Board Members Present: Susie Carney, David Bangs, Kendra
Mills, Mark Southern, Shelly Birkwood, Doug McDaniel
Board Members Absent: Mike Quaranta,
Susi Tom, Cynthia Murphy
Non-Board members present: Connie Edwards, Jean Sutton, Thomas Marquis
Meeting called to order at
Minutes: David
read the minutes for July 2002, and they were approved as read.
Treasurer’s Report: Mark reports we have $52,323 in the bank. 13 outstanding dues or assessment payments – down from 15 last
month. Breakdown is 7 special
assessment, 4 2002 dues and 2 2001 dues – for a total of $2625 overdue. Our landscaping company, Northwest Grounds,
has been sold to Signature Landscaping.
Drainage Project: Kendra brought an estimate
from Highridge Corporation. The cost of
this bid is significantly higher than the bid from Olympic Irrigation. A third company (Puget Landscaping) is
expected to provide a bid very soon, and Olympic has been asked to provide a
bid which avoids certain redundant work.
So far, we don’t have a
proposed project which costs less than $20,000, and also don’t have a firm
grasp of the largest project we can afford to undertake this year.
It was pointed out that
the special assessment provided just $5800 to repair existing drainage or seed
a reserve fund for future drainage repair.
So, we are not necessarily expected to undertake a drainage project this
year.
We decided to defer the
issue to consideration at a special meeting to be scheduled late in
August. To that meeting, Kendra will
bring the additional bids and Mark will bring some financial information to
help us decide what work can be afforded.
Path Paving Project: Susie Carney went over some bids for the path
paving project.
The budget (from the
special assessment) is $18,000. The
basic bid is $15,730 – which includes tax.
Removable post car barriers cost $1400 and installation of 400 feet of
root barrier (12” deep and made from woven bamboo) would cost an additional
$1400. Susie reported that the
representative from Sammamish Paving expressed doubt that any root barrier
would be effective.
Nobody spoke in favor of
installing the car barriers or root barriers – so that is not considered part
of the project. However, Doug McDaniel
agreed to obtain a bid for removing the
Playground Project:
The playground special
assessment project budget was $26,000.
We spent $24,625 on the playground equipment, but after considering some
cost overruns on curbing, we went $125 over budget on the playground and
curbing projects combined.
Shelly Birkwood has
volunteered to paint the “springy” toys in the playground.
Curbing: Regarding the request to reduce the size of the
planting island on
Other Landscaping: The two fir trees at the
Tennis: Doug reported that The Fence Connection has repaired our tennis court gates and
installed new lockboxes. The gates no
longer drag, and are protected as to no longer be susceptible to jimmying. However, they seem to have taken a perfectly
good working knob/lock in the process.
We will not pay the $844.66 invoice until they return the lock. Doug will reinstall the locks. The new garbage cans are up and the new
tennis net has been installed. Doug will
periodically dump the garbage cans into larger garbage cans nearby.
The gentleman who was
working on power washing the tennis courts cannot finish the job. Doug feels the job he did this spring is
actually adequate.
Summer tennis lessons
attracted less students this year. There were 8 weeks of lessons, and only about
4 students per week. We collected $554
in fees, and paid out $480 to the instructor.
That leaves $74 in “profit.”
However, Doug reported that a piece of tennis ball collection equipment
worth over $300 was damaged by the kids and needs to be replaced. David Bangs moved that we use the $74 to
reimburse Doug for the damaged equipment.
This partially covers his loss and causes the program to break
even. The motion was seconded and passed
unanimously, with Doug abstaining.
Rules Committee: The rules committee, comprised of David Bangs (chair) and Mark
Southern met at Mark’s house on August 8th, and will continue to
meet once a month. The three official documents to be reviewed are the
Covenants, By-Laws, and Rules and Regulations.
David reported that the
Covenants cannot be altered for the first thirty years after adoption, and
thereafter could only be altered once every 10 years. Any alterations must be
approved by half the homeowners at least three years in advance. Since the covenants were signed in October
1976, the first opportunity to make changes is October 2006, and those changes
would have to be approved at the 2003 annual meeting. Due to the tight timeline, the committee will
focus first on understanding the covenants and whether any changes should be
suggested.
