Riverwood Homeowners Association, Board of Directors Meeting – November 11, 2021
The meeting was called to order by President Larry Dashiell at 6 p.m.
Board Member Attendance: President Larry Dashiell, Carol Hardy, Elise Morgan, Nancy Stoll
Others Attending: Tori Lungren, Leo Zinn, Angie Svoboda, Jann Gilbert, Shirley Piel, Ashleigh Norment, Jim Eveland, Angelia Warren, Ila Benevidez-Heaster, Annette Adams, Laurel McAfee, Patrick Steininger, Tama October, Susan Dalen, Aurelia and Fernando Nunez, Lisa Dashiell, Delores Gradin
Minutes of Previous Meeting: Moved by Nancy and seconded by Elise, that the minutes of the Annual Meeting of October 5, 2021 be accepted as presented.
Treasurer’s Report: We will be trying each month to move 10% of income each month to Reserves Account. $7,655.00 was moved to Reserves at the end of September, which included the full amount collected from a resolved delinquency. $6,500 in principal was paid on the roofing loan, leaving a principal of $416,766, with nine years left on the loan. Profit to Date of $203.48 seems lower than expected, but during September and October we paid the two largest water bills of the year, our annual property tax, our largest accounting bill of the year, and $10,000 for tree service. The natural gas bill was $866 in October which is high and may reflect pool use. Legal expenses were mistakenly classified as accounting and this will be corrected. Moved by Nancy and seconded by Elise, that the Treasurer’s report be accepted as presented, with corrections.
Welcome and Neighborhood News: (Chair – Lisa Dashiell) Three electronic copies of the Riverwood manual were sent out. Move-out checklists were sent to two households. A welcome letter and Riverwood documents were sent to one household. No questionnaires were received back. One was sent and hopefully will be received back. One was re-sent.
Tama went to a public safety meeting and Annette also attended. Topics were gun violence (mostly by gangs, but offenders are being caught), homeless camps (cleanup is being done, but homeless people with vehicles drive on and destroy trails) and the need for more police (hiring is in progress).
Architecture: (Chair – Patrick Steininger) Two requests made in the month of October: One requested to remove metal filigree on their front entry security door, and to remove bars from the front door side windows. Another resident asked to change textured amber glass in the front entry door to textured clear glass, and to refresh paint on the entry door to a dark bronze/brown. Both requests were approved.
Projects in the works: One of our residents has generously offered to pay for signage improvements to big block driveway signs. Address number and street name will be added to the tops of these signs. I have been working with a number of vendors and we have had only one propose new signs with a mockup and quotes for pricing. Jim Eveland has been involved in this project. Towing and no-trespassing signs will be relocated. This is ongoing and incomplete at present. The other project is review of the entire community’s lighting including porch and garage lighting. We have wildly varying fixtures and I’ve been working on making these more uniform. As for community lighting, the goal is to make them more energy efficient using sensors, as well as some motion sensors for security. Reducing light pollution is an idea as well.
Budget: (Chair – Leo Zinn) Comparing 2021 to 2020: Landscaping contract was lower by $3,200, and about $9,000 more was spent on trees and trimming. Garbage collection was up $1,000. Water bill was down $8,000. Total expenses YTD were up $1,769 and $7,600 was added to the Reserve Fund.
Landscaping: (Co-chairs – Kris Clarke, Stressla Beavers) Absent, but Kris reports that the new landscaping company is working on removing leaves, and have added extra crews. Please let the committee know if any areas are missed, so we can gently remind them. They’ve been very responsive.
Maintenance: (Chair – Jim Eveland) Paving of D50 is going to be done. Residents will be advised in advance of temporary parking and mail arrangements.
The entire eastern D40 circuit went completely out and the problem was traced to an underground short in the 40-year-old original wiring. This is the 3rd such problem in several years. The entire 220 feet of underground wiring was replaced with modern “buriable” cable.
A new security light, motion-activated, was installed on the short path between D10 and D20.
One of the two large drains in the lawn area between upper D30 and lower D70 was seriously backing up, creating a lake in heavy rains, threatening to flood 2 homes. Attempting to clear it by water-jetting showed an impenetrable blockage at 10 feet. Trenched out about 20 feet of ancient concrete pipe and replaced it with modern flexible material.
