MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM   WEDNESDAY    June, 14, 2006

 

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES

  1. Jen Stout called the meeting to order at 7:14pm.  Present were Jen Stout, Bill Steenis, Steve Yandl, John Patterson, Bill Malowney, Trina Coleman, Betty Malowney and Brian Schmidt.  Connie LaClair arrived a short time later.
  2. Steve Yandl presented the minutes from the annual association meeting (May meeting for the Board).  Bill Malowney raised a question about our payment to the IRS of just over $400 which had been raised at that meeting but not answered since Amy Key was unable to attend.  Amy had contacted Steve Yandl by email and indicated the amount was tax due on interest earned in 2005.  Bill just suggested that we make sure we were straight on the tax issue since nobody remembered that the association had to pay the IRS any significant amounts in past years and we want to make sure our new treasurer/bookkeeper has the proper information to properly handle our tax requirement.  John Patterson made a motion to accept the May minutes, Bill Steenis seconded and the motion passed 6 – 0.

REPORT ON OUTCOME OF VOTE BY MAIL

  1. Steve Yandl reported on the results of our Spring election.  There were 119 ballots sent in for election of a new Board of Directors.  Bill Steenis received 107, Jen Stout received 106, John Patterson received 105, Trina Coleman received 104, and Steve Yandl received 111.  None of the homeowners receiving single write in votes each (Pat McKenzie, Tom Mooney, Cibyl Kumagai, Ken Herzog) felt they would be able to serve on the Board. 
  2. After eliminating the proxies of homeowners who had given their proxy to the Board but also voted in this election, we had 68 proxies for the Board to vote on.
  3. The Board conducted a brief discussion over several homeowners expressing an interest in serving on the Board.  Steve Yandl nominated Brian Schmidt and Connie LaClair to receive the proxy votes of the Board.  There were no other nominations so Steve Yandl made the motion to add the two nominated homeowners to the new Board of Directors.  Jen Stout seconded the motion and it passed 6 – 0.
  4. After a brief discussion, Steve Yandl moved that we retain the same officers, with the exception that we make Connie LaClair the Treasurer.  John Patterson seconded and the motion passed 6 – 0.
  5. As per earlier discussion at previous meetings, Bill Malowney had already transferred duties as chairperson of the maintenance committee to John Patterson.  Trina Coleman is willing to continue as chairperson of the Architectural Control Committee.  Jen Stout stated that she needed to relinquish the job of maintaining reservations for the common area baseball field.  Brian Schmidt said he would be willing to handle that duty.

TREASURER’S REPORT

  1. Amy Key was unable to attend but she had emailed the standard set of five reports earlier.  Those reports should be considered part of the minutes.
  2. Steve Yandl confirmed that checks made out to R.J. Clark LLC and Skinner landscaping were the correct amounts.  Bill Malowney confirmed that they were correct so they were signed and prepared for mailing.  Bill indicated that there was one more bill from Clark (electrical contractor) to cover replacement bulb and the special shield to prevent future vandalism.
  3. In order to make sure the new bookkeeper is completely comfortable with the transfer of responsibility, John Patterson made the motion that we approve an audit (separate from our standard annual audit).  Trina Coleman seconded the motion and it passed 6 – 0.
  4. It was agreed that use of the PO box was creating some confusion.  We set the box up when there were no lock boxes in the neighborhood.  Now that we have lock boxes, it makes sense to transition so that all mail simply comes to the registered office.  This should decrease confusion on ACC requests, dues payments, and certainly be better when a signature is required for registered or certified mail receipt.  There were no objections to beginning the notification process of those who currently send mail to the box.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT

