April 1, 2017
Mt. Index Riversites Community Club, Inc.
Board of Directors Meeting
Board members present: Mark Bollman, Carrie Byrne, Brent Corey, Rebecca Davis, Kathleen EckartLove, Patty Harbaugh, CJ Holmes, Gary Johnson, Don Larsen, David MacFarlane, Earl Van Buskirk, Mat Williams
Absent: Mark Haenlein
Owners and guests: Dina Bolter, Victor Stocking, John Sharf, Dan Harrison, Jim & Lydia Vereide
Committee Reports and Information
Executive Committee
Letters were mailed to each property owner announcing the May meeting and requesting nominations for Board of Directors volunteers. Today is the deadline and we have five nominations for five positions: Mark Haenlein, Gary Johnson, Don Larsen, Dave MacFarlane, and Earl Van Buskirk.
Thanks to Earl Van Buskirk and CJ & Brad Holmes for their work on the 2017-18 assessment calculations. We will review the Excel spreadsheets under New Business today and we’ll hear motions to approve invoice amounts for A-section and E-section property owners.
Collections Committee
The Russek/Lahey property sold at sheriff’s auction on March 10 so MIRCC and Anderson Hunter will be paid in full including interest and all costs. Several delinquent accounts in E-section have been paid this month and we have payment plans and promises from a few others. The Collections Committee will meet this afternoon to review the remaining accounts that ignored our March 4 letter and we’ll make recommendations for additional liens and foreclosures. We’ll also need to develop a marketing plan to sell lots MIRCC accepted in lieu of foreclosure.
Budget and Finance
Earl Van Buskirk prepared Budget Status Reports for March and emailed them to Board members for review.
These are the highlights of the financial statements and financial matters:
Charges and Invoices to be paid:
No report at this time.
Roads: E Section
Dave MacFarlane reported that Paul Hery has gotten his grader ready to put in service. Considering all the rain we’ve had, the road is still in pretty good shape.
MacFarlane said he wants to keep the crown on the road and run up the road at least once a month with the grader filling potholes.
Canyon Falls to Hwy 2
Earl Van Buskirk reported that Paul Hery was out on the access road with his grader for several hours yesterday filling potholes and repairing the road. Nothing to report on the green gate; everything seems to be working well.
Roads: A Section and USFS 6020
Mat Williams reported that Dykstra is coming in on Monday with gravel. Roads are in good shape for the most part. We are planning to fill potholes on Monday. There have been very little breaks in the weather so there’s a lot of moisture on the road. We hope it’s the final pothole fill for the year until we grade.
There is a serious problem on Swamp Road with all the rain we’ve had. The road is moving. Mat Williams has been in contact with Joe from USFS and he’s been out to look at the road. It sounds like USFS won’t put anything into it until it’s been declared a disaster. It is USFS’ section of the road and theirs to maintain. We are hoping that the weather breaks and the road stabilizes.
Bekka Davis asked if MIR is responsible to fix the road. Williams said our responsibility is superficial. Any infrastructure is the responsibility of USFS, such as culverts and sliding.
Priority Business
March Meeting Minutes
Mark Bollman: “Move to approve the March meeting minutes.”
Approved: Yes – 9; Abstained – 2 (Abstained – Davis and Larsen were absent last month)
March Expenditures
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to approve the Check Detail report for March expenditures.”
Approved: Unanimous
New Business
Budget for 2017-18 Fiscal Year
Earl Van Buskirk said we’re getting very close to finalizing the budget so we can send it to the accountant to issue invoices.
Van Buskirk shared preliminary assessment spreadsheets. There were two 11”x17” handouts prepared – one for A-Section and one for E-Section. Each is made up of columns of data with rows for every owner in the community. The data shows comparisons from last year’s assessed value from the county, plus columns for each of the parts of the assessment formula. The Board’s goal is complete transparency in how we calculate assessments.
A-Section Assessment Spreadsheets
Assessment spreadsheet explanations and highlights:
CJ Holmes inquired about a couple owners in the A-Section assessment spreadsheet. She wanted to know if assessments from an owner with property in both A-Section and E-Section is properly accounted for so money collected is credited to the respective road maintenance budgets. Van Buskirk said we will be sure the accounting is done properly.
E-Section Assessment Spreadsheets
Assessment spreadsheet review highlights:
Gary Johnson commented that the formula for calculating assessments could not be any clearer.
Mark Bollman said that the Board will provide this information at the annual meeting of MIRCC owners in May.
There are two key things to note:
Kathleen EckartLove said that she thought using email only is acceptable. Others agreed.
