Cherry Hill Farm Homeowners Association Meeting Minutes

Date: January 4th, 2007
Time: 7-9Pm
Location: Bothell Firehouse (10726 Beardslee Blvd)
Attendance: Mel Mierisch (President), Mike Gilmore (Vice President), Orley Krogh (Landscaping), Sandy Portulano, Pat Sheehan, Janice Shreve, Harold Shreve, Robin Leone, Tris Samberg, Mike Stall (Secretary), Brian Hill (Treasurer)

Meeting started at 7:05 PM

Old Business

1. ACC Applications

Mel handed Mike Stall a folder of previous ACC applications, which Mike should add to the existing archive of ACC apps. Mike gave a quick summary of the old documents that have been passed down from former CHF secretaries. The documents consisted of three large 3-ring binders and a box, and contained old meeting notes from back to ’95, letters, receipts, budget documents, fliers, and other miscellaneous documents.

Tris Samberg’s ACC application was approved in October 2006 via email.
Mel asked if anybody knew where Kevin Brown lived, so that he could be contacted regarding an outstanding ACC application. Robin said she had his phone number at home.

2. Past Dues

The board recognized that the power outage in early December from wind storms may have caused people to be late with their homeowner’s dues.Four homeowners have not yet paid the 2006-2007 dues. Mike Gilmore sent out reminder letters to the homeowners who have not yet paid dues in December 2006.
Motion:
Mel motioned to extend the late-dues grace period till the endof January.
Mike Gilmore seconded.
Board unanimously approved (5-0).

3. Annual Budget (Brian Hill, Melody Mierisch)
In the last 4 years, there has been a $200-$8000 dollar surplus with respect to incoming dues and the outlay of bills.

Harold mentioned that the $4000 from selling property to GTE phone company was designated to be set aside in a reserve fund. Mike noted that he had documentation on the GTE transaction in the CHF archives.

Mel discussed management companies and said that although there were many companies for condos, there was only 1 company for Homeowners Associations. Harold mentioned several failures of the board to give proper notification of meetings, specifically giving only a two day notice of the Jan 4th meeting, and the late notice regarding the Rusu development; hegave this as evidence for the need of a management company.

Tris Samberg said that we don’t need a management company and that it would flush money down the drain.Mel stated that a management company would be very costly. Tris requested a vote to end the discussion about a management company.

Motion:
Mel motioned to end the discussion about whether the board should employee a management company to take over some board responsibilities.
Orley seconded the motion.
Board voted unanimously to not employ a management company.

Motion:
Mel motioned that the board not change the amount of dues.
Brian seconded.
Board voted unanimously 5-0 to keep dues unchanged.

4. Usage of dues.
The board received an email with the opinion that expenditures on things like welcome baskets, Easter egg hunt, decorating contents, summer BBQ, etc, were not appropriate expenditures by the board.
Mel asked if anybody present shared those view.

Sandy said “it [these events]was one of the nice things about the neighborhood”. Tris said that the picnic was “essential” for building community and meeting neighbors. Tris noted that is was a small amount of money spent. Mike Gilmore said that the above expenses totaled less than the money of a single tree that the complaining homeowner requested and was denied. Mel stated that holding these events made homeowners familiar with other homeowners and aware of potential nefarious activities by people not living in the neighborhood.
Mike Stall said that it was valuable that the board was excluded from these prize events because it voided any conflict of interests or potential embezzlementin the board operation.
An informal poll was taken of homeowners present, and there was unanimous (11 people) agreement that these expenditures benefited the whole community and that the board should continue it. The homeowner that originated the complaint was not present.

5. Investment of funds.
Brian said that if Harold’s comments about the $4k being in a reserve fund were accurate, then the board should definitely split off the $4k into a separate investment.
Pat said that he was just at the bank and it was offering 3.5%-4.0% on liquid investments. Mike G. said that Capital I online banking and Ing have good rates.

6. Entrance signs.

The painter took the three CHF entrance signs off, and the board coordinated having the monuments pressure washed while the signs were off. Orley said that the pressure washer agreed to do the work immediately if he was paid immediately. Orley paid out of his pocket. Brian reimbursed Orley $212.
Tris said the signs looked very nice. Mel noted that the board had received several emails stating the signs looked good.

The total cost for renewing the signs was $1031.28, which was in the ballpark of the board’s original expectation of about $900 (without tax).

7. Gift baskets.
List of what is included in welcome gift baskets and where to get them was documented and added to the CHF Board folder.

8. Neighborhood watch program.

Mike commented that it appeared there used to be a neighborhood watch program in the neighborhood before. He observed a Watch Sign at 12333NE 169thStreet near the 124th entrance. There was also a post-it note in a box of CHF archives that said “Officer Randy Cole, Block Watch of Bothell, 402-3409”. Mike speculated that there may have been a program before but that it died out. The discussion will be continued in future meetings.