  1. Trina Coleman indicated that a large number of paint requests have come in and been approved.  One homeowner sent in a dark brown sample and Trina has called them and ask if they could paint a section of the house so the committee could see the color in a better scale for evaluation to make sure the final result would not be near black as opposed to dark brown.
  2. Trina reported that the box truck on 67th Drive was still present and that the 14th was the deadline given for removal in their certified notification.  The consensus of the committee was to recommend the board approve a fine of $50 per day if the homeowner remains non-compliant.  Steve Yandl made the motion to impose the recommended fine, John Patterson seconded and the motion passed 6 – 0.
  3. In response to a question raised by a homeowner near the north end of 72nd Drive, a variance had been granted for the RV that remained parked at the street end for approximately a week.  The concerns of the complaining neighbor were noted and will be considered in deciding on future variances.
  4. Trina reports that the Greider home addition and Brian Schmidt’s backyard play toy for his children were both approved.
  5. Homeowner at lot 3-0-117 has made some repairs to his fence.  The owner will be sent a certified letter asking for a copy of the building permit for the partially complete home addition/modification to the back side of the house by July 1.
  6. Judy Tickle had sent a request to the committee asking that they be allowed to put up vinyl shutters.  The product brochure Judy sent showed a quality attractive product with a wood grain appearance.  Connie LaClair commented that we should insist that the shutters be a size appropriate match for the window they’re paired with, in addition to specifications for color and material.   Everyone was confident that the Tickles would choose a product acceptable to tastes but the concern was that we not set a difficult to manage precedent by allowing vinyl, except as a window frame as specified in the CC&Rs.  The Board was in unanimous agreement that sticking to the CC&Rs and insisting on wood for the shutters was the best course.
  7. Cindy Steenis has agreed to help on the Architectural Control Committee.  Bill Steenis will ask the yard of merit judges to note problem yards at the same time as they vote for the meritorious yards.  Cindy Steenis will review the yard pointed out and do a quick neighborhood overview to determine if any of the yards are clearly below the standard dictated by the CC&Rs.  This screening should give the ACC information to make prompt and fair determinations and notify owners before problem yards get completely out of control.
  8. A few homeowners whose yards are chronic problems (1-1-001, 3-0-117) were mentioned to the committee as deserving immediate letters.

MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

  1. John Patterson reported that they had to cover a pit containing one of the water meters in the boat park area as a temporary precaution pending completion of concrete work.  A metal plate was used.
  2. John took custody of extra mailbox locks, paint, and miscellaneous supplies from Bill Malowney now that he is chairing the committee.
  3. Steve Yandl shared a set of letters from Silver Lake Water advising us that we were due for backflow certification.  Bill Malowney stated that the certification had been completed.  John Patterson got the name of the inspector who did the work for us and will contact him to make sure the paperwork gets sent in to the water company to satisfy their requirement.
  4. Weed treatment is to be completed in the next week, weather permitting.
  5. John reported that his wife had cut down a problem tree from the common area that had been scheduled to be removed in order to save the cost of having Skinner come out and complete the work.  Bill Malowney commented that the quote for $250 received from Skinner to handle that job included replacing the tree with a mature tree of a different type, not just cutting the tree down.  There was agreement that we were not required to replace trees in common area that wasn’t NGPA or buffer, the Board was in agreement that we should strive to replace any removed trees or shrubs at least one for one, even if not mandated by the county.  John did feel that we could save money in the future if we solicited volunteers via the newsletter before automatically contracting the work out.
  6. John suggested that we let homeowners know through the newsletter that the fire department offers training known as ‘Community Emergency Response Team’ (“CERT”) that shows people how to help in a disaster type emergency such as an earthquake.  John attended sessions offered by the Everett fire department but the same program is also run by our district out of the Clearview station (#7).  John noted that we already have 7 or 8 homeowners in Sector 2A who are known to have the trainging, having more would be a benefit.  Connie LaClair indicated that she could get some good information from Captain Maxwell who she knows.
  7. Trina Coleman commented that the re-aiming of the new light at the boat park had greatly diminished the amount of light coming into the back windows of homes near the park.
  8. Steve Yandl shared a letter from Joan Kramer where she asks permission to have several Quaking Aspen trees in the common area adjacent to her lot removed at her expense.  The Board was unanimously in favor of permitting this, provided that trees were replaced with approved trees.  The trees would have to be an appropriate species and at least as tall as the fence.  The landscaper doing the work would need to be licensed, bonded, insured and guarantee the tree for one year.   Steve Yandl will write a letter to Joan advising her of the approval and the conditions.

YARD OF MERIT

  1. Bill Steenis reported that there were 37 different houses receiving votes last month.  Bill would like to consider listing “honorable mentions” in the newsletter along with winners.
  2. Steve Yandl asked Bill to set an earlier deadline for judges to submit their score sheets to all Bill time to compile results and still get the final tally submitted by the 21st or 22nd of the month.  Late results make it difficult to incorporate the article in the newsletter.  Bill reminded those at the meeting who were judges to make sure they remembered the deadline.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:22 PM