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Meetings

April 2021 Board Meeting

Date: April 15, 2021

Location: Online via Zoom

Time: 6:32 p.m.

The REHOA board president opened the Zoom meeting room and members signed in. One member experienced a slight technical issue signing into Zoom. This resulted in a slight delay. The board president called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m. The minutes from the February meeting had been sent out by the board vice-president. No changes were needed and the minutes were accepted as written. The president had sent out the agenda for tonight’s meeting. No changes were requested and the agenda was also accepted as written.

Homeowner Forum: One homeowner expressed some concern about the maintenance of properties. They mentioned that lawns were growing out onto the sidewalks, and that ornamental trees were not being trimmed. A second homeowner commented about a large pile of cut trees that one homeowner had in their front yards. Both asked if the CC&Rs required homeowners to take responsibility for maintaining their properties.

Reports

  1. Treasurer’s Report – The Treasurer distributed copies of the April 15. 2021 Treasurer’s report, the March 31, 2021 bank statement, the 2021 Budget Comparison, and scans of the REHOA check book and savings book registers. The vice-president confirmed that the adjusted checking and savings account amounts in the treasurer’s report coincided with the amounts in the registers. The treasurer also distributed copies of the report on dues paid each month over the past decade. He pointed out the responses to the 2021 dues notice was running ahead of the number of responses in previous years. Treasurer asked if the board wished to authorize a “reminder letter” to be sent in May. The president suggested that we re-visit this in May via email and decide at that time.
  2. Landscaping Report – The HOA landscaper has started mowing the common areas. In addition, he is going to start mowing tract 993 every other month. The landscaper also commented that someone had chopped up several limbs and left a pile of wood on the grass planting strip near the entrance to Division 1. The landscape committee expressed frustration in that they are unable to get across to the homeowners that this is actually costing the HOA to pick it up, and it looks unsightly for weeks. One board member also asked that the landscaper be reminded to trim the lawn and the bottom of the stairs in Division 4
  3. Architectural Control Committee – The committee has only received one request over the past two months. This was for a roof replacement on Lot 10 in Division 1.
  4. Arborist Committee Report – Committee had received a request from Lot 10 in Divison 1 to remove some trees that had dropped limbs damaging their roof. A member of Arborist Committee met with the homeowner and obtained the name of the Lead Permit Technician at Snohomish County PDS who had given the homeowner the go-ahead to remove the trees. The committee emailed this permit manager with the most recent arborist report. However, to date, the committee has received no response to our email. After waiting for a month, the committee phoned the permit manager. and were told (verbally) that they (the PDS) does not give written permission. The committee is concerned the county code requires permission, and states that the county reserves the right to issue fines per tree and per occurrence. The committee would like something in writing, even something saying that the county does not issue written permission and that the arborist report is justification for removing hazardous tree. The committee requested permission to have the HOA attorney inquire on our behalf. This was approved by unanimous vote of the board.
  5. Secretary’s Report – The acting secretary reported that all the the emails from the Sno-King Watershed group to AWWD has been transferred into a separate folder in our email account. One board member suggested that, even though the development property appears to have been sold, we will want to hold onto the emails for legal reasons.

Old Business

  1. Signers for the HOA account – The HOA is having difficulty updating the signer’s list on the HOA accounts at our bank. Over the years, signers have moved away and/or sold their homes. The treasurer has been told what information the bank needed, and proceeded to obtain that info from the signers. However, when he met with the accounts person, he is told that he does not have all the info, and that additional info is required, or different form need to be completed. The bank requires all the info from the former signers, even those who are no longer in the county. There is a security issue with trying to transmit all the personal information via the internet from an overseas country. The options are to close all the accounts and then reopen them at the same bank, or close the accounts and open new accounts at a new bank. While the latter option sounds most appealing, the new banks have fees for monthly statements whereas the existing bank does not. The treasurer is going to continue to investigate this, but will use the current bank for the time being.

New Business

  1. Trailer parked in front yard – A homeowner in Division 5 has parked a large trailer in his front yard for over a month. This is in direct violation of the CC&Rs. Board voted unanimously that the homeowner should be sent a letter listing the violation, quoting the CC&Rs, and telling the homeowner that he must move the trailer to an offsite location.
  2. Homeowner with cut trees in his front year – A homeowner in Divison 2 has cut down a couple of dozen trees and left them in his front yard. The CC&Rs state that “construction debris” must be removed within 6 months. The board also voted that this homeowner be sent a letter, explaining why they are in violation, and instructing the homeowner to clean up the debris.
  3. Poop in the common areas – Homeowners have complained about the number of dog owners who are not picking up after their canine pets. Board members are looking into the availability and costs of posting signs asking owners to “scoop the poop.”
  4. 2020 Federal Taxes – The treasurer met with our representative at H&R Advisors, completed the 2020 Federal taxes and these have been submitted before the April 15 deadline. The May 17 deadline was only for individual homeowners, not for coporations (and we are a corporations.
  5. 2021 Audit – The treasurer also discussed having our tax accountant perform a review on our accounts for 2019 and 2020. The last audit was performed in 2019. The board voted to forego the audit last year.

Action Items

  1. The Arborist Committee will continue to work with the county to obtain permission to remove the hazardous trees. With the Boards approval, they will check with the HOA attorney and see if he can assist.
  2. The treasurer will continue to investigate the best option for updating the signature list on the HOA accounts.
  3. The treasurer will assemble the necessary documentation for performing an audit on our accounts for 2019 and 2020.
  4. Scoop signs – board members will continue to research the available signs and posts.
  5. Board members will continue to work on updating the Architectural Controls.
  6. The secretary will compose a letter instructing the homeowner to move his trailer.
  7. The president will investigate the tree trunks that are littering the one home.

Next meeting: Thursday, June 17th, also at 6:30 p.m.

Meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.