MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM   WEDNESDAY    October, 11, 2006

 

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES

  1. Jen Stout called the meeting to order at 7:05pm.  Present were Jen Stout, Steve Yandl, John Patterson, Brian Schmidt, Chris Yateman, and Kelly Sooter.
  2. Steve Yandl presented the minutes from the September board meeting.  There were questions asked to confirm follow through on various issues.  John Patterson informed the group that Snohomish Tree Service had failed to get back to him in a timely manner so he had contacted Premier Lawn Service to handle downing the problem tree mentioned in the September minutes.  John Patterson moved to accept the minutes.  Jen Stout seconded and the motion passed 4 – 0.

{ Homeowners Daniel and Terry Howard arrive }

{ Trina Coleman arrives a few minutes into discussion immediately below }

HOMEOWNER REQUEST TO FORGIVE FINES

  1. Homeowners Dan and Terry Howard had previously announced they planned to attend this meeting in person.
  2. Dan informed the group that they had lived in Gold Creek for about seven years, the most recent year and two months in Sector 2A.  He reminded the Board that he is a firefighter who works at Station 77 from time to time and always participates in the July 4, Christmas, and other events done by the firefighters to strengthen community relations.
  3. Dan contends that people on the Board were aware of the gate in the common area fence leading to their back yard prior to them moving in.  He states that the realtor also was aware of the gate.  Dan stated that he felt the homeowner’s association was obligated to disclose to him that the gate was a violation of the CC&Rs and since they failed to do so he should be able to use the gate and drive his boat over landscaped common area along Snohomish Cascade Drive in order to be able to store it in his back yard.  Board members let Dan know that the gate had been kept concealed and the board was not aware of its presence until Dan and his friend were spotted moving the boat over common area.  Dan mentioned Bill Malowney’s name as the board member who knew about the gate (in fact, when Dan and Terry Howard moved to Sector 2A in June 2005, Bill Malowney was no longer on the board although he was the chairman of the Maintenance Committee.  Bill never informed the board of the presence of the gate until after he gave up that position as well and we made a recent inquiry).  We let Dan know that Bill Malowney told us he knew of the gate and was installing lag bolts to permanently close it up when he first met the Howards shortly after they moved to Sector 2A.  He said he informed them the gate could never be used and they could not take vehicles over the common areas as they might damage landscape and the sprinkler system.  He also felt they had later expanded the gate to span multiple posts and they were the homeowners who had sawed the 4 x 4 post off to permit larger vehicles to pass, compromising the integrity of that section of fence.
  4. Steve Yandl asked when they bought their boat.  Dan said it was not any of the board’s business and wasn’t relevant.  Steve stated that we simply wanted to see if Dan’s statements sent by email and discussed at the September meeting were truthful (saying they had owned their boat for about a year and being able to store it in the back yard was a key reason for their home purchase).  Terry eventually answered that the boat was actually purchased in April.
  5. Steve Yandl asked if Dan or Terry had ever removed or replaced any sod or other plantings in the part of the common area where they had driven their boat.  They insist they have never done anything to that area.  Board members who saw the two to five inch deep tire track impressions found it odd that they just went without anyone actually doing the work but no board member witnessed any alterations so we can’t know who cleaned up evidence of the vehicle damage.
  6. Dan said Town and Country Fence was coming Friday to fix the problems with the fence where the gate had been (Dan made two attempts to repair the fence, both considered unsatisfactory by the Maintenance Committee).  John Patterson asked Dan and Terry to inform the board in writing when the repairs were complete so we could verify that the work was satisfactory.
  7. There was a discussion on exactly why Dan and Terry were unable to take delivery on the certified letter sent over this issue.  The initial attempt to deliver was August 26, second attempt August 31 and returned as undeliverable on September 11.  They were provided a copy by the Secretary on September 11.  Terry commented that when the other Gold Creek HOA had sent them certified letters, they had never a problem to getting copies, so they didn’t think it would be a problem in Sector 2A either.
  8. Dan and Terry were informed that any vote to forgive fines and any special assessment for fence repair would not be conducted while they were present.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS SERVED

  1. Dan and Terry Howard left the meeting and less than a minute later a process server arrived at the door of the registered office.
  2. The HOA was served with a Notice of Claim for small claims court, Snohomish County District Court, Evergreen Division.
  3. The name of the Defendant was given as “Sector 2A HOA Snohomish Cascade Association” but we’re assuming the intent was our correct legal name.
  4. Daniel and Terry Howard are asking us for $4,000.00 plus court costs.  They state that the amount owing is for ‘Wages’, ‘Property Damage’ and ‘Other’ although they don’t write anything on the fill-in line next to ‘Other’.
  5. We are instructed to appear at 9:30 A.M. on November 3, 2006.
  6. No board member was interested in considering any change in the fines being assessed or the already approved special assessment against Dan and Terry Howard.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT

  1. Trina Coleman distributed a spreadsheet printout with a recap of pending CC&R issues as well as ACC approval requests.
  2. Recent paint requests had all been approved.
  3. There was a short list of yard complaints where owners were sent reminder letters asking them to tidy up the landscape before a more formal request was required.
  4. Owners at lot 1-0-077 seem to have made some progress in correcting an unsightly and unsanitary compost pile.
  5. Owners at 3-0-099 were reminded that they need to correct a driveway sinkhole problem, despite the fact that it was possibly due to a failure by the builder to properly prepare the site for concrete.  Steve Yandl commented that the owner had sent a somewhat non-specific action plan to remedy the problem next Spring.  Trina indicated the committee would like to get plans and a time schedule from the owners.
  6. Owners at 3-0-053 got approval for a ‘mustard’ color paint but it appears they’ve left a portion of the house a cream color that doesn’t match well with the new color in the eyes of the ACC or board members who had noticed the situation already.
  7. Owners at 2-1-007 are to be sent a new reminder that the T-111 siding on their shed needs to be replaced with cedar siding.

RECENT CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN THE AREA

  1. Block watch chairperson, Chris Yateman, and one of the block watch captains, Kelly Sooter updated the Board on a recent increase in crime and put forth some suggestions to consider.
  2. Chris Yateman had recently contacted her nephew who is a Snohomish County Sheriff’s Deputy and inquired about some instances she had specific information on as well as crime in general.
  3. In general, it appears property crime in our area and neighboring areas has gone up significantly since the opening of Willis Tucker Park, probably because more people are aware of our location.
  4. We’re advised against any sort of vigilante action.  If you see a crime in progress, make sure you request “immediate contact” and don’t indicate that the assailant has left if you’re not certain that is the case.  Keep cars in the garage if possible but if you have to keep them outside, bring in valuables, lock the car and set the alarm if you have one.  Don’t leave an unattended car running.  On the house, set up lights with motion detectors in both front and back.  Be on the watch for individuals or groups loitering, particularly a group of people in dark clothing that includes hoods.  Jot down plate numbers of cars that don’t obviously belong here.
  5. Kelly Sooter reported on a number of property crimes at her home and in the immediate area as well as near by neighborhoods.  She asked us to consider working with other HOAs in the area and possibly hiring a security patrol but at least trading information on the developing crime problem.
  6. Kelly inquired about getting the Parks Dept. to keep a ranger at the new park.  That was part of the original plan but was dropped because of budget limits.
  7. Kelly Sooter will write a letter to be distributed through block watch channels to generate interest in a meeting with a representative of the sheriff’s office to discuss what we can do as a neighborhood to curtail crime.  If enough interest is shown, Jen Stout said she would host such a meeting at her home.

MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

  1. John Patterson reported that the electrician would be re-aiming the lights at the boat park during night time hours on Thursday.  We want to illuminate as much of the park as possible without disturbing adjacent neighbors.
  2. Steve Yandl inquired about what the homeowners with man gates through the common area fence along Snohomish Cascade Drive needed to do to comply with the letters sent out by the maintenance committee.  John said that if the homeowners secured the gates so they were always shut, that would suffice.  It was agreed that the Secretary would watch for home sales on these lots and advise escrow companies of the restrictions on use of the gate so that new owners would not assume they had an approval for the gate or any modified version they might construct.

TREASURER’S REPORT

  1. Steve Yandl reminded the group that financial reports provided by our bookkeeper had been emailed to everyone several days earlier.  There were no questions or concerns from the reports.
  2. Steve shared a draft budget for 2007.  The key changes for the new budget are an increase in all landscape maintenance categories of 5%, increase annual expense for newsletter by $525, decrease yard of merit expense by $200, increase PUD (electric cost for new light) by $360, increase water cost (based on 2006 actuals) by $1000.  The amount of  proposed increase to operating reserve would be $15000.  Changes would increase the annual assessment from $300 to $310.  Board members were asked to consider any improvement projects we should consider and check with neighbors for their thoughts prior to the November meeting when we can hopefully review and approve a final budget to be presented to the membership for a vote.
  3. Steve indicated that he was impressed when he spoke to the banker at Sterling savings and we should give some thought to possibly switching banks.  Whether we switch or not, we should consider keeping operational reserves in a market rate checking rather than a CD to make sure it is more readily available if needed.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:32 PM