Four Lakes Landowners Association
Annual Meeting on February 22nd 2007
The meeting was called to order by President Terry Deschenes at 7:00 pm in the Issaquah Police Station meeting room. Terry began by introducing each Board member present – – Tara Bingham, Rod Case (Secretary), Shawn Muqueeney (Treasurer), Kit Nau, Tom Price, and Steve Scott. Not able to attend was Mark Achzenick.
Agenda
I. Minutes of 2006 Annual meeting
The first order of business was a quick review of the minutes from last year’s annual meeting. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes as distributed. It passed unanimously.
II. Treasurers report
Copies of a final accounting for 2006 and a proposed budget for 2007 had been handed out at the door as people entered. Shawn stated that the Board has approved raising the Association dues in accordance with the Consumer Price Index for 2006. He went over the proposed budget but acceptance was placed on hold until the end of the meeting when committee reports were completed.
Shawn also reported that the Association has changed banking institutions. All of our business has been moved to Boeing Employees Credit Union which offers better rates than our previous bank. He noted that one of our CDs matured recently and that the money is being left in our saving account until several pending invoices are received and paid.
III. Roads Committee – Rod Case for Mark Achzenick (chair)
Rod started by introducing the 2006 committee. There are currently 7 Association members serving. Having this number of volunteers facilitates much livelier discussion and more projects to be undertaken. Rod next went over the priority categories used by the committee when reviewing work that needs to be done. There are 4 levels of priority:
1. Issues impacting safety within the community
2. Road maintenance – potholes, roadbed failures, graveling shoulders, etc.
3. Ditching and weed/brushy clearing
4. Major road improvement projects
Rod then discussed the projects that were completed in 2006:
1. The pedestrian bypass walkway at the 3-way stop is now in place. Late last fall, on a very nasty weather weekend, a large group of Association members worked hard to accomplish this project. The committee thanked Mark & Kristina Achzenick (and family), Jan Pelroy, Rod & Lynette Case, Keith Renfrew, Lee Koger, Marty Johnson, Tom & Tommy Price, Mark and Ian Johnson, Willie Gevers, and Julian Kerr. Thanks to these people a significant safety concern has now been eliminated.
2. Fenced moved. With approval of the Liebling family a portion of their fence was moved back from the roadway about 5 feet. This provides a much better line of sight for vehicles entering the 3-way stop as they travel south on 239th Ave SE.
3. Sign improvements. A “No Outlet” sign has been installed at the main entrance, the missing Stop sign at the 3-way stop has been replaces, and 4 of 7 Yield signs are now up.
4. Patching potholes. Several members of the Association have patched potholes using gravel, asphalt patch and concrete. This kind of voluntary work is much appreciated.
5. Brush cutting. Throughout the year volunteers have also cut brush back from the roadway.
Rod then presented planned activities for 2007:
1. Last fall a contract was signed with A1 Asphalt Paving to do our major road maintenance work that was discussed at last years annual meeting. However, due to some very unusual weather starting in late October and continuing on through January of this year, the contractor could not do the work. The contractor just needs a couple days of decent weather to let things dry out a bit and then the work will be done.
2. Ditch and re-establish the shoulder along 164th where water is present year round. We hope to accomplish most of this work with volunteer labor and equipment.
3. Paint the crosswalks at the 3-way stop.
4. Install the remaining Yield signs.
5. Remove the abandoned pickup on the well road. This vehicle actually prevented Puget Power from the well road from the west to approach downed lines after the windstorm in December. If an Association member had not be there to show them how to get at the lines coming from the east we might well have been out of power to the well for a much longer period of time.
With the money that has been accumulated over the last few years the committee believes that most of the items on the maintenance list can be completed.
IV. Water Committee – Evan Lurton (chair)
Evan started by introducing the members of his committee. They are – Rod Case, Terry Deschenes, Marty Johnson, Keith Renfrew, and Marvin Schaefer. As was the case with the Road committee, having this many volunteers has provided good energy and made maintenance of the system much easier.
Highlights of the water system report are:
· There have been no water quality failures of the system for the last two years now. These tests have covered a wide variety of potential contaminates including Nitrates and Radiological Isotopes. Our water continues to be of a very high quality.
· In August of 2006 the Dept. Of Health did an on sight survey. There were several inspectors and they went over all aspects of our system. No major, or minor, deficiencies were identified. This is a very significant accomplishment.
· In 2006 the availability of water was generally good again. We had two planned outages in order to repair some leaks. In both cases we were able to notify those that were going to be affected ahead of time.
