Quarterly Newsletter April 2023
Kathy Gross, editor, information@sunlandnorth.org
Website: https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1655, Sequim, WA 98382
Business Hours: Monday – Friday; 9 AM – 3 PM
2022-2023 Sunland North Board of Directors
President: Gerry Hatler, president@sunlandnorth.org
Vice President: Lawrence Charters, vicepresident@sunlandnorth.org
Treasurer: Betty Gwaltney, treasurer@sunlandnorth.org
Secretary: Shirley Legg, secretary@sunlandnorth.org
Board Member-at-Large: Warren Husman, member-at-large@sunlandnorth.org
Announcements
Homeowners Association (HOA) Office Hours – Monday—Friday, 9 am – 3 pm
We want to remind all new and current residents, the Sunland North (Division 17) Homeowners Association (HOA) Office Hours should be adhered to by all of us, except in the event of an emergency. Contact information for each Board and committee chair member is on the Sunland North Website: (https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/about-us/); or use the generic “Contact Form” that is on the website (https://sunlandnorthownersassociation.com/contact-us/).
Keep in mind, we don’t have paid administrative staff, and people may be away from home or otherwise occupied; anticipate at least a few days for a response.
Sunland North Board Meetings
Sunland Division 17 Owners Association (Sunland North) monthly Board meetings are open for all owners to attend. If you have concerns about landscaping, home maintenance, insurance, home modifications, traffic, parking, pets, neighborhood communications, or almost anything else dealing with our community, this is the forum where such issues are addressed. A separate “Owner Comment Period” is part of each meeting, to bring up concerns not addressed by the Board. The meetings are also a good way to find out what is happening in the neighborhood and how our volunteers handle different aspects of our shared HOA life. The meetings will be held at The Gathering Place, 135 Fairway Drive.
If meetings cannot be held in-person meetings, meetings will be held virtually via Zoom.
The Sunland North Board Meeting schedule for the second quarter of 2023:
Wednesday, April 12, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
Wednesday, May 10, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
Wednesday, June 14, 2:30 to 4:30 pm
Note: Sunland Owners Association (SLOA) is a separate, overarching HOA that includes several other divisions, the pool, and tennis courts, and all the individual homes in Sunland. Their Board meeting is scheduled separately from Sunland North Division 17.
2023 Unit Assessment: $3,720 annually or $930 a quarter
Quarterly payments are due: April 1, July 1, and October 1. Please mark these days on your calendar; the Association does not send out reminder notices. If you pay quarterly and do not pay by the due date, a late charge will be added to your bill.
Late charges will be assessed at the rate of $10 per month of delinquency. Checks should be made payable and mailed to:
Sunland Division 17 Owners Association
P.O. Box 1655
Sequim, WA 98382
Please note that the Sunland Owners Association (SLOA) and the Sunland Water District (SWD) are billed separately, as these are separate entities.
Do You Know Who’s Managing Your Investment?
When you purchased your home in Sunland North, you bought into–literally–the entire community. Per the CC&Rs, you have a “1/139th undivided interest” in the common area, which in Sunland North includes the meadow that surrounds the development and control of just about everything else you see outside. Keeping the whole community well-maintained, not just your individual home, is a part of your home’s value and part of your responsibility. Each year owners elect Board members from among the community who then have broad powers of the purse and the ability to set priorities. Have you asked yourself lately:
- Have you been to a Board meeting to see how decisions are made?
- Do you know what the current Board’s priorities are?
- Does it make a difference who’s willing to run for the Board this September?
By law, HOA Board meetings are open to observation by owners. Are you taking advantage of this opportunity to understand what’s going on in your neighborhood?
The Sunland North Board meets monthly for about an hour, the 2nd Wednesday of each month, at “The Gathering Place,” on the first floor of the SLOA building.
Management of Open Spaces
SLOA (Sunland Owners Association) is conducting an owner survey on a number of topics, one of which is open space. Please note that they are surveying possible uses for SLOA open space. The natural habitat area and landscaped area in Sunland North are managed by Division 17, not SLOA.
New— Neighborhood Puzzle Exchange
We have learned that many of our residents seem to like jigsaw puzzles. The Little Lending library works so well, that we decided maybe a Puzzle exchange would be an amenity used by some. Unlike books, puzzles are harder to “display” so the current “inventory” of approximately 80 puzzles is now housed in my Costco room in the garage.
Residents are welcome to come and choose or peruse what is available. No need to exchange a puzzle if you just want to use and return one from the inventory. The majority of puzzles are 500-1000 piece variety, many different subjects for both novices and hobbyists.
I am happy to answer your call at 970-317-1070 (or email, see below) if you want to come and take a look at the plethora of puzzles. If you are less mobile, I can even bring a few to your home to see what you might like. There is no cost to any of this, we just thought it nice to share and have so many choices!
Thanks for your time.
Pam Leininger
970-317-1070
pamleininger@gmail.com
Messages and Reports from Our Volunteers
President – Gerry Hatler
This Spring Edition of the newsletter is aimed at providing information to new homeowners and reminders for the folks who have lived here a while. Each section is provided by the coordinators for the various Board responsibilities. Each contributor has been asked to gear their comments toward their responsibilities and processes. If, after reading the newsletter, you still have questions about any of those functions, either contact the coordinator or send a query to the Board.
