Here comