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SAPOA |
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December 8, 2007 Board Meeting |
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MINUTES SAPOA BOARD MEETING DECEMBER 8, 2007 Diamond Point Firehouse
The Board Meeting was called to order by President Gary Getch, at 1:02 p.m. on Saturday, December 8, 2007, at the Diamond Point Fire Station. Present: Gary Getch, Jim Wilson, Annemarie Montera, Marty Tipton, Ben Schrenzel, Larry Reece and Keith DeStefano. There were about seven members of the Association in attendance as well.
Gary reported that this is a board meeting, not a mini general meeting. It is meant for board members to meet and discuss issues that need to be addressed. All members in attendance will wait to be recognized to speak. If someone has the floor, allow that person to finish before speaking, and that applies to the board members as well. There should be no spontaneous discussion from observers of the meeting during the board discussion unless someone asks a specific question or asks for comments. We will open the floor to questions from the audience at the end of the topic or at the appropriate place in the agenda.
Introduction of Board Members: Gary introduced all the board members.
Minutes:
Minutes of the last board meeting were reviewed by the Board and members of the audience. No corrections. Annemarie Montera made a motion to accept the minutes. Seconded, no further discussion. Minutes approved.
Treasurer’s Report:
Annemarie reported on the audit. It has been done; everything matches the last report to the penny. See attached report. When the audit committee looked at the books, it appeared that Irma and Annemarie had transferred money for dues that were returned. When dues are returned, money has to be taken from Mussel Beach Road to pay back the general account because the general account pays the dues back. It appears that Irma moved the money at the end of last year and Annemarie didn’t realize that and moved the money over at the beginning of the year. That was the only correction made. The transfer back to the MBR account has been made for the $625 and that was the only change found. The audit report needs to be approved by the board and then by the general membership at the meeting in January. Keith DeStefano made a motion to accept the audit. Seconded, no further discussion, motion passes.
Annemarie reported on the treasurer’s report. See attached. Short discussion about the storage unit and what is in there and what can go in there. Larry Reece has paper products, amplifiers to go in there if there’s room. No further discussion about the treasurer’s report. No approval needed.
The delinquency report was handed out and is for board member review only. It is not attached to the minutes. Discussion about delinquent members being sent to collection. There are delinquent members who have made arrangements to pay their bill. Quite a few have paid up, but 46 members have not and the total amount not paid is $9,404.
Mussel Beach Road: Jim Wilson reported that the signs have not been printed yet because he thinks they need a little more information put on them. Striping bid was approved for Sunshine Stripers, but it won’t be done until Spring when the weather is better. Maintenance work has been done by volunteers, up-to-date and done right. There is a budget for the road if needed for fuel costs, but it has not been requested. There is some controversy on maintenance procedures. Some folks are still complaining; the road has been cleaned off three times this year. The leaves have been heavy due to inclement weather. The culverts have been cleaned three times. Debris has washed up due to high tide, there’s an old 9’ boat on the beach that needs to be removed. An unknown party has removed some of the gravel from the culverts and taken down to the boat ramp and dumped. Volunteer help is fine, but it should be coordinated so that gravel is not put where it is not needed. Leaves have been removed and put on the bank on the grass and that is not correct either. The grass will be killed. A volunteer party has to go back down and remove the leaves from the grass. This is more work that is not necessary. An item will be put in the newsletter regarding this. If members see something they think needs to be done, please contact Jim Wilson to coordinate. Extensive discussion about the leaf build-up on the road from inclement weather. 3500 pounds of leaves were taken out and taken to the Jefferson dump (free until the first of the year). When the roads start freezing, the road will be locked. No one should work on MBR alone. It’s a safety issue.
The gate has been repaired, but we’re looking into getting a new gate.
Gary asked Nancy Drake for good suggestions for MBR. Nancy asked if we had seen the Certificate of Compliance of Shoreline Extension (?); it is in our file. Focus on the issue; she’s walked this with the state, she knows what they lack, she knows what the county wants and what looks like innocuous drainage (clear water) isn’t, she was out there this morning, the leaves in the culvert generate material that goes down into the outlet and then out to sea. This big storm brought down a lot of leaves. The concern is that the grass is not an erosion deterrent, you need berry bushes instead of grass for erosion control, the engineers stressed that. 1’-2’ ditches are forming past the grass and has negated the landslide protection factor. That is what property owners at the top of the hill are worried about. Two landslides have appeared on the west and the concern is this was not emphasized when Beach Road was built. Jim Wilson reported that there has been absolutely no erosion along the banks either on the west or east side. Also there has been no water seen on the west side coming off that bank. Discussion between Nancy and Jim about their differences of opinion on erosion at MBR. Gary stated that during the next heavy rain, he will go down there and see what it’s like. Jim report that we’re not going to go down there every time there’s a storm, there is a volunteer effort to keep the area clear. Nancy reported that the arguments are for the foreign soil that is keeping the water from getting to the culverts has got to be minimized. Jim reported that the foreign soil was approved by the last engineer, recommendations on paper were met. Nancy wanted the board to take note that the wetland was not marked in and that the landslide hazard zone was not marked in. Gary asked Nancy to call him the next time it’s raining hard and he’ll go down to MBR with her to look it over.
Gerry Mahoney stated that erosion caused us to build MBR. It’s rain, it’s natural. The only thing that wasn’t natural was the water main break. There wasn’t much any of us could do about that. He thinks Beach Road is better now than it was 13 years ago.
Jim Coulter has been up here about 7 years from Southern California, and as everyone knows there’s been a lot of construction of roads in California. Every project has hydro-seed it with grass. The board agreed that eventually the berry bushes will encroach on the grass, but that the grass is an immediate solution. It will take a little while for the other.
Old Business:
Tree Issues: Gary reported that the tree issues in Plats 6 & 7 are on hold and that they are working on revising the covenants. Gerry Stiles stated that his tree issues are still in limbo with the lawyers. The Board has done all we can do, we have no enforcement powers.
General Meeting: January 26, 2008, starting at 1:00 pm for the meeting. A potluck will start at noon and SAPOA will supply a ham.
Agenda: Plat meetings at the beginning of the meeting. By-Laws/Covenants Beach Road Report/Rules Helping Hands Information
Items will be added or deleted as necessary.
By-Law Review: Gary called the lawyer the other day and he hasn’t called back yet. The one thing the lawyer did tell Gary earlier re the by-laws is that he’s surprised we don’t have any enforcement powers, so Gary’s sure he’s going to suggest that we do put some kind of enforcement powers like fines, etc. in the by-laws. Annemarie stated that if we have enforcement powers in our by-laws that at least we can enforce whatever a mediator decides in disputes within the plats. Ben asked if we as a board want to write this into our by-laws. Gary reported that the attorney said it’s pretty common in most association’s by-laws to have enforcement powers. It’s a risky, expensive issue. Extensive discussion re this issue. Some plats want the board to be involved, some plats do not want the board to be involved. Gerry Stiles stated that there is a Code Enforcement Division within the County that may give us the “teeth” we need for our covenants/by-laws. Annemarie wanted to know if it can be as simple as putting a statement in the by-laws that SAPOA will enforce what the plat covenants say. That way it is the plats’ responsibilities to make the rules. For the plat meeting at the beginning of the general meeting, we should set some ground rules so that all of our good suggestions here are reiterated for the plats. Discussion about how plat covenants is a meeting all by itself. Jerry Cordick suggested that we set up a steering committee to research Code Enforcement and filter things out and give a presentation to the board as to what the parameters are that they would affect. The committee could find out if it’s going to be a waste of time or something that we should look into. Discussion about percentage needed to approve the covenants, other discussion about wind breaks, what constitutes them, etc. Definitions are needed and it’s up to the covenant committees to define them. Nancy Drake suggested we get an environmental impact statement done for Sunshine Acres.
Written Communication: Gary jumped ahead to written communications from members of Plats 6&7, asking the Board to put some teeth in our by-laws. They feel they are powerless.
Helping Hands: Larry Reece asked if he could bring up something before we go into detail. He is concerned about the board taking control, over-extending ourselves, liability, etc., with Helping Hands, Welcome Wagon, Neighborhood Watch. Larry thinks we have enough on our plate to handle this. Concerned that we may be over-extending ourselves. Ben doesn’t expect any decisions to come out of today’s meeting. Ben just wants to talk about what might occur. The neighborhood is already very helpful. Ben gave his vision of what Helping Hands would be. However, the problems are many; privacy, liability, inundation, etc. Ben thinks it should not be official, but unofficial, just work by word-of-mouth. Marty Tipton stated that a statement about Helping Hands could be included in the welcome letter that is sent to new members of SAPOA. If every neighbor helped just one neighbor, that would be great. Extensive discussion from members re resources, liability issues, etc. Marty Tipton suggested we ask the lawyer if there’s any liability for SAPOA, is there a clause we can put in the notices, disclaimers that SAPOA is not responsible for the volunteers helping the specific neighbor. Discussion between Larry and Ben re their differences of the Helping Hands issues. Marty reiterated that the reason we developed Helping Hands was to get neighbors away from suing neighbors to helping the neighbors. There is an easy solution; we need a disclaimer that says any help given is between the volunteer and the neighbor asking for help. Further discussion stating that something be put in the welcome letter, on the website and newsletter regarding Helping Hands promoting the idea. The Mission Statement of SAPOA is to bring the neighbors together. Marty Tipton stated that in the future when she sends a welcome letter out, that she’s going to try and hand deliver the letter in person and introduce SAPOA. Gary suggested she take another board member with her.
New Business:
Written/Oral Communication: We have already covered a couple, but Gary has one more. Woody Hill has tendered his resignation as architectural representative for Plats 6 & 7. Until a new rep is appointed, the SAPOA rep (Keith DeStefano) will represent Plats 6 & 7.
Sunshine Acres Entrance: Volunteers have cleaned up the entrance area. There is some maintenance needed there as well. Perhaps we could start a garden club in the Diamond Point area to help keep the area maintained. We need a budget to help keep the area; right now it could come out of miscellaneous. The bark and the railroad ties need to be replaced.
Deer Issues: Gary is getting complaints from people about people shooting at the deer, hitting their houses, aiming at them and it’s getting out of hand. Some people don’t like the deer in their yard and the deer are getting more domesticated as a result of being fed. Gerry Stiles reported that he has spoken to just about every agency about the wildlife issue. The deer use to be wild deer, but now they are domesticated because of people feeding them. His wife has almost been attacked by a deer on the road. He has spoken to a lawyer about the issue and it’s called reckless endangerment if a neighbor feeds a deer and encourages the deer to come around, thereby causing the deer to attack his dog or himself or his wife. He doesn’t want to sue a neighbor, but he’s being forced to if his family is getting attacked. Gary reported that he spoke with the head of Fish & Game in Olympia and they are trying to get a law passed that would make it illegal to feed any wildlife like it is in many states. Don’t mess with nature. Annemarie reported that the representatives who came to the meeting last January said that this area is perfect for deer, they like the open area, it’s a natural area for them. Gerry Stiles reported that he shoots deer in the leg with a bb gun – it’s called repelling the deer from your yard which is legal. When there are deer in the area, cougar also come into the area to feed on the deer. It’s not just a wildlife problem, it’s also a safety issue.
Liens: Annemarie reported that she wanted to get in touch with Bev Jones to see how they did the liens last time. What she needs to know is what criteria are we using to put a lien on delinquent property. How far back do we go? Two years, three years? Discussion about the procedure to use. Last time it cost $7 to put a lien on and another $7 to take the lien off, with SAPOA having the costs borne by the delinquent party. Six people have gotten intent-to-lien letters because they are three or more years in arrears. The last time liens were initiated, intent-to-lien letters did not go out, the liens were just put on the property and that irritated a lot of folks. Annemarie did a courtesy to the delinquent folks by letting them know so that perhaps they might pay up so we don’t have to apply for a lien. Nancy Drake reported that she is delinquent but she’s delinquent on purpose because she wants to see how the board is doing. Discussion about how that is not appropriate. Marty reported that some people who are in arrears have paid their dues in the last few months because they like what the board is doing.
Other Comments:
PUD: Marty Tipton reminded the board that at the general meeting in January 2007, Gary Getch said that he had spoken to PUD about putting power lines underground from Highway 101, and that Gary was told it would take $2 to $5 million dollars to do so and that we could set up a utility district at a cost of about One Million Dollars a mile. Marty reported that she learned that residents off East Sequim Bay Road have had their power lines automatically put underground. Why is PUD telling us we have to pay for it, when they automatically did it for the residents off East Sequim Bay Road? At least the trees should be removed near the power lines.
General Meeting: Annemarie asked that at the general meeting non-paying members not have the floor to make comments. Members need to be paid members to speak at the meeting. When people ask to “take the floor,” we ask for their voting card to confirm that they have paid.
Comments From Audience: Mary Nesbitt just wanted to reiterate that the board writes into the by-laws that the Board has enforcement powers. Mary also commented about the cougar issue, that it wasn’t really a bear, but the Fish & Game people felt that a cougar was responsible for the deer killings due to the way the deer were killed.
Adjournment:
Jim Wilson made a motion to adjourn. Seconded, no further discussion. Motion passes. Adjourned at 3:16 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha A. Tipton Martha A. Tipton Secretary |