FAIRWOOD WEST HOME
Minutes of Meeting
July 17, 2008
The monthly meeting of the Fairwood West Homeowners Association Board of Trustees was called to order at 7:10 p.m. Trustees in attendance were Cecile Blumenzweig, Pat Wyre, Lou Carlascio, David Mahowald, and Dan Rystrom. Also in attendance was Barb Simeona, Association Bookkeeper, Officer Cissna of the King County Sherriff’s office and two homeowners.
Board Members Needed
The Fairwood West Board of Trustees needs Board Members.
Please help your community by donating a few hours of your time each month by serving on the Fairwood West Board of Trustees.
Please contact any Board Member or attend the next meeting to be held Thursday, August 21 at Nativity Lutheran Church at 7:00 p.m.
All phone numbers for Board Members are listed in the Fairwood Flyer.
Minutes of Previous Meeting – The minutes from the June 2008 meeting were amended to note that the next monthly meeting would not be the annual meeting.
Fire District 40 – There was no representative present to report.
For other Fire District news please see the FD 40 report in the Fairwood Flyer.
King County Sheriff’s Report – Officer Cissna was present to report.
He asked about the home with the “POD” container in the driveway since it had been there for three weeks. This same home has been getting parking tickets and is not paying attention.
He ran radar for over an hour yesterday and it took that long to catch anyone speeding.
Pat noted she had received a call from a homeowner stating that the home had been the burglarized on 6/12/08. Pat noted to officer Cissna that she was not made aware of this burglary and feels she should have been told given she is the security contact for the area.
Officer Cissna was asked if he can make a monthly presentation of crimes. He noted he can only disclose certain things. David Mahowald noted all the board would like is the number of events. Officer Cissna said he will bring some items to the next meeting regarding this. He did note it is difficult to get a “Fairwood West” report as the crime reports have to be specifically marked as “Fairwood West” for them to be put into the database that way.
Pat discussed an incident last month involving an out of town homeowner and a home alarm that was going off frequently. Homeowner’s complained to the officers on duty.
Officer Cissna reported on an SUV parked on the sidewalk around SE 164th. Lou took down the information.
Pat gave Officer Cissna an address on 163rd regarding what looks like an abandoned truck.
A homeowner complained thru Pat that she calls the storefront officer and no one is calling her back. She was calling to complain regarding solicitors. Officer Cissna noted that the volunteer that answers the phone was most likely on vacation.
Several solicitors, Evans Glass, Penguin Windows and The NW Home Pro LLC just to name a few have all been soliciting in the neighborhood. When confronted they have said that they have permits. It was noted for the record that there is no such thing. There are no soliciting signs posted in the neighborhood. Please call the King County Sherriff’s office if they will not leave.
There were no major incidents on the 4th of July to report.
Homeowner Comments – Nothing to report.
Homeowner Covenant Enforcement Appeals – No homeowner’s present to appeal covenant enforcement violation letters.
Security – Pat Wyre noted she had received a question from a homeowner regarding the statement in previous minutes that the King County officers were talking to homeowners, as a courtesy, regarding barking dogs. She felt that the officers should not be used for this.
There was discussion regarding the amount of time the West gets for security and should it be increased or not.
David noted he has received no budget for next year’s security.
If you have complaints about security please come to a board meeting to discuss with the board.
Financial Report – The financial report was accepted as presented.
Security is under budget for the year. Pat noted we can’t seem to fill our hours. David noted that we need to post the job at other precincts. Pat will talk with the Renton Police Department and will also tell Sam that we need the shifts covered or we will have to cover with other police departments.
Legal seems high – it was noted that legal bills are split between covenant enforcement and legal hours.
It was noted that one home that was previously on the foreclosure list is now on hold.
Treasurers Report – David Mahowald reported that he needs budget requests asap ! Lou noted that covenant enforcement looks fine. The budget requests will be discussed at the August meeting and then approved at the September meeting.
Architectural Control Report – David Mahowald turned in a letter regarding some backyard construction of a retaining wall and backyard deck.
He has not had a chance to go look at the large addition being built in the neighborhood.
Common Properties Report – Cecile noted that we need to get a bid to fix the electrical units that are not working. There are two in the island and one by the park. Cecile will get 3 bids for this.
Pat passed around a preliminary park plan that totals approximately $22K. There needs to be further clarification to this plan and not just a list of what needs to be done. David will call them. It was also noted that the trees proposed for removal need to be marked for a visual reference.
Dan noted we currently have 3 bids in hand for tree removal.
Lou noted he will fix the park table damage.
Community Events – The annual garage sale was a huge success. Next year a possible hot dog stand in the park.
Pride In Ownership – Kathie Brown has resigned and turned over the pride in ownership folder to the board. Pat Wyre has it in her possession. This position is open to be filled. Cecile briefly explained the position and noted that she would like Fairwood merchants used for awards. Both Pat and Lou have neighbors who might be interested in the position.
Covenant Enforcement – The board reviewed all the homes that were previously in process with the updated status given by the Covenant Enforcement officer.
In the last month there were:
8 new letters sent out
2 homeowners complied with violation letters
5 homes are now being fined $25 per week for non compliance
Thank you to everyone that has responded and complied with their letters.
Thank you to all board members that have participated in the process.
The board reviewed a letter from the Association attorney regarding a homebased business.
A motion was made by Pat Wyre, seconded and approved to send fining letters via return receipt mail.
Cecile is going to put the board in touch with a collection agency as a possible addition to the process. According to Section 8 of Article VII in the covenants the board has the right to purse collections.
Lou noted he feels the biggest problem in the area is the number of cars. They are parking everywhere.
Lou would like to volunteer during September and October to walk to every home and pass out copies of the CC&R books and a letter. Dan and Pat will help. We will need to get additional copies made and to do that we need to get the book in a digital format. Lou will find out if Denise can help with that.
David will look into it also.
Barb will get all board members Bylaws books.
Unfinished Business Report – No unfinished business to report.
New Business Report – No new business to report.
The meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
The next monthly meeting of the Fairwood West Homeowners Association will be held on Thursday August 21st, 2008 at 7:00 p.m., at the Nativity Lutheran Church, 17707 140th SE.
All residents are welcome to attend.
Respectfully submitted,
Barb Simeona