Rules Committee Policy Log

Policy Description

Reason for Policy

A “Policy Log” shall be maintained by the Rules Committee that includes a policy number, the adoption date, the description, the reason, and any related policies (for indexing purposes).  The Policy Log shall be made available to the Association upon request to the property manager and posted on the official Association website.

To make it easier for the Board and Association to know how the Board and Committees are to operate.

There shall be 5 board director positions.  A board number must be assigned to each director position.  Position numbers have no direct bearing on organizational structure.  Positions 1, 3, and 5 shall be elected in odd years and positions 2 and 4 shall be elected in even years.

Per the Bylaws

When board directors send email regarding board business they must copy all board members and the property manager.

To keep all board members up to date on board issues.

The executive board shall meet on the fourth Monday of every month.

To establish board meeting continuity.

The monthly schedule supporting Board meetings is:

2 weeks before the meeting, agenda items should be submitted to the Communications Committee Chairman via the property manager.

1 week before the meeting, the agenda will be published on the website.

2 weeks after the meeting, the minutes will be available upon request, emailed, and published on the website.

To create a timeline for board meetings.

The board shall keep an attendance roster for each monthly meeting. The roster shall be published in each monthly minutes.

To keep track of homeowners who attend meetings.

As of the March 2001 meeting, the minutes shall only be available by email and the website except for the annual meeting and the August board meeting.  Hard copies of each months meeting will be made available at no cost upon an association member’s request to the property manager.

To save money.

The Association shall have 5 committees that investigate various issues facing the Association and make recommendations to the Board for decision.

The committees are Communications, Operations, Landscape, Rules, and Finance.

To have committees do the grunt work instead of the Board.

The committees responsibilities will be (but are not limited to) as follows:

The Communications Committee is responsible for the communication between all elements of the association, acting as the liaison to the property manager, all board meeting administration (including meeting minutes), maintaining the calendar of events, and the Association website.

The Operations Committee is responsible for acting as the liaison to external entities including the Sheriff, PUD, Centex, Snohomish County, YMCA, etc.

The Landscape Committee is responsible for the maintenance of all common areas and equipment, maintenance of all areas with easements to Snohomish County and PUD, the coordination of any special clean ups, the coordination of any tree clearing, and acting as liaison to the landscape company.

The Rules Committee is responsible for the interpretation and enforcement of Association rules such as Bylaws, CC&Rs, Architectural Control Committee (ACC), Neighborhood Guidelines, and Board and Committee Policy.

The Finance Committee is responsible for working with the property manager in areas including the treasury, the yearly budget, any audits, and insurance.

To make it more clear what the committees do.

The committees shall have one chairman chosen by the Board and volunteer homeowners.

To provide structure for the committees.

Committees shall meet once a month but not at the same time as the monthly Board meeting.  The committee chairman must specify a place and time for the meeting which must be made available to the Association via Board meeting minutes and the website.

To provide structure for the committees.

Minutes of each committee meeting shall be kept and made available to the Association 2 weeks after such meeting.  Minutes are available upon request and via the website.

To provide structure for the committees.

Committee Chairmen shall submit a committee report to all board directors via email prior to the monthly Board meeting.  The committee report must include a chronology of events, and any items the board needs to take action on.

To provide structure for the committees.

Committees shall have the authority to publish information to the Association membership via the committee’s section of the official website without Board or other Committee review or approval.  Each site must make issues clear on what is a work in progress and what is official.

To provide a way for the committees to make information that affects the community available to homeowners.

The Landscape Committee Director has the ability to authorize additional landscape work to be performed without prior Board approval for an amount not to exceed $5,000.

To allow minor landscape issues to be resolved faster.

The Association must hire an arborist to complete an inspection of trees of concern in common areas.  Homeowners must identify trees of concern in writing to the Landscape Committee through the property manager.  If deemed necessary, the tree cutting shall take place in the fall of each year.

To ensure that the trees of concern are being inspected by a professional and cut correctly and safely prior to winter winds.