9. Traffic control

Mike S. noted previously via email that the board had investigated installing speed bumps in the past. Orley reported that he didn’t have much response fromthe city so far. Harold reported that he recalled the board tried this twice before: once in the beginning, and once about 6 years ago.

Mike Stall wrote in an email to the board prior to the meeting stating that the subject was mentioned in the June and September 1997 and March 1998 meeting minutes. Fifty-one percent of the homeowners had agreed to the speed bump installation at that time. The issue fell between the cracks at subsequent meetings

Mel took an informal survey to ask who was in favor of adding a speed bump on NE 169th Street.Homeowners present (11) were unanimously in favor.

Tris noted that the city may charge the Board to install the speed bumps.

Orley said he’s only seen a Bothell police officer in the neighborhood once in the last 1.5 years. Mike commented that he’s seen many officers, particularly along 122nd Ave NE.

Harold suggested looking into accident records or pedestrian complaints as justification toadd the speed bumps -changing the request from an emotional to a safety issue.

6. Multiple family homes.

Mel said that she’s reviewed this issue in depth and discussed it with the attorney; the board does not currently have a strong case.

- Bothell law says that the definition of a“family”means people living in a house do not have to be related. For example, an unmarried couple is a family. One regulation states that up to 8 unrelated people can live in a house.
- A newer law allows occupancy to be determined by the square footage of the house.

The house in question is about 2880 square feet. Mel said that according to the formula, the house would allow ~14 people. The CHF CC&Rs are very weak.The CC&R’s do not have definitions, especially of family.

It was noted that the excessive number of cars on the street is the big problem. However, there are no City of Bothell regulations or mention in the CC&Rs limiting the number of cars that can be parked on the street.

There may be an issue with the number of business vehicles parked on the property and that the associated. business license is registered at that address. The CC&Rs stipulate that homes in the neighborhood may not be used for a business.

Tris said that the board would be fighting an uphill battle since the CC&Rs are weak. Mike Stall noted that if the board was fighting for eviction, and the stakes would be very high; the board would obviously get a lot of resistance. Tris said the attorney may have a suggestion for tactfully dealing with the high concentration of cars.

Janice Shreve asked how to prevent this from occurring in the future. Tris said the only way was to write better CC&Rs, however amending the CC&Rs requires 2/3 of homeowners to approve it, which is a difficult to do.

Mel proposed:
- contact the attorney for his advice about the above matters, allowing a maximum of 2 hours (for billing purposes).
Mike said that there were two key issues here: 1) dealing with the current situation; 2) preventing future violations.
Tris suggested possible CC&R changes could be: limiting number of cars, defining family, preventing garage conversions.

Tris noted this situation would likely be more common with rising house prices. Tris brought up the garage conversion to accommodate another multi-family adult-family home in the neighborhood (next to Mike S. house); no ACC form was submitted for this change. Tris noted that the attorney stated that since the change was not external, the CC&Rs did not cover it. No ACC app was necessary.

Harold mentioned Article 5 Section 5, which uses the term “immediate family” should be applicable to the multi-family home. Tris said that the term was still just as ambiguous as “family”.

Mel suggested looking over the CC&Rs to look for other words that may need strict definitions.

Motion:
Mel motioned to contact the attorney about modifying the CC&Rs to prevent future issues for 2 hours.
Robin requested an amendment be added to the CC&Rs regarding the number of cars on the street.
Mike Stall seconds the motion.
Board unanimous approved 5-0.

8. Halloween / Christmas decorating contest.
Kudos to Mike Gilmore for doing most of the preparation for the Halloween treats and the associated newsletter.

Mike Gilmore announced the winners of the decorating contest, which were decided by email discussion amongst the Board :

Tie for 1st:12105 NE 168th Pl., 12220 NE 169th St.
Tie for 3rd: 16427 122nd Pl NE , 12222 NE 169th Pl
Tie for 5th:16612 122nd Ave NE, 12103 NE 168th Pl

Each 1st place won a $40 gift certificates to Home Depot.
Each 3rd place won a $20 gift certificates to Molbak's.
Each 5th place won a $10 gift certificates to Target.
Total prize expenditure was 2*40+2*20+2*10 = $140. Board members were excluded from winning.
Honorable mentions (no gift certificate, but mention in newsletter and on website):

16417 122CtNE
16815 122nd AveNE
16821 122nd AveNE
12108 NE 168th Place

9. Pass the Baton material

Mel proposed punting this to the next meeting based on time.

New business

1. Approve Sep 28th 2006 Minutes.
Mel motioned to approve.
Mike Gilmore seconded.
Board unanimously approved 5-0.
2. Treasurer’s report

Brian Hill distributed the treasurer report. Overall total assets were $15,938.43.
Mike Gilmore said the trees were $1632 total for 4 trees.

