MINUTES OF THE MONTHLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

SECTOR 2A AT SNOHOMISH CASCADE ASSOCIATION

7:00 PM   WEDNESDAY    September 10, 2008

 

CALL TO ORDER / APPROVAL OF MINUTES

  1. Bill Steenis called the meeting to order at 7:07pm.  Present were directors and officers Bill Steenis, Duane Oord, Trina Coleman, Steve Yandl, Joyce Bowen, Cheryl Carlson, and Ron Lee.  Also present were member/homeowners Charity Vale and John Weberg.
  2. Steve Yandl presented Minutes of the August Board meeting.  Joyce Bowen moved to accept the Minutes, Bill Steenis seconded and the motion passed 6 – 0.

TREASURER’S REPORT

  1. Steve Yandl reminded Board members that the most recent finance reports prepared by the bookkeeper were posted on our web site.  There were no questions on these reports.
  2. Steve Yandl presented an overview of bank account balances, anticipated expenses and performance compared to budget.  There is $39,467 in checking, $23,347 in market rate (operational reserve) and $55,907 in our CD (long term capital improvement/replacement/major repair fund).  There are outstanding checks totaling $9,500 leaving roughly $30k in operation funds to complete the year which should be adequate.
  3. The amount transferred to the CD when it was renewed was incorrect.  To remedy the error, $1,235 is being moved from checking into the CD.  This represents a total contribution to the long term fund of $40 per member rather than the $35 per member we’ve done the past two years.
  4. Steve Yandl confirmed that there were no objections to having hazardous trees evaluated before bad weather arrives and  removing any that pose a threat without having to confirm with the Board again.
  5. We have an unplanned expense of approximately $1500 to replace the locking mailbox that was blown up by vandals.  Since the cost difference was only about $80 to replace all three locking boxes on 152nd Street with a 16 unit CBU compared to only replacing the one destroyed, all three will be replaced.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE – HOME BUSINESS ISSUE

  1. Charity Vale and John Weberg asked to be allowed to address concerns the ACC had over the home business, CrossFit Snohomish, being run by Jeff and Charity Vale.
  2. In the request to get ACC approval in January 2008, it was stated by Jeff Vale that curbside parking by customers would be limited to one vehicle or less on an infrequent basis.  The request also suggested there would be no noise uncharacteristic for a residential neighborhood.
  3. The Vales gave the assurance that the parking issue was resolved because John Weberg and other neighbors would permit limited use of their driveways while CrossFit had sessions.  Charity Vale indicated that they had a current customer base of 16 with a maximum of 4 persons per one hour session and they did not plan to grow the business further at this time.
  4. Explanations were offered regarding noise complaints involving workout sessions.  It was agreed that homeowners engaged in workouts were typical activities for a residential neighborhood and that only issues resulting from the activities of customer sessions would be considered in making a determination on the Board’s approval of the home business.  Steve Yandl moved to evaluate the business activity in the next month to evaluate the impact after corrections, Bill Steenis seconded and the motion passed 7 – 0.  Schedules of sessions were provided to the Board.

MAINTENANCE REPORT

  1. Cheryl Carlson asked Trina Coleman if the ‘bubble’ (plastic port hole window for boat toy at park) had been ordered.  Trina reports that the approximately $300 item had been ordered and was shipping from Florida to the registered office.
  2. Excavated area around a sprinkler at the Boat Park has been filled and the associated problem sprinkler head repaired.
  3. Skinner is adjusting a sprinkler to make certain that the new Katsura tree near the wooded entrance to Silver Lake Water tower gets enough water and survives the year.  All other new trees planted last year appear to be thriving.
  4. Six fence panels have been repaired along Snohomish Cascade Drive.  Skinner Landscape Service has been asked to get them primed and painted ASAP.  Cheryl Carlson will be evaluating other portions of the fence and ordering repairs as needed using Town and Country Fence.
  5. Steve Yandl reported that it’s been a bit of a struggle to pin down contractor Eric Gilchrist who came recommended by the Snohomish Post Office on when we can get our new locking mailbox unit installed and the three old boxes on 152nd Street removed.  He has reported that it only takes 3 to 5 business days to get the new unit from the factory but our order has been to him since August 26.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE – RENTAL ISSUE – LIENS

  1. Homeowner Om Sharma, his daughter in law, Tracy Sharma, and Tracy’s parents John and Denise Huson arrived at the meeting to discuss the rental situation for the house which Om, his wife, Shiv, and their son, Steve (Tracy’s husband) are 99% owners.  The tenants, Ross and Donna Gillum, while only having a 1% ownership interest are technically the members of the HOA because a Quit Claim Deed was used to award them Title were not present at the meeting.  Part owner Steve Sharma phoned from Bellingham and was put on speakerphone to allow a group discussion.
  2. Steve Sharma provided a summary of how the situation had evolved and asked the Board to consider options to resolve the issue.  Board members reminded Steve and Om that the HOA attorney had advised them to run proposals through him but the Sharma family countered saying they had not received responses from our attorney (the HOA attorney has reported that proposals received were those shared with us and nothing new or acceptable had been proposed).
  3. The one proposal that the Board was comfortable with was for the Sharma family to sell the house and give the Gillum family right of first refusal.  The Board wasn’t willing to make any advance agreement to reduce the amount of the lien for fines as a condition for the house to be sold.
  4. Steve Yandl informed the Sharma family that the decision to print a newsletter article on the situation and to record a lien was made on advise of counsel.

ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL COMMITTEE – GENERAL

  1. Joyce Bowen distributed a list of about a dozen homeowners who had either received letters or would be getting letters over a number of issues.  Most of the problems were over parking of RVs, boats, or trailers.
  2. There were three homeowners reported on who had received letters and corrected problems.
  3. We briefly discussed a strategy for dealing with situations where financial burdens might have caused a homeowner to postpone necessary maintenance such as exterior house painting.

YARD OF MERIT

  1. Bill Steenis advises that yard of merit judging will end for the season despite the fact that recent weather might have allowed a reasonable competition for one more month.
  2. Holiday decoration judging is tentatively scheduled for Monday December 15.

MEETING ADJOURNED BY BILL STEENIS AT 8:43PM