Earl Van Burkirk volunteered his phone number to be published on the invoices for better customer service. Van Burkirk believes a phone number is needed to be published on the invoices.
Van Buskirk also said that we need to work on the letter to go with the assessments. In the past, we have sent an “Understanding Your Assessments” component to the mailing. This year, it is suggested we add some information about collections and a summary of the past year’s activity.
Discussion Topics
Annual Meeting
Mark Bollman said that he arrives around 9a to set up. In past years, we have borrowed chairs from Gary Hubbard, although they went through a flood and might be full of river silt.
Gary Johnson asked if we need Board authorization to spend money to rent chairs. Bollman said that would not be necessary.
Don Larsen said that last year, we borrowed chairs from the fire department.
The meeting officially starts at 10a, although many people start arriving closer to 9a to socialize.
Bollman said that there is usually a routine housekeeping meeting among the Board the Friday before the annual meeting to take care of business necessary to run the corporation. We plan to do the same again this year.
Gary Johnson asked if we need candidate statements to be sent out. Bollman said there does not need to be a ballot with five open seats and five candidates who have nominated themselves. It is essentially a vote by acclamation, where the positions are uncontested. So yes – we are not mailing ballots for five candidates for five spots. Johnson said that at the very least, we should make this as transparent and known to the owners as possible.
It is too late for others to nominate themselves to run for the Board.
Bekka Davis asked if we should address not mailing out ballots at the meeting. Newcomers should understand that we have not changed any rules regarding voting for Board members.
Carrie Byrne volunteered to post on the website that the Board will not be sending out ballots.
Should we distribute the budget detail at the owner level at the annual meeting? EckartLove said that it’s publicly available information, but it’s not presented in aggregate. Harbaugh, Johnson, and Byrne all agree it is a great idea to distribute.
A-Section Commercial Gate Access
Dina Bolter, a tenant of Gary Hubbard, attended the meeting and lodged a complaint that her Hopelink ride for health services was unable to get through the gate using the public code since it was discontinued. Bolter has critical health appointments in the future and she needs to ensure her ride can transport her.
Mat Williams and Brent Corey explained that Hopelink should use a vendor code for the gate, as that is the protocol for commercial service providers. Bolter said that every time Hopelink comes, they have a different driver and she fears that they will not get the information. Hopelink’s dispatcher needs to provide the commercial code information to the driver when they are sent out to pick up. A public code at the gate will not be restored. If there are problems in the future or concerns about an upcoming appointment, Bolter or the Hopelink driver should call one of the numbers posted on the gate.
Closing Remarks
Next meeting is the annual meeting of owners and is scheduled for Saturday, May 6th at 10:00 a.m. at the Index Fire Station.
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne
Absent: Mark Haenlein
Owners and guests: Dina Bolter, Victor Stocking, John Sharf, Dan Harrison, Jim & Lydia Vereide
Committee Reports and Information
Executive Committee
Letters were mailed to each property owner announcing the May meeting and requesting nominations for Board of Directors volunteers. Today is the deadline and we have five nominations for five positions: Mark Haenlein, Gary Johnson, Don Larsen, Dave MacFarlane, and Earl Van Buskirk.
Thanks to Earl Van Buskirk and CJ & Brad Holmes for their work on the 2017-18 assessment calculations. We will review the Excel spreadsheets under New Business today and we’ll hear motions to approve invoice amounts for A-section and E-section property owners.
Collections Committee
The Russek/Lahey property sold at sheriff’s auction on March 10 so MIRCC and Anderson Hunter will be paid in full including interest and all costs. Several delinquent accounts in E-section have been paid this month and we have payment plans and promises from a few others. The Collections Committee will meet this afternoon to review the remaining accounts that ignored our March 4 letter and we’ll make recommendations for additional liens and foreclosures. We’ll also need to develop a marketing plan to sell lots MIRCC accepted in lieu of foreclosure.
Budget and Finance
Earl Van Buskirk prepared Budget Status Reports for March and emailed them to Board members for review.
These are the highlights of the financial statements and financial matters:
- The Manley case from December 21, 2016 – the two attorneys were to negotiate the legal fees outside of court, but they could not come to an agreement. It’s been a failed process, so we’re going back to court to have a judge settle the attorney fees matters. The court date is now May 5, 2017.
- A map of mostly E-Section was distributed that has highlighted areas showing lots now owned by MIRCC.
- A-Section is now collecting 88% of assessments; we are seeing collections of money we haven’t seen in a long time
- E-Section is now collecting 92%; we are expecting 80%. One of the reasons is that we’re collecting road income from significantly past due accounts during foreclosure activity and other lots being sold.
