February 6, 2016
Mt. Index Riversites Community Club, Inc.
Board of Directors Meeting
Board members present: Julia Akin, Mark Bollman, Carrie Byrne, Patty Harbaugh, CJ Holmes, Gary Johnson, Don Larsen, David MacFarlane, Earl Van Buskirk, Mat Williams
Board members absent: Mark Haenlein
Owners and guests:
Anita Shultz, Shirley Heintz, Ben Keith, Dan Harrison, Alina Rush, John Sharf, Gary Hubbard, Brent Corey, Matt Sanford, Chris Johnson, Travis Ferguson, Melissa Bailey, Mary Ann Toms
January Meeting Minutes
Carrie Byrne: “Move to approve the January meeting minutes.” Approved: Unanimous
Committee Reports and Information
Executive Committee
The committee has been staying on top of few collections activities. No other news to report.
Budget Status Report: Earl Van Buskirk presented the January 31st Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss statements. Total bank balance = $93,531
Several financial highlights were reviewed:
• Bank balances are very close to where we were last year at this time
• Since last year, the balance on the bridge has been paid down by $59,587
• Owners who paid part or all of their assessments for both A-Section and E-Section in January total $4245
• Owners who paid part or all of their assessments for both A-Section and E-Section in December total $3319
• There are more payments expected to come at the beginning of February based on correspondence with owners
Collections Committee
Final notices of intent to file liens against E-Section property for unpaid 2015 assessments were sent January 31, 2016.
There is a court date scheduled on February 16 for summary judgment against Greg Parks. The attorney from Adams & Duncan will be attending the court appointment along with Board members.
A-Section has begun the lien process for unpaid 2015 assessments. The criteria for which properties to lien in A-Section has begun with people who owe the most money. In advance of placing a lien, committee members will attempt to make phone calls to people to see if they will pay instead.
Mat Williams met with attorney Carl Marquardt to see if we can speed up the process of filing liens and foreclosing. The first three A-Section candidates for foreclosure are Jeff Johnson, Cameron Carlson, and Neil Martel. Liens have been filed but these owners have not responded to MIRCC with any payments or intention to pay.
E-Section Roads
Dave MacFarlane reported that John Vos brought asphalt grindings into the community. If it’s dry on Tuesday, February 9, Dave and any volunteers will be filling potholes with materials brought in and delivered.
Clogged ditches, gravel gathering against jersey barriers, and the road not properly crowned were discussed as concerns. We need to clean out ditches to prevent more flooding and road damage. At Philadelphia Creek, water is traveling over the road from Deep Woods and down to the bridge over the creek. There is also a sink hole on the bridge needing repair and sloughing happening on the Deep Woods side of the creek.
Dave is interested in an experiment with asphalting part of the road to see what the best fix is for some of the repeat problems. More repairs will be discussed as weather conditions improve so the work is more lasting.
Canyon Falls to US-2
The green gate is working well at the moment. Earl Van Buskirk reported that his name is first on the list for a phone call at the gate and it’s rare he gets a call. Traffic at night has been cut down substantially.
Snowplowing and roadwork invoices from G-Section will show up in February to be voted in March, but not this month.
The goal for this section of road is to get a professional to crown the road and have more lasting improvements that are applied under more optimal weather conditions.
A-Section & USFS 6020 Roads
Mat Williams reported that things are great with the USFS. Roads are in great shape, considering the flood events.
Past the archway, there is a rock wall at Tim Weir’s property that Mark Hopkins had put in. The weight of the wall is creating a negative grade and water is accumulating where the wall was placed on the lot. The problem is occurring on Weir’s property and not MIRCC road, so the road committee needs to contact the owner and ask him to dig drainage ditches or fill in the area to get water moving in the right direction. It was reported that Tim is on his way to look at it today.
Many unknown people are hanging out and apparently staying at property on Swamp Road, and it’s become a community concern. Foreclosure activity on Cameron Carlson’s property on Swamp Road may remedy the issue.
Bylaws, Ethics, Legal
No report.
Community Development
Julia Akin and Don Larsen reported that the committee agreed that it’s unfavorable at this time to add money to the next assessment bill for an optional community beach access fee. Owners wanting access to beaches not within their implied easement are encouraged to call points of contact at the respective gate.
