Our new proposed by-laws have arrived. The officers have reviewed these and feel comfortable with the language and content recommended by Mr. Isaac Anderson. There is one space blank where he is still tracking down the recording numbers with the county.

Review the proposed by-laws here.

We had lots of questions. You may have questions too! If so, we need your questions by August 5th at 5 PM. We will collect all questions together and send to Mr. Anderson to answer. We will bring answers to the membership meeting.

We are holding our summer meeting on August 15th at 5 PM in the HOA Park. Burgers and toppings, hot dogs, plates/utensils, and bottled water are provided by the HOA. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. Last year we had a ton leftover so don’t bring too much food!

Complete this form with your questions. You can submit as many times as you wish.

Here are answers to some of the questions we had. You might read these before you ask your own, as we got a lot settled before distributing these to you.

How are by-laws and CCRs different?

By-laws, which we are proposing to change to be in accordance with Washington state law and also better represent our association’s general working order, govern the internal affairs of a non-profit corporation. The by-laws show how the association is run. We are proposing to update the by-laws.

Covenants, conditions, and restrictions (also known as covenants or CCRs) govern property rights, which are supposed to be within the declaration of covenants recorded against the property records. Covenants are recorded against the title of the home and enforceable by the board of directors. We are not proposing to change the CCRs at this time.

How are the board of directors different from officers?

The board of directors are elected by the membership at the annual meeting. An elected board is then trusted to make decisions to govern and maintain the neighborhood on behalf of its members, in accordance with the by-laws and CCRs.

The board of directors cannot be compensated for their service. The board of directors can issue policies and procedures on how to uphold the covenants, issue assessment notices, resolve grievances, maintain common area property, etc. They can also appoint officers to carry out duties within the association.

The officers can be the same people as the board of directors. In our association, we are planning that! Officers can receive a dues waiver for their service (as they do currently).

This seemingly semantic change is in compliance with updated state laws.

What is the process for these updates?

We must follow the old by-laws to accept the new by-laws in a formal membership meeting.

We are required to have 10 homes represented for a quorum, and the new by-laws must be approved by 2/3 of the voting members present to be approved (Article II, Section 4 and Article VIII of the old by-laws).

Immediately following that vote, if the by-laws are approved, the membership will need to elect a new board of directors. This election will be held in accordance with the new by-laws, which requires 13 homes present (Article 2, Section 7) and must be approved by a simple majority vote.

The old by-laws had more articles. Are the new by-laws missing information?

No, not according to Mr. Anderson! In his opinion and evaluation of the fundamental principles of current state law, use restrictions, assessments, common areas, and other topics that were addressed in our old by-laws should be contained in the CCRs because they deal with property rights, not the function of the association. Topics like grievances should be contained in the rules and regulations approved by the board of directors.

He says, “The covenants act to govern the property rights of the owners. They are recorded so that every owner and future owner knows what their property rights are when they purchase a lot in Strawberry Hill. Bylaws, on the other hand, govern the internal affairs of the corporation… when there is a conflict between the covenants and the by-laws, the covenants always control.”

The only place our new by-laws and our current CCRs conflict is in relations to voting rights for raising assessments and special assessments. We hope to reconcile these differences with updated CCRs at a later date. Washington state’s requirement for amending or replacing the CCRs is 30% quorum (30 homes) and 67% majority approval.

It is obvious election season is yet again upon us. This is a friendly reminder from your officers that our bylaws state in Article 7, Section 15: No billboards or signs may be permanently displayed to public view on any Lot except one sign bearing the name of the resident and one sign per Lot of not more than six (6) square feet in area advertising the property for sale or rent.

Obviously we assume political support signage is temporary, not permanent.

We don’t have a definition for permanent, but it is our hope that the homes choosing to add yard signs to their property will be removing them after the primary elections and keeping them tucked away until another temporary placement closer to the November election.

This is also a good reminder for “billboards and signs” in general. Our neighborhood is not a place for advertisement.

We have great news to report that the park updates and annual maintenance of the common spaces is complete, and finished quite a bit under budget.

Spirit Landscaping removed the old wood railroad ties from the playground area and replaced with rubber playground borders. They also built up the low points around the edges to reduce tripping hazards, installed fresh pea gravel, and removed weeds.

This part of the project got delayed with some issues with the rubber border (including a broken piece and a lost shipment) so it was just completed this week! At the suggestion of our landscape company, we ordered the border ourselves at wholesale and had it delivered to the park. This was a big cost savings.

Thanks to Jim Cole for installing new swing seats and removing the old broken plastic covering on the chain. This area looks so fresh!

Spirit Landscaping also removed weeds and trimmed trees in the park entrance, the entrance to the neighborhood, and weed whacked the grassy rectangle across the street from the park entrance that is HOA property. Doesn’t this look great? These barked areas were also treated with herbicide spray.

Because we were under budget in the projects above, we also had Spirit Landscaping blow off and then install fresh gravel in the park driveway, which has been a top request. The driveway floods a bit in the winter and stays mucky all spring. The fresh rock will help save the low points.

The membership voted for spend $12,000 on these updates, and the total bill was under $9000. Full details in the upcoming treasurer’s report but we are very pleased.

Also, the officers voted to have Spirit Landscaping continue with weed maintenance every other month moving forward. This small investment will keep the areas from getting overgrown and hopefully avoid more costly updates in the near future.

