August 8, 2015
Mt. Index Riversites Community Club, Inc.
Board of Directors Meeting
Board members present: Julia Akin, Mark Bollman, Carrie Byrne, Tom Grenier, Mark Haenlein, Patty Harbaugh, CJ Holmes, Gary Johnson, Tom Lange, Don Larsen, Dave MacFarlane, Earl Van Buskirk, Mat Williams
Carrie Byrne: Motion to approve June meeting minutes with an edit. Approved 6 Yes, 2 No (Harbaugh, Williams voted NO); 4 Abstained (Akin, Haenlein, Johnson, Larson ABSTAINED, and were not present during all or part of the July meeting).
The edit was to strike “checking” from the financial highlights addressing A-Section and E-Section having separate checking accounts. This was a misrepresentation of what was discussed during the July meeting, which was reconciliation for A-Section and E-Section into separate bookkeeping accounts. Presently, separate checks are cut for A-Section and E-Section expenses and reconciled accordingly.
Budget Status Report: Earl Van Buskirk presented the July 31st Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss statements. Total bank balances = $144,320.
Several financial highlights were reviewed:
• A Profit & Loss statement for January–July 2015 vs the same period for 2014 was presented that showed the income and expenses for Total Y – Bridge Users, Totally N – Non Bridge Users, and MIRCC Total Corp. Expenses are clearly separated for bridge users and non bridge users.
• Check Detail was also reviewed, showing how checks for common expenses—such as street lights and accounting services—are split according to the share of the expense between E-Section and A-Section with separate checks cut for each.
Priority Business
Invoices to be paid:
-Sky Valley Excavation (grading Sections 3 & 4) -$1,357.50
-John Vos Trucking (deliver asphalt chips to Sections 1-2) -$1,155.00
-JEV Recycling (asphalt grindings for Sections 1-2) -$470.30
-SLK Accounting Services (July – Sec E) -$390.00
-SLK Accounting Services (July – Sec A) -$240.00
-Postage (E-Section statements) -$147.00
-Staples (envelopes for A-Section statements per CJ Holmes) -$45.73
-PUD (street lights) -$15.81
New Business
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to mail Gate Access Request Form and Cover Letter to all MIR property owners in Sections B, C and E.” Approved: Unanimous.
Earl Van Buskirk: “Spend up to $1500 for gate repairs if necessary from access road funds.” Approved: Unanimous.
CJ Holmes: “Notify Mark Hopkins to vacate the A-Section grader shed.” Approved: 8 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstained (Akin); (Grenier, Haenlein, McFarlane left the meeting by this time and did not vote)
Patty Harbaugh: “Open a separate checking account for Section A with at least one signer from that section and all monies collected from that section will be deposited into the account.”
Carrie Byrne: “Move to postpone checking account motion until CPA input.” Approved: 9 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstained (Harbaugh); (Grenier, Haenlein left the meeting by this time and did not vote)
Earl Van Buskirk: “Spend up to $3500 to complete the bridge shoreline permit from Y-funds.” Approved: Unanimous.
Earl Van Buskirk: “Send a $200 gift certificate to Robin Zahler from the Community Development Funds.” Approved: Unanimous.
Committee Reports and Discussion Topics
Executive Committee Mark Bollman and Earl Van Buskirk shared a letter addressed to B, C, and E-Section owners to secure agreement to the terms and conditions of the temporary easement and deposits for keycards and clickers. The first keycard will be issued free of charge to all owners and additional keycards and clickers are available with a deposit. Special exceptions are addressed on a case-by-case basis. The current keypad code will not be turned off until all owners’ needs are addressed. The letters will be mailed on August 11.
Budget and Finance A thorough internal accounting and reconciliation of A-Section and E-Section funds is complete and starting balances have been allocated to separate bookkeeping accounts effective July 2015. For total confidence and
Collections As of August 7, there were 124 non-paying E-Section owners and 84 non-paying A-Section owners.
