welcome Committee – Kay Hatler
Nothing to report.
Communications and Outreach Committee – Lawrence Charters
No report.
Homeowner Comment Period
Burst water pipe at 61 Mt. Baker. On Nov. 4th, unit owner woke at 3:00 a.m. to no water pressure. At 4:00 a.m., discovered there was a broken pipe cascading water across the driveway into the ditches in front of the building. Sunland Water Dept’s emergency number was called and Scott came out immediately, followed by two other crew members and the PUD. After turning off the water to the neighborhood, they were able to shut off the unit water and dig down to the broken pipe. The pipe had been broken by a tree root. It was repaired and water was restored by 10:30 a.m.
If you should have a situation like this, call Sunland Water District at (360) 683-3905. There is a phone tree after hours with an emergency number. Kudos to the Sunland Water District for their quick response and remediation!
Adjournment
Gerry adjourned the meeting at 3:20 p.m.
Meeting notes recorded by Susan Hamman, with the thanks of the Board.