Marymoor Trails
Board of Directors Meeting
January 10, 2022

The Zoom meeting was called to order by Tim Hollingshead at 6:00PM. Attending: Michael Niksa, President; Josh Gibson, Treasurer; Van Chesnutt, Landscape; Linda O’Hara, Secretary; and Tim Hollingshead, Morris Management. Special guest: Project Manager Jehan Bharucha, Improcon.

Annual Meeting of Homeowners

Our next meeting is the Annual Meeting of Homeowners on Monday February 7, 2022, at 6:30PM via Zoom. Reports will be given by Board members on buildings, finances, maintenance, and landscape. There will be an important discussion of critical issues. The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for all homeowners to ask questions. Ordinarily we enjoy meeting in person at Morris Management in Bellevue. This year, due to the persistence of omicron variant Covid-19, we will once again meet via Zoom. Please take time to attend this important discussion.

Homeowners’ Forum

No homeowners elected to attend, so we proceeded directly to buildings update.

Buildings

• Well before the Covid pandemic, we were advised of cracks appearing in the basement floor of B-108 along with some wall cracks as well. At the time, the suspected cause was settling of the unit’s foundation and it was also unknown whether the issue was progressing or not.
• We monitored Bldg. B for a couple of years with detailed engineering measurements at regular intervals. And, for a while the measurements showed extremely minimal changes.
• At one point a camera inspection under the garage and basement floor of the unit showed open space where there should be solid earth or gravel. It was and is unclear if this was due to poor construction by Schneider Homes (the builder of our complex) or earth settling over 30 years.
• Plastic expanding foam was pumped under B-108 basement floor to stabilize and hopefully prevent further cracking.
• In 2021, the ongoing monitoring of showed an increase in the settling rate. The root cause of the settling seems to be the poor soil conditions under the building.
• A detailed engineering plan was initiated/developed and permits filed with the City of Redmond to address building settling, foundation cracking, and deck footings supports.
• Recently, we have received reports of potential foundation related issues from B107. Investigations are underway.
• The recommended solution for the building B issues is pin piling the foundation to the bedrock beneath the building. This will be expensive and will require a special assessment.
  

Roofs

• Previous minutes reported some roofing issues with buildings E and M. These issues gave us cause to investigate the status of all the roofs in the complex. The findings were that while there were some things that could be addressed, the wear and tear was generally not any more than would be expected. (The roofs were replaced in 2008 or 2009.)
• Our investigation into costs for repairing the issues found in buildings E and M initially came in between $16,000 and $20,000 per building (from Tacoma Roofing) to fix only the areas in question. It was suggested that we investigate re-roofing all of buildings E and M completely to take advantage of economies of scale. The bids that we received were exorbitant: in excess of $200,000 per building. As such, the board decided that we will make only the repairs necessary. 
• The bids received for the re-roofing of the two buildings has called into question the reserves for roofing that we have defined in our reserve study. One of the reasons the bids came in so high was that they included premium materials. Another concern that affects our planning is escalating labor and materials cost that is expected to continue over the next couple of years.
  

Siding & Windows

• Some complexes like ours have undertaken projects to redo the exterior siding on their buildings, all at once. The approach we have taken here at Marymoor Trails is to keep up with siding replacement as part of our ongoing building maintenance. At present, there are no plans for a major re-siding project. That said, in the future, if we were to do this, we would likely opt for cement siding that does not require any maintenance. If we ever do a siding re-clad, we have been advised that this would be the time to replace windows.
• Homeowners who want to have their windows replaced prior to this eventuality, as several homeowners have done, will have this done at their own expense. (This activity requires Board approval.) Note that owners who replace their own windows cannot be exempted from the future costs of a full siding/window project per our founding documents.
  

Board Considerations

• The Board is doing all it can to maintain the property and prevent special assessments and not have multiple assessments. It realizes that we are not a Bentley or McLaren community and cannot tolerate doing high-end, or the max of everything that could be done. Yet at the same time, if we want to keep the value of the property, we need to address all appropriate maintenance and deterioration issues.
• The Board is also aware that the upcoming projects take a while to plan and that the permitting process with the City of Redmond is a time-consuming and expensive process, so when we do this, it is best to get it right the first time.

These are the things we need to talk about at the Annual Meeting of all homeowners of Marymoor Trails.

Landscape Report

While the bullet points below are not necessarily related to landscaping, they are discussed here because, Van our landscaping board member has been running point for these issues with Bodine Construction who takes care of our drains.

• Earlier this year, unit A-104 reported issues with the linoleum flooring in their downstairs having bubbling issues in it. Steve Bodine came out and said it appeared the moisture was coming up through the cement slab and there wasn’t anything that could be done. He suggested drilling a hole through the slab to determine what was underneath it; specifically was there a vapor barrier or just gravel.  Even though the association was going to pay for this investigation, the homeowner declined to proceed.  Related to this, we think, Bodine discovered a clogged foundation drain on the east side of building A, that when cleared, seemed to drain more water than was expected. If we are fortunate, this may have fixed the problem.
• Related to the previous item, Van has authorized Bodine to install foundation drain cleanouts on the west side of building A.
• Van also authorized installing foundation drain cleanouts on the east end of Bldg. N, where there is a large tree whose roots could clog the drain. We are expecting this work in the first quarter of 2022.
• Jehan has speculated that Bldg. B may have badly clogged footing drains as well.
• There is also an issue behind building L, but no work there is currently planned.

Treasurer’s Report

Year-end balances for Marymoor Trails HOA are as follows: 

• Operating account (checking) = $20,874.41
• Reserve account (savings) = $409,122.39

Next Meeting:

Our next meeting is the Annual Meeting of Homeowners on Monday February 7, 2022, at 6:30PM via Zoom. Information from Tim Hollingshead will be sent to all homeowners. If you are unable to attend in person, please fill out a Proxy Form to delegate a neighbor to represent you. This participation counts toward our legal quorum and allows us to officially conduct business. Watch for the Morris Management packet.