At the last couple of Board meetings, we have been discussing engaging an attorney to review our governing documents to make sure they are in compliance with State laws and where possible to simplify the language to make it more easily understood. Past Boards were able to accomplish some of this but then the local attorneys they had engaged retired or became unavailable. The current Board has interviewed two different law firms in Seattle that specialize in HOA law. We hope to have an engagement letter shortly. We will be forming an ad hoc committee to work with the attorney in this endeavor.
On another matter, the State of Washington has a requirement that all backflow prevention valves be tested annually. The Board has been working on a plan and schedule for testing backflow prevention valves. The cost of those tests will be paid by the HOA.
Here’s looking forward to spring. I hope everyone has managed to stay warm this winter, it’s been one of the colder ones here that I remember.
Vice President – Lawrence Charters
Division 17’s Rules and Regulations were last updated in 2018. They were written as an augmentation of Sunland (SLOA’s) Rules and Regulations, with notations of where Division 17’s rules differed. However, in March 2022, SLOA completely rewrote its Rules and Regulations, and now the Division 17 Rules and Regulations lack context.
The Board is in the process of rewriting the Division 17 Rules and Regulations, focusing on things specific to Sunland North. Owners are still required to abide by the SLOA rules, but the rewrite is intended to skip things that aren’t relevant (new construction, etc.) and focus on items pertinent to Sunland North. No formal deadline has been set, but owners will be informed when the draft rewrite is available for review.
If you have any questions about trying to reconcile Sunland North’s rules with SLOA’s rewritten rules between now and then, please contact a Board member, and the Board will help clarify things.
Treasurer – Betty Gwaltney
Hard to believe the 1st Quarter of 2023 is almost behind us! This means 2nd Quarter assessments will be due April 1st! We really appreciate that Sunland North owners are so responsible in getting their assessments paid!
With the recent news regarding bank failures, you may be wondering how Division 17 deposits are managed to minimize risk in the event of bank closure. Per our Bylaws, Appendix A 4.d “Accounts at banks shall be limited to $250,000 per bank”. Last spring the Board approved an investment strategy to purchase CD’s with a variety of laddered maturities to improve our interest growth from the Reserve Funds as well as to comply with the Bylaw limits to deposits. As that plan was implemented, we opened accounts at 2 new banks – Kitsap Credit Union and Washington Fed – bringing the total to 5, so that no one bank has deposits greater than the $250,000 FDIC-insured amount. Our investment in higher yielding CD’s is paying off as well – we have already earned interest of $1977 YTD in 2023 compared to last year’s $240 for Jan-Feb
Exterior Maintenance Committee – Michael Johnson, maintenance@sunlandnorth.org
The Exterior Maintenance Coordinator is responsible for all things associated with the maintenance of the exterior of the building you reside in. Please report any problems that you are aware of using the proper form from our website.
Developed Landscaping Committee – Tom Steffen, landscaping@sunlandnorth.org
Signs of spring and new growth are all around us! Our contracted landscaping crew is already busy with early spring lawn care.
- Mowing: As weather permits, mowing will begin and continue as needed. Weekly mowing and edging (every third week) will likely resume in mid to late April.
- Irrigation: Testing and repairs will begin in mid-April. Water activation will begin when needed. As we have requested before, please do not access sprinkler control boxes on your own.
- Pruning: This was completed in the fall and early winter. If, however, you want more pruning/trimming at your location please complete a request via our website.
If you have questions or requests, please reach out through our website. We do our very best to reply promptly. We plan to circulate via email by May the schedule for fertilizer applications. To report an irrigation emergency, please text Tom Steffen, Volunteer Landscape Coordinator, at 206-473-7177.
Natural Habitat – Sarah Miller
Our trees need YOU! As we head into the dry months of the year, we need volunteers to tend to our baby trees in the Natural Habitat areas. Our young trees near the roundabout and along Woodcock are doing well, as they’ve been well cared for the last two summers. This may be the last year they need to be watered regularly. In December, Clallam County planted six Leyland cypress to mitigate the loss of the mature trees they removed as part of the traffic circle project. These trees are busy establishing their root systems, and they need supplemental water for their first few years of growth. Please contact me to sign up to water for a month, from April to September. You may choose to water all of the trees, only those near the roundabout, or only those along Woodcock. Hoses will be provided.
Now that the temperatures are above 50°, we will be starting our control efforts for Poison Hemlock in the Natural Habitat. You are likely to see brightly colored flags marking the plant locations so they can be sprayed. It is critical that we eradicate these Class B noxious weeds before they go to seed, as controlling infestations and preventing the spread of seeds is required by law. (See photo of Poison Hemlock below.)
Please join your neighbors for a couple of Natural Habitat Work Parties in April. We will be meeting at 10 am on April 17th, and again on April 24th to haul away blown down branches to clear the way for field mowing that will happen in May. Bring gloves and meet at the mailbox kiosk on Mount Baker Drive. The more hands the better!
This brings me to field mowing – we like to give the newborn fawns a bit of growing time before we schedule the Natural Habitat areas to be mowed. Watch for that in the first couple weeks of May.
Happy Spring!
Thanks to all Volunteers!
It takes a great deal of time and effort to keep our HOA operational and maintained so as always, we thank all our Board members, coordinators, and committee members for their ongoing support and the volunteer time they donate to our community – we couldn’t do it without you.
