Board Members Present: Susie Carney, David Bangs, Susi
Tom, Kendra Mills, Cynthia Murphy, Mark Southern, and Shelly Birkwood
Board Members Absent: Mike
Quaranta, Doug McDaniel
Meeting called to order at
Minutes: David
read the minutes for May 2002, and they were approved as read and corrected.
Treasurer’s Report: Mark reports we have $69,668 in the bank. 27 outstanding dues or assessment payments – down from 36 last
month. Breakdown is 21 special
assessment, 4 2002 dues and 2 2001 dues. One homeowner past due on all three
had previously promised to pay, but did not do so. Mark sent a certified letter assessing
interest and mentioning the possibility of using a collection agency with
collection fees charged to the homeowner.
Landscaping:
Drainage: We received a preliminary bid from Olympic
Irrigation for drainage in the park. The
work would involve regrading certain areas of the park to eliminate localized
low spots and increase slope toward new drainage basins. Regrading, reseeding grass and installing the
new drainage system would cost $28,500.
Reinstalling the sprinkler system in regraded areas would cost an
additional $8,500. If regrading alone
does not solve the drainage problem in the play area, a drainage system could
be installed there for an additional $7,900.
It was noted that the
special assessment provided just $5,800 toward fixing the existing drainage
system without any regrading or reseeding. The special assessment did not fully
address the drainage issue because we did not have a solid plan or bid ready
for consideration. The November 2001 newsletter indicates that the Board last
year anticipated drainage costs could be as high as $20,000 and was prepared to
spend “up to $14,200 of unspent reserve funds from years 2001 and 2002” in
addition to the special assessment funds to pay for a project of that size. The
project as designed and bid by Olympic could cost as much as $45,000, making it
infeasible without raising additional funds.
Kendra will work with
several companies to get additional bids based on the preliminary study. Each company will be asked to indicate
whether significant costs can be saved by pursuing an alternative, less
expensive design.
Curbing:
Abel Curbing has precisely measured and provided a new
bid of $8550 – up from $8423 indicated last month. Curbing is planned to be removed from all
planting islands tomorrow and reinstalled Friday and Monday. Residents of
Tennis: Doug McDaniel reported via email that the courts
are scheduled to get a final cleaning in the last part of June. This follow-up cleaning was deferred until after
the trees would be done dropping blossoms on the court. The tennis court gates have been scheduled
for repair and the work should be completed by Fence Connection within the next
two weeks.
Other Landscaping: Kendra suggested that since November is the best
time to replant the entrance island at S.E. 44th Way, that the
expense be deferred to the 2003 budget in order to allow the landscaping budget
to focus on the following projects this year:
* Remove trees with
dangerous limbs at
* Remove dangerous limbs
near playground ($220)
* Remove dying junipers on
188th and mulch that area ($800)
Mark Southern suggested we
should defer all postponable spending
and focus exclusively on the special assessment projects. If the homeowner at the
The Board discussed and
set two dates for work parties:
* Saturday, June 29,
Spread new gravel and repaint rocking toys.
Bring wheel barrow, flatted shovel and broom
if you have them.
* Saturday, July 13,
Remove dying junipers and spread mulch.
Volunteers should contact Kendra.
David will announce the
work parties by email and newsletter.
The Board approved having
Northwest Grounds remove the dangerous limbs near the playground since that
expense easily fits in the landscaping budget for incidental maintenance. We
should defer other decisions until next month when we understand what
volunteerism was able to achieve.
Playground: A resident pointed out that we still have one toddler swing with a
chain. Kids have been seen to clip under
the chains and catch their chin. Last
year we replaced one of the swings so that mothers with infants could use the
new, safer, bucket style seat while toddlers could use either seat. It would cost $106 to replace the other
seat. Susie Carney suggested that we
should discuss this possible expense next month, after we know the full cost of
installing new gravel in the playground.
Neighborhood Greeter: Cynthia Murphy made 25 copies of By-Laws, Covenants
and Rules and Regulations to distribute to new homeowners. Cost was $50.
Beach:
Mike Quaranta was not
present. Board members observed that the
dock has been reinstalled, and wish to relay the following homeowner questions
to Mike.
* Some kids have reported the
dock is slippery and it is easy to slip off.
Is it possible to install non-skid treds on the dock?
* Parents report that kids
rock the dock back and forth, and this may be dangerous. Would a second chain reduce the rocking and
prevent this activity?
* Parents have also noted
that when kids rock the dock, it seems to flex in the middle. Is this normal?
Residents continue to be
concerned by the number of non-residents in the park. We discussed options and concurred that
additional signage would probably not be effective. We decided to run an article in the
newsletter as a reminder that enforcing the private park rule is the responsibility
of all homeowners. Shelly will submit
the article.
Road Repair: Susie and Shelly have been examining the streets and noting extremely
damaged areas. They will give our list
to Gary Thede of Sammamish Beach Club so he can incorporate the information
into his master list. Both associations
will continuously contact
Government Affairs:
David reported that the
committee is to be known as the “South Cove Area Annexation Committee.” Joan Probala will chair the meetings, and
David will serve as secretary. A large
informational meeting will be held at Pickering Barn in late September or early
October. Publicity of this meeting and
others leading up to the November 2003 election will require approximately
$500, to be contributed by homeowners associations. Meerwood (which has 112 homes) has already
agreed to contribute $100, and Sammamish Beach Club (105 homes) is considering
a $100 contribution. South Cove has 289 homes.
* David moved and Kendra
seconded that the South Cove Association contribute $200 for annexation issue
publicity. Passed unanimously.
* David moved and Cynthia
seconded that the South Cove treasurer manage funds on behalf of the Annexation
Committee. Checks from other associations would be made out to South Cove.
South Cove would directly reimburse expenses and finally refund any unexpended
funds to the other associations. Passed unanimously.
David announced the
committee has completed a “one-pager” information sheet and is finalizing a Q
& A package with questions and answers attributed to government officials
who provided answers about the impact of annexation on taxes and services. The one-pager will appear in the upcoming
South Cove and Sammamish Beach Club newsletters. The Q & A will be available on the web.
Fourth of July:
Susi is continuing to
recruit volunteers, and needs information and advice from Mike Quaranta who
coordinated the event last year. David
will print flyers for Susi to distribute next week. We won’t have tennis clinics because the
McDaniels may be out of town, but we will have the tennis tournament as well as
morning running races and afternoon soccer.
Susi and the clowns will lead the parade!
Garage Sale: We set the date for this year’s
garage sale as September 21 and 22 – a Saturday and Sunday. Cynthia will submit a blurb for the
newsletter.
June Newsletter: The newsletter deadline is still this Friday, with the content listed
in last month’s minutes and elsewhere in these minutes.
Next Meeting:
Wednesday,
July 17,
Home of Mark Southern