A little more info. and how they voted...
SURFSIDE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION
REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTES
MARCH 20, 2021
Board Members Present: Gary Williams, Mark Scott, Ric Minich, Rudd Turner, James Clancy, Kurt Olds , Dan Neptun, Mariann Schweitzer, Tom Rogers via WebEx
Staff Present: Tracy Lofstrom, Kimber Holtermann, Maureen Gilbert, Gil Gonzalez
Call to Order: Gary Williams called the meeting to order 9:05 am ( audio recorder had to be set up, the WebEx could not record the meeting).
Agenda: Mark Scott made the motion to adopt the agenda for the March 20, 2021 Regular Board Meeting as amended, adding the oath of office for tom Newman. Rudd Turner seconded the motion, motion passed 7-0.
Safety Message: Gary Williams safety message was on being mindful when working in and around your home. Remember to lift with the knees and not your back, , don’t try to lift and carry overly heavy items especially if going up or down stairs.
Minutes Approval: Mark Scott made the motion to approve the minutes of the February 20, 2021 Regular Board Meeting as amended, clarifying the motion regarding the permit for the perch tree. Ric Minich seconded the motion, motion passed 7-0.
Oath of Office: Tom Newman accepted the appointment to the Board of Trustees Tom was sworn in by Board Secretary, Ric Minich. Tom will serve on the board through July 2021 and will remain as the chair of the Water System Planning Committee.
Old Business
A. Code of Civility - Code of Civility- More discussion on the fine structures, no motions were made.
B. Multi-Dwelling Fee – Mark Scott made the motion to keep the multi-dwelling fee in place Kurt Olds seconded the motion, motion passed 5-2-1. Tom Rogers & Mariann Schweitzer voted No, Ric Minich abstained as he has rental properties.
C. Complaint #5599 ( Tall Tree) – permits have been filed with Dept of Fish and Wildlife.
D. Annual Meeting- Business Manager, Tracy Lofstrom advised she has been researching several locations for the meeting that will satisfy COVID-19 restrictions and member, trustee and staff concerns.
E. Election Update- Ric Minich gave a call to volunteers for the Nominating Committee as no one has stepped forward. There has been one application submitted for the open trustee positions to date.
F. 2026 Financial Strategic Plan- Rudd Turner made the motion to approve the 2021-2026 Financial Strategic Plan. Mark Scott seconded the motion, motion passed 8-0.
New Business
A. Revised Board Assignments- Tom Neman will continue to serve as the Water System Planning Committee Chair and replace James Clancy in his assignments. Mark Scott made the motion to accept the revised board assignments. Rudd turner seconded the motion, motion passed 8-0.
B. Compliance Software- with the resignation of compliance officer Georgia Olsen, business manager Tracy Lofstrom is
researching new software for compliance and gave a demo of prospective software. Mark Scott made a motion to
pursue compliance software and take next step. Mariann Schweitzer seconded the motion, motion passed 7-0; Tom
Rogers was not available to vote. Mark Scott made the motion suspending abundant pro-active compliance for 60
days until we have a new compliance officer, new software in place and continuing with all escrow inspections. Item
will be discussed at the May 2021 Regular Board Meeting. Mariann Schweitzer seconded the motion, motion passed
7-1, Tom Rogers voted no on this motion.
C. Fishing Derby & Golf Tournament-The Fishing Derby will be postponed until July 4th weekend or possibly Labor Day
Weekend due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines. The Surfside Golf Scramble is at a date of June 12; however,
this early date would not allow for the raffle to be held, which is a large part of the fundraising efforts for local high
school seniors scholarships. Looking at dates in August, with lightened COVID-19 restrictions we could possibly have
the raffle. More discussion at next meeting.
D. Waterway Treatment bid- Mark Scott made the motion to accept the bid from Eradipest to treat the waterways at a
cost of $13, 709.24. Ric Minich seconded the motion, motion passed 8-0.