Julia volunteered to contact RJ in G-Section to request that a contact name and phone number are posted on the gate to G-Section for this purpose. The green gate for access to the Canyon Falls Bridge has multiple owner names and numbers on it already. The yellow gate at Sunset Falls also has contacts posted.
Mark Bollman reminded the Board and attendees that there are actually only three lots that MIRCC owns in the entire community, contrary to popular belief. Two lots are at the old Sunset Falls parking area, which no longer benefit from any road assessments for maintenance. The third is lot E-14 between Haenlein and Byrne properties. All other “community beaches”—G-Section peninsula, at the end of Sky Loop Road, Eagle Falls beach trailhead—are where the road dead ends or previously crossed the river but are technically not community lots for which MIRCC is deeded.
The state of the Community Development fund was discussed. It was recently built up from the sale of useless lots that MIRCC owned or were dumped on us. Julia Akin helped sell some lots and the proceeds went into the community fund. Currently, Lot E-189 is available to sell.
Priority Business
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to approve Check Detail Report for January expenditures.” Approved: Unanimous
Charges and Invoices to be paid: -E-Section Checks:
• o $4736.71 – Acrow Corporation (bridge payment)
• o $210 – Eastham Foster CPAs (CPA services)
• o $7.83 – PUD (street lights)
• o $336 – SLK Accounting (monthly bookkeeping)
• o $3715.32 – Owners loans (bridge loan payments)
-A-Section Checks:
• o $582.63 – Brent Corey (roadwork)
• o $140 – Eastham Foster CPAs (CPA services)
• o $2850.75 – Michele’s Landscape & Design (snow plowing)
• o $1080 – Richard Bott (roadwork)
• o $204 – SLK Accounting (monthly bookkeeping)
• o $724.82 – Terry/Mat Williams (roadwork)
New Business 2016 Budget Planning
Earl Van Buskirk presented a draft budget worksheet. The goal is to collaborate and create consensus for how we develop the assessment invoices to be sent in April for next year. This year, the Board will develop a letter to explain invoices to all owners so they understand what it covers, how assessments are calculated, and what the assessment will fund. We are considering including the Gate Policies & Procedures and Snow Plowing Policies & Procedures in the mailing, although don’t want it to get too bulky.
Following are highlights from the discussion:
• Payers pay more money because nonpayers don’t pay. Payers are in fact subsidizing nonpayers.
• The 80% paid assessments from the community is actually a total dollar percentage and not a percentage of individual owners.
• While some owners make partial payments, there is no official payment plan for paying assessments. Interest continues to accrue for all incomplete payments. We discussed that at times the administrative cost to service the debt for unpaid assessments exceeds the value of the principal owed.
• Assessment invoices are targeted to be sent April 15 and due May 31.
• A-Section road budget is expecting to need money for brushing, ditching, and grading for 2016-2017
• There were unanticipated and required fees for the bridge this year (archaeological analysis, additional shoreline permit fees and plantings). The bridge budget this year will have to be higher as a result, but will be gone at the end of four years.
• Side road maintenance is to be charged a flat fee and invoiced evenly among side road owners, per Judge Wynne’s ruling. When side road owners don’t pay, main road owners have to make up the balance. The Board does not believe this was intended by the judge. For 20162017, E-Section side road maintenance costs will likely be determined on an individual basis.
• We are not expecting to collect the commercial fee for this year’s assessment. The judge set it for $25 annually, and it appears too small an amount to police for the potential income to collect.
• We do not expect to build an emergency fund at this time. In case of an emergency or natural disaster, there will likely be a special assessment.
The goal for the 2016-2017 budget is to present a final draft for voting at the March Board meeting.
Other Comments and Discussion Topics
Some owners of Falls Place properties that are now valueless wish to be in good standing and eligible to vote at the annual meeting. They are willing to contribute to MIRCC, want to drive to the yellow gate in A-Section, and have access to inspect their property when they choose. Gary Johnson volunteered to lead up the discussion of what to bill Falls Place owners to accomplish this goal of defining how a Falls Place owner can be in good standing.
After the mudslide, Falls Place properties were rendered worthless by Snohomish County and the Board voted to not invoice these owners for assessments; with no paid invoice, they were determined to not be in good standing per the definition in Judge Wynne’s ruling. Gary will report back with a recommendation of how to address these Falls Place owners at the next Board meeting.