Prior to any foreclosure proceeding, letter and phone contact of delinquent owners are attempted. The Board discussed that personal and neighborly contact in advance of these actions is preferred although it relies on Board Member volunteers to reach out.
Don Larsen made personal phone calls to 34 E-Section non-paying owners who had phone numbers on record. Don’s efforts yielded $4,509 in newly collected assessments.
Tom Lange, Julia Akin, and Carrie Byrne shared their proposed letter to all non-paying E-Section owners to explain in further detail their 2015 assessments. The letter outlines what’s included in E-Section assessments and what’s not. The letter will be sent after further collections are made as a result of the keycard and clicker letter in early August.
E-Section Roads
Mark Hopkins provided 9 hours of road grading in E-Section before the Board meeting. All owners are asked to please help keep roadside ditches clean from debris to avoid water backing up during the rainy season.
Canyon Falls to Highway 2 E-Section needs to move forward with the shoreline permit for the bridge. The permit will require a one-time mitigation plus a consultant’s fee to offset the difference between shoreline plantings and the square footage available at the base of the bridge.
The access Road Gate was damaged Aug 4th at around 9:45 pm costing the community ~$500. The Board received an email soon after from Bill Stehl stating that the gate did not fully open for him so he pushed the gate open. He also stated that if he had done any damage he would not pay to repair the gate. The hydraulic arm on the gate was broken during the incident.
As of the meeting, the Board knows of no calls made to the posted phone numbers for assistance. Additionally, the Board discussed that Bill Stehl was on the gate committee and attended a meeting in 2014 at the gate when instructions on how to open the gate manually were reviewed.
There was a lengthy discussion with all Board Members and Owners in attendance at the Board meeting. Agreement was reached that MIRCC will pursue restitution for intentional gate damages through the legal system. Gary Johnson, the Bylaws, Ethics, and Legal Committee Chairman, will contact the proper authorities regarding this incident.
The Board learned recently of the Zahler family’s tragic loss of their daughter, which was reported in the Everett Herald. Since bridge users traverse the family’s property, the Board wishes to make a gesture to the family with a gift certificate to a nursery for a planting.
The Board learned that gravel intended for road maintenance has been taken from piles on the access road. All owners using the access road are asked to keep an eye out for any activity that doesn’t appear legitimate and to contact the proper authorities.
A-Section Roads Mat Williams purchased a tow-behind hydraulic piece of equipment to grade A-Section roads to take out the washboard. Mat will submit an invoice for reimbursement at a future Board meeting and A-Section will have the use of the equipment.
A-Section now owns multiple pieces of equipment and would like to use the grader shed. Mark Hopkins has a welder, fuel, chains, and other equipment in the shed needed in winter for snowplowing. The Board discussed the potential to share the shed, but it did not seem a plausible option. The A-Section Road Committee would like Mark Hopkins to vacate the grader shed and they will bring a bigger plan for the shed to next month’s Board Meeting.
USFS 6020 Road The Forest Service wants to work with their contractor to maintain their section of the road from US-2 to the archway. The A-Section road committee will keep the Board up to date on any further development and if USFS allows A-Section to control the roadway, per the easement.
Bylaws Committee The committee will convene in September to review all owner comments to the amended bylaws. After this time, the committee will put amended bylaws up for a motion at the next Board meeting, which will likely be October.
A-Section Accounts A-Section owners want to have a separate bank account and representative Board members indicated that they have had discussion with neighbors and believe it is hampering collections. The Board recognizes that separating bank accounts in addition to all bookkeeping accounts, which is already done, will add additional admin costs and a required signature from an A-Section Board member for checks. The Board further discussed the benefit of proceeding carefully and learning the outcome of the CPA’s audit of the reconciliation first. A-Section Board members will share the accounting spreadsheet with neighbors as an immediate next step to show they have control of the funds.
