MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM TUESDAY February, 13, 2007

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The meeting date of this monthly meeting was moved one day forward to avoid meeting on Valentines Day.
The meeting was called to order at 7:10pm by Jen Stout. Present were Jen Stout, Bill Steenis, Steve Yandl, Brian Schmidt, John Patterson, Trina Coleman and former Board member Ron Lee.
Steve Yandl presented the minutes from the January 10 meeting which had been amended to include an addendum for the special meeting held on January 29 at the Stout house to work on documents related to the approval of rentals or leases. John Patterson move to accept the minutes, Trina Coleman seconded and the motion passed 6 – 0.

MAINTENANCE COMMITTEE REPORT

John Patterson presented maintenance issues for discussion.
John has made follow-up inquiries with County Surface Water Management regarding replacement of corroded locks on detention pond gates and the compromised control structure at the NW corner pond.
John also has a quote for compromised fence post near the gate for NW corner pond but is having job requited to include replacement of several missing privacy slats in the cyclone fence gate. Initial quote is about $234 including tax.
Steve Yandl reported that a check for $73.52 had been received from a homeowner for the cost to have Skinner secure his unapproved man gate from back yard to Snohomish Cascade Drive. This matter can now be considered closed.
John met the Friday previous to the meeting with a blacktop contractor to get a price to pave the trail at the boat park and compare the cost to Skinner’s quote for pavers.
We discussed the letter the Secretary is to send to the homeowners owning the rental on lot 2-1-001. They were incorrectly advised that they had to remove a gate from common area fence. They also need to receive a copy of the new rules regarding rentals with an explanation that the terms of their existing variance would take precedence until May 2008. They also needed to be asked to correct a problem where a vehicle is in the driveway with a flat tire and a “For Sale” painted on the window.
John is still attempting to get a surveyor out to confirm boundary lines and location of slope easement along east border of NW detention pond.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE REPORT

Trina Coleman shared a recently received set of complaints from a homeowner. An RV parked in driveway had been OK’d by the committee as the owner had made contact and indicated it was a new RV and was being ‘prepped’ before being put into storage. Issues regarding the rental house were discussed (item #6, immediately above). The final issue regarding visible junk in a vehicle would be handled by a contact from Trina.
Trina will be sending a letter to homeowners at lot 1-0-032 regarding trailers, garbage and recycle containers and other items being visible from the street. She is also sending a letter to the homeowners at lot 2-1-015 regarding their bright orange door that was not approved as part of their paint request.
Trina reminded everyone of the particulars of the request from homeowners Don and Debbie Armstrong (3-0-007) asking that they be allowed to utilize a metal frame, fabric cover temporary carport to shelter their boat which is parked along side their house. Trina commented that she has searched Sector 2A and not noticed any similar shelters visible from sidewalk or street. There used to be a similar structure with metal roof but that homeowner was asked to remove it. There are one or two metal/fabric shelters in back yards used to shelter pools or tubs but they are not visible from the front of the house, nor are they within 5 ft of a back or side lot line. Nobody was interested in making a motion to allow such shelters. Steve Yandl made a motion to grant the Armstrong’s a variance until April 1, 2007 to allow time for them to develop an alternate strategy to protect their boat. John Patterson seconded the motion and it passed 6 – 0.
The Board unanimously agreed to incorporate the rules for renting and leasing worked out at the special meeting on January 29 into the ‘Rules and Procedures of the Architectural Control Committee’ including ‘Appendix A’, the ‘Acceptance of Responsibility’ application form. The rules document will be updated on the web page and residents will be so advised in the March newsletter. Steve Yandl reported that he had not yet received all required items from homeowners Jason and Angela Warner (3-0-044) who wish to rent their home for two years to Alan and Launa Bruce. The Board was not in favor of permitting occupancy by a tenant until each and every requested item was in hand. We did received the completed ‘Acceptance of Responsibility’ application form but still require the $100 application fee, the $155 admin fee for 2007, criminal background check (which we were told had already been completed), and a copy of the signed lease agreement. Steve Yandl made the motion stating that if the house were occupied prior to all of these items being received and approved, the fine would be $100 per day from the first day of occupancy until the Board was satisfied with the received items. Likewise, if any approval for a rental is approved based on false statements or documents supplied by the member, the fine would also be $100 per day from the first day of occupancy. The fine would be a minimum action, in that it would not prevent the Board from imposing additional fines or pursuing other legal remedy if the situation called for it. John Patterson seconded the motion. The motion passed, 6 – 0.
Steve Yandl passed along a complaint to Trina regarding an improperly maintained “compost pile” attracting vermin at lot 1-0-077. Trina will be writing a letter to get the owners to correct the situation.

TREASURER’S REPORTS

Steve Yandl confirmed that everyone had received the emailed copies of financial reports furnished by Jennifer Russell. Those reports should be considered part of the minutes. Steve advised that Jennifer will be reporting income from dues when it was actually invoiced as opposed to what we did last year where income was shown divided evenly over 12 months.
Steve reported that he had Jennifer Russell fill out the 2006 tax return and also do an amended return for 2005 to recover tax we didn’t need to pay on interest income (we failed to show operating expense as an offset to interest earned).
We’ve received a bid to perform our 2006 audit from Patty McGoorty, CPA that was $3,200. We discussed the possibility of asking members to vote on a limited audit as an item on our spring election. Steve will ask Patty for a quote on such a limited audit to see what it might save us but the Board was quite comfortable with the proposed price and the credentials of Ms. McGoorty.
Steve shared that he had a resume from an individual interested in talking to the Board about doing a security patrol to help us deal with the recent increases in neighborhood crime. Our neighbors in Gold Creek 1, The Falls, and Silver Firs have also expressed some limited interest in possibly going in as a group to pay for additional security. The consensus at this point was that the Board would be more interested in investigating the possibility of hiring an off duty police officer, even if that cost more, or to simply do what we currently do with block watch.
Steve is also investigating the costs to replace our existing aluminum locking mail boxes with the steel type being placed at Gold Creek 1. It’s too soon after we purchased our boxes to really think of upgrading but as they require major repairs we may opt for replacement with the more sturdy units instead. In particular, we might see if clusters of neighbors whose boxes have been damaged multiple times want to purchase an upgrade, possibly with some support from the HOA to do so.

NEW BUSINESS

Steve Yandl has been approached by an Eagle Scout candidate in Gold Creek 1 asking if we had any tasks that he could use as his Eagle Scout project. Nobody had any immediate thoughts that really made sense but we will continue to investigate possibilities. Jen Stout was suggesting we might find some options for installing a new Gold Creek sign if we decide to go that way.
Bill Steenis will be emailing judges from last year on the ‘Yard of merit program’ to get the program off to a running start in spring. Bill will need to replace a few broken signs before the restart of the program.
Steve Yandl reported that it will be costing $800 to $1000 to have Skinner replenish wood chips at the tot play areas at the Boat park. Skinner was told to go ahead and take care of it ASAP while his supplier still had chips and before we get into the busy season where many children will be playing on the climbing toys.
Steve Yandl asked Ron Lee if he would be interested in filling our current vacancy on the Board. He was. Steve Yandl made the motion to place Ron on the Board of Directors, John Patterson seconded and the motion passed 6 – 0.
Trina Coleman will be confirming with Joy McBride that the Gold Creek Community Church wants to partner with the community to have an Easter Egg hunt at the Boat Park on March 31 (10:00am Saturday). If not, Trina will investigate an option for us to purchase the prepared eggs but the group wanted the potential liabilities investigated if we were to buy eggs. Trina has volunteers lined up and any incidental expenses would be no more than $250 to $300 if eggs were purchased. Steve Yandl made the motion to permit Trina to spend up to $300 on the project. Jen Stout seconded the motion. The motion passed 7 – 0.

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:55 PM