· We did have two unplanned outages in December. The first one occurred on the 13th. Due to very soggy ground after the record breaking rains of November a tree fell across the power lines in front of the Olson property. Because there was a hot power line on the road no one was allowed to drive up the hill in order to start the generator. After several hours our committee was able to gain access to the well via a Puget Power gate to the east of the well site. The generator then ran until the power was restored. Several days later the entire region experienced a severe wind storm and most areas were without power for up to a week. Four Lakes was no exception. During this time the generator maintained our water supply for the first day or so. Then it failed. After some diagnostics Evan determined that the coil on the generator needed to be replaced. He ordered a new one out of Salem and had it shipped overnight. It was received and installed the next day. Once again our generator maintained the water supply for a day or two. Then it again failed. It was taken into Issaquah for repair. It was determined that the carburetor was gummed up. Once it was cleaned out and an inline filter installed it ran fine until power was restored to the well site. Overall the generator is in good condition. We have purchased a number of replacement parts to have on hand to further improve our ability to keep it running over a long outage. After reviewing the two emergency outages and the problems we had with the generator during the second one, the committee agreed that the failures were indeed abnormal ones and there is no immediate need to purchase a new generator.
· The committee is now doing a complete review of the water system. First of all they are looking for any signs of leaks. While doing this review they are also locating each service vault, and all master system shut-off valves. Brush is cleared from around each vault, an identifying marker with a blue top is placed next to the vault, and a picture is taken to assist in locating them in the future.
· Evan is now monitoring pump runtime and recording the amount of time it is on. This is being used to watch for significant increases and therefore identifying the possibility of leaks.
· Evan asked all Association members to check their property and look for wet areas. This could be a sign of a leak in the system. Possible problems should be reported to the Water committee.
Activities planned for 2007:
Ø We will install a meter on the pump line. This will allow us to record how much water is pumped out of the ground. This information is now required by the State for all water systems of our size. Note: although it is not now required, within the next 10 years every water system such as ours will be required to have a meter on every service box. The State will require us to report how much water is pumped out of the ground and how much is actually used by Association members. They will use this information to monitor for leaks and if we go over a predefined threshold we will be required to identify and repair leaks.
Ø As discussed in previous years, the roof over our reservoir will need to be replaced soon. However, after talking to a number of contractors about this project, it has become obvious that this will not be an easy nor inexpensive effort. Our committee is continuing to look for a viable option. Alternatives such as installing a new concrete lid, replace the existing roof with a new wood (or steel) truss roof have been considered. Right now we are seriously looking at installing two or more plastic tanks. It appears we could not only provide more capacity but also have redundancy in case one of them is damaged.
Ø We will begin replacing all service vaults in the community. The system was installed almost 40 years ago and many of the valves are beginning to fail. Evan is developing a prototype vault which will include a new plastic vault, new valve(s), flow meters, a master shutoff valve, and probably a backflow valve. There are 25 dual vaults and 28 singles in the community. It will take us several years to replace all of them but the first ones will be done in 2007.
Evan and the committee have reviewed the costs of all this work and it appears we have saved up enough money over the years to cover these major upgrades. We will continue to monitor projected costs and dry to meet all the new government regulations without asking the Association for a special capital improvements levy.
V. Community Property – Rick Ward (chair)
Rick reported on activities during 2006:
· There was a special work party last year to clear brush around the small lake. This area is now much more accessible and usable than it was just a few years ago.
· The large field by the gazebo and the smaller area by the little lake were mowed on a regular basis again.
· The gazebo was cleaned and all the wood re-stained.
· The entrance sign was repainted.
Activities planned for 2007:
· Replace the roof on the gazebo
· Mow the grass at the community park
· Spread more gravel in the parking lot
· A new bulletin board is being constructed by a scout as his Eagle Scout project. It will be larger than our current one and have a map of the community.
VI. Lakes – Shawn Mulqueeney (chair)
Shawn stated that there is now an active committee of 5 or 6 volunteers working with him. This level of help will facilitate some much needed work in the future.
Shawn reported on activities during 2006:
· He contacted the county to discuss our issues with the lakes and ask their insight on possible solutions. There are no obvious/easy answers but they did provide some helpful insight on options.
· The committee explored several products that are supposed to help the lakes self dredge themselves. Shawn is also trying to get advice from the Lake Kathleen community which is a very well run system.
· The committee has looked at a product that increases water clarity but it does not inhibit weed growth. This product seems to be cost prohibitive.
· The committee is now looking at aeration of the lakes. This would reduce algae bloom and improve water clarity. It would not provide weed abatement however.
Activities planned for 2007:
· This spring they will have a company come out to do a survey of the big lake. The results from that study will be compared with the results of a study done 10 years ago.
· We are going to purchase about 10 grass eating carp which should help with weed control. These fish do not reproduce so will not overrun the lake.
· Looking at building a dock. There seems to be high interest within the community for such a project. The main purpose of the dock is to provide a fishing platform.
