South Cove Homeowners Association Meeting Minutes For July 12, 2004
Meeting Held at Home of David Bangs
Board Members Attending: David Bangs, Jill Cyra, Craig Elkins, Jeff Hertogs, Thomas Marquis, Mark Southern, and Darrin Webb.
Meeting called to order at 7:05 by Mark Southern.
June Meeting Minutes – Not available, so not read.
Treasurers report - $23,622.17 in account. 1 delinquent homeowner paid. 3 remaining delinquent homeowners, including 1 that owes approximately $1000. Discussion ensued regarding use of a collection agency or possible lien action. Mark Southern indicated that a collection agency may not be interested in a single collection on this relatively small amount. Craig Elkins indicated that state statutes do not include a provision for liens by a homeowners association. However, the existing covenants include an automatic lien if dues go unpaid. To collect, the remedy is to foreclose on the automatic lien. Craig and Jill volunteered to determine the newest address of the most delinquent homeowner and to check the covenants for provisions that apply interest and/or fees, including collection fees.
2004 Priorities:
Rules Issues –
(a) Bylaws Amendment - On behalf of the Rules Committee, Thomas Marquis proposed an amendment to by bylaws, article VIII, section one, paragraph (a) that would enable the Board of Directors to adopt rules “not inconsistent with the Declaration” of covenants and restrictions. The proposed amendment is patterned after language used by the US Congress to delegate authority to federal agencies. The intent of the propose amendment is to enable the Board to adopt rules within the scope of the covenants, in addition to the existing rules governing the common areas. By enabling the Board to adopt rules within the scope of the covenants, the Board could enforce the covenants with fines according state statute RCW 64.38.020 (11). The possibility of imposing fines is thought to be an efficient local way to encourage compliance with the covenants, rather than resorting to the existing requirement of filing a law suit or the future process of formal arbitration. David Bangs felt that the proposed amendment was too broad, and requested that the amendment be limited to duplicating or mirroring the covenants in article III of the Declaration document. Thomas agreed to propose alternate language to David before the August meeting.
(b) Dues Increase – One negative response was received regarding the proposed dues increase described in the most recent newsletter. Other anecdotal comments have been positive. Jill agreed to circulate a letter for review, and coordinates sending the letter with a post card to homeowners for proxy voting. Proxy and personal votes will be counted by the August monthly meeting (8/18/04). If quorum is not achieved, a September meeting/vote may be called.
New Trees – Short discussion was held regarding previously proposed trees. David Bangs voiced a preference for a native tree species. Don Meyer and Rod Putney have been working on the tree selection issue, but were not at the July meeting. Thus, the remaining members agreed to defer further discussion and/or action.
Community Event – A chili cook-off was planned for August 2nd (Monday). No contestants had yet responded to previous announcements. Darrin Webb and Jeff Hertogs agreed to author an email reminder.
Tennis Courts Resurfacing – Was completed.
Committee Reports:
Government Affairs / South Lake Sammamish Association (SLSA) – David Bangs reported that SLSA discussed alternate funding methods. One method is to have each homeowners association contribute an amount corresponding to approximately 50 cents per home in each association. Board members indicated that this raises an issue of voting equality. Larger associations would end up paying more, but it is unclear whether the number of homes and amount paid would be related to voting power (such as in a House of Representatives or a corporation) or if all associations would have equal voting power regardless of the number of homes and amount paid (such as in a Senate). David indicated that during the previous SLSA meeting, it was proposed that each association send a representative with authority to vote at the SLSA meetings. Alternatively, each SLSA representative could bring proposals back to their respective associations, which would vote and send their result back with the representative. David agreed to try to get clarification at the next SLSA meeting. The Board members agreed to be added to the SLSA email list.
Park/Landscaping – Mark Southern read notes from Rod Putney. The notes indicated that a drain grate near the beach was broken. A motion to empower Rod to fix the drain grate passed unanimously. The note also indicated that fireworks had been used in the park. The note further indicated that a homeowner had requested painted crosswalks or crossing signs at the park entrances. David indicated King County seems unlikely to act on this, because of possible annexation to Issaquah. David agreed to check on the current status of the possible monetary deal between King County and Issaquah regarding annexation.
Entrance Island – Nothing to report.
Beach – Rod Putney’s note indicated that the “No Wake” buoys were broken, and wondered whether the county can fix them. David indicated that he believed the association owned the buoys, so the association would have to fix them. They are quite expensive, so repairs or replacement may have to wait until another year. Craig Elkins reported that the line of swim‑area buoys can be replaced with two‑piece buoys (blue/white) or solid buoys (yellow). Craig said that the contractor agreed to give a $313.44 credit for the existing two‑piece buoys that broke within a month of installation. Installation of new buoys would require labor cost of $720, however, volunteers from the association could perform the labor under the contractor’s supervision to save this cost. A new ¾ inch rope was also proposed to replace the existing rope. Semi-flexible poly‑carbonate tubes can be installed over the new rope to hold the new buoys in place. Alternatively, the rope may be looped around and through each buoy to hold each buoy in place. A motion passed unanimously to enable Craig to obtain the yellow solid buoys and determine the best method to hold the buoys in place. Thanks were given to Rod and everyone who helped with the beach sand project.
Architectural Control Committee – Mark Southern indicated that a proposal from a homeowner to install a vinyl fence was withdrawn. The homeowner chose instead to install a conventional cedar fence. Mark indicated that an ACC meeting will be held to revise the list of allowed roof colors and materials.
Newsletter and Website – Discussion occurred regarding a previous proposal to replace paper copies of the newsletters with only email. David explained that some meeting notices and proxy ballots must be sent via US mail. He also noted that email addresses change often and emails systems are not always reliable. In addition, sometimes only one family member receives the email and does not necessarily inform other members of the issues in the received emails. It was agreed that the association should continue to issue paper copies of the newsletters. David indicated that advertising in the newsletters will be deferred until the October edition due to scheduling problems with the advertising broker (Gary Theade). A special newsletter and post card are scheduled for delivery so that homeowners can vote by proxy on the proposed dues increase.
Welcome Committee – Robin and Arnie Nelson are new homeowners in South Cove. The Welcome committee will formally welcome them.
Events – Thanks were given to Kim Putney and Amy Higgins for a fantastic job coordinating and executing the 4th of July event.
New Business:
Team Soccer Practices – A homeowner raised concern over park use by soccer teams. The Board’s understanding is that any guests must be accompanied by a resident to use the common areas. For the case of an organized group, the Board members agreed that an unofficial policy should be that an adult resident must be present while the group is in the common areas.
Institutional Calendar – Thomas proposed that the Board discuss methods to prevent non‑residents from invading the beach again next year as they did in June of this year. Jill proposed a temporary beach bouncer. Mark proposed an on‑call list of volunteers to react to reports of unauthorized use. Thomas indicated that some residents have requested that preventative measures be taken rather than reactive measures. Mark agreed to prepare an institutional calendar for reference by future boards to pre‑plan for issues that seem to reoccur annually.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
The next meeting will be held on August 18th at 7:00 pm at the home of Rod Putney.
Minutes submitted by Thomas Marquis in lieu of Don Meyer’s absence.