These are not official Board Minutes of March 22, 2018 meeting but rather my random thoughts after that gathering.
Board Members Present: Bradley, Trumper, Nuesca and Dittloff
Board Members Absent: Obie, Luke, Steiner
During the Open Forum the Board heard from a number of homeowners requesting that the recently assessed late charge be waived. The Board also heard from several members asking that several fines be rescinded. One member also claimed that the Association’s CCR’s were not properly put in place in the 1990’s.
The Board later decided that the initial Welcome Letter with the attached invoice for annual assessments/dues was confusing to some of the members. It was noted that nearly 55% of the membership understood the mailing and sent their payments in on time. All members of the Community were sent the Welcome Letter with the invoice. None of the letters were returned as undeliverable. The first late notice was sent at the end of February. The Board decided to wave the late fees less $10 handling for those that have filed a VIS Account Adjustment Form. However, there will not be any waiver for anyone who has not paid prior to receiving a second notice which will be sent out by the end of March. At the time of the meeting approximately one third of the members still had not paid their 2018 dues.
The Architectural Control Committee reported that it is starting to receive many ACC Applications through VIS and they are working hard to turn those applications around in as short of time as possible, as they do not want to hold up construction. Everyone was reminded that any work, other that routine maintenance, that could change the appearance of the lot and house require an ACC Application be submitted to VIS. That application is available on the website that you are now looking at. Download now.
The Enforcement/Compliance Committee reported many owners are already sprucing up their yards and making the area look great. There are still a few parking issues with owners parking more vehicles on their approved adjacent parking strip than is allowed under the CCR’s. Only one vehicle can be parked on an approved adjacent parking area and only one vehicle that is not an RV, construction equipment or utility trailer can be parked in an approved front yard cut out.
The Roads and Signs Committee reported that it is reviewing the catch basin on West Sarazen that was reported as needing work. The Committee along with VIS and a contractor are actively working on completing the provision of new street signs at CCCCE. The Committee and its contractor will also start the annual cleaning of the mailboxes in the near future. Street cleaning was also discussed and we will not be using the same contractor as we did last year, as their work was unsatisfactory. We may also try to do the cleaning a little later in May, this year, so that the weather is more stable. The Committee would also like to do a late Autumn sweeping, as well, if budget constraints allow.
The Welcome Committee did not meet and has not gone forward to greet and meet new members. I will check with the Chair to see if we can start this process as the Board feels that a personal touch is how we build a community.
The Ad Hoc CCR & Bylaw Committee will meet on April 11th as we have received the near final review of those new documents from our Attorney. The plan is still to get a DRAFT of those documents to the membership and then have open discussions about them gathering input from the and then presenting those documents at our annual General Membership Meeting for consideration in November.
Treasurer’s Report stated that we are doing well in tracking our budget but still one-third of the members have not paid their annual assessments/dues. The Treasurer and the President met with the Accounting Department of VIS and we will in the future see my information, as we are still transitioning from Vantage. A complete audit of the Association’s 2017 financials, which is required by State of Washington Law, is now being conducted by our new audit firm, Cagianut and Company, CPA.
VIS pointed out that the Association’s current insurance policy that Vantage recommended was woefully inadequate. The Board moved to drop that insurance company and go with American Family Insurance as the coverage was far superior and at about the same cost. VIS was authorized to take care of all of these matters on behalf of the Association.
The Board also authorized VIS to digitize all of the old paper records which are now in about three large boxes.
CCGCE HOA President Larry Dittloff shares his notes from the monthly board of trustee’s meetings. This report is not official, but rather Larry’s random thoughts after the gathering.