The Association must request 3 bids for all major contracted work (for example landscaping or audits).

To ensure the best possible product and price

All bids must be kept confidential until the Board accepts a bid.

To ensure impartiality and fairness.

The condition, operation, repair, and maintenance of common property, any observation of objectionable behavior or rules violations, and all architectural control requests shall be directed in writing to the property manager.

To provide structure and faster response to homeowner’s concerns.

The collection of delinquent dues is as follows:

No later than JAN-1, the property manager of the Association will send each homeowner a bill for the lot's homeowners association annual assessment.  The assessment is due no later than JAN-31.  Payment is due in full and no payment plans are available.

If the payment is not received by JAN-31, the Association will assess a late payment penalty on the delinquent balance at a rate of 6% per year.  The Association will send the first notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent and as of FEB-1 a late payment penalty is being accrued daily.

If the assessment is not paid by FEB-28, on MAR-1 the Association will send a second notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent and as of FEB-1 a late payment penalty is being accrued daily.

If payment is not received by MAR-15, the Association will file a lien against the lot and it will be charged $75.00 plus a $9.00 filing fee to do so.  The Association will send a third notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent, a daily late payment penalty has applied since FEB-1, a lien has been filed against the lot with fees of $75.00 and $9.00, and a copy of the lien.

If payment is not received by MAR-31, the account will be turned over to an attorney for collection and the lot will be liable for any charges imposed by the attorney to cover fees and costs charged to the Association.  After MAR-31, all correspondence, including payment, must be made through the Association’s attorney.

This policy shall be effective January 1, 2002.

To ensure proper collection of dues.

The steps for reporting violations shall be as follows:

Owners are encouraged to solve problems first among themselves whenever possible.

Concerns can be expressed to the property manager in writing by either mail or email.  The letter must include if the responsible owner was spoken to, what the result was, the name and address of the homeowner, what the violation was, and your name, address, and phone number, so the property manager may contact you if any questions should arise.  The name and information of the reporting party shall not be disclosed unless required by law.

If possible, a board member, committee member, or volunteer homeowner may contact the reporting party for more details and confirm the violation if any doubts have arisen.

The property manager will send a violation notice to the homeowner in violation and a copy to the reporting party (so they may keep track of what is happening).

To provide structure and faster response to homeowner’s concerns.

Notification of rules violations is as follows:

The first violation notice should include the specific rule that has been violated, a 30 day period in which to comply, a method for achieving compliance, any potential penalties, and a method in which the homeowner may contact the property manager in order to discuss the violation.

If after the 30 day time period the violation has not been remedied, a second notice will be sent.  The second notice should include the specific violation, a method for achieving compliance, any potential fines, and a 15 day time period in which the homeowner must contact the property manager in order to discuss the violation.

If after the 15 day time period the violation has not been resolved or the homeowner has failed to contact the property manager, the issue will be taken to the Board of Directors at the next monthly board meeting.  The homeowner will be notified of this by certified mail and may attend to provide testimony.  At that time the Board of Directors shall make a decision as to what action will be taken to remedy the violation.  Following the meeting, a written report and any action to be taken, including any fines, shall be reported to the homeowner in writing by certified mail.  Each case shall be judged on its individual merits, and any previous enforcement of the same or similar violations shall not be binding upon the Board in its decision.  Any prior Board decision shall not be considered a new rule unless it is agreed to in the normal process of motion, vote, and documentation.

To provide structure and faster response to homeowner’s concerns.

Fines shall be issued only after giving residents reasonable opportunity to correct a violation and after providing due process (as noted in the notification of rules violations policy).

To provide fairness and due process for homeowners.

The Soccer Field Reservation form for homeowners is attached as Exhibit 001.  The Soccer Filed Reservation form for other groups is attached as Exhibit 002.  These reservation forms can be obtained from the property manager and the official website.  The form must be filled out completely and either mailed or emailed to the Operations Committee via the property manager.

To make the use of the soccer field easier and fair.

The Association may coordinate a date for the annual neighborhood garage sale.  The Communications Committee shall coordinate the date (between June and September) and methods for disseminating the details to the general public and Association via meeting minutes, website, and any other manner necessary, with an amount not to exceed $150.00.

To make garage sales more orderly.  So homeowners can benefit from each other.

The website should contain a separate posting area for residents to offer goods and services for sale.  Residents may not post items that pertain to professional businesses or distributorships.

To create another way for residents to sell things.

When writing and enacting rules the Board shall:

Determine if the rule is necessary, evaluate alternative solutions, conduct research (laws & governing documents), involve residents (post a draft in the minutes and website for comments), be specific (no ambiguity), communicate the rule after acceptance by the Board (in minutes and on website).

To set guidelines on how rules will be written and enacted.

If the Board ever makes an exception to a rule for any homeowner, it must follow these steps:

Determine the violation’s effect on the community, investigate and consider all facts, document the decision including why and how the decision was reached, state if the decision applies to all homeowners and update rule accordingly, and notify all homeowners involved.

Creates a way for the Board to decide issues on a case-by-case basis and allows for exceptions.

All committees and the property manager shall keep separate “action logs” and must report the status of actions at each board meeting.

The property manager acts like a committee, with its own report and recommended motions to be voted on by the board.

Amend policy # 9 to state:

The Communications Committee is responsible for the communication between all elements of the association, acting as the liaison to the property manager, all board meeting administration (including meeting minutes), maintaining the calendar of events, and the Association website.

The Operations Committee is responsible for maintenance of all common area structures and equipment (including signs, fences, monuments, play equipment, mail stations, etc.), the coordination of any tree clearing, and acting as the liaison to external entities including the Sheriff, PUD, Centex, Snohomish County, YMCA, etc.

The Landscape Committee is responsible for the maintenance of all common area landscaping, (including irrigation system but excluding structures and equipment), the coordination of any special clean ups, and acting as liaison to the landscape company.

The Rules Committee is responsible for the interpretation and enforcement of Association rules such as Bylaws, CC&Rs, Architectural Control Committee (ACC), Neighborhood Rules and Guidelines, and Board and Committee Policy.  Liaison to external rule making subjects regarding law enforcement and county departments.

The Finance Committee is responsible for working with the property manager in areas including the treasury, the yearly budget, any audits, and insurance.

For more definition see Exhibit 5.

Redefine committee responsibilities.

Fines shall be issued only after giving residents reasonable opportunity to correct a violation and after providing due process.  Fines shall be considered only when all steps in policy #22 have failed.  Fines are levied upon violations of Design Review, Property Maintenance, Common Area Rules, Play Area Rules, and Activities & Actions.  Fines shall be levied at the following rates:

            $10.00 per day starting after the 45 day correction period when the final certified notice is sent.  The maximum amount of fines shall be $300.00 (30 days of accumulated fines); and/or,

            If the violation is not corrected the Board shall, through its agents, enter upon the lot to repair, maintain, correct, and restore the lot.  In addition to the fines, all costs of the repair, maintenance, correction, or restoration shall be added to the lot's assessment.

To outline any potential penalties.

When a committee director position becomes available each current board member should be able to express interest in taking the position before a new board member is given the option of taking the position.

To provide members a chance to learn and work on other committees.

After damaged property has been reported to the association, the following steps shall occur as soon as possible:

1.  The association shall verify and assess all damages.  If the damage is not to association property, the property manager shall notify the property owner.

2.  If the damage is to association property, the property manager shall obtain an estimated cost of the repair.  This estimate should be the cost required to return the damaged property to its pre-damaged condition.  If the cost is estimated to be less than $500.00 the property manager may undertake to make repairs immediately by the most cost effective and expedient means.  If the repair cost exceeds $500.00, the property manager shall obtain a minimum of three bids for the repair.  Upon receipt of three bids, the Board shall vote to accept one bid.  The property manager shall then contract to repair all damages.