E. Asphalt bids for ditch cuts- Mark Scott made the motion accepting the bid from ABCDE Paving Company (Astoria
,OR) at a cost of $8,300 for repairs at 320 Place, J Place & I Street. Rudd Turner seconded the motion, motion
passed 5-0-2; Dan Neptun & Tom Newman abstained, Tom Rogers was not available for the vote.
F. Brusseau deck- member deck was built over property line into the member owned accretion. No motions were
made, members to submit photos at next board meeting and allowing time for ARC to re-evaluate their decision.
Staff, Trustee & Committee Reports
A. Emergency Management – start your fire prevention work now the dry season and very dry grass will be here soon.
B. Firewise – still looking for volunteers and researching the cost effectiveness of having a Surfside owned chipper.
• Mark Scott made the motion to accept all staff, trustee & committee reports as submitted.
• Mark Scott made the motion to adjourn the March 20, 2021 Regular Board Meeting of the Surfside
Homeowners Association.
• Meeting adjourned at 12:50 pm
______________________________________________________________________
18 comments:
No information has been offered to members in the minutes as to what a "code of civility" is, or why fines would be involved. This is some weird stuff. Who is this directed at, and what has prompted it ?
And what is the purpose of the "Compliance" software ? If it is primarily for record keeping, that would eliminate the need for any closing inspections. Homebuyers pay to have pre-closing inspections, and office records would show any unresolved compliance issues or unpaid fees. Members would rather see a $50 fee for title exchanges handled by the Surfside office. The current charge is a "for profit" fee, and is inappropriate for this "not for profit" organization.
"code of civility" is about as good as the covenant "Neat and Attractive. Both are in the eye of the beholder. Now they are going to be a moral authority? Give me a break. I see another employee in our future. A Civility Officer.
I think this is another effort to create a problem that doesn't yet exist. Sounds similar to water wagon plan, need for more lighting restrictions,and neat n'tidy.
I've never seen any more than some raised voices in a meeting. Board and non-board. Now no visitors in meetings,
This code of civility needs to be looked at hard and long in my opinion. It most likely will turn into a can of worms! Who’s making the call? If as was stated during a meeting a person feels bullied and retaliated, who’s to say where the fault lays!
Let’s quit trying to rule each other’s lives so much! Hope this idea dies on the vine!
The code of civility is a joke. How old are we???, what games are we playing??? Ohhhh, someone wasn't nice to me, my panties are in a wad. Grow a set and deal with life.
The BOT cannot infringe on our freedom of speech.
Again, Tracy is the yes lady, afraid to say anything for fear of losing her job.
Neat and attractive is a joke. Last I heard, this came about from the olds, again they need to go. Tracy needs to grow a set!! They don't want bouys, driftwood, or rocks in our yards. Go back to Arizona!
The HOA charges 200 when you sell your property. You are right Steve, we are non profit, where is this going
I for one am willing to see what they propose for a code of civility. If comments here are an example of what employees deal with then clearly we aren't old enough...
It's perfectly obvious that a lot of people use anonymity to hide behind on the blog. People tend to be cordial in the community.
But this is more a matter of fear that something will happen that isn't being controlled, but spontaneous. Life.
I'm not buying that members are nasty to Surfside employees. The office has set a hostile tone with all of the barriers and cramped customer area. No reason to go there frequently.
There's not likely more than ONE member meeting annually.
And we need civility police ?
Let's not get off base here. The employees have treated me with nothing but professionalism and respect. They have done their jobs as best they can, considering the amoral, self serving, schizophrenic management.
Then there's the flip side - the J Place self interest group disguised as a non - profit Board. Where IS that additional revenue going? Yet another in a long list of questionable practices.
I'm asking the question, where is the lack of civility ? The blog has no official connection to the HOA, so is not a factor. I don't have any complaints about the Bus. office, and only said that the barriers and cramped entry is hostile in nature. At times they have to field billing or enforcement questions that can be emotional issues for members. It's part of the job.
It seems a bad idea to have the Office manager also be the head of compliance, because of potential confrontations at the office.
