Pickleball is a game that was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by three neighbors, Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum, to entertain their bored children. They used a badminton net, table tennis paddles, and a wiffle ball to create the game. In 2022, pickleball became the official state sport of Washington!

With the rise of pickle ball as a family pastime, Jim Cole suggested that we make our tennis courts more usable by more people by adjusting one net to pickle ball size.

A few weeks ago, Jim added stanchions and a height marker to show the proper width and height for a pickle ball net using the existing tennis nets. This cost the association nothing and allows pickle ball players to use a proper net.

Jim also pointed out that the pickle ball lines were not repainted when the courts were refinished years ago. The lines are very faint at this point. Jim volunteered to provide a quote for painting the lines again to the members for voting at the summer annual meeting.

If you’re interested in playing at the courts, head on over! What a great time of year to try a new activity.

Entrance clean up day is tomorrow, Saturday May 6th, and we’re starting at 10 AM. Thanks to Melanie Schmidt for organizing and providing donuts! Meet at the neighborhood entrance to volunteer.

Clean up areas:

• Clean the entrance sign and bricks but focus on trash all along the outer fenced area of the park on Bielmeier Rd, up to the stop sign on Phillips Rd
• Clean up trash along the path heading into the park
• Clean up trash on Phillips behind the barrier (a good job for adults, considering the traffic and proximity to the road)

We are providing large trash bags and buckets.

If you have small trash bags to bring, please do so…that might be easier to use as you walk and discard after it’s full.

Thanks for all your willingness to help and clean up the hood!

The map below contains our target clean up areas. Blue is the “high traffic” area that is best for adults (or teens with parent permission).

Melanie Schmidt has organized a community clean up event for our neighborhood on Saturday, May 6th. Please consider joining your neighbors as we walk and tidy our streets of litter, branches, and other rubbish. Gloves and trash bags provided.

Mark your calendar, and thanks Melanie for coordinating this!

Do you ever think, “One person’s vote doesn’t matter?” Tonight it did! We were just one house short of a quorum at our membership meeting! Fortunately, we didn’t have any major issues to vote on, and we will continue functioning with the existing budget although it hasn’t been officially approved by the membership.

Meeting minutes from today’s meeting are available here.

Linked documents inside our minutes include:

• A memo from the Architectural Control Committee to the membership
• Water filtration system update email
• 2023 budget

We have tentatively scheduled our summer membership meeting and bbq for July 17.

We have a general membership meeting on Monday, January 23rd at 7:00 PM at 7966 Cabrini (the Keene home).

The board of directors met this evening and prepared an agenda for the meeting. Last meeting, we voted to include a fourth board member and to check on the approval process with our legal counsel. That vote was held in compliance with our by-laws, and so Duel Brown is officially a fourth board member through July 2023 when we renew all positions. Duel was included in our board meeting this month.

1. Approval of minutes from October meeting
2. Treasurer’s report
   • End of 2022 report
3. Playground committee report
4. Unfinished business
   • Water filter installation updates
   • Landscaping maintenance and scotch broom removal
5. New business
   • 2023 budget (first half only) – updated since your dues mailing so check this link for the most recent version
   • Community litter walk
6. Community news
   • Reminders from the Architectural Control Committee
   • Summer annual meeting date

Budget notes:

• When we updated our by-laws, we changed our fiscal year to match our summer annual meeting. This summer, we will vote on a new annual budget. Since our budget from last year only went through the calendar year, our treasurer has prepared a budget for 2023 now. We’ll vote on this budget now, and then on a new fiscal year budget in July. Thank you, Mary, for doing double the work this year as we adjust. Dues payments will not change and are still paid in January each year.
• The 2023 proposed budget includes two maintenance items that are not annual payments. This puts our budget over our expected income by $250. Last year’s expenses were under our budget by almost $2000, and we have a large reserve account, so the board feels comfortable with this amount. The two maintenance items are pressure washing the tennis courts (currently every three years) and removing the scotch broom from the park (one time project).

Based on feedback from homeowners at the last meeting, the officers undertook ordering and installing new signage at the neighborhood park. We used a local small business, Ace Signs in Bremerton, and Jim Cole volunteered to install the new signs. They are aluminum and should last a very long time looking great!

We also installed one additional welcome sign at the “back entrance” to the park – the path that ends above the tennis courts. This means that both entrances have posted welcome signs letting visitors know they are on private property. A big thank you to Sawyer Drew and Jim Cole for installing the new post in concrete for us!