3.  If the repair cost is estimated to be more than $500.00, a list of specific requirements for the repair shall be agreed upon in writing by the property manager and the company/individual performing the repair.

4.  Results of damage to any common area property due to negligence of an owner, tenant, their agents or guests shall be repaired by the association.  The cost of such repairs will be assessed to the owner and collected in the same manner as fines.

To respond to common area damages in a more efficient manner.

After passing a policy, the Board shall publish all policies in the minutes and on the website for a one month review.  Homeowners may send all comments in writing to the property manager.  The enforcement of the policy will be waived during the one month review and enforced in full thereafter.

To allow homeowners to be involved in policymaking.

Amend policy #34 to state:

After passing a policy, the Board shall publish all policies in the minutes for a one month review.  Homeowners may send all comments in writing to the property manager.  After the one month review, all homeowner comments will be reviewed at the next Board meeting and the existing policy will be either kept or amended.  The enforcement of the policy will be waived during the one month review and enforced in full thereafter.

To allow homeowners to be involved in policymaking.

The Operations Committee Director has the ability to authorize additional operations work to be performed without prior Board approval for an additional amount not to exceed $500.

To allow minor operations issues to be resolved faster.

Amend policy #20 to state:

The collection of delinquent dues is as follows:

No later than JAN-1, the property manager of the Association will send each homeowner a bill for the lot's homeowners association annual assessment.  The assessment is due no later than JAN-31.  Payment is due in full and no payment plans are available.

If the payment is not received by JAN-31, the Association will assess a late payment penalty on the delinquent balance at a rate of 6% per year.  The Association will send the first notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent and as of FEB-1 a late payment penalty is being accrued daily.

If the assessment is not paid by FEB-28, on MAR-1 the Association will send a second notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent and as of FEB-1 a late payment penalty is being accrued daily.

If payment is not received by MAR-15, the Association will file a lien against the lot and it will be charged $75.00 plus a $9.00 filing fee to do so.  The Association will send a third notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent, a daily late payment penalty has applied since FEB-1, a lien has been filed against the lot with fees of $75.00 and $9.00, and a copy of the lien.

If the amount delinquent reaches $500, the account will be turned over to an attorney for collection and the lot will be liable for any charges imposed by the attorney to cover fees and costs charged to the Association.  After this time, all correspondence, including payment, must be made through the Association’s attorney.

This policy shall be effective January 1, 2002.

Definitions:

Perimeter Fence - The fence installed by the developer on the property line of lots fronting Puget Park Drive and 148th Street. Major Repairs - resetting posts or replacement of any part of the fence. Minor Repairs - Re-attaching loose fencing, rails or post caps. Finish - the applications of sealant, preservative, stain or paint to preserve the fence or change its appearance. Policy: The responsibility for maintenance of fences bordering the perimeter of the development shall be as follows: The Homeowner will be responsible for all major repairs of any part of the fence; and minor repairs, which can be accessed from the homeowner's side of the fence; and finish on the homeowner's side of the fence only. Do not attempt to finish the side of the fence facing the common area without contacting the Operations Committee for direction. The Homeowner's Association will be responsible for minor repairs, which can be accessed from the common area; and finish on the common area side of the fence. Perimeter Fence - The fence installed by the developer on the property line of lots fronting Puget Park Drive and 148th Street. Major Repairs - resetting posts or replacement of any part of the fence. Minor Repairs - Re-attaching loose fencing, rails or post caps. Finish - the applications of sealant, preservative, stain or paint to preserve the fence or change its appearance. Policy: The responsibility for maintenance of fences bordering the perimeter of the development shall be as follows: The Homeowner will be responsible for all major repairs of any part of the fence; and minor repairs, which can be accessed from the homeowner's side of the fence; and finish on the homeowner's side of the fence only. Do not attempt to finish the side of the fence facing the common area without contacting the Operations Committee for direction. The Homeowner's Association will be responsible for minor repairs, which can be accessed from the common area; and finish on the common area side of the fence.  

