2013 HOA Annual Meeting

February 12, 2013 -- Salem Elementary School, Snohomish WA

7:00 – 9:00 PM

I.      Welcome

II.      Roll Call and the establishment of a Quorum

III.      Reports of Board Members

o        Approve the Minutes of 2012 Annual Meeting

o        Review and approval of the 2013 Budget

o        HOA Insurance 

IV.      Reports of Committee Chairs

o        Architectural Control & Compliance

o        New Construction Architecture

o        Beatification Committee

o        Maintenance

o        Newsletter / Social Committee

o        Neighborhood Watch

o        Welcome Committee

o        Trails and Master Plan

o        Website

 V.      Unfinished Business

o    Quorum Requirements

VI.      New Business

o   Maintenance of Fenced Areas

o   Number of members serving on the Board 

o   Voting on Board and Committee positions

VII.      Adjourn

Minutes of the Meeting

1. Welcome 

Joe North called the meeting to order at 7:07PM.

• Following up on old business: Wave seems to be working well. Homeowners are generally happy. Wave has been responsive when needed.

• Thank You to Kenny Swope and Del Bennett for all of their work on the trails. It was a very big job and they did excellent work.

• Website – thank you Kenny Swope for continuing to maintain the SLH website.

• The HOA runs through Andrew Ellis’ attention and dedication. His support has been crucial to maintaining a healthy, active HOA. Joe also noted that Andrew was able to negotiate a substantial fee from Wave for access to the neighborhood that was added to our reserve fund.

• Questions about 2011 HOA regulations – the reserve fund is required to take care of assets. Although several interpretations are possible, our reserve fund has met the intent of the law at this time.

• Please remember that while we are all home owners, we are also neighbors. It is important to remember that we are all neighbors when communicating with each other.

2. Roll Call

Andrew counted the lots represented. There were 43 lots represented out of the 60 lots in the development, considering both those present and proxies. Developer (Peter Lance) took back possession of said lots. He cast his 13 votes as proxy.

3. Reports of Board Members

• Approve minutes for 2012 Annual Meeting – approved

• HOA Insurance – Andrew Ellis spoke on this. The insurance premium for the common areas increased from $1800-$2100. It will go up as more houses get built. This covers the trails and retention ponds too.

4. Reports of Committee Chairs:

• ACC – Michelle Riske 

This past year we set up a procedure for handling written complaints, processed several applications, and were able to approve all applications with minor if any modifications. Monique stepped down because she is planning to move. Randy May joined the ACC during the meeting.

• New Construction Architecture – Monique Rounsavelle 

Monique is stepping down. Her recommendation: Stay in contact with Peter Lance. He still owns 13 lots and is hoping to move forward in the next 2-3 years. Lots belonging to Peter are still in his possession.

• Beautification Committee – Donna Clawson

Nothing was done last year. Marcy Meachum will talk to Donna about native plants at the entrance. Heidi May joined this committee at the meeting.

• Maintenance – No one is in charge at the moment. 

Andrew Ellis (treasurer) pays the bills. Eric Terpko has the part to fix the mailboxes on 213th. We need to schedule a time with the post office to fix that. Question: Can we pressure wash the entrance rock? Andrew will add this to the list. Question: Has the water pressure for the fountain dropped? The beautification committee will look into this.

• Newsletter/Social Committee – open committee 

Some ideas from the past include an Easter Egg Hunt, the Summer Picnic, a Halloween Parade, etc.

• Neighborhood Watch – open committee 

Eric Maughan volunteered at the meeting to fill this open committee and will talk to Stephanie Clarke about how it works.

• Welcome Committee – Donna Clawson 

We were able to welcome 5 new families to the neighborhood this past year. Monique’s house is currently for sale.

• Trails and Master Plan – Joe North 

We are still able to open up more trails, once we are dedicated to build them right. Questions of home owners: Should bikes be allowed on the trails or not? How would that be monitored? Should there be separate bike trails? Powered vehicles are not allowed– this is in the CCRs. Joe will look into getting signs to post that state that no powered vehicles are allowed on the trails or at the park.

• Website – Kenny Swope was not in attendance.

Joe noted that Kenny still does a lot of work to maintain this for the neighborhood.

5. Unfinished business

• Should we lower the Quorum to less than the 50% that is currently needed? Would 30%, 40%, 50%? How to sustain it over the long term? Tim Hastings commented that state law says that HOAs have to have a 34% minimum participation to have a quorum. Storm Lake HOA says 50%. Do we want to adjust the quorum? Joe North asked homeowners to think about it and give feedback to the board. ***Two things to note: In order to change the CCRs, we would need a 60% majority vote. It costs about $500-600 to change the CCRs legally.