Closing Remarks
Next meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 5th at 9:00 a.m. at the Index Fire Station.
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne MIRCC Secretary
Board members absent: Mark Haenlein
Owners and guests:
Anita Shultz, Shirley Heintz, Ben Keith, Dan Harrison, Alina Rush, John Sharf, Gary Hubbard, Brent Corey, Matt Sanford, Chris Johnson, Travis Ferguson, Melissa Bailey, Mary Ann Toms
January Meeting Minutes
Carrie Byrne: “Move to approve the January meeting minutes.” Approved: Unanimous
Committee Reports and Information
Executive Committee
The committee has been staying on top of few collections activities. No other news to report.
Budget Status Report: Earl Van Buskirk presented the January 31st Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss statements. Total bank balance = $93,531
Several financial highlights were reviewed:
• Bank balances are very close to where we were last year at this time
• Since last year, the balance on the bridge has been paid down by $59,587
• Owners who paid part or all of their assessments for both A-Section and E-Section in January total $4245
• Owners who paid part or all of their assessments for both A-Section and E-Section in December total $3319
• There are more payments expected to come at the beginning of February based on correspondence with owners
Collections Committee
Final notices of intent to file liens against E-Section property for unpaid 2015 assessments were sent January 31, 2016.
There is a court date scheduled on February 16 for summary judgment against Greg Parks. The attorney from Adams & Duncan will be attending the court appointment along with Board members.
A-Section has begun the lien process for unpaid 2015 assessments. The criteria for which properties to lien in A-Section has begun with people who owe the most money. In advance of placing a lien, committee members will attempt to make phone calls to people to see if they will pay instead.
Mat Williams met with attorney Carl Marquardt to see if we can speed up the process of filing liens and foreclosing. The first three A-Section candidates for foreclosure are Jeff Johnson, Cameron Carlson, and Neil Martel. Liens have been filed but these owners have not responded to MIRCC with any payments or intention to pay.
E-Section Roads
Dave MacFarlane reported that John Vos brought asphalt grindings into the community. If it’s dry on Tuesday, February 9, Dave and any volunteers will be filling potholes with materials brought in and delivered.
Clogged ditches, gravel gathering against jersey barriers, and the road not properly crowned were discussed as concerns. We need to clean out ditches to prevent more flooding and road damage. At Philadelphia Creek, water is traveling over the road from Deep Woods and down to the bridge over the creek. There is also a sink hole on the bridge needing repair and sloughing happening on the Deep Woods side of the creek.
Dave is interested in an experiment with asphalting part of the road to see what the best fix is for some of the repeat problems. More repairs will be discussed as weather conditions improve so the work is more lasting.
Canyon Falls to US-2
The green gate is working well at the moment. Earl Van Buskirk reported that his name is first on the list for a phone call at the gate and it’s rare he gets a call. Traffic at night has been cut down substantially.
Snowplowing and roadwork invoices from G-Section will show up in February to be voted in March, but not this month.
The goal for this section of road is to get a professional to crown the road and have more lasting improvements that are applied under more optimal weather conditions.
A-Section & USFS 6020 Roads
Mat Williams reported that things are great with the USFS. Roads are in great shape, considering the flood events.
Past the archway, there is a rock wall at Tim Weir’s property that Mark Hopkins had put in. The weight of the wall is creating a negative grade and water is accumulating where the wall was placed on the lot. The problem is occurring on Weir’s property and not MIRCC road, so the road committee needs to contact the owner and ask him to dig drainage ditches or fill in the area to get water moving in the right direction. It was reported that Tim is on his way to look at it today.
Many unknown people are hanging out and apparently staying at property on Swamp Road, and it’s become a community concern. Foreclosure activity on Cameron Carlson’s property on Swamp Road may remedy the issue.
Bylaws, Ethics, Legal
No report.
Community Development
Julia Akin and Don Larsen reported that the committee agreed that it’s unfavorable at this time to add money to the next assessment bill for an optional community beach access fee. Owners wanting access to beaches not within their implied easement are encouraged to call points of contact at the respective gate.
Julia volunteered to contact RJ in G-Section to request that a contact name and phone number are posted on the gate to G-Section for this purpose. The green gate for access to the Canyon Falls Bridge has multiple owner names and numbers on it already. The yellow gate at Sunset Falls also has contacts posted.