Homeowners' emails addresses shall be used for association business only and the board shall determine what is considered association business.

Amend policy #37 to state:

No later than JAN-1, the property manager of the Association will send each homeowner a bill for the lot's homeowners’ association annual assessment.  The assessment is due no later than JAN-31.  Payment is due in full and no payment plans are available.

If the payment is not received by JAN-31, the unpaid assessment shall bear interest from JAN-31 at the rate of six (6) percent per year.  The Association will send the first notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent and as of FEB-1, the unpaid assessment shall bear interest of 6% per year and a late fee of $5.00 has been added to recover some of the cost of sending the first notice.

If the assessment is not paid by FEB-28, on MAR-1 the Association will send a second notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent and as of FEB-1, the unpaid assessment shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of six (6) percent per year and that a second late fee of $5 has been added to recover some of the expense of sending the second notice.

If payment is not received by MAR-15, the Association will file a lien against the lot and it will be charged an $84.00 fee to do so.  The Association will send a third notice that explains that the assessment is delinquent, the unpaid assessment shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of six (6) percent per year and that a third late fee of  $5 has been added to recover some of the expense of sending the third notice, a lien has been filed against the lot with a fee of $84.00, and a copy of the lien.

Monthly reminder letters shall continue to be sent at a cost to the homeowner of $5 until the debt reaches an amount of $500.00.  At that time, the account will be turned over to an attorney for collection and the lot will be liable for any charges imposed by the attorney to cover fees and costs charged to the Association.  After this time, all correspondence, including payment, must be made through the Association’s attorney.

This policy shall be effective January 1, 2002 .

Committees shall meet as needed but not at the same time as the monthly Board meeting.  The committee chairman must specify a place and time for the meeting which must be made available to the Association via Board meeting minutes and the website.

Committee Chairmen shall submit a committee report to all board directors via email at least one week prior to the monthly Board meeting.  The committee report must include a chronology of events, and any items the board needs to take action on.

Amend Policy #22 to state:

Notification of rules violations is as follows:

The first violation notice should include the specific rule that has been violated, a 10 day period in which to comply, a method for achieving compliance, any potential penalties, and a method in which the homeowner may contact the property manager in order to discuss the violation.

If after the 10 day time period the violation has not been remedied, a second notice will be sent.  The second notice should include the specific violation, a method for achieving compliance, any potential fines, and a 10 day time period in which the homeowner must contact the property manager in order to discuss the violation.

If after the 10 day time period the violation has not been resolved or the homeowner has failed to contact the property manager, the issue will be taken to the Board of Directors at the next monthly board meeting.  The homeowner will be notified of this by certified mail and may attend to provide testimony.  At that time the Board of Directors shall make a decision as to what action will be taken to remedy the violation.  Following the meeting, a written report and any action to be taken, including any fines, shall be reported to the homeowner in writing by certified mail.  Each case shall be judged on its individual merits, and any previous enforcement of the same or similar violations shall not be binding upon the Board in its decision.  Any prior Board decision shall not be considered a new rule unless it is agreed to in the normal process of motion, vote, and documentation.

If this is a reoccurring violation, then this process happens once.  Once the process has been completed, future violations receive only the third letter and fining begins anew.

Fines shall be issued only after giving residents reasonable opportunity to correct a violation and after providing due process.  Fines shall be considered only when all steps in policy #22 (as amended) have failed.  Fines are levied upon violations according to Exhibit 011.  

Fines shall be levied at the following rates:

            $10.00 per day/occurrence starting after the 20 day correction period when the final certified notice is sent.  The maximum amount of fines shall be $300.00 (30 days/occurrences of accumulated fines); and/or,

            If the violation is not corrected the Board shall, through its agents, enter upon the lot to repair, maintain, correct, and restore the lot.  In addition to the fines, all costs of the repair, maintenance, correction, or restoration shall be added to the lot's assessment.