A20 garage was broken into during a night, and its contents (expensive tools and workshop items) completely stripped. The adjoining garage beyond the wire wall was untouched, and this is evidence that someone is casing and watching for opportunity. This garage had been occupied 30 days previously and its contents placed in the previous week. The new rollup garage door lock was smashed and another is impossible to find at this time.
Aurelia requested motion detector lights in back of their rented garage. Jim will get more lighting. The man-door being flimsy is too easy to force open. Better inside locks will be harder to break but solid doors as replacements will make garages more secure. Belongings packed inside against doors makes them harder to fix.
Newsletter: (Chair – Tama October) Please send news to Tama by the 20th of the month. Address is rwh.news@gmail.com If any other address is used, items may get lost among the ads and be discarded accidentally.
Parking: Elise reports that cars parking without passes got notes, and issues were resolved within a day. Responses were received from driveway reps. Jann has a parking committee notebook to pass on, and Elise will take it.
Keys and Rental Garages: (Chair – Angie Svoboda) Two residents gave notice of vacating garages in November. Two were put on the waiting list in October. Fernando Nunez rents a garage and the hollow man-door will be replaced in the future with a solid-core door. If he purchases a lock he will need to supply 5 keys to those who must have copies. Four replacement keys were given to one resident at the cost of $5 each. Angie is in favor of a refundable garage cleaning fee, and suggests $30-40. This would be an incentive to leave rental garages clean and rentable.
Pool: The pool is closed for the season. Larry checks it in the early morning and Jim in the daytime, in case someone decides to camp there.
Recreation: (Chair – Shirley Piel) No social activity now on account of Covid.
Insurance: (Chair – Angelia Warren) Nothing to report.
Moved by Nancy and seconded by Elise, that the committee reports be accepted as presented.
Old Business:
Garages: Fee for cleanup and lock replacement might be as high as $100 and after some discussion it was moved by Larry and seconded by Nancy, that this amount be charged as a deposit, refunding half of it if the vacated garage is left clean and re-rentable. The locks will be changed between renters. Aurelia suggested switching keys between renters, and Jim is already doing that. Garage rental policy will need to be updated to reflect this change. Jann will work on this.
Riverwood Manual: A table of contents should be added to the CC&Rs and to the Bylaws. It was moved and seconded that this be done.
Reserve Study: One major requirement is to build up the Reserves. Adequate Reserves are an indication of financial viability. The Fully Funded Balance percent is good if it is over 70%, poor if lower than $30%. Northwest Bank is requesting a Reserve Study. This is appropriate because this bank holds both the roofing loan and the amount we have in Reserves. The goal of a Reserve Study is to work toward a Fully Funded Balance, which means having enough in Reserves to cover the value of deterioration at a particular point in time. The value of deterioration in the year 2021-2022 is $486,425 and we have $85,000 in Reserves. Our percentage is expressed as $85,000 divided by $486,525, which is 16% funded.
There are some possible ways to build Reserves: Capital improvement fee. Fee added into sale of a home. Such fees would require a change in CC&Rs. Larry said we need to check with an attorney because Riverwood has a tax-exempt nonprofit status. Jann suggested an ad hoc committee to look into these possibilities and ask questions. Ashleigh said perhaps the Budget Committee composed of four people could do this. Larry or Ashleigh are the usual contacts for our attorneys. One question would be if it’s legitimate to raise Reserves in this way.
Protocol for Architecture Citation/Enforcement Penalties: Patrick said he has no way to enforce penalties for unsightliness and unpermitted changes to architecture short of a note on the door. Email is more formal and a mailed letter is even more so. Larry can sign such a letter. We have a fine for unsightly yard conditions. A referral could be made for correcting a situation the resident is not able to correct without help. Most painting is done by the HOA. Larry and Patrick will discuss this.
Riverwood Website: Laurel has ideas for a Riverwood website. She was introduced tonight as a “Secretary In Training.” Tama will mention the website in the newsletter in search of others who are interested.
New Business: Clean Energy Project: Our tax-exempt nonprofit status may make a change in our standing in that we may not get exactly what we want. Scope might have to be widened to accept nonprofits, a new territory for the plan as originally conceived. We want to be part of the grant that is offered. It may take another year. Our demographic study tells a lot about us.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,, Delores Gradin, Secretary