- The Ryden case – Terry Dievendorf contacted the owner prior to foreclosure, negotiated the purchase, and paid off Ryden’s past dues.
- Sims defense – we spent $16,000 and have brought in $12,282 from the special assessment. Every owner in A-Section and E-Section was assessed $50.
- We have $36,330 in the checking account; we are ~$22k below where we were last year. This is mostly due to attorney fees that remain unpaid. We will soon see ~$9k from the Lahey/Russek foreclosure from the county’s sale of the property.
- PUD has topped out on their payments of $250k on the bridge. The mortgage on the bridge (Acrow plus owner loans) is about $8k monthly for E-Section. As the loan to Acrow ages, we are paying down more principle every month – so we are seeing the debt go down on our balance sheet.
- A-Section collected $760 in March.
- We are now adding an aging summary to the monthly financial statement that shows owner properties with liens and their assessed value by Snohomish County.
- E-Section collected $5,436 in March.
- There is $170,961 in arrears in E-Section; this will increase after the new assessments that are sent in May age for 90 days.
- E-Section road maintenance budget for the next fiscal year will only include charges for maintaining the road from US-2 to the Canyon Falls Bridge and for bridge payments. We are continuing to assess nothing for the main road past the bridge because collection efforts have yielded past due funds to use for this purpose.
Charges and Invoices to be paid:
- E-Section Charged & Invoices (March):
- $159.77 – Staples (office supplies)
- $7.83 – PUD (street lights)
- $210 – SLK Accounting (monthly bookkeeping)
- $609.84 – RJD Enterprises (US-2 to bridge, road work)
- $3,505.62 – owner loans (bridge payment)
- $4,736.17 – Acrow (bridge payment)
- A-Section Charged & Invoices (March):
- $434.93 – DF Supply Inc (yellow gate)
- $35.02 + 16.43– PUD (street lights)
- $106.51 – Staples (office supplies)
- $29.99 – Frontier Communications (office supplies)
- $120 – SLK Accounting (monthly bookkeeping)
- $337 – Carney Badley Spellman, P.S. (attorney fees)
- $100 – Universal Equipment (yellow gate)
- $152.46 – RJD Enterprises (road work)
No report at this time.
Roads: E Section
Dave MacFarlane reported that Paul Hery has gotten his grader ready to put in service. Considering all the rain we’ve had, the road is still in pretty good shape.
MacFarlane said he wants to keep the crown on the road and run up the road at least once a month with the grader filling potholes.
Canyon Falls to Hwy 2
Earl Van Buskirk reported that Paul Hery was out on the access road with his grader for several hours yesterday filling potholes and repairing the road. Nothing to report on the green gate; everything seems to be working well.
Roads: A Section and USFS 6020
Mat Williams reported that Dykstra is coming in on Monday with gravel. Roads are in good shape for the most part. We are planning to fill potholes on Monday. There have been very little breaks in the weather so there’s a lot of moisture on the road. We hope it’s the final pothole fill for the year until we grade.
There is a serious problem on Swamp Road with all the rain we’ve had. The road is moving. Mat Williams has been in contact with Joe from USFS and he’s been out to look at the road. It sounds like USFS won’t put anything into it until it’s been declared a disaster. It is USFS’ section of the road and theirs to maintain. We are hoping that the weather breaks and the road stabilizes.
Bekka Davis asked if MIR is responsible to fix the road. Williams said our responsibility is superficial. Any infrastructure is the responsibility of USFS, such as culverts and sliding.
Priority Business
March Meeting Minutes
Mark Bollman: “Move to approve the March meeting minutes.”
Approved: Yes – 9; Abstained – 2 (Abstained – Davis and Larsen were absent last month)
March Expenditures
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to approve the Check Detail report for March expenditures.”
Approved: Unanimous
New Business
Budget for 2017-18 Fiscal Year
Earl Van Buskirk said we’re getting very close to finalizing the budget so we can send it to the accountant to issue invoices.
Van Buskirk shared preliminary assessment spreadsheets. There were two 11”x17” handouts prepared – one for A-Section and one for E-Section. Each is made up of columns of data with rows for every owner in the community. The data shows comparisons from last year’s assessed value from the county, plus columns for each of the parts of the assessment formula. The Board’s goal is complete transparency in how we calculate assessments.
A-Section Assessment Spreadsheets
Assessment spreadsheet explanations and highlights:
- Value share - we add all property values across the community as recorded by the county, then divide it by each owner’s relative property value. It represents the 20% share of the assessment
- Total distance – total distance from end of USFS road to their property – it shows section by section accounting of their distance cost. The 80% cost is made up of this amount.