I don't object to setting some standards or expectations in member/HOA exchanges, but to take an attitude that members are "the problem" and settimg fines is getting way out there in attitude.
The Board is talking about policy in a bubble of their own imaginary world, where something undesirable that happens once, needs a rule about it.
That's where the multiple barriers came from in the office. An upset member supposedly threatened office folks with a gun, no, then it was a knife, so very vague, and obviously someone having personal issues. One instance led to the barriers.
As for the Board's attitudes and practices, they have made themselves unaccessible.
It’s great that you’ve been treated with respect and professionalism, but not our experience! I don’t think the main focus here should be how the members treat the employees, it had to work both ways! Writing up one more policy is not going to achieve that! Can you imagine who and how this would be monitored?
Number 1 the employees handbook and policies and procedures already address this and I hope the steps to follow, the BOT I would think have a code of conduct, that only leaves the members which could be handled easily by a complaint to the board.
We’ve got way too many rules and covenants to keep track of now!
Let’s step back and enjoy the beach as we should be!
Actually, as far as HOA's go There really aren't that many rules when compared to most HOA's I've known. Of course if you don't agree with a rule or covenant than more than likely you would feel differently.
Unrelated, but yesterday saw one of those elusive Peninsula bears! First of the season and it wasn't on a security cam.
You don't see the larger picture. And the number of restrictions has nothing to do with what is necessary or has a positive result. The Tree Restrictions are an obvious case in point.
But the main point is that the members have no real authority to prevent unecessarily intrusive rules/restrictions/covenants from being put in place. As a result, many new restrictions are being considered by the BOT currently.
The system is broken and it is apparent that the Board is happy with closed meetings, and feeling no obligation to respond to member inquiries and concerns.
With the neat and attractive being discussed by Ms olds and company, they do want bouys, rocks or driftwood, just to mention a few things. They need to go...far away
That is your opinion, but I do see the big picture and stand by what I typed. We really do not have that many rules compared to areas elsewhere. Your comment proves my point. I don't find the tree issue as a big deal as some. By comparrison you feel differently, bringing it up in almost every comment you make, even on topics that arent remotely about trees.
I also disagree with the closed meeting complaint. Accept for technical isses where people can't view the meeting online it is basically the same as when you could attend. And besides, wasn't the online line meetings supposed to be the answer to member participation? How did that work out?
The pandemic makes it necessary to have an alternative to open meetings. The BOT shut down the attempt at online voting, but stalled initially on broadcasting. The obvious objective by proponents was to have BOTH open meetings and streeming option.
We no longer have a public meeting space in this community, because it was turned into offices. But State requirements specify open meetings. Members can ask questions to Trustees in person, and not be ignored.
What we currently have is not open or accessible in the same way as in-person meetings.
Being complacent is always an option. I have concerns about the community, but I've never filed a complaint or been cited with a violation. I just expect members to be treated equitably and to the extent possible, have the HOA stay out of people's business.
We'll see how things go.I can enjoy my place whatever else goes on in the community, but will remain vigilant about property rights and HOA intrusion.
The online meetings did nothing concerning member participation! Number one not all members want or have Facebook and there was no way to communicate with the board during a meeting. Utube! You’ve got to be kidding!
I don’t understand the reluctance for Zoom meetings or Webex itself? And writing a question or concern to the board does not get the email read aloud so those watching know what’s being discussed!
The BOT does not want members to participate. Everyone of them can go into stores, but we cannot sit in a room. What a bunch of control freaks. Peggy and company must feel so proud how our place looks. She needs to go, as does kurt
Contact really is no different than when you could attend the meetings. At the meetings they only allowed 5-10 minutes of open floor comments before the meeting started, then unless you were there fore something on the agenda you sat and watched. Now you submit your questions which they address before the online meetings so basically it's the same.
About the only difference is during the boardroom meetings you had a chance to talk in person with a Trustee during breaks, which I agree is better than having to email one and hope they return it.
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