The “back entrance” to the park has a chain between two posts that is used to keep vehicles from entering the park. The lock has not been used in years, is rusted, and had a key. We replaced the lock with a new combination lock (same combo as all other HOA locks, see Facebook page for that information or email the officers). Anyone can still walk or ride a bicycle around the posts.

Finally, thank you to Kristin Drew for posting “No trespassing” signs on the park fence to face SE Bielmeier Road. It should now be abundantly clear to any visitors that this is not a public park. If you happen to see visitors in the park who are not following our posted guidelines or acting suspiciously, you can be an assertive neighbor and either 1) inquire whether they are guests of a homeowner, if you feel safe to do so, in which case the homeowner should be present, or 2) report trespassers to law enforcement. Remember, our park is owned by you and is private property. You can treat it as you would treat your own backyard!

The 2023 dues notices were mailed out on December 14, 2022. If you did not receive yours, make sure to let the officers know. Email us at officers@strawberryhillhoa.org.

Make check payable to SHHOA, and mail to: PO Box 456, Port Orchard, WA 98366.

Do not send cash! Payment must be by personal check, money order or cashier’s check. Please indicate on your check your name and the address that the dues apply to.

In accordance with Article 4 Section 8, of the Strawberry Hill Homeowners Association CC&R, the 2023 homeowners dues are due starting January 1, 2023. Dues are past due after February 1, 2023, and interest on late dues will begin to accrue at 12% per annum, compounded monthly at a rate of 1% per month. Homeowners may contact our treasurer to schedule in person delivery of their dues if needed.

Under the terms of our SHHOA CC&R, Article 4 Section 3 Paragraph (a), the board has the authority to increase dues by a maximum of 5% each year. The board voted unanimously not to raise the dues but rather to maintain the 2022 dues amount of $150.00 again for 2023.

We are happy to report that of the 93 homes in our Strawberry Hill subdivision 92 homes remain current and up to date with their dues. Only one homeowner has not paid and may become subject to an SHHOA lein on their property if their home remains outstanding.

On the back of this page is a copy of the preliminary 2023 Annual Budget for review. As we have voted to change our fiscal year to coincide with our annual summer bbqmembership meeting, please note that while the attached budget is the 2023 calendar year a revised budget will be issued in advance of the summer membership meeting for the following fiscal year. The final budget will be discussed and voted on during the January SHHOA meeting; method and location to be determined.

A note from Mary: I thank you for your patience and understanding as I have taken on this tremendous role of HOA treasurer over the past year and hope to continue to improve in my fulfillment of duties such as the sending of these notices with time.

Anyone is welcome to join our annual Thanksgiving day activities!

9:00 AM • Turkey Trot • Meet at the main park entrance near Providence Ct to walk or jog the loop with neighbors. Pets, wagons, and strollers welcome.

9:45 AM • Touch Football • Continue the fun by joining a friendly game of football. All who can carry a football are welcome to participate! Last year some dog walkers and play structure explorers came as observers too.

Last night at the membership meeting, we approved pursuing removal of the invasive, noxious plant scotch broom from the park common area.

Neighbors new to the plant may not be aware of its potential to become a nuisance. Don’t be fooled by the seasonal yellow flowers! If you see this plant on your property, your neighborhood appreciated you removing it! Here’s some information on that.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/broom-plants/scotch-broom-control.htm

We were thrilled to welcome 19 neighbors (16 homes represented) to our fall membership meeting.

View our meeting minutes here.

View the treasurer’s report here.

The big update is that we have new by-laws. You can read, download, and print them here. If you need a paper copy delivered to you, request one from officers@strawberryhillhoa.org.

This does not change the CCRs. Those documents remain available here.

The board of directors scheduled our next membership meeting for Monday, January 23rd at 7 PM at the Keene home unless otherwise determined. We will remind everyone at least 14 days prior to the meeting as usual. At that meeting we will vote on a new budget for the first half of our next fiscal year.

The officers are seeking input on the Christmas light display contest. Feel free to email us your thoughts at officers@officersstrawberryhillhoa.org.

The officers are also seeking volunteers to serve on a special committee to research new playground equipment. This committee would research options, receive quotes, and present their findings at the January membership meeting. We prefer at least two people on this committee. If you are interested in filling this request, let us know by November 1st at officers@strawberryhillhoa.org.

Becky Keene, President
Josh Thomsen, Secretary
Mary Mingels, Treasurer

We look forward to continuing to serve you!