The first Marymoor Trails Board of Directors meeting of 2023 convened on Monday January 23, 2023 at 6:00PM via Zoom. Attending: Michael Niksa, President; Josh Gibson, Treasurer; Van Chesnutt, Landscape; Linda O’Hara, Secretary; Tim Hollingshead, Morris Management.

Annual Meeting of Homeowners

The Annual Meeting of Marymoor Trails Homeowners is scheduled for Monday March 23, 2023 at 6:00PM. Due to continuing Covid precautions, we will meet via Zoom. We encourage all homeowners to attend. If you are unable to attend but wish to have your presence legally counted toward a quorum, you can designate a neighbor as your proxy to attend on your behalf and vote for you. Please watch your mailbox for important information from Morris Management regarding this meeting to all homeowners.

Homeowners’ Forum

Three homeowners, from Bldgs. I, J and K attended Homeowners Forum. Some had issues to bring to the attention of the board; others wanted to listen and stay up to date on community business.

Owner in Bldg. K has plants and trees that are overgrown. Van Chesnutt, Landscape, asked the resident to send him a picture of the problem areas. It is important that this be done quickly – on January 30^th, Davey Tree is coming out to do major tree trimming and pruning on the property.

Owner in Bldg. J reports that some time ago someone, in this case a renter, put a cat door through the outside wall of the unit into the garage. When you’re walking up the walkway just before the gas meter on the left, a very small cat door was put in the outside wall of the unit. The owner will arrange for photos to be taken of the area in question.  The Board is discussing owner responsibility vs Association responsibility.

Treasurer’s Report

Josh Gibson, Treasurer, reports that due to snow, ice and windstorms in late 2022, some major landscaping and maintenance work was postponed. This means budgeted expenses were not reflected in 2022, and will show up as unbudgeted overages in 2023, simply due to the calendar year cutoff for accounting. Our total maintenance budget for 2022 was $137,000 and we only spent $115,000. These things will crop up 2023 and we will be over budget in 2023.  We have no idea what our insurance renewal in mid-2023 will look like.

Maintenance Update

Michael Niksa reports no maintenance work is being done at this time, as it is winter. Activity will pick up dramatically in the spring.

Buildings Update

Bldg. B Foundation — Jehan Bharucha, our Project Manager from Improcon, persistently keeps in touch with City of Redmond for permits to begin work on Bldg. B. The Board is extremely frustrated with these delays. City of Redmond is now requiring that we have someone come out and do work on trees near Bldg. B, to address and protect the slope around the building and prevent soil runoff. The overview: Even if we had permits in hand right now, the City of Redmond would not allow us to begin work until April – they will not allow work during the wet season due to soil runoff. We anticipate having permits in hand by April 1^st, with funding on hand to begin work from the special assessment due March 15^th.

Bldg. J Fire Damage – Tim Hollingshead reports that it is his understanding that we have all necessary permits in hand and can proceed. A resident in Bldg. J reports he got mail from Ryan at Morris Management, who is overseeing the whole repair. Ryan reported that everything was submitted back to City of Redmond for approval a few days before this Board meeting. Ryan reports that all parties and city agencies are in agreement on the scope of work and necessary steps.  Everyone met at the site of the fire, all have agreed in principle, final permits should be in hand relatively soon with work beginning as soon as possible. Again, the Board expressed their frustration with the slow pace of approvals and permits from City of Redmond. We are NOT going to voice our displeasure until AFTER the work is completed.  At this point, if we anger the City of Redmond, they could command we instantly post “24-hour fire watch”, someone paid around the clock to sit outside the burned unit and watch. This would bankrupt us immediately.

Bldg. K Fire Panel – The City of Redmond is requiring us to put a new fire panel on Bldg. K.  When the units were constructed, Bldgs. I, J and K were all covered together. Fire panels in I and J are relatively new and working, but K is not. A new fire panel will be installed in K.  Michael has approved “whatever it takes” to get all three buildings with working panels. The Board notes that City of Redmond is not being very nice about it, and TYCO does not move very fast. We were able to get TYCO on site expedited, and they have ordered the panel. Panels are special ordered; they are not in stock somewhere. Tim notes we are moving in the right direction and Tim does not want to make waves.

Landscape Update

Van Chesnutt, Landscape, reports that Davey Tree arborists will be onsite Monday January 30 through Wednesday February 1 to do major tree work on the property. This will include substantial pruning on many trees around Marymoor Trails, as well as specific high-level tree pruning of the large evergreen trees across from Bldg. C. We have warned all residents of this work and posted signs at the parking area beneath these trees, to avoid scratches and damage to cars during this work.

Van reports there was a problem with a tree limb on the property at the south end of the property, near building F, falling on the next property down, and the landscape company was out the next day and took care of it. We have really good landscaping people.

Van reports this most likely will be his last Board meeting – he is moving to the East Coast. We have valued Van’s knowledge and contributions tremendously. He has done an excellent job with Landscaping over many years. We thank Van and wish him well in his new home. We will put out a call for a new Board member at the Annual Meeting, with a specific eye to someone who can manage Landscape.

Management Report

Tim reports Morris Management has sent out the notices for the new special assessment, due March 15, 2023. 

Our next meeting is the Annual Meeting of Homeowners, on Monday March 20, 2023 at 6:00PM via Zoom. We will ask for volunteers to join our Board. There will be an executive session Board Meeting at the conclusion of the Annual Meeting.