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SAPOA |
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July 15, 2007 Semi-Annual Membership Meeting |
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SUNSHINE ACRES PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION SEMI-ANNUAL MEETING JULY 15, 2007
The Semi-Annual Meeting of Sunshine Acres Property Owners Association was held Sunday, July 15, 2007, at Gardiner Community Center. A quorum was established with 40 eligible members of the 368 eligible members in attendance. Having established the necessary 10% quorum, President Gary Getch called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm. All Board Members and Directors were in attendance. Gary introduced all board members and directors.
Predictable Tax:
Gary introduced Shelley Morgan Taylor from the Predictable Tax Initiative to present a 15-minute presentation on “Property Owners for Predictable Tax Now.” The website is www.predictabletax.com. This initiative is trying to make property taxes “predictable” so that you can budget year-to-year. In order to make property taxes predictable, the State Constitution must be changed. And that requires a vote of the people. Log on to the website for further information.
Minutes:
Marty Tipton presented the minutes which were prepared by Kim Jacobs for approval. They were reviewed and with no corrections or questions, Everett Stauffer made a motion to accept the motions as written. Seconded by Bob Cristobal. No further discussion, motion passes.
Treasurer’s Report:
Annemarie Montara presented the Treasurer’s Report (attached). Re Mussel Beach Road’s report, everything for the road has been paid for. All dues collected from this point forward becomes the maintenance fund for major repairs. Jim Wilson will cover the rest of Mussel Beach Road issues in his report. We have been able to cut down on member communication funds, even with the couple of re-does that we had to do, because the printing has been done at Annemarie’s office for the cost of the paper. We need to, however, budget for getting full printing done at regular expense. We need to have a couple of volunteers for the audit of the books. Discussion about what needed to be done for the audit. Jim Martin volunteered. No further questions on the treasurer’s report.
Old Business:
Budget Ballot: We received 235 ballots, 58% of the Association’s eligible voters. 227 were valid ballots. The budget passed 139 to 88 which was 61% yes and 39% no. After 2007-2008, the dues will be $50 a year because the Beach Road extra assessment is gone.
Mussel Beach Road Status: Jim Wilson gave a short presentation on the repairs that were needed prior to paving. Those repairs were done by a volunteer group; the paving was on-time and within the budget and assessment of the budget and it turned out very nice. Jim has a sheet of project cost if anyone would like to see them. It’s a simple breakdown of where the money went, engineering costs, etc. The road is done and paid for. The credit for this goes to all the people from Phase I on, that put it together for the last several years. New business as far as MBR, we need a new sign installed re-stating the obvious: no skateboarders, wheelchairs, etc., please use common sense when using the road. We are hoping to install a better user-friendly gate. As far as curbing or striping goes, the condition will be brought back for proposal. Hopefully, simple striping can be done. We do not currently have the money for curbing or striping, but hopefully with this year’s dues coming it, this can be taken care of. We need a work party and Jim will get together with some people to get the gutters cleaned out prior to the fall. Keys are being issued and for the people who do use the road, please use common sense and be careful. There is a turn-out mid-way down on the curve. Please use the turn-out to see if anyone is coming up the road. USE COMMON SENSE. Everett Stauffer pointed out the photographs available for people to see at the side of the room. Gary stated that someone drove their lawnmower down there and it caught fire. It has since been removed. A member asked about regulations for putting a boat in the water. Gary said to use common sense, not to park in the middle of the parking area, launch your boat and then move the vehicle. A question was asked about leaving your boat and trailer down at the bottom of MBR overnight. There are no guarantees, people walk up and down the beach, and it’s not a good idea to leave items down there. There is no overnight camping and it’s just not a good idea to leave boats there overnight. A reminder to pack your trash out. We are thinking of putting a barrel down there, but for now, if you pack it in, pack it out. Do not clean your fish down there and leave the carcasses there. Take them out with you. Annemarie reported that the locksmith we had for the keys retired. The people who bought the key company are a little lost and could not find the appropriate paperwork or blanks. A new key template was made and blanks ordered. Annemarie now has keys available. A question was raised about the deposit of $6 for the keys. Discussion about why we have to pay for the road and a key deposit.
By-law Rewrite: Vicki Taney gave a short summary (attached) on the tough job. There is a good change right now. Every section had changes and they are listed on the summary. Dues will become due on July 1 and delinquent on August 15. This way we have most of our money collected before the start of the new fiscal year. The fiscal year will stay the same – September 1 to August 31. The new Board of Directors will take office in January. This will be a great improvement. When the new board is elected, there is a 3-month window to have the election, get the ballots out, back and counted. No need to rush through the election right after the summer general meeting which will be in September. March will be the mid-year meeting which means that the new board will have enough time to get ready for the meeting (instead of a few days). One of the new changes will be e-mail and internet communication for notification of meetings (more on that one later). Review the summary for complete changes. Much of the basis for the changes were what we found on the internet for other homeowners’ association by-laws. The new changes need to go to the lawyer for review before they can be made available on the website. A member from the audience commended Vicki, her committee and the board for making all of these changes in such an easy to understand way. Vicki quickly reviewed all the changes again. Everett Stauffer made a motion that we take this draft and get it to the lawyer as soon as possible. Then we can put it on the web and get it out. Motion seconded, further discussion on whether or not the draft is ready to go to the lawyer. Vicki said that it was. After the lawyer looks it over, the by-laws will go the members for a vote. The members will get a copy of the old by-laws and the new ones to review for the vote. Vicki also stated that one of the changes made will be to increase the amount the unbudgeted items that the Board can approve from $100 to $750. There is a motion, a second, no further discussion, motion passes.
New Business:
Architectural Representatives: A couple of plats’ covenants need to be worked on. Plat 6 & 7 have the biggest problems right now. Plat 3 did a real good job of changing their’s a couple of years ago and they make sense now.
Dogs: We are getting more complaints about barking and loose dogs; the county rule is that the dogs are supposed to be under your control. If there are dogs making noise, you can call the sheriff and the animal control people. The first thing to do is talk with your neighbor. Maybe they don’t realize it. If it keeps up, refer to law enforcement. It was asked that the animal enforcement phone number be put on the reader board again (perhaps the website also).
Nominations for Candidates: We have five people whose term is running out. The only two staying are Jim Wilson, the Vice-President, and myself (Gary Getch). The rest are up for re-election. They are: Ben Schrenzel, Annemarie Montara, and Marty Tipton. We will open up nominations from the floor: Larry Reece was nominated by Jim Wilson; Steve Sachnow nominated Ev Stauffer; Keith DeStefano was nominated by Kathleen DeStefano. The nominations forms are to be filled out before these people leave today. Ben Schrenzel nominated Bill Youngblood. Hearing no further nominations, nominations are closed. For all the nominees, please fill out the form and give to Marty Tipton today before she leaves the building. Ballots will be due back August 30, with the count occurring on August 31, at the Firehouse at 10:00 a.m.
E-mail Notification: Marty Tipton explained that right now our by-laws and constitution say that we have to send everything out by First Class Mail. We have gotten a lot of requests to send information by e-mail to cut down on postage. We would love to do, but we can’t until the new by-laws are changed. So if you like that part of the by-laws change, vote yes. Marty has a form on the side table with your name, phone number and e-mail address. That will give us your approval to send you what information we can regarding SAPOA by e-mail. Right now with our by-laws we have to send information by U.S. Mail. Also, some laws in Washington State require us to send information by U.S. Mail (first class postage). With all of this in mind, once the by-laws are changed, we will endeavor to send what we can by e-mail or provide the information on the internet. It was suggested that whatever e-mails we send, that we send the e-mails under “bcc” (blind carbon copy) so that e-mail addresses are not shared without permission. We will do that.
Seven Cedars Casino Long House: The Casino has given us flyers to hand out regarding the Long House & Deli and what they want to sell. Let them know what you’d like to see sold at the store. Give them a call.
Miscellaneous: One more call for a person to do an audit: Jim Martin has volunteered. Take care of barking dogs – put them inside.
Questions/Comments from the Audience: Tom Richardson of Diamond Point Airport Association reminded everyone of the Airport Days on August 4, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Lots of aircraft to see, food, prizes, and fun.
Bob Cristobal asked if the yard sale people would let him know what he owes. It was mentioned that the yard sale was put on by the CERT group. Check with them.
Please return your voting cards to Irma Martin.
Thank you, Rusk, and her assistants for the potluck. They did a great job. For those of you helping us pick up, please don’t slide the tables or chairs on the floor, they’ve been refinished.
Adjournment: Everett Stauffer moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded and passed. The meeting adjourned at 2:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha Tipton Secretary
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