SCHOA BOARD MEETING MINUTES

JUNE 10, 2024

Present: Gordon Baldwin, Chick and Sandi Barcellona, Christine Dean, John and Mindy Ewing, David Hamilton, Laurie Kirschner, Tracy MacMillan, Laura Sage

The minutes from the previous meeting were approved as submitted.

• Tracy gave a treasurer’s report. All bills have been paid in full and she is accepting dues payments at this time.

• The board discussed the wet pond and the need to have it dredged later this summer. Tracy is establishing an estimated budget of $20,000 to have the pond dredged and rebuilt to its original schematics – it is necessary to keep it “as built”. The plan is to get a minimum of five quotes. Christine is handling getting quotes and has a list of multiple companies that can be contacted. Thurston County Public Works is another resource. The bids will help determine the finances to cover this necessary work. All financial considerations are being discussed, as there will be a shortfall in the budget.

• Storm drain mitigation – it was decided that the next logical step is to run the camera through the storm drain again to fully assess the decay and the urgency of the needed mitigation. Thurston County PUD has a camera, but it is currently out of commission. It is expected that it will be up and running again by the end of June or early July. Chick talked with Jim at TCPUD. They will put us on the list to do the inspection. It is going to be necessary to start building up funding for the eventual repair of the drain. Tracy suggested building a coalition of like-minded organizations (i.e. environmental advocacy groups) and even our elected Representatives to try to impress on Thurston County that this storm drain, and the eventual repair, can impact not only our neighborhood, but also nearby PUD infrastructure and the very health of Pattison Lake, and that we will be in great need of help in repairing or replacing the drain. The Board will be searching for names of influential individuals who are in charge of making crucial decisions about storm drain infrastructure, and would welcome any ideas from SC residents who might have contact with someone who could work with us.

• The Reserve Study information will hopefully be completed by the next Annual Meeting in January, 2025, if not before. This is required by the State of Washington to insure all HOAs have enough in their budgets to cover the infrastructure in their neighborhoods, provide for emergencies, and show fiscal health. The Reserve Study plan will need to include information for determining the financial implications for mitigation plans for the storm drain, which is going to be expensive.

• New Business – Gordon learned from the Thurston County HOA Academy that any mortgage company or other corporation can request hard copies of ALL past SCHOA minutes, going back decades. Though this is rare, this would require the SCHOA to copy literally thousands and thousands of pages of past documents, costing the SCHOA multiple thousands of dollars. The Academy recommended protecting the SCHOA by enacting a new rule that would place the financial burden on the company/individual requesting the hard copies. To that end, the following new rule was proposed:

Any entity, whether individual, company or corporation, requesting hard copies of any documents, minutes or records, past or current, from SCHOA, for any reason, must procure these documents at their own expense, and will be charged for any printed reproductions by the SCHOA. The charge will be one dollar ($1.00) per page with the first five (5) pages free.

The new rule was so moved by Chick Barcellona and seconded by Christine Dean. A voice vote in favor of the new rule was unanimous.

• David raised the problem of a couple of street lights on 68^th Loop being obstructed by trees, reducing their effectiveness. This could create a safety issue. It was confirmed that it is the responsibility of individual homeowners to prune their trees so that the lights are unobstructed. The homeowners will be notified.

The next SCHOA board meeting will take place on July 22, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. The Ewings, at 6718 Mirror Ct., have offered to host all future meetings at their house to provide consistency for anyone who would like to attend.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:37 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Mindy Ewing, Secretary, on June 15, 2024