Date: January 17, 2019
Location: Mukilteo City Hall, Community Meeting Room
The meeting was called to order at 7:01 p.m. by the board president. Since the December board meeting was turned over to a presentation from the SnoKing Watershed Council, there were no minutes to approve. The president opened the Homeowner Forum to all those present. No homeowners asked to speak. The president then moved on to the reports.
Reports:
- President: Note: Due to work conflicts, the board president was not present at the December meeting, and did not have anything new to present to the board.
- Treasurer: The Treasurer distributed copies of the January 2019 treasurer’s report, the December 2018 bank statement, and the final 2018 budget comparison. For the year, the association went over budget by $392.00. As a result, there will be no roll over funds to 2019. The board vice-president confirmed that the register balances were the same as the amounts reported by the treasurer. Treasurer also reviewed the status of dues payments for the year, and compared this to previous years. The treasurer also reported on the how the HOA will be bringing one home current that has been past due for several years. This will also require the release of a lien and will involve the association layer. Since the 2019 budget is to be determined at this meeting, there was not a 2019 budget comparison for distribution. However, the treasurer reported on two invoices that had been paid in 2019, and three dues payments that had already been received. While two of the payments were for the same amount, $350.00, that homeowners were assessed in 2018, the third was for a bizarre amount: $317.84. No board members could even guess what had prompted the homeowner to send in this amount. However, the treasurer pointed out that, unless the board proposes the 2019 dues amount to be the same or less, the homeowner will not have paid his principal in full and could be assessed a late fee if he does not pay the difference by the due date.
- Landscape Committee: The committee has to renew the mowing contract for the common area in April. They are in contact with the former HOA landscaper. Members discussed various payment options and felt that we need to confirm exactly the amount that he would charge and the frequency of the cutting. Members also discussed the need for additional attention to the entranceways, detention pond, and the stair areas. It was agreed that the committee must get a firm commitment from the prospective landscapers before we make any changes.
- Architectural Control Committee: No members of the ACC were present. No new applications have been received.
- Arborist Committee: The committee obtained permission in mid November from Snohomish County to remove trees that had been noted in the last Arborist Report. Our tree service was contacted and the trees were removed during the last week of November. One tree was unstable and would not support a climber. Permission had to be obtained to place a truck on a homeowners lot and use it to anchor ropes to allow the tree service to remove the tree. The service found and removed additional dead trees from Tract 989 that threatened HOA homes.
Old Business
- Review and update to the ACC documents: The current ACC are merely pdfs and cannot be edited. The president has re-created the ACCs as a Word document that can be edited.
- Location of future Annual Meetings: Board members were in agreement that there was limited benefit from having the annual meeting in the room at Spiro’s Pizza and Pasta. The past two meetings had been held at that restaurant. Current plan is to have the 2019 Annual Meeting at Mukilteo City Hall in the City Council Chambers. Due to commitments by some of the board members, the regular board meetings will now be scheduled on Thursday.
New Business
- Threats to Regatta Highlands by developer: After the trees had been cut on the Frognal development, a small strip of trees (50′ x 300′) were left on Tract 999. This tract is a green belt that is controlled by Regatta Highalnds, a small development of 12 homes that lie between the power station and Picnic Point Elementary. The trees on Tract 999 are all classified as interior trees and had previously been protected by the surrounding forest. Once the surrounding forest had been removed by developers of Frognal Estates, the same developers delivered notices to the 12 homes in Regatta Highlands that they are liable for damage if the trees from Tract 999 should fall on one of the homes they are planning to build in Frognal Estates. The developers also sent a copy of the arborist report that they had performed on the trees on the Frognal property which pointed out that they trees suffered from disease and were not structurally sound. The developers stated that it was likely that trees on Tract 999 had similar defects. The document threatening the homeowners in Regatta Highland was delivered on Saturday, and gave the homeowners until Tuesday evening at 5:00 p.m. to sign and agree to allow the developers from Frognal to remove the trees on Tract 999. It is interesting that the same developers ignored the repeated requests from Regatta Estates homeowners to take care of their trees. Trees from the Frognal and/or Horsemen’s Trails property fell and struck Regatta Estates homes and vehicles in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Multiple attempts by Regatta Estates homeowners to contact the owners of the property and have them take responsibility for the damage from their trees were all ignored.
- Clear Cutting of Frognal: HOA members discussed the lack of any announcements of the Snohomish County meetings where the final permits were granted to clear cut. It was also noted that, while Snohomish County has already posted Bev-Ed Road with notices of road closures scheduled for the summer of 2019. However, neither the developer nor Snohomish County posted any parking notices on 58th prior to the date when they showed up with the equipment to clear cut the development.
- 2019 Budget: The Board reviewed each budget line item individually and discussed the need for adjustments to the budget amounts.
- 2019 Dues and dues date: The Board set the amounts for each item. Based on the total of the budget divided by 76, the 2019 dues were set, and the due date was set for April 30, 2019/
- Approval of standard expenses for the year: According to the REHOA bylaws, all expenses must have prior approval from the board. The treasurer proposed and the board pre-approve the standard expenses for the year. These include landscaping, brush and entranceway clean-up, insurance, tax preparation, website hosting fees, detention pond maintenance, mailbox rental, mowing, and the state incorporation fee.
Review of Action items
- Print and mail the 2019 REHOA dues letters.
- Schedule a meeting with our tax representative and then file the 2018 Federal taxes.
- Renew our contracts for hosting our website.
- Schedule the next meeting.
Next meeting
- Proposed date, time, and location of next meeting: April 11, 2019, 7:00 p.m. at Mukilteo City Hall.
Adjourn
- Meeting was adjourned at 8:32 p.m.