Mar Cheri Community Club November 12, 2019 Mar Cheri Annual Meeting Minutes
In Attendance: 17 households were represented, which does not constitute a quorum.
The meeting was held at the 320th street library in Federal Way and was called to order by president Ken Schiewetz at 7:10 PM. Ken announced that Anne Mesick would record the minutes in place of Audrey Isaacson who was recovering from surgery. Ken asked for volunteers to form a ballot committee. Christopher Willoughby, Linda Craft and Sherry Murchison volunteered.
The minutes from the 2018 annual meeting were read. A motion for approval of the minutes was made by Richard Egusa; a second was made by Ray Kreuger. A vote was called and the minutes were approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Larry Barlow The accounts are looking o.k. Of the $48,000.00 budgeted for the year, approximately $46,400.00 was spent leaving about $1500.00 for the last month and a half of the year. There is $33,000.00 in checking and $5,000.00 in savings so we will have approximately $35,000.00 to carry over to next year. It is expected that $25,000.00 will go into the reserve account leaving $10,000.00 as an operating expense account ( since assessments do not start coming in until April).
There are three households in arrears on their annual assessments.
Architectural Report: Rod Martinez A community walk was made by Rod and Laura House( as a member of the architectural committee), and the neighborhood looks good.
Three letters of noncompliance were sent out; two neighbors responded, one did not. One long-term property issue is making great strides to compliancy and the property is looking much better. One tree issue is unresolved.
One garage door replacement, three fence replacements, one front door replacement, and one painting and roofing project were approved.
Recreation and Hospitality: Anne Mesick Welcome packets and plants were given to three new neighbors: Teresa and Anthony Harris, Gary Zukowski and Christopher Willoughby.
In May we hosted the pool cleanup party, In July we had the July 4th picnic and in August we hosted the Annual Night Out event.
Maintenance Report: Lisa Martinez Four ring cameras were installed to monitor the perimeter of the pool and the gate. The cameras do not monitor any area within the fenced pool area except the primary entry gate. A new pump and heater were installed and some of the pipes in the equipment room were replaced. The chemical feeder was repaired. Two drainage issues, on the property outside the pool fence, were fixed. Springs on the primary pool entry gate and the electronic card reader on the same gate may need replacing.
One family had a non-sanctioned party and a letter was issued concerning the infraction.
Vice President’s Report: Laura House
A by-law review, required every three years, found that no fundamental changes are needed at this time. The amount collected for the annual assessment was the only update made.
As a member of the Architectural Committee, an explanation was given, in response to a letter from a home owner, that was mailed to every household in the association. The letter stated that the sender was lied to by the Architectural Committee.
After meeting with several former residents in the neighborhood who had previously been on the Architecture Committee, it was determined that a common practice for determining one aspect of a tree height infraction, is to see if any part of the tree is higher than the ridge line of the roof. Though this is not written in the bylaws or the covenants, it was the norm. No deception was intended on the part of the committee; they were simply enforcing the norm.
President’s Report: Ken Schiewetz Stream Mitigation: Ken gave a brief history of the situation reminding us that from the onset only five percent of the area in the mitigation zone is owned by Mar Cher. The other ninety-five percent belonged first to Mr Sorenson and then to Dr. Chang. Therefore, Mar Cheri is responsible for only five percent of the cost of any settlement of the plan.
Recently a community member brought the case to the attention of the City of FederalWay which opened the case again. A meeting between officials at the City and Ken Schiewetz, Steve Freeborn and Anne Mesick took place to determine the steps necessary to meet the requirements of the city so that the case could be closed once and for all. Coming from that meeting, Mar Cheri will hire a wetland biologist, who will survey the specific items for which Doc Hansen ,from the City, needs information. The City will make an administrative review, and then issue a letter of finality. The cost for these final steps should be about $2000.00.
The City reiterated that the stream is a minor stream and a letter noting that fact is forthcoming.
In addition to the money spent on the initial study and the legal fees, the land, purchased for the good of the community as a walking path to Redondo, is lost to this cause. And, its expense, added to the total financial cost (not to mention the hours of work and the stress it has caused the community, particularly the board members who are and have worked to mitigate the effects of this unfortunate situation).
New Construction: At the meeting with the City, new construction on the hills above the community was discussed. Concern about proper drainage is a high priority for the board and the City renewed their pledge to look into the drainage and erosion protection measures at the sites.
Reserve Study: In 2017 a state law was enacted requiring condominium and home owner associations to conduct studies of their properties so owners, bound by the covenants of those properties would be protected from sudden special assessments due to unforeseen expenses. The studies are required by law every three years. Our study results came in on Wednesday: a brief overview of the findings revealed that annual dues would be rising, though the amount of the increase is yet to be determined. The board will review the results and keep the community informed on the recommendations.
In Appreciation: Board members Audrey Isaacson and Makoto Sugiuchi were thanked for the generous service to the neighborhood.
Election Results: President: Ken Schiewetz, Vice President: Laura House, Secretary: Brenda Busskohl, Treasurer: Larry Barlow, At Large: Makoto Sugiuchi, Architecture: Rod Martinez, Maintenance/ Pool: Lisa Martinez, Recreation/ Hospitality: Anne Mesick.
Laura house asked all present to consider taking a position on a committee so that we might have all positions on the committees filled. Please talk to your new neighbors and ask them to consider a position on a committee.
All business being concluded, the meeting ended at 8:05 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Anne Mesick