Big news! We’ve moved the date of the HOA summer membership meeting and barbecue. We are now meeting on Monday, August 15th at 5 PM in the park. Mark your calendars, because we’re voting on new by-laws!

As you know, the officers surveyed the membership at the January 2022 meeting about updating our by-laws to be current. The following membership poll showed significant interest in updating the by-laws, so the officers pursued getting quotes from local attorneys with expertise in associations like ours.

Last week, our officers met with Isaac Anderson to review our current by-laws. We learned a lot! Here is a summary.

• Our current by-laws are no longer legal in Washington state. We must update the by-laws on file with Kitsap County to be considered a functioning non-profit corporation. Some things have changed since the by-laws were written so long ago!
• We do not need a vice president, an architecture committee, or a finance committee included in our new by-laws. The new board of directors (officers) will include a president, secretary, and treasurer.
• We only need to meet annually, unless the membership needs a special meeting to vote on something specifically.
• We do not need a common area tree clause in our new by-laws.
• We do not need to update any of the “rules” in Article VII at this time. If necessary, we can assess warnings or fines for infractions as written.

As an officer group, we met and reviewed the changes Mr. Anderson proposed and agreed unanimously that we need to update the by-laws to meet Washington’s legal requirements as well as some small changes to help simplify the processes we have to manage our corporation and maintain the neighborhood we live in on behalf of the homeowners.

In the next two weeks, the officer group will meet to review the new proposed by-laws. We will then distribute the new proposed by-laws to the membership digitally for review prior to the meeting. Look for the proposed new by-laws to be sent out the week of August 1st.

At the August 15th meeting, we will:

• Eat burgers and hot dogs and side dishes and desserts!
• Give the treasurer’s report.
• Update the membership on the completion of the common area maintenance and upgrade projects (finished under budget!).
• Update the membership on the new common area tree policy, which was recommended by Mr. Anderson and does not require any voting or changes to by-laws.
• Open the floor for any questions or discussion about the proposed new by-laws.
• Vote on the proposed new by-laws.
• Assuming they are adopted, we will immediately vote to elect the board of directors as required by Washington state law.
  • Becky Keene, Mary Mingels, and Josh Thomsen will run for re-election as board members.
  • Dean Fidecaro has served three years as an officer. He has some personal changes that will make it difficult for him to be involved much of next year, and we are no longer required to have four officers. He will not run for re-election. The duties of vice president will be absorbed by the officer group.
• Assuming they are adopted, celebrate becoming a legal entity again! The new board members will appoint themselves as officers: president, treasurer, and secretary.
• Begin any other new business items offered by members.

Please note that none of these proposed changes will change the way our neighborhood functions. We are taking the advice of the legal expert to revise, modernize, and comply in this process. That’s all!

A few reminders as we head into our evening gatherings and celebrations…

• The park closes at dusk.
• Pavement, away from trees, is the best place to light fireworks.
• Make sure your pets are safely stowed.
• Clean up any debris in public places as soon as possible. Tomorrow is best!

Have a safe and happy Independence Day.

Jackie Fidecaro continues to maintain communication with Kitsap PUD regarding our water treatment update.

Below is an updated project schedule.  There have been some delays in the design phase but we are still on track to complete construction this year.  The schedule shows beginning the Construction phase in October but the construction director believes we will actually start that work in September. 

Updates on specific items:

• DOH has commented on the report and our Engineer (Murray Smith & Assoc.) is reviewing
• Control/Pump Supplier has delivered PLC/VFD Conversion (at our shop)
• ATEC Filters are in production (delivery expected late July/early August)
• Construction/Start-Up Q4 2022

Today Spirit Landscaping began work on the park playground updates! Work will continue at least until Friday May 13. You will see workers at the park and the gate open.

Please do not allow children to play on the structures until the work is complete. This is for their own safety. There are tools out and rebar pieces and it should be considered an active work zone.

Also, the park driveway will be blown off and crushed rock added. Keep this in mind and consider carefully before you drive over and park as you may be blocked in by a gravel delivery!

Today the rubber border was delivered for the park update. The wood pallet was broken so the delivery driver unloaded it in a pile. 😆

Spirit Landscaping is planning to start work installing the new rock and border on Friday. Watch for action in the park soon!

Thank you to the members who attended our April 2022 HOA meeting.

We are pleased to announce that we have a secretary, and our board is full again! Josh Thomsen from St James Ct will be joining our board as of this meeting. Josh and his wife Emelia moved into the neighborhood over the summer. We’re excited to have him serving as secretary.

The meeting minutes from this quarter’s meeting are available on our website under the Resources section or directly by this link.

Highlights include:

• We have a new Venmo option for paying dues!
• Park update is nearing completion – finally.
• Still pursuing the CC&R updates, seeing representation.
• Park rules remain as they are, exceptions need board approval and should include the community if possible.
• Thank you Duel for continuing to care for the common spaces by mowing in the spring and summer months!

Our next membership meeting is Monday, July 18th at 5 PM in the park. It will be our annual neighborhood barbecue. We look forward to seeing you there.

Reminder! The park garbage can is available for small trash items as a courtesy to our neighbors.

Today when Dean emptied the garbage, it was FULL of pet waste and water. Disgusting!! 💩

If you choose to use the trash can at the park, please remember that it is not for your pet’s waste, and replace the lid to try to keep the water out.

Thanks!