• Question: Has Peter Lance adjusted the lot lines? The HOA has approved the change. Did Peter follow through?

6. New Business

• Maintenance of fenced areas – We have an issue with cleaning out alders that are currently growing in the fence. Should we look at spraying Round Up to move the alders back? Spraying is more cost effective and makes it easier to maintain, plus there are concerns about the cost of possible damage to the fences. It was noted that it is against county rules to use poison around the ponds. The Board may look into using Round Up. Taking the alders out will cost at least $2,000-3,000 or more. Step #1: find out what the laws are and be sure to follow them. Step #2: be sensitive to poisons and animals in the environment.

• There was a question about the Board. With the current number of board members at three, there is never a tie. If we add a vice president, there would be four. Should the ACC chair also be added to make five?  The bottom line is that these are all volunteer positions. Odd or even, we are all in this together. If we had an even number on the board, a vote could go out to the homeowners.

Up for vote

• Board Members – Expand HOA Board by adding Vice President role – Donna Clawson made this recommendation. She spoke about her thoughts of the vice president being a liaison between the board and home owners to pick up slack and help out. She feels that we need some new, fresh ideas.

Discussion: Do we need another position? Should there be 7 members on the board? Would it work to keep the current 3 members, with the social committee coordinating with the Board? Would it be better to fill the current open positions of a newsletter, etc. and use those as outlets to communicate with homeowners? What is the role of Facebook? What are the rules for privacy and diplomacy? A comment was made about the importance of harmony within board and the ability to work together. Another comment was made about the point being neighborhood participation. Does the current board feel that they need more help to run the HOA? The board did not feel that would be necessary at this time. The job is manageable for the number of projects that come up over the course of the year. However more volunteers in the neighborhood are more than welcome. In addition, there are currently several open positions. If anyone is interested in filling one of these, please contact the board.

• Board Members – Expand HOA Board by adding ACC chair person Why? To better communicate with the board. Question: Could the ACC chair be invited to a board meeting if needed? Yes.

• President position: Tim Hastings/Joe North

Tim talked about his experience running a large neighborhood HOA in Texas and the success that he saw there. Joe sent out an email prior to the meeting with his goals for the next year if he continues.

• Secretary position: open

Kristin Michaud sent a letter to the board stating her interest in the position. She was unable to attend, but was voted in at the meeting.

• Treasurer position: open

Andrew Ellis is willing to continue if there are no other volunteers. He was voted in unanimously by the homeowners in attendance.

• Entertainment fund – 

Should the board create an entertainment fund of $300, $400, $500, or $800 to support more community events? Donna Clawson would like to see $400-500, which could carry over if unused. It was agreed upon by those present that we could change #9 to $400 for an entertainment fund. Homeowners were able to vote to approve or reject.

• Shall the HOA create a special vote to lower the quorum to approve HOA business from 50% to 30%? 40%? Or leave it at 50%? Please vote according  to your wishes. 

• Shall the HOA look into spraying the alders in the common areas to reduce maintenance costs for homeowners? Vote to approve or reject.

• We need to review and approve the budget for 2013. There are two choices in this: Budget A – no entertainment fund Budget B – entertainment fund will combine with social committee for a total of $400 if approved.

There was a move to approve the budget options and a 2nd. Homeowners then voted for their choice.

***It was noted that 15-20 lots didn’t pay the extra $50 last year, but it has been added to their dues for this year, so that their dues are $450 this year instead of $400. It was also noted that this was the most cost effective way to handle the difference and that it has so far been successful in collecting the difference.

Other Points of Discussion

• In order to create a system of checks and balances Eric Maughan and Monique Rounsavelle, along with Emily Bennett will meet with Andrew to review the Treasurer’s books.

Project ideas –

Should start saving for a sports court in community? A tennis court would cost approximately $60,000. Insurance costs? Should we have a covered area in the park? What about a gazebo? Amy Seelhoff did  research and projects were very expensive.

Where are we at with replacing the play set in the park? It is estimated that the play set would last another 4-5 years. We started saving $3000 a year, three years ago. We need an industrial play set. This will cost in the neighborhood of $20,000.

The meeting ended at 9:05PM.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Michelle Riske at the request of the Storm Lake

Heights HOA Board.