David and Mark believe the
covenants should be altered so that disputes that arise regarding the Covenants
should first sent to mediation with binding arbitration, and that the party
found to be in violation of the Covenants be required to reimburse the
Association’s mediation fees and legal fees.
Currently, covenants can only be resolved by filing a lawsuit, and the
violating party has no obligation to repay the Association’s legal fees. David and Mark feel the process takes to long, creates hard feelings, and allows a single neighbor
to create large legal costs which must be paid by the rest of the community.
The committee will also
discuss whether the Covenants empower the architecture committee to consider
landscaping related applications, and whether the Covenants give the Board the
authority to create all of the requirements listed in the Rules and Regulations
document.
The committee will then
consider potential amendments to the By-Laws and Rules of Regulations using the
philosophy of proposing as few changes as possible in order to achieve
documents that provide clear guidance on how to run the neighborhood without
conflicting or impractical requirements.
Thomas Marquis, a visiting
homeowner who is an attorney, volunteered to join the committee.
Government Affairs:
David Bangs reported the
annexation committee has began distributing flyers and survey cards throughout
the annexation area, and hope to complete the distribution task during August. Mark Southern brought in the first six survey
cards to arrive back at the P.O. Box.
All six so far favor Issaquah Annexation. We are hoping for returned
cards to number in the hundreds so they can accurately demonstrate the level of
support, or lack thereof, to the City Council.
Shelly reported that she
and Susie Carney have identified 17 areas in our streets which are crumbling –
and have provided this information to the County and Gary Thede of Sammamish
Beach Club. The County may perform
repairs by the end of August.
The round-a-bout near
Sunset Elementary is now part of the City of
Covenant Violations: Susi Tom reported she contacted several homeowners
with shrubs overgrowing the sidewalks, and has received positive replies. Visible progress has been made!
Doug McDaniel checked up
on the violation list submitted last month by Mark Southern. He marked them open or closed, depending on
whether the problem remains, and added a few new ones. Mark agreed that he will submit complaints to
the architecture committee regarding certain sheds that he thinks have become eyesores , and will send letters to those who seem to be
storing boats or RVs improperly on a long-term basis.
New Business:
Unauthorized Park Usage
Visitors (Connie Edwards,
Jean Sutton, Thomas Marquis) brought up the issue of unauthorized
users of the South Cove park and beach. Susie Carney reported that she has
recently received 10 separate complaints from homeowners regarding this topic.
Connie suggested that we
issue an id tag to each family, so that patrols at the beach could check to see
if those present are actually residents.
Mark Southern expressed concern that this would cost money, and that
cards may be frequently lost and in need of replacement. He suggested that instead, we print out lists
of addresses and homeowners, and those patrolling the beach would ask beach
users to identify their address and homeowner, or be asked to leave.
Susie Carney agreed to
coordinate this plan, and recruit beach patrollers. Several present volunteered to help patrol
the beach.
Shelly Birkwood suggested
that we somehow remind those in surrounding neighborhoods that the park is
private. David agreed to send email to
the Annexation contact list including a proposed article they could run in their
newsletters. Shelly Birkwood agreed to
draft such an article and send it to David.
Nomination Committee
Susie Carney reported we
will have to fill 5 board vacancies.
Three are for three year terms, one is for a two year term (to replace
Cynthia Murphy, who will be moving), and one for a one year term (to fill the
final year of Ivonne Thurlkill’s term, which Shelly Birkwood was appointed by
the Board to fill for this year only).
Shelly plans to run for one of the open positions.
Everybody is encouraged to
start thinking of possible nominees.
Upcoming Meetings
David will schedule special
Board Meeting to discuss drainage and path paving to occur the last
week of August.
Next Regular Board Meeting:
Wednesday, September 18,
7pm
Home of Susie Carney
4567 193rd Place S.E.