Next meeting scheduled for Saturday, September 12th at 9:00 a.m. at the Index Fire Station. (Note that the first Saturday in September occurs over Labor Day weekend, so the meeting will be held the following weekend.)
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne MIRCC Secretary
Carrie Byrne: Motion to approve June meeting minutes with an edit. Approved 6 Yes, 2 No (Harbaugh, Williams voted NO); 4 Abstained (Akin, Haenlein, Johnson, Larson ABSTAINED, and were not present during all or part of the July meeting).
The edit was to strike “checking” from the financial highlights addressing A-Section and E-Section having separate checking accounts. This was a misrepresentation of what was discussed during the July meeting, which was reconciliation for A-Section and E-Section into separate bookkeeping accounts. Presently, separate checks are cut for A-Section and E-Section expenses and reconciled accordingly.
Budget Status Report: Earl Van Buskirk presented the July 31st Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss statements. Total bank balances = $144,320.
Several financial highlights were reviewed:
• A Profit & Loss statement for January–July 2015 vs the same period for 2014 was presented that showed the income and expenses for Total Y – Bridge Users, Totally N – Non Bridge Users, and MIRCC Total Corp. Expenses are clearly separated for bridge users and non bridge users.
• Check Detail was also reviewed, showing how checks for common expenses—such as street lights and accounting services—are split according to the share of the expense between E-Section and A-Section with separate checks cut for each.
Priority Business
Invoices to be paid:
-Sky Valley Excavation (grading Sections 3 & 4) -$1,357.50
-John Vos Trucking (deliver asphalt chips to Sections 1-2) -$1,155.00
-JEV Recycling (asphalt grindings for Sections 1-2) -$470.30
-SLK Accounting Services (July – Sec E) -$390.00
-SLK Accounting Services (July – Sec A) -$240.00
-Postage (E-Section statements) -$147.00
-Staples (envelopes for A-Section statements per CJ Holmes) -$45.73
-PUD (street lights) -$15.81
New Business
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to mail Gate Access Request Form and Cover Letter to all MIR property owners in Sections B, C and E.” Approved: Unanimous.
Earl Van Buskirk: “Spend up to $1500 for gate repairs if necessary from access road funds.” Approved: Unanimous.
CJ Holmes: “Notify Mark Hopkins to vacate the A-Section grader shed.” Approved: 8 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstained (Akin); (Grenier, Haenlein, McFarlane left the meeting by this time and did not vote)
Patty Harbaugh: “Open a separate checking account for Section A with at least one signer from that section and all monies collected from that section will be deposited into the account.”
Carrie Byrne: “Move to postpone checking account motion until CPA input.” Approved: 9 Yes, 0 No, 1 Abstained (Harbaugh); (Grenier, Haenlein left the meeting by this time and did not vote)
Earl Van Buskirk: “Spend up to $3500 to complete the bridge shoreline permit from Y-funds.” Approved: Unanimous.
Earl Van Buskirk: “Send a $200 gift certificate to Robin Zahler from the Community Development Funds.” Approved: Unanimous.
Committee Reports and Discussion Topics
Executive Committee Mark Bollman and Earl Van Buskirk shared a letter addressed to B, C, and E-Section owners to secure agreement to the terms and conditions of the temporary easement and deposits for keycards and clickers. The first keycard will be issued free of charge to all owners and additional keycards and clickers are available with a deposit. Special exceptions are addressed on a case-by-case basis. The current keypad code will not be turned off until all owners’ needs are addressed. The letters will be mailed on August 11.
Budget and Finance A thorough internal accounting and reconciliation of A-Section and E-Section funds is complete and starting balances have been allocated to separate bookkeeping accounts effective July 2015. For total confidence and
Collections As of August 7, there were 124 non-paying E-Section owners and 84 non-paying A-Section owners.
Prior to any foreclosure proceeding, letter and phone contact of delinquent owners are attempted. The Board discussed that personal and neighborly contact in advance of these actions is preferred although it relies on Board Member volunteers to reach out.
Don Larsen made personal phone calls to 34 E-Section non-paying owners who had phone numbers on record. Don’s efforts yielded $4,509 in newly collected assessments.
Tom Lange, Julia Akin, and Carrie Byrne shared their proposed letter to all non-paying E-Section owners to explain in further detail their 2015 assessments. The letter outlines what’s included in E-Section assessments and what’s not. The letter will be sent after further collections are made as a result of the keycard and clicker letter in early August.
E-Section Roads
Mark Hopkins provided 9 hours of road grading in E-Section before the Board meeting. All owners are asked to please help keep roadside ditches clean from debris to avoid water backing up during the rainy season.
Canyon Falls to Highway 2 E-Section needs to move forward with the shoreline permit for the bridge. The permit will require a one-time mitigation plus a consultant’s fee to offset the difference between shoreline plantings and the square footage available at the base of the bridge.
The access Road Gate was damaged Aug 4th at around 9:45 pm costing the community ~$500. The Board received an email soon after from Bill Stehl stating that the gate did not fully open for him so he pushed the gate open. He also stated that if he had done any damage he would not pay to repair the gate. The hydraulic arm on the gate was broken during the incident.
As of the meeting, the Board knows of no calls made to the posted phone numbers for assistance. Additionally, the Board discussed that Bill Stehl was on the gate committee and attended a meeting in 2014 at the gate when instructions on how to open the gate manually were reviewed.
There was a lengthy discussion with all Board Members and Owners in attendance at the Board meeting. Agreement was reached that MIRCC will pursue restitution for intentional gate damages through the legal system. Gary Johnson, the Bylaws, Ethics, and Legal Committee Chairman, will contact the proper authorities regarding this incident.
The Board learned recently of the Zahler family’s tragic loss of their daughter, which was reported in the Everett Herald. Since bridge users traverse the family’s property, the Board wishes to make a gesture to the family with a gift certificate to a nursery for a planting.
The Board learned that gravel intended for road maintenance has been taken from piles on the access road. All owners using the access road are asked to keep an eye out for any activity that doesn’t appear legitimate and to contact the proper authorities.
A-Section Roads Mat Williams purchased a tow-behind hydraulic piece of equipment to grade A-Section roads to take out the washboard. Mat will submit an invoice for reimbursement at a future Board meeting and A-Section will have the use of the equipment.
A-Section now owns multiple pieces of equipment and would like to use the grader shed. Mark Hopkins has a welder, fuel, chains, and other equipment in the shed needed in winter for snowplowing. The Board discussed the potential to share the shed, but it did not seem a plausible option. The A-Section Road Committee would like Mark Hopkins to vacate the grader shed and they will bring a bigger plan for the shed to next month’s Board Meeting.
USFS 6020 Road The Forest Service wants to work with their contractor to maintain their section of the road from US-2 to the archway. The A-Section road committee will keep the Board up to date on any further development and if USFS allows A-Section to control the roadway, per the easement.
Bylaws Committee The committee will convene in September to review all owner comments to the amended bylaws. After this time, the committee will put amended bylaws up for a motion at the next Board meeting, which will likely be October.
A-Section Accounts A-Section owners want to have a separate bank account and representative Board members indicated that they have had discussion with neighbors and believe it is hampering collections. The Board recognizes that separating bank accounts in addition to all bookkeeping accounts, which is already done, will add additional admin costs and a required signature from an A-Section Board member for checks. The Board further discussed the benefit of proceeding carefully and learning the outcome of the CPA’s audit of the reconciliation first. A-Section Board members will share the accounting spreadsheet with neighbors as an immediate next step to show they have control of the funds.
Next meeting scheduled for Saturday, September 12th at 9:00 a.m. at the Index Fire Station. (Note that the first Saturday in September occurs over Labor Day weekend, so the meeting will be held the following weekend.)
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne MIRCC Secretary