3. Irrigation report:

Mike Gilmore reported that backflow testing was done and that the CHF irrigation system was winterized. The water has been turned off.

4. Landscaping report.

Mel noticed storm debris on the roads and cul-de-sacs. There were record wind storms in Seattle in mid December.Mike Gilmore suggested cleaning it ourselves since we have not decided on an annual landscaping firm; to wait for the firm to do the work would take too long. Mike Stall noted that there were work crews for landscaping tasks in the past.

Mike Gilmore sent out a bid and reported on getting a responses:
- JC Yard services was ambiguous about the cost.
- HighridgeCorporation said that a bid would be forthcoming after they checked out the property.
- In-Harmony replied and said this was outside their scope of work.

The board decided that they needed at least five bids prior to picking a landscaping firm. The firm must be able to reply and be contacted via email.

5. New ACC forms.
Brian Hill reported no new ACC apps in the mailbox.
Mel reported approval of the app,received via email after the September 2006 meeting, for a hottub at 16906 123rdPlace NE.

6. Rusu PUD

A developer is proposing to build 7 homes in lots 44 and 45 of the CHF subdivision. The house with the adult family home will still be present, but the rest of the land will be subdivided into houses. It is unknown whether the house will act as an adult-family home.

Mel reviewed the reportssubmitted to the City of Bothell, they were filled with errors. The contractor’s name was not on the copies of pages from the report. The number of errorsin the report may be indicative of the quality of the engineering study. Mel also got a CD that was just an audio recording of a meeting.

Mike Stall emailed the homeowners about the development and a notice was posted on the CHF website on December 13th, 2006. There have been many emails going back and forth between homeowners and the city regarding the Rusu development. Mel had over 18 pages of emails.

The biggest homeowner concerns appear to be:

Traffic.
Drainage.

Harold said that the lot being subdivided is part of the original CHF lot (lots 44 and 45). However, the CC&Rs exempt lots 44 & 45. According to the CHF plat, CHF is subject to CC&Rs of two other neighborhood plats.

Mel reported that the sequence of events for the City of Bothell approving the Rusu PUD is:

“Preliminary Notice and Comments period”, 21 days, ended December 13th
Planner gets time to review comments.
SEPA Decision. Mel guesses might be in mid-February.
Another 21-day comment period.
Public threshold determination
Another 21-day comment period.
Staff has 21-days to review.
Open public hearing. ETA in May or June ’07.

Mel said the homeowners had provided many comments to the board during this window. Susan Moore in particular wrote an excellent letter. With respect to the sequence of events listed above, CHF will have several comment periods to submit additional comments.

Mel described the current proposed drainage plan presented in the documents. The drainage to the north would be diverted to storm sewers and a stormwater detention pond. The eastern drainageis to be controlled by raingardens (plants with high water absorption properties). The report did not show the storm drain system installed in the NGPA west of CHF lots (16720, 16726, 16732 122nd Place NE ), where the eastern drainage would flow. The proposed CC&Rs for the new development do not mention the upkeep of these rain gardens. The City of Bothell noted that the system may not have been shown because it might not be able to handle the stormwater flow capacity from the Rusu PUD.

Mel did not recall how the drainage to the west was to be controlled. Harold mentioned that the French drains installed by the CHF builder between the westernmost section of the Rusu property and the CHF lots (16608, 16610, and 16612 122nd Ave NE ) was damaged by the previous builder and not repaired; therefore, the French drains would not prevent flooding from the Rusu property.

Harold commented that Bothell and KingCounty are looking for additional tax bases. Keeping this in regard, stopping the Rusu PUD is unlikely.

7. Loose Dog

There have been complaints about a loose dog “Wolfie” that lives at the adult family home. Mel had a discussion with the family about the dog. Wolfie hasn’t been spotted recently. The issue is dismissed.
8. Newsletter

Mel proposed the board send suggestions for the newsletter to Mike G. via email.

Next meeting: March 1st 2007.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00.

Action items:

Mike S. to compile electronic copies of ACC apps. Mel to give Mike S. copies of electronic apps she has.
Mel to call Robin Leone to get Kevin’s phone number. Find out where Kevin Brown lives.
Mike: find the documentation about GTE phone transfer and $4k and give to Brian Hill.
Board will continue to look for a good investment opportunity via email. If board members can suggest a good investment to the rest of the board by January 24, 2007, email the suggestion to the rest of the Board.
Mel will compile the suggestions into a spreadsheet. The board will vote on the best investment the last week of January.
Brian will invest the $4K and potentially a portion of the rest of the monies in the beginning of February, if not before.
Mike S. will look into scheduling a police officer to discuss the neighborhood watch program during the AGM.
Orley will continue to investigate speed bumps.
Orley get on email.