MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM WEDNESDAY January, 10, 2007

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Jen Stout called the meeting to order at 7:08pm. Present were Jen Stout, Bill Steenis, Steve Yandl, Brian Schmidt, and Trina Coleman.
Steve Yandl presented the minutes of the December 2006 meeting. It was noted that we also had what constituted a special meeting session at the District Court, Evergreen Division in Monroe on January 5, 2007 in response to the Terry Howard lawsuit (small claims court case # S06-229). Officers and directors, Jen Stout, John Patterson, Steve Yandl, and Bill Steenis were present in court from prior to 9:00am until noon representing both the homeowner’s association and in the case of Stout, Patterson, and Yandl, themselves. Four Directors and Officers constituted a quorum. To facilitate a mediated settlement prior to trial, the fine against Terry and Dan Howard was reduced to $50 by unanimous vote of the four present. Trina moved to accept the minutes, Bill Steenis seconded and the motion passed 5 – 0.

MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

John Patterson had to miss this meeting but he emailed a written report containing status on a number of issues as well as points for discussion.
It was confirmed that fence replacement has commenced along the west boundary of the detention pond in the NE corner of the neighborhood.
We’re still waiting for responses from Surface Water Management reference the need for new functioning gate locks and the compromised control structure for the pond in our NW corner.
Reviewed a quote from Skinner Landscape Service Inc. to replace the 50’ gravel path at the boat park with paver blocks to prevent the perennial erosion issues from play area into parking area. John is still waiting for a response to see the cost for doing the same trail in asphalt.
Jen Stout placed a phone call to the owner of lot 1-0-027 to advise him that his failure to accept his certified letter asking that he secure his unapproved common area fence gate had resulted in fines and a special assessment and might ultimately result in a recorded lien to recover the same. Jen Stout will be sending a new letter to the owner to fully detail fines and repair costs. The group agreed we could waive fines in this situation, provided the homeowner is now willing to pay his share of the actual cost for us to secure the unapproved gate.
We discussed the problems of setting time schedules for homeowners for projects involving third parties, especially when people often fail to sign for or pick up certified mail (as required by CC&Rs).
Steve Yandl suggested that we make a contribution of $500 to Boy Scout Troop 91 in appreciation for the fact that they mulched Christmas trees and applied the fresh mulch to our trail areas the same as last year. Trina Coleman moved that we make the contribution, Jen Stout seconded. The motion passed 5 – 0.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT

1. Trina Coleman asked if the group was prepared to discuss the Armstrong boat shelter issue. None of the follow-up research planned from the December meeting had been accomplished, so nobody objected to tabling the discussion for another month. The Board also needs to follow up on the Beardsley fence repair issue (other than the gate).

2. We discussed the request to rent out a house sent from homeowner at lot 3-0-044. The Board feels that if any rental or lease agreements are approved, they should be to alleviate an actual hardship and the approval should be conditional with a strict set of rules agreed to by the owner prior to granting permission. Trina Coleman had found an example of HOA rules and rental application used by an association in New York that seemed like an excellent template from which we could create a similar set of rules. Trina will be drafting a draft version for review by the entire Board prior to the next meeting and, if needed, Jen Stout may call a special meeting (or a vote by email) to modify and approve the rules to be used for our approval process. Some of the ideas the Board was enthused about including are listed below.

a. Formal application required with a fee paid to be considered.

b. Only members in good standing (no liens or fines pending) would be allowed to apply.

c. Only those having lived in their home for over three years would be considered.

d. Agreement would give permission for no more than three years total and would be reviewed on a year to year basis.

e. Require an annual fee, above and beyond the annual assessment to compensate the Association for the burden of monitoring a rental situation.

f. Be certain the homeowner understood that they remain personally responsible for compliance with all governing documents, regardless of their lease.

g. Homeowner must verify that they have provided copies of governing documents to tenants and made sure they were familiar with the provisions.

h. Copy of lease or rental agreement to be provided to the Association.

i. Limits on the total number of rentals in neighborhood (absolute cap). Two percent (5 homes) would probably be what the Board would go with.

j. No subleasing.

k. Extra emphasis on some of the ‘nuisance’ issues that are hard to enforce against resident members. For example, barking dogs and other noise issues, curbside and driveway parking, temporary boat or RV parking, equipment blocking sidewalks, and total number of adults living in a ‘single family home’.

3. We discussed the need for a rule to be added to the “Rules and Procedures of the Architectural Control Committee” that would allow imposition of fines and special assessments when a homeowner member or one of their dependents damages common area property. After discussion, the following rule was drafted. Damage to Common Area If structures, landscape plantings, or other common area property belonging to the homeowner’s association is damaged through the negligence of a homeowner or by the willful destructive act of any member of a homeowner’s household, a $100.00 fine will be imposed. Additionally, with a 2/3 majority vote, the Board of Directors may impose a special assessment against the member for the actual cost to the Association for repair or replacement of the damaged or destroyed property. Members may appeal to the Board of Directors for consideration of mitigating or extenuating circumstances. The judgment of the Board upon review of the appeal is final. Steve Yandl moved that the above rule be adopted and added to the ACC rules and procedures, announced in the next newsletter and that it take effect 30 days thereafter. Bill Steenis seconded. The motion passed 5 – 0.

