Marymoor Trails
Annual Meeting of Homeowners
February 26, 2018

The Annual Meeting of Homeowners convened 6:30PM at Morris Management in Bellevue.  BOD attending:  Michael Niksa, President; Josh Gibson, Treasurer; Van Chesnutt, Landscape; Linda O’Hara, Secretary; and Tim Hollingshead, Morris Management.

Welcome and Opening
Tim Hollingshead opened the meeting and reviewed the evening’s agenda.  We only had 36.7% attendance including proxies; not a legal quorum.  We have made a good faith effort to publicize many ways.  We will go ahead and have a meeting in case someone challenges conducting normal business.  Reading and approval of the minutes from 2017.  Moved and seconded to approve the minutes from 2017.

Reports of the Officers
Secretary Linda O’Hara – Microsoft will be expanding office space in Redmond, per Redmond Mayor John Marchione.  This will continue to increase upward pressure on the value of our units.  According to RedFin, the hottest real estate market nationwide is Redmond WA, specifically Grass Lawn, which includes us.  We intend to maintain the value and appeal of our property.

President Michael Niksa – Michael reviewed many major projects completed in 2017.  These include:  chimneys and sidings; major sections of fences; new rain gutters; painting three buildings; pressure washing concrete decks. A big new project in 2017 was proactive deck maintenance.  Going forward, we will inspect, paint and proactively maintain elastomeric decks in L, M, N, G and H.  It is expected that the proactive HOA inspection and maintenance will save us money in the long run.

Attention Residents:  Do not place objects that accumulate water on elastomeric surfaces – such as piles of dead leaves, heavy potted plants, carpeting, fake grass.  These can cause expensive damage, and be a major financial burden to the Association.  An elastomeric deck costs $17,000 to replace.  We want to keep our costs down.

Treasurer Josh Gibson – Josh reviewed 2018 budget, dues, and 2017 major expenses.  We must strike a balancing act – we want to keep dues down yet plan for the future.  Last year we raised dues substantially, with the plan not to raise them again this year – for 2018 the dues were raised minimally.  Neighboring Marymoor Heights levied a $50,000 per unit special assessment for roofing and siding only a few years ago due to lack of long-term planning and inadequate dues.  At Marymoor Trails we try to avoid special assessments.

The biggest major item fully within our control is deck repairs – thus our proactive deck inspection approach.  This is the best way to save money.

To further save money, Josh and Michael did a special study of the watering or our property this past summer.  They looked at actual sprinkler programming – one area was getting 2 hours of watering per day, due to the way the landscapers programmed it.  One resident observed that some areas were getting 3 minutes of water, while other sprinklers water the asphalt.  Michael and Josh reprogrammed the sprinklers so we hope to see a reduced water bill from the city.

Attention residents:  To save the Association money, please report to Tim Hollingshead if you see water running down asphalt.  Tell Tim where it is coming from, so we can address it.  This not only saves money on our water bill, it reduces the amount we pay City of Redmond for stormwater runoff.  Similarly please report areas not getting enough water.  If you see something, say something.

The association is required to have an annual reserve study. Our Reserve Study continues to call for much more cash to be held in reserves than what we currently have.  Auditors who perform this legally-required study believe we should have $1.4-1.7 million on hand to replace the siding on all buildings – all at once.  We strongly disagree.  We have been investing $30K per year to replace siding on an as-needed basis.  Our siding is in good shape.  If owners wish the HOA to hold that much in reserves, it would entail a major increase in dues or $30K special assessment.  We do not think this is a good use of owners’ cash.  Josh and Michael will accompany reserve study inspectors in 2018 and discuss.

Tim clarifies that the reserve study “is a budgeting tool, a guideline.”  The board can follow it or disregard it.  The things that are required are (1) that we do it, and (2) that we provide it to anyone buying a unit.

A resident asked if Association plans to replace all windows.  Units are 30 years old and some windows are clouding.  Tim Hollingshead notes we have a section in our operating budget for replacement of windows with bad seals.  Any resident with failing individual windows, clouding panes, etc., should contact Tim for replacement at no cost.  We do not plan to replace all windows or framing in all units at any time.

The long look forward: Per Josh, projecting 20 years ahead to 2037, by our best planning, we think we will have roughly the same amount in reserve as we do now – and that is after roofs are done again.  Obviously a lot can change between now and then – but that is our best 20 year estimate. 

Landscaping Van Chesnutt –

• Drainage systems – Van did an inspection with the City of Redmond, and our storm drainage systems are in extremely good shape. Two years ago, we cleaned roots out of storm drains that feed into the Redmond storm systems.  The drains are ours, but the city has to inspect them.  Those roots have NOT grown back in – lines are in good shape.
• Sprinklers have been re-set. As a result of the work done by Josh and Michael we saw a substantial reduction in water rates due to the water we were saving.
• Van also took care of moles and roaches around units.
• A big issue in 2017 was water drainage behind L, M, N. Van and the BOD evaluated early recommendations which were expensive and did not sound like they would do the job.   Instead we cleaned out drains and installed new drains around the footings of the buildings, with access points to get in and keep them clear.  Some drainage problems with Bldg L are coming from Bldg I.  The contractor made several recommendations that we need to address in 2018.
• An arborist inspected trees, trimmed, and recommended that end of March 2018 we feed several trees to see if we can help them improve their appearance as some are near their expected lifespan. We are also working with City of Redmond to increase tree canopy on the hillside behind A, B, C, D, E, F.
• It was recommended that owners go out and look for any overwash where the water washes right over the new rooftop rain gutters, and falls onto the deck and could cause rotting. Please report these things to Tim – Washington Energy Services stands behind the work for 20 years.

New Business – BOD elections:  We do not have a quorum, so we cannot legally elect them per se.  This year, Josh, Linda and Michael are all due to be re-elected for 2 year terms.  Moved and voted unanimously to retain.  We do have one extra position open, if someone wants to volunteer – involves about 2 hours at a meeting once a month, plus any other projects the person may choose to take on.  Tim says we are a really good board.

Approval of IRS Form 70-604
This form states that If you have a budget surplus for a given year, you are going to roll that over to next year and not pay taxes on it.  Tim reads the resolution – unanimously approved and passed.  Any excess of membership income shall be applied against subsequent assessments and expenses.

Next Meeting:  March 19 at 6:30PM @ Linda O’Hara’s unit, Bldg I – #133