Shawn then asked for comments/suggestions from the floor. There were several comments about the lakes filling up with silt and that Association members definitely want to stop the deterioration of our beautiful lakes. Shawn thanked everyone for their input and invited them to volunteer to be a part of his committee.
VII. Entertainment – Kristina Achzenick (chair)
Kristina was not present and there was no report available.
VIII. Hospitality – Tom Price (chair)
This is a new process started in 2006. Its purpose is to welcome new members to our community, provide them with basic information about the community and its processes, and to encourage them to become actively involved.
Tom started by introducing Mark & Triona Anderson who have moved into the Jones property on 239th. Tom went to the Anderson’s home shortly after they moved in to welcome them. His discussion of community involvement was so successful that Mark has agreed to run for an open Board position!
At the end of Tom’s discussion there were several comments from the floor that this is a very good start on a much needed process. There were suggestions that we put together a formal packet of information to aid in the discussions about our community and its processes.
IX. Legal – Terry Deschenes (chair)
Terry reported that his main efforts in 2006 centered on efforts to revise the outdated Covenants and By-Laws. Once that process was completed it was time to take these documents to the Association and gain approval. After a lengthy campaign the final vote ballots were tallied at the Board meeting in December. Terry is pleased to announce that the vote was to accept the revised documents. Terry thanked everyone who helped him in the effort and of course the Association itself in conveying approval of this effort. The new Covenants and By-Laws documents were signed and delivered to the County. They are now officially recorded for our community.
In his role Terry also oversees insurance for the Association. There is nothing new to report on that front.
X. Volunteers – Kit Nau (chair)
As had been noted by several committee chairs, our volunteerism rate has increased nicely in 2006 and has had a direct impact on the amount of activity seen during the year. Kit thanked everyone for getting involved and encouraged even more members to step forward and participate on at least one committee.
Kit announced that the Volunteer of the Year is John Olson. During the year John has spent a great deal of time on various projects around the community. He has been the lead for obtaining a contractor to complete the road maintenance project, he has spent many hours pulling weeds in the lake, and can often be seen stopped by the culverts clearing them out. THANK YOU John for all your work.
XI. Communication – Steve Scott (chair)
Steve reported that several newsletters were sent out in 2006 and that he has received positive feedback on them. He asked those in attendance if they found the newsletters worthwhile. There was a strong sentiment that the newsletters were indeed worthwhile. A poll was taken as to how often they should be produced. The consensus was quarterly. It was further suggested that we make more use of the Association web site as a vehicle for communication. Several people said the web can be a great way to communicate to a large group of people in a timely manner.
XII. Old Business
· Board of Trustees Long Term Goal Development – – Terry reported that the Board set goals for itself and using them identified major action items. After clearly identifying the desired outcomes of each action they were turned over to the appropriate committee to accomplish them. This process has proven to be very effective and will be continued in 2007.
XIII. New Business
· Emergency Preparedness – – Debbie Berto described a new process being implemented in many communities called Community Emergency Response Team (CERT). She, her husband Tom Norton, and Deborah Hoganson have all attended the 8 week classes and become certified CERT people. In these classes they are given basic training in Search & Rescue, Triage, creating plans for utility shut off, and small fire fighting. These CERT people are then encouraged to go into their neighborhood and organize an emergency plan and volunteers to deal with large scale emergencies such as an earthquake, major weather events, etc. After an event these CERT teams will be the first assessors of damage, identify help needed from outside the community and will coordinate preliminary response efforts in their neighborhood.
Deborah volunteered to chair a new committee and spearhead the development of an emergency process within Four Lakes. Tom & Debbie volunteered to be on the committee with her. They suggested that Four Lakes be broken into 5 areas and that each area have a primary representative. These people would then start meeting on a regular basis and formulate a response process.
The discussion was then opened to comments. Many of those in attendance liked the idea and encouraged that it move forward. A volunteer stepped forward as the primary representative for four of the 5 sections of Four Lakes. As a team these people will find someone to represent the 5 area.
XIV. Election of Officers.
The terms of three Board members (Tara Bingham, Terry Deschenes, and Tom Price) is now completed and there is a fourth vacancy due to a previously unfilled vacancy. Terry and Tom have decided to run for another term. This leaves two open positions. Mark Anderson has volunteered to run for the Board and Kit said that she has talked to Brendan Pecht and believes he may volunteer to serve on the Board at a later date this year. There being no further nominations, Terry called for vote on the three announced candidates. They were elected unanimously by voice vote. The 2007 Board will therefore consist of:
Mark Achzenick MarkAndeerson Rod Case
Terry Deschenes Shawn Muqueeney Kit Nau
Tom Peters Steve Scott Open Position
At 8:50 pm. a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded and approved unanimously.