2023 Annual Homeowners Meeting

Date

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Time

7:00pm- 8:30pm

Location

Zoom

Minutes

Board members present: Jordan Moore (President), Brynn Graham (Secretary), and Joel & Susan Mott (co-Treasurer).

Attendees: 14 homeowners were in attendance via Zoom.

The meeting was called to order at 7:08 p.m.

Old Business

Review of the 2023 Budget: Susan reviewed the 2023 budget, identifying changes from the last board meeting in February 2023.

This included:

• Greg (a homeowner who has maintained the HOA open areas for years at a significantly discounted rate), finished his duties in April. Previously he said he would end on March 1st, but notified the board he would stay on two additional months. By doing the maintenance from January through April 2023, he saved the HOA significant money. This savings allowed the board to fund additional landscape work through Miguel, who the board previously approved to handle maintenance of open areas. Miguel’s company will add weeding the sidewalk strips to its list of areas to maintain within the HOA. This work is approved through the end of 2023.
• Paid insurance $1386, Greg Wolfe $210 (Jan-Mar final payment), and Alison Jeffers $63 (refund duplicate dues payment). Deposited Alison’s duplicate $63 dues payment. Bank balance is $11,699.45 - $1,596 = $10,103.45.

Riding lawn mower: The board postponed any discussion about what to do with the HOA-owned riding lawn mower. Greg previously stored the lawnmower as a courtesy to the HOA because he used it to maintain the open areas. Now that he is no longer doing this work and the board hired a landscape company to do the maintenance work, the board will need to decide what to do with it. Susan and Joel will lead the research/review of options to determine how to proceed and will report back to the board. Residents are invited to join the conversation.

New Business

Treasurer’s Report

Susan reviewed the current balance of the HOA budget and expenditures since the last meeting.

The annual report will be sent soon to the state, as required by law. Susan took a moment to thank former board Treasurer Tom Gonzalez for his work in the Treasurer role for such a long time and the organization he left behind for the new Treasurer position to inherit.

A question was raised about when the backflow testing would be done in the neighborhood by the BAT Lady. It was confirmed that testing will occur May 23, 2023. The board does not facilitate this, but acts as a pass-through to pay the BAT Lady for the inspections because she offered a discounted rate to the neighborhood.

Board elections

Brynn introduced the election process, including the stipulations that each position serves a one-year term, per the HOA bylaws, unless someone needs to stay on for two years to maintain continuity of the board. Jordan read a description of each role and their responsibilities.

The board of directors slate was introduced. It included:

• President: Jordan
• Secretary: Brynn
• Treasurer: Steven Hopkins was nominated by Eddie Iziumizaki.

An anonymous vote was conducted via a poll through Zoom. Each person was unanimously voted into their position.

The slate for the Architectural Control Committee was introduced. A brief explainer of what the ACC does followed. The floor opened to nominations. Susan Mott had previously nominated Joel Mott via email.

ACC slate:

• Shaun Floersch
• Joel Mott

An anonymous vote was conducted via a poll through Zoom. Each person was unanimously voted into their position.

Dues Survey Results

The board sent out via email a survey for all households to answer. The purpose of the survey was to gauge membership willingness to increase dues, and by how much. Surveys were sent to 57 owners; 43 responded by the meeting Thursday night. The results of the survey were reviewed at the meeting.

A resident asked what the process was to increase dues. Jordan outlined at high-level the process and requirements detailed in the HOA bylaws.

Landscape Committee Report

Susan provided an update on the Landscape Committee’s recent work party from March. The group of eight volunteers removed invasive blackberry roots and ivy, resulting in three runs to the dump to dispose of the waste.

Landscape Committee members expressed concern about the amount of work only a small number of aging volunteers are doing to maintain the HOA open areas. Susan was pleased to report to the committee that the board’s decision to hire a landscaper through 2023 to perform this routine maintenance addressed these concerns. The decision to hire a professional crew also means consistent maintenance of the sidewalk strips, instead of volunteers having to step up when it gets overgrown.

• Work parties: The next work party is Saturday, June 3 from 9 am to noon. A chipper will be rented to transform downed limbs and debris from HOA-owned open areas into wood chips to be used throughout open spaces to keep weeds at bay. The Landscape Committee will meet May 13 at 9 am to gather these downed limbs so that on June 3 the piles are ready to go and time can be spent chipping instead of gathering. If necessary, the committee will also meet Saturday, May 27. Volunteers are welcome and needed to help. Meet at the corner of 38th Street and Briarwood Lane at the “lower” sign.
• Native plants: The committee will research the cost and feasibility of planting native plants around the two entrances to the neighborhood where the Heronwood signs are. A proposal will be presented to the board for decision. Currently no more plants will be added around the signs, due to lack of water/irrigation to keep them healthy during the hot, dry months. The committee has long-range plans to review a proposal to add hardscaping around the signs, which would require minimal on-going maintenance compared to plants.
• Meeting frequency: The Landscape Committee tries to meet quarterly, one to two weeks before the scheduled board meeting. Dates are on the website. The board will try to send out communication before those meetings to inform residents and invite them to attend and get involved.

Neighborhood Picnic

Discussion ensued about this year’s neighborhood picnic at the pond area. Historically it has occurred in the summer and residents bring potluck style dishes and someone brings a barbecue to cook food. It was decided the board will send a survey to residents with date ranges to see when people are most available to attend. From that a date will be set and shared with HOA members. The board is looking for volunteers to help plan this year’s event.

Neighbor Forum

The floor was opened for neighbors to bring up any items of interest for discussion. Each person had three minutes to speak.

Brynn thanked Susan and Joel for their hard work as co-Treasurer over the last year. They established a budget process that identifies the need for a reserve fund for unexpected expenses and forecasted dues increases to keep up with cost of living and inflation costs.

Howard requested the board send communication to all HOA members reminding them that fireworks are banned in the city of Gig Harbor. He noted if it’s hot and dry and something catches fire it could be very dangerous for the entire neighborhood. The board agreed to send out an email with this notification.

The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m.