Marymoor Trails
Board of Directors Meeting
May 16, 2022

The Marymoor Trails Board of Directors meeting convened on May 16, 2022, at 6PM.  Attending: Michael Niksa, President; Josh Gibson, Treasurer; Van Chesnutt, Landscape; Linda O’Hara, Secretary; Tim Hollingshead, Morris Management; and Jehan Bharucha, Project Manager – Improcon.

Insurance Update

Many changes have happened to insurance at Marymoor Trails. Here’s what you as a homeowner need to know.

• Marymoor Trails HOA is required by law to carry insurance known as a “Master Policy” to cover damage to common areas. In the past, Master Policy annual premium has been $38,000, with a $10,000 deductible. 
• This year, we obtained master policy insurance at an annual premium of $167,000, with a $50,000 deductible. This is a substantial increase in cost for the Association.
• We have cash on hand to cover this year’s $167,000 premium. We are hopeful the premium will go down next year and in coming years. Whether it decreases or not depends on how many claims we make.
• The $50,000 deductible on common areas is a condition from our insurance company, not a decision by the Board. Our insurance company further states , “When a claim occurs in your unit, the association may seek to recover the deductible from you as the unit owner…” This means if you allow your pipes to freeze, causing structural damage, you may be liable for the $50,000 deductible for common area damage.
• There are two things you as a homeowner need to do to address this potential financial responsibility:
  • Contact your insurance provider to make sure your personal homeowners insurance covers at least up to $50,000 of damage. This would reimburse you as a homeowner for any common area deductible you are found responsible for.
  • Keep your home thermostat set at a minimum of 55 degrees, even when the unit is empty. This is a requirement from our insurance, to keep pipes from freezing. If you do not keep your thermostat set to at least 55 degrees, and you have freezing damage inside your unit, our HOA insurance will not cover it. You may be found liable and responsible for damage.

Homeowners’ Forum

• Two homeowners dialed in to listen to Jehan Bharucha’s Bldg. B update.
• Homeowner from Bldg. F wished to discuss necessary deck repairs not able to be done last year, replacing worn cedar planking with Trex. Michael meets with the handyman this week and will report to homeowner.
• Homeowner from Bldg. F requested approval to remove bushes along the walkway for installation of central air conditioning. The homeowners have advised the Board in advance and included detailed information. The homeowner will send a photo of the proposed AC unit and installation location.
• Homeowner from Bldg. N reports a leak from the master bathroom down into the kitchen below. Have found out it is not the plumbing. There is a window in the wall separating the shower and bathtub. It appears grout around the window is failing — they put a drop cloth over the window, and the leaking stopped. Homeowner is considering taking out the wall between the shower and the tub. Homeowner is having an engineer come out to ascertain that the wall is not load bearing.

Treasurer’s Report

• Josh reports we previously had $461,000 in replacement fund, but some of that is now allocated for insurance, which will be paid in one lump sum of $161,000. 
• For the insurance payment, we covered $48,112.30 from operating (checking). The rest of the amount, $119,725.59, was transferred from reserves (savings).
• We are required by law to reimburse our replacement fund the $119,725.59. By law, we have to pay it back by May 2024. This is because, by law, capital equipment (tangible assets, such as roofing or new fire panels) may be paid from reserves; operating expenses (such as an insurance payment) cannot.
• Josh reports we had some window replacements. These are standard and customary due to failing seals on original windows.
• The Board reviewed costs of our fines for activity violating the rules and regulations – these have not been updated in 33 years.  Board agrees to double all fines to meet inflation, effective July 1.

Building B Update

• Jehan Bharucha, Project Manager, has good news on Bldg. B. New survey results show little or no movement of the building in the last three years. The settlement that has occurred is most clearly visible on the inside, particularly in Unit B-108. That’s good news, and Jehan has a strategy which he will propose.
• New readings from Goldsmith shows at most ¼” settlement. Goldsmith is not sure if Sitz-Hill initial readings can be relied upon. As of now, if we ignore settlement of 1/8” which can be margin of error, we have at most ¼” settlement, and that is in B-107 on the north side.
• With that in mind, Jehan talked to the structural engineer. He fully concurred we should do only external piling, not internal piling in any of the units. He recommended we do what is necessary, and continue to monitor the building ongoing afterwards. This plan needs to be approved by the soils engineer.
• All units in Bldg. B have some degree of settlement, most visible in B-108 basement with visible cracks and a doorway that is ajar.
• Jehan addressed what to do about the foundation of B-108. The building sits on 5’ – 8’ of fill on top of glacial till. Due to settlement of the fill, there is almost a 7” void under parts of the foundation, with the gap getting narrower into the bedroom area. We could do slabjacking of the entire foundation of B-108 and inject polyurethane, just as we did on a partial section earlier. It would be a waterproof surface, so water would not deteriorate it. It would not be good to replace the cracked tile floor with a new tile floor, which would crack with any slight movement; better to have a floating floor, it will not crack, should there be a slight movement

• Total costs: Pin piling exterior walls of Bldg. B, plus replacement of deck footings and rebuilding decks, plus foundation slabjacking and installation of new drains, comes to a total of $313,000 plus 25% contingency fee ($78,000), plus tax, for a total of $430,000. Although this is a lot of money, it is about 40% of what was estimated earlier.
• Dave Webber, owner of Unit B-108 reports he has lived there for 16 years and did not have these problems before – now has squeaky floors and doors that don’t line up.  Dave wants to get on record that these things need to be reviewed, and need to be addressed. Tim and Dave Webber discussed options and feasibility for addressing the subfloor.
• Van recommends Jehan and Dave do a walk-through, identify issues to be addressed. Jehan would like a representative of Certa to accompany them, and outline/recommend what the scope of repairs should be.  Board unanimously approves Jehan working with Certa to look at Dave Webber’s Unit B-108.

Roofing Update

• Roofing contract for re-roofing Unit E-120 is being finalized with a revised contractor of record. Work estimated to begin in 3 weeks.  Per Jehan, roofing permit fees from City of Redmond are $530. 
• Roofing repairs will not be done on Bldg. M this year. The leaks are very minor and we will do some repairs in the future if need be. 
• We will learn a tremendous amount when we re-roof E-120, pulling up the plywood sheathing, adding baffles that it doesn’t have right now. We will see what the original construction looks like, and learn real costs and real timelines that can be used as a model for other work to be done in the complex.

Landscape Report

• Van reports several landscaping projects have been done, and drainage issues have been addressed.
• Bodine has repaired drains that were crushed in front of Bldg. M. Have installed an additional cleanout next to Unit M-150. 
• Premier teams pressure washed all front walkways, and did an excellent job cleaning moss from patios of Bldgs. I-J-K.

Maintenance Report

Michael is making a list of maintenance projects for our Handyman Gene. Gene is still helping Ukrainian refugees – this could go on for some time. Meanwhile, his son is covering projects. We do not want to seek out another repair team – Gene and his son are extremely reasonable and have worked at Marymoor Trails for decades. Michael will meet with Gene’s son to target critical projects to be done this year.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is Monday, June 20, 2022, at 6:00PM via Zoom.