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NewsletterSnohomish Cascade Homeowners Association
Coming Events
Annual MeetingThe Association Annual Meeting will be held on Tuesday November 14, 2006 at Totem Falls Elementary School at 7pm.Need For Board MemberWe continue to have a vacancy on our Board of Directors. Tiger King fills the President’s position while Brian Stern performs both the roles of Secretary and Treasurer. Our Articles and By Laws call for a three member board. Although these documents allow for a minimum of two board members, this is not an ideal situation.Also, Tiger and Brian’s terms are up at the end of this year opening up all three positions on the board of directors. Board duties include overseeing the association’s landscaper, overseeing the association’s bookkeeper, ensuring the fence along Snohomish Cascade Drive is well maintained, enforcing the CC&R’s and attending regular board meetings. If you would like to volunteer to be on the board, please contact Tiger or Brian at (425) 921-3396 or board@the-falls.org. Board Looking for Management CompanyThe Board of Directors has been researching management companies to assist in managing the association.The current members of the board have found their positions very challenging in balancing board duties with work and family responsibilities. They think that a management company could help with the details of running the association. Finding members who could take the time to serve on the board has always been a challenge for our homeowner’s association. In the late 1990’s the board hired a bookkeeper who has helped greatly in assisting the Treasurer with keeping the books, sending out dues notices, and keeping track of late payment of dues. She has also helped with collecting the mail regularly, and other administrative tasks. The current board members would look to a management company to help with CC&R enforcement, the hiring of and coordination with contractors and possibly taking over the bookkeeping. Their hope is that the management company can do the leg work while the board focuses on policy issues making final decisions on major projects and overseeing a management company. In their research so far, the board estimates the cost to the association to be between $1,200 and $2,200 per month, approximately $4 to $7 per home each month. During the September board meeting, one association member warned that having a management company does not negate the need for the board to oversee the management company. He warned of possible fraud and theft on the part of a less than honest management company, a situation that he had almost experienced in a condo association that he had lived in. Also, he was skeptical that a management company would take on difficult CC&R enforcement actions. Flashing Beacons to be Installed Near Totem Falls ElementaryAccording to The Herald of September 22, 2006, “New lights protect kids” the Snohomish County Public Works department is installing flashing beacons at 40 public elementary schools in unincorporated Snohomish County, including Totem Falls Elementary School.With darkness spreading through the winter months and rain and fog driving slowly becomes more important around school zones to prevent accidents to children going to and from school. The beacons remind drivers that the speed limit around school zones is 20 mph when children are present and when the lights are flashing. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has found that beacons tend to reduce the average speed by 7 mph. In the morning, the beacons will activate 30 minutes before school starts and will stop 15 minutes after school begins. In the afternoon, they will begin 15 minutes before students are released and 30 minutes after they are released. Also, as its workload allows, Sheriff’s Office deputies will patrol school zones at the beginning and the end of school. Public works suggests that at the beginning of the school year, parents within walking distance, walk to school with their children so that each knows the route the child will be taking. Public Works should have the beacons installed throughout the county by the end of October.
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