Mark Bollman reminded the Board and attendees that there are actually only three lots that MIRCC owns in the entire community, contrary to popular belief. Two lots are at the old Sunset Falls parking area, which no longer benefit from any road assessments for maintenance. The third is lot E-14 between Haenlein and Byrne properties. All other “community beaches”—G-Section peninsula, at the end of Sky Loop Road, Eagle Falls beach trailhead—are where the road dead ends or previously crossed the river but are technically not community lots for which MIRCC is deeded.
The state of the Community Development fund was discussed. It was recently built up from the sale of useless lots that MIRCC owned or were dumped on us. Julia Akin helped sell some lots and the proceeds went into the community fund. Currently, Lot E-189 is available to sell.
Priority Business
Earl Van Buskirk: “Move to approve Check Detail Report for January expenditures.” Approved: Unanimous
Charges and Invoices to be paid: -E-Section Checks:
• o $4736.71 – Acrow Corporation (bridge payment)
• o $210 – Eastham Foster CPAs (CPA services)
• o $7.83 – PUD (street lights)
• o $336 – SLK Accounting (monthly bookkeeping)
• o $3715.32 – Owners loans (bridge loan payments)
-A-Section Checks:
• o $582.63 – Brent Corey (roadwork)
• o $140 – Eastham Foster CPAs (CPA services)
• o $2850.75 – Michele’s Landscape & Design (snow plowing)
• o $1080 – Richard Bott (roadwork)
• o $204 – SLK Accounting (monthly bookkeeping)
• o $724.82 – Terry/Mat Williams (roadwork)
New Business 2016 Budget Planning
Earl Van Buskirk presented a draft budget worksheet. The goal is to collaborate and create consensus for how we develop the assessment invoices to be sent in April for next year. This year, the Board will develop a letter to explain invoices to all owners so they understand what it covers, how assessments are calculated, and what the assessment will fund. We are considering including the Gate Policies & Procedures and Snow Plowing Policies & Procedures in the mailing, although don’t want it to get too bulky.
Following are highlights from the discussion:
• Payers pay more money because nonpayers don’t pay. Payers are in fact subsidizing nonpayers.
• The 80% paid assessments from the community is actually a total dollar percentage and not a percentage of individual owners.
• While some owners make partial payments, there is no official payment plan for paying assessments. Interest continues to accrue for all incomplete payments. We discussed that at times the administrative cost to service the debt for unpaid assessments exceeds the value of the principal owed.
• Assessment invoices are targeted to be sent April 15 and due May 31.
• A-Section road budget is expecting to need money for brushing, ditching, and grading for 2016-2017
• There were unanticipated and required fees for the bridge this year (archaeological analysis, additional shoreline permit fees and plantings). The bridge budget this year will have to be higher as a result, but will be gone at the end of four years.
• Side road maintenance is to be charged a flat fee and invoiced evenly among side road owners, per Judge Wynne’s ruling. When side road owners don’t pay, main road owners have to make up the balance. The Board does not believe this was intended by the judge. For 20162017, E-Section side road maintenance costs will likely be determined on an individual basis.
• We are not expecting to collect the commercial fee for this year’s assessment. The judge set it for $25 annually, and it appears too small an amount to police for the potential income to collect.
• We do not expect to build an emergency fund at this time. In case of an emergency or natural disaster, there will likely be a special assessment.
The goal for the 2016-2017 budget is to present a final draft for voting at the March Board meeting.
Other Comments and Discussion Topics
Some owners of Falls Place properties that are now valueless wish to be in good standing and eligible to vote at the annual meeting. They are willing to contribute to MIRCC, want to drive to the yellow gate in A-Section, and have access to inspect their property when they choose. Gary Johnson volunteered to lead up the discussion of what to bill Falls Place owners to accomplish this goal of defining how a Falls Place owner can be in good standing.
After the mudslide, Falls Place properties were rendered worthless by Snohomish County and the Board voted to not invoice these owners for assessments; with no paid invoice, they were determined to not be in good standing per the definition in Judge Wynne’s ruling. Gary will report back with a recommendation of how to address these Falls Place owners at the next Board meeting.
Closing Remarks
Next meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 5th at 9:00 a.m. at the Index Fire Station.
Respectfully submitted by
Carrie Byrne MIRCC Secretary