4. Other rules dealing with RV and boat parking, need to be introduced before spring.

TREASURER’S REPORT

1. Steve Yandl confirmed that the financial reports provided by the bookkeeper had been received by everyone by email. Those reports should be considered part of the minutes.

2. Steve Yandl asked if there were any objections to having our bookkeeper report earned income in the month invoices are generated (December of previous year in the case of our annual assessments for the year), going with the default behavior for QuickBooks, rather than making multiple adjustments so that we can report 1/12 of that income in each month of the year. The finance reports would include a list of unpaid invoices allowing a way to determine the amount expected. We will also review the most recent bank statement on a monthly basis, giving a good gauge of cash on hand. Nobody objected so the change will be made.

3. Steve Yandl reported that we closed out 2006 with approximately $27k in the checking, of which, $8645 will be moved into the long term capital improvement fund when that CD matures on January 15. We just approved $500 for the Scouts and the fence repair just commenced along the detention pond will cost about $4,300. That still leaves us with a boost to the operational reserve, even if we opt to upgrade the boat park path and make other fence enhancements.

4. Trina Coleman suggested that along with improvement projects already being considered, we should investigate the cost of replacing the plastic window portion of the boat toy at the boat park (or removing the window portion entirely).

5. Steve Yandl reported that he has the resume of an individual, referred by Christine Yateman, who has done security patrol work. While we could certainly use more police presence to curb the recent increases in car prowl and other property crime, most on the Board were not enthused about taking on the many complications associated with a paid security force, especially when we can’t be certain of the results.

6. Steve Yandl had previously shared with the group the fact that Eastham Foster, the firm that did our 2005 audit was not doing full HOA audits any longer. There were no objections to Steve getting a quote from the person referred by Rick Foster, Patty McGoorty, CPA. We will also investigate the possibility of having the membership vote to approve an engagement called “analyzed checking” in lieu of a full audit as this would make the determinations that our situation calls for at much lower cost than an audit.

7. Jen Stout confirmed that she had given $50 gifts (as approved by the Board) to our mail carrier, Tammy Mattson, and Brandon Skinner and Jose Villegas of Skinner Landscape Service Inc.

8. Steve Yandl asked for approval to pay $175.00 to the USPS and $440.00 to PostNet as advance payment for the cost to prepare the next four issues of the newsletter (assuming 8 pages x 250 newsletters per issue). Trina Coleman moved to approve the advance payment. Jen Stout seconded and the motion passed 5 – 0.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:55PM

ADDENDUM TO JANUARY MINUTES

SPECIAL MEETING CALLED BY PRESIDENT JEN STOUT

JANUARY 29 AT THE STOUT RESIDENCE

The meeting was called to order at 7:12pm. Present were Jen Stout, Bill Steenis, Steve Yandl, Brian Schmidt and Trina Coleman. Minutes to both the January meeting and this special meeting will be reviewed for approval at the February meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was to review and, if necessary, modify a set of guidelines for the Board of Directors and Architectural Control Committee for permitting the rental or lease of a member’s house. A rules document which includes an Appendix A, “Acceptance of Responsibility” form will be added to the ‘Rules and Procedures of the Architectural Control Committee’ to establish the guidelines to be used and facilitate approvals and enforcement of the policies. Key points resulting from the discussion are listed below.

§ There will be a limit of 3 rentals in the neighborhood at any one time. A ‘rental list’ including approved rentals or leases as well as people on a waiting list will be created.

§ Administration fees of $100 to apply for approval and, if approval is granted, a fee of half the current year annual assessment will be charged for the Board dealing with the extra burden of monitoring any rental lease situations.

§ Approval notifications will have a 60 day duration before tenants move in (or the member gets dropped from the list) and the approval shall be for one or two years.

§ Members will have to provide proof of a criminal background check being done.

§ If any portion of the rules is or later becomes contrary to law, that portion of the rules only is void, the remainder of the rules remain in force.

§ Severe hardships as mentioned in the CC&Rs were determined to be things like military deployment and the Board may still approve rentals for these hardships in addition to the more moderate hardships like temporary job transfers that these new rules are being created to handle.

§ Stricter interpretation of nuisance issues prohibited by the CC&Rs might be imposed on renters to allow control of parking, noise and other potential friction between renters and homeowner/members.

§ Variances currently granted will be allowed to continue under the terms given when the variance was granted with the exception that the time limits set by these new rules will apply at the end of any existing variance.

Changes will be made to the rules document and application. The vote to incorporate the final versions well be taken at the February meeting although the Board approved unanimously to utilize the documents for the pending request from Jason and Angela Warner. Their situation will be reviewed and voted on at the February meeting as well.

Trina Coleman asked the Board if we could consider making our boat park available for an Easter egg hunt in spring. Gold Creek Church would be providing eggs, we would provide volunteers to help and spend a very small amount on refreshments. The Board was unanimously in favor and will vote on the actual plan when details are available.

SPECIAL MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:40 PM.