Dear Trickle Creek Neighbors, January 16, 2015

Dear Trickle Creek Neighbors, January 16, 2015

I would like to introduce myself as the new Trickle Creek Community Association president. My name is Mike Stawicki. I live on 3947 Trickle Creek Blvd. with my wife Sara and our two daughters Hanna, 9 and Ania, 7. We have been living in the neighborhood since the summer of 2007. Over the years, we have seen many good neighbors come and go but we have seen the neighborhood stay a great community and a wonderful place to raise our kids.

As the new president, I would like to first thank Paul and the other officers for their service over the past few years. I feel that our neighborhood has done a great job in maintaining the quality and value of the neighborhood while adhering to the CCRs without intrusion or constant monitoring. It is important that you take a moment to review the CCRs if you haven’t done so in a while to familiarize yourself with the policies and rules. You should have received a copy when you bought your house or they can be viewed on the TCCA website: http://tcca.typepad.com/ I do not look at the position of the board as a policing group but instead a resource for the neighborhood. The TCCA is a requirement of county regulations, not an option. The TCCA collects yearly dues to maintain the landscape of the neighborhood, the maintenance of the retention pond, maintenance of the public areas, administration and to pay for the street lights. While there are funds on account for the neighborhood, these are for unexpected expenses such as fallen public fences or emergency snow removal, no one is profiting from dues, just the neighborhood. It was voted in the last meeting that the dues will remain the same the upcoming year, $150. You should plan to see that notice coming soon. We do have some neighbors that have not paid dues in the past. They may be surprised to find that there is a lien placed on their house and will be responsible for past due amounts when they try to sell their house. This has been done to keep everyone responsible for the neighborhood.

The possible annexation of our neighborhood into the Bellingham city limits is the greatest issue we are facing in the near future. At this time, I personally do not know what would be best for the neighborhood. There are advantages and disadvantages to both sides. I do know that the property owner of the two lots at the entrance of the neighborhood is the person petitioning for the annexation. He has something to gain from it although, we may benefit from development of those lots as well. However, this may open the possibility of future development in the DNR land. When the neighborhood was developed, there were certain ordinances that the developer had agreed to. Here is information provided by our neighbor Sandra Alfers who has done some research:

"I found the "No Protest" declaration in our title materials. It's buried in Ordinance 10725 "an ordinance relating to utility service extensions, pursuant to municipal code chapter 15.36 and providing for the annexation of King property off the Mt. Baker Highway, to the city's water and sewer service zone as extension no. 232 pursuant to certain terms and conditions more particularly described herein." The ordinance dates back to 1996. Under section 3, "Terms to be included within Contract", it states the following: "1. At the time of obtaining a permit for connection to the sanitary sewer, the applicant must execute a no protest annexation agreement. This agreement shall run with the land is therefore, binding on the applicant and its successors in interest in the property."

There is another document, in which "No Protest" is brought up, and this is in the "Agreement for Utility Service Zone Extension" between the City and Deitrich Construction, the developer of Trickle Creek. This document dates back to 2002. "Point 4: Annexation - The Applicant (DEITRICH) understands that the city contemplates annexing the property served herein.

Accordingly, it agrees that it will sign any and all notices, petitions and other documents requested at any time by the City leading to the annexation of the property to the City of Bellingham, and it will not oppose and will participate in any such annexation proceedings. In the event that annexation is by a method other than petition, the Applicant waives any protest of such annexation."

With this said, I am not sure what all our options are. In the coming days, I plan to go to the City Planning office to get some clarification. If I find any new information, I will post it on the website.

One last thing, I would like to put together a list of services/businesses that our neighbors offer such as financial planners, realtors, salon owners, candle distributors or even pet sitters. Once the list is compiled we will send it out and post it on the website. If you would like to be included, please email me your name, business name, type of service, phone number, website and any other information you would like to include by the end of January. Let’s support our neighbors!

Please feel free to contact me via email or call:

Phone: 393-4854

Email:

Thank you,

Mike Stawicki