- Side roads – Sertz Road, Paytan Creek Road, and Loop Road each are assessed a flat fee of $50 for side road maintenance.
- Administrative costs – divided equally by the total number of owners
- USFS 6020 - divided equally by the total number of owners
- Equipment purchase & maintenance - divided equally by the total number of owners
- Reminder that we are calculating the assessments to expect 80% collection rate
- Variance from last year to this year’s MIRCC assessment was also shown on the spreadsheet
- County is providing exemptions for various reasons (disability, etc.) to some owners, however MIRCC is assessing based on the property value. We don’t use their exemption amounts.
- A-Section budget is higher this year than last year, mostly due to equipment purchase and maintenance for road work.
CJ Holmes inquired about a couple owners in the A-Section assessment spreadsheet. She wanted to know if assessments from an owner with property in both A-Section and E-Section is properly accounted for so money collected is credited to the respective road maintenance budgets. Van Buskirk said we will be sure the accounting is done properly.
E-Section Assessment Spreadsheets
Assessment spreadsheet review highlights:
- Nothing is assessed for the road past the bridge. We don’t have distance charges this year, since we have been successful in collecting past dues from collections activity.
- There has been a lot of fluctuation in the county’s assessments of property from last year to this year. These fluctuations are outside our control.
- Assessed value bridge cost – 20% of the charges account for the value multiplied by the remaining balance on the bridge.
- The population is decreasing in E-Section. Owners are buying neighboring property and causing all assessments to rise because there are less owners to divide the total cost.
Gary Johnson commented that the formula for calculating assessments could not be any clearer.
Mark Bollman said that the Board will provide this information at the annual meeting of MIRCC owners in May.
There are two key things to note:
- Population shrinking
- Fluctuations of assessed value by the county
Kathleen EckartLove said that she thought using email only is acceptable. Others agreed.
Earl Van Burkirk volunteered his phone number to be published on the invoices for better customer service. Van Burkirk believes a phone number is needed to be published on the invoices.
Van Buskirk also said that we need to work on the letter to go with the assessments. In the past, we have sent an “Understanding Your Assessments” component to the mailing. This year, it is suggested we add some information about collections and a summary of the past year’s activity.
Discussion Topics
Annual Meeting
Mark Bollman said that he arrives around 9a to set up. In past years, we have borrowed chairs from Gary Hubbard, although they went through a flood and might be full of river silt.
Gary Johnson asked if we need Board authorization to spend money to rent chairs. Bollman said that would not be necessary.
Don Larsen said that last year, we borrowed chairs from the fire department.
The meeting officially starts at 10a, although many people start arriving closer to 9a to socialize.
Bollman said that there is usually a routine housekeeping meeting among the Board the Friday before the annual meeting to take care of business necessary to run the corporation. We plan to do the same again this year.
Gary Johnson asked if we need candidate statements to be sent out. Bollman said there does not need to be a ballot with five open seats and five candidates who have nominated themselves. It is essentially a vote by acclamation, where the positions are uncontested. So yes – we are not mailing ballots for five candidates for five spots. Johnson said that at the very least, we should make this as transparent and known to the owners as possible.
It is too late for others to nominate themselves to run for the Board.
Bekka Davis asked if we should address not mailing out ballots at the meeting. Newcomers should understand that we have not changed any rules regarding voting for Board members.
Carrie Byrne volunteered to post on the website that the Board will not be sending out ballots.
Should we distribute the budget detail at the owner level at the annual meeting? EckartLove said that it’s publicly available information, but it’s not presented in aggregate. Harbaugh, Johnson, and Byrne all agree it is a great idea to distribute.
A-Section Commercial Gate Access
Dina Bolter, a tenant of Gary Hubbard, attended the meeting and lodged a complaint that her Hopelink ride for health services was unable to get through the gate using the public code since it was discontinued. Bolter has critical health appointments in the future and she needs to ensure her ride can transport her.
Mat Williams and Brent Corey explained that Hopelink should use a vendor code for the gate, as that is the protocol for commercial service providers. Bolter said that every time Hopelink comes, they have a different driver and she fears that they will not get the information. Hopelink’s dispatcher needs to provide the commercial code information to the driver when they are sent out to pick up. A public code at the gate will not be restored. If there are problems in the future or concerns about an upcoming appointment, Bolter or the Hopelink driver should call one of the numbers posted on the gate.
Closing Remarks
Next meeting is the annual meeting of owners and is scheduled for Saturday, May 6th at 10:00 a.m. at the Index Fire Station.
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne