MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY MEETING
SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH
CASCADE ASSOCIATION
7:00 PM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2003
CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES
- Jen
Stout called the meeting to order at 7:08 pm. In attendance were Jen Stout, Steve Yandl, Sue Ann Goldman, Bill Malowney,
John Patterson, and Betty Malowney.
- John
Patterson moved to accept the corrected minutes of the September 10
meeting as presented by Steve Yandl. Jen Stout seconded the motion. Motion carried 6 – 0.
GROUNDS AND MAINTENANCE REPORT
- Bill Malowney reported a slight delay in the Eagle Scout
project (picnic tables) but it should still be finished within the month.
- Bill
approved a $600 fix for Skinner Landscaping to put in service recently
discovered sprinkler zones.
- Bill
will finalize a check list form to use when groups want to reserve the
ball field next season.
ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE / CC&R REPORT
- John
Patterson reported multiple letters sent regarding lot 3-0-117 with vinyl
siding on the side of the shed. No
responses have been received. First
letter was sent June 26 by Mike Summitt. Response was received, including
handwritten description of the project and a statement that he would use
cedar siding. The suggestion was
made that John send a new letter regarding his non-compliance and to use
registered mail.
- John
Patterson summarized his letter exchanges and other contacts with the
owners of lot 2-1-020 regarding the bright “canary yellow” color they’ve
painted. The owners contend that
they had used the original color which had faded considerably prior to
painting. Since they failed to
request approval of the color, the CC&R committee was not afforded the
opportunity to view and document the difference between shades. Bill Malowney
reported that he recalls the Developer (Leavitt) forcing the builder to
repaint the house to a lighter color and he suspects that the owner has
utilized the original objectionable shade of yellow, rather than the more
subdued yellow that was the previous house color. John Patterson will use registered mail
to the owner and request copies of the builder’s worksheet showing paint
supplier and color codes for the initial painting.
- John
also reported that he has made some inquiries to obtain feasibility
information and approximate costs of adding a sport court to the ball park
(boat park) area. This is for
information purposes only.
TREASURER’S REPORT
- Sue
Ann Goldman presented her usual array of reports, including profit and
loss, balance sheets and budget overview.
She also pointed out that she is now including a year to date cash
flow summary. Reports will be
considered part of these minutes.
- In
summary, we have $3,941 in checking and CDs totaling approximately $36,355
which will mature at various times.
The next CD to mature will be converted to funds to cover upcoming
bills that are expected prior to receipt of 2004 assessments.
- Bill Malowney and others raised concerns about the naming
of certain categories and the fact that certain values are reported as
negative numbers. Sue Ann has noted
the concerns and will be working with the accountant doing our audit to
find ways to present the values in ways that are less of a struggle to
track and explain. The current
report presentation is a consequence of using the QuickBooks program for
accounting.
- Sue Ann
reported that so far this year she has income of $650 paid by various
Title Companies as compensation for preparation of paperwork for selling
homeowners to verify information regarding assessments, assessments owed,
and any outstanding fines or liens against the owners. We have agreed that $50 per transaction
is a fair charge for this service and thus far it seems to be well
accepted by Title Companies. We
have also agreed that the Treasurer will not demand the paperwork to force
collection of the fee in an instance where someone moves but the Title
company either knowingly or inadvertently fails to request the information
from the Board. Sue Ann reported
that no Title Company requested information on the sale of Mike and Betty Summitt’s home (sold to Monty and Suzanne Lind who
already own a home in Sector 2A), which closed on September 17, 2003.
- Sue
Ann reported on a number of income items other than dues such as late fee
collection, compensation for attorney fees, and collection of fees for
July 4 event (which ended up with a net cost of only $309). She also reviewed all the actual
expenses on our standard budget items. See the reports for full details.
- Sue
Ann reported that her initial session with Mr. Duncan, the auditor, went
very well. She had all the
paperwork he needed with the exception of the governing documents
(Declaration, Bylaws, and Articles of Incorporation) which were not
specifically requested in his initial letter, and some missing monthly
minutes (which actually don’t exist because the board was not having
meetings on a monthly basis at the times in question). Sue Ann will deliver or mail the
governing documents requested.
- The
auditor provided Sue Ann a sample of an analysis of long term capital
needs which she shared with the group.
After a bit of discussion, we agree that the only items we need to
be concerned with for such an analysis would be the two storm water
detention ponds and the common area fence.
We do own two areas of playground equipment, baseball backstop, and
the sprinkler system but with routine maintenance, these should last
indefinitely without the need for periodic large upgrades or
rebuilds. He requested that Sue Ann
do a year to year cash flow analysis in Excel.
- Bill Malowney moved that we accept the Treasurer’s report
with the qualifier that Sue Ann check with the auditor about ways to
eliminate the appearance of negative values or label the values in a way
that makes their significance more apparent. Steve Yandl
seconded the motion. Motion carried
6 – 0.
- Sue
Ann reported that at the auditor’s request, in the future she will close
the books as of the end of the month.
This will eliminate generating reports the day of the meeting
resulting in reports that are in sync with bank statements etc. but the
board will be reviewing reports that are not current to the day of the
meetings.
NEW BUSINESS: 2004 BUDGET AND
ASSESSMENTS
- We
reviewed the budget prepared by Sue Ann Goldman. This budget should be considered an
attachment to these minutes. The
budget total is $64,715. Budget is
based on $255 annual assessment.
- We
discussed the amount needed to collect for capital improvement fund. The big question is what we actually
plan to do with the fence over 20 years, i.e. replace in 20-25 years or
paint and repair again in 10 years.
We also questioned the need to depreciate the playground
equipment. We also discussed
whether we want to collect enough to fully fund the worst (most expensive)
case scenario or partially fund one of the less expensive scenarios. Detention pond cleaning will run about
$20k each 10 years and there are no shortcuts. Fence replacement would run $120k (6,000
ft. x $20/ft in today’s dollars); fence painting and repair would be about
$20k in today’s dollars. The
consensus is that we establish the capital improvement fund sufficient to
fully fund cleaning the detention ponds and fund one more painting /
repair of the fence before we start planning fence replacement. Future board may alter the ultimate plan
for the fence but the capital improvement fund will remain protected for
those two projects.
- Steve Yandl made the motion that the 2004 annual assessment
be $255 and the new special assessment for capital improvement be $20 for
a total assessment of $275 per household.
Sue Ann Goldman seconded.
Motion carried 6 – 0.
- Steve Yandl will prepare a ballot to include along with the
2004 bill and the budget statement.
This ballot will be used to ratify the budget and will include
comments that the dues stay the same, regardless of the vote. Failure to vote will count as a yes for
ratification. The ballot will also
include the option of awarding a proxy for the year 2004 and improve our
odds of getting a quorum for the next election for a new board.
JEN STOUT ADJOURNED THE MEETING AT 8:50 PM.