MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM   WEDNESDAY    January, 11, 2006

 

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES

  1. Jen Stout called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.  Present were Jen Stout, Bill Steenis, Amy Key, Steve Yandl, John Patterson, Betty Malowney and Bill Malowney.
  2. Steve Yandl asked to waive a formal reading of the December minutes which had been posted on the web page with no corrections made after posting.  John Patterson made the motion to accept the December minutes, Amy Key seconded and the motion passed 7 – 0.

VOTE UPDATE

  1. Steve Yandl reported that as of meeting time, 99 ballots had been received.  Additionally, 24 checks had been received without a ballot.  Amy Key reported that she has received approximately 10 checks without ballots at the PO box.
  2. Of the current ballots, 90 have voted to approve the budget, 82 proxies have been awarded and 93 have voted for the amendment to the declaration that would expand the list of allowable roofing materials.
  3. Since it is likely the homeowners who send in checks without ballots either forgot to vote or didn’t plan to vote, several board members volunteered to phone those people with reminders to send in a ballot.

NEW BUSINESS – PAPERWORK RETENTION

  1. Steve Yandl proposed some guidelines for retention of documents so we can avoid having to store huge amounts of paper that was of no value.  Items that still have important reference or archival value such as original copies of each version of governing documents and meetings of minutes would still be retained indefinitely, either on paper or digital media.  Financial records would still be retained in accordance with the RCW and good accounting practices.
  2. The proposed retention times were for ballots received from the membership.  Before any ballots are disposed of, the association’s attorney will be consulted to be certain any time frame for retention was legally appropriate.  If the attorney so advises, any of the approved retention periods will be automatically extended in our rules.
  • Ballots where one or more of the issues voted on was an amendment to the Declaration(CC&Rs), waiver of the requirement for an annual audit or any other issue requiring a super majority would be retained at least five years.
  • Ballots where one or more of the issues was to approve a special assessment or to recall an Officer or Director on the Board would be retained for at least three years.
  • Ballots where the only issues are budget ratification, award of proxy, or election of new Directors to the Board would be retained two years.
  1. Bill Steenis made the motion to accept the policy laid out in (2) above, John Patterson seconded the motion and it was approved 7 – 0.

TREASURER’S REPORT

  1. Amy Key had emailed copies of our standard financial reports to each board member earlier.  That set of reports should be considered part of these minutes.
  2. Amy reported that one of our CDs (at 2.75% interest) was up for renewal.  Since there would be no significant change in interest by renewing for a longer time period, Amy planned to simply let the bank do an automatic renewal.  Bill Steenis suggested that Amy might just call the bank and request that they offer us a better interest deal to see if they’re willing to do a bit extra to retain our accounts.
  3. Amy had prepared a $100 advance payment for the Everett post office so that Trina or anyone else bulk mailing the newsletter would not have to produce a check and submit the expense for reimbursement.
  4. Amy commented that if we have ongoing advertising revenue from the newsletter, we might have to file a new tax return although the amounts were small enough we probably would not owe tax.  Steve Yandl commented that we’re only billing advertisers who don’t live in Sector 2A and the money received was a trivial amount established to partially offset some of the production costs involved in the newsletter.

MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

  1. Bill Malowney reported that he has had to use special solvent to clean paint of mailboxes multiple times.  His hope is that vigilant erasure of this “tagging” will eventually discourage the young vandals.  There seems to be a common “signature” used on multiple boxes.  For the boxes that have been physically damaged, cost of replacement with a sturdy sheet steel version will cost approximately $1400 per unit.
  2. John Patterson inquired if consideration had ever been given to placing one or more streetlights at the boat park parking area to limit vandalism and other inappropriate nighttime activities there.  Bill Malowney reported that in the past he had checked with the PUD and they would install a light if we had available electricity and agreed to a long term contract.  He did not remember the minimum time length for the contract but said the monthly cost was approximately $15.  John Patterson made the motion that Bill investigate the particulars and if the cost per light was around $20 or less per month that he go ahead and sign a contract for whatever the required time span is.  Steve Yandl seconded the motion and it passed 7 – 0.  The suggestion was made that Bill check if it was possible for the PUD to include shielding to minimize the amount of light hitting the homes of those living adjacent to the park area.
  3. Bill reported that since the last meeting,  Brian Skinner has anchored the picnic tables to the ground so they can’t be removed from the vicinity.
  4. Mulching common areas with bark is being completed.  Two new rocks are being added to the boat park parking area perimeter and five new plantings added in addition to the turf repair already completed.
  5. Boy Scout Troop 91 completed Christmas tree shredding and mulched a significant portion (spread about 110 yds of mulch) of the path east of 72nd Dr. plus part of the path opposite from 156th St.
  6. We discussed giving Skinner the go-ahead to improve the ends sections of the gravel trail that passes between lots 3-0-083 and 3-0-082 and between 3-0-030 and 3-0-031 as discussed at the December meeting.  His quote of approximately $1800 appears competitive based on the procedure for laying down the pavers and moving existing gravel as detailed in his quotation.  Bill Steenis made the motion to approve the project, Steve Yandl seconded and the motion passed 7 – 0.
  7. Steve Yandl brought up a request from Brian Skinner that he be paid 50% in advance for jobs of $1000 or more.  Bill Malowney was opposed based on the fact that Brian has generally been paid very soon after the completion of any job.  Amy was asked to continue paying Skinner in a timely manner and we may consider paying an advance if there were ever a significant purchase of supplies required in advance but there was little interest in changing our current policy with regard to payments to Skinner Landscaping.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT

  1. Bill Malowney reported for Trina Coleman who was unable to attend.  The problem sheds that needed to be removed appear to all be gone.
  2. Notification of the homeowner with two unlicensed vehicles (no license on one, expired tags on the other) stored and probably being worked on in the driveway has not been done but a letter will be sent soon.
  3. Several homeowners who need to paint sheds have been granted time extensions because of the weather.  There is also a homeowner who needs to paint but insisted they wanted to choose a color different from the house but now has ignored the deadline to submit a proposed color so they’ve been sent a letter advising them of the commencement of a $25 per day fine that will increase if the matter is not resolved in 30 days.
  4. Bill asked the Board for views on how to deal with an owner on 72nd with a car in the driveway that is under a car cover (wrap) and rarely if ever moved.  Bill’s opinion is that this car is being stored.  There were mixed views and the discussion was tabled for the time being.
  5. Bill reported that he had contacted John Hanson earlier in the day to see if he still planned to attend the board meeting and make his case for his non concrete driveway and the temporary cover with metal roof for sheltering his parked boat.  Apparently he forgot about the meeting but assured Bill he would attend the February meeting to make his presentation.  Bill wanted to send John a letter advising him that the Board agreed to grant him the time extension but if he failed to attend the meeting (Feb 8) or correct the violation by then fines of $100 per day would commence.  There were no objections to Bill sending that letter.
  6. Bill feels that we still appear to have many people totally disregarding the trash and recycle container policy.  If containers remain visible in the front yard on the Tuesday following a Friday pickup, he feels a small fine of $25 is warranted.  Bill said the fine would be imposed on those who had received prior warning for the same issue.  Steve Yandl shared a concern from Trina Coleman on whether or not large plastic tool bins on the side of the house should be considered under the same policy as for trash and recycle bins.  Since we were not certain of the house Trina was using as a reference we tabled this part of the discussion.  There were no objections to the proposed fine particularly if the infraction was observed more than 48 hours past the scheduled pickup day.

HOLIDAY DECORATION AWARDS

  1. Bill Steenis reported the program was a success.
  2. All but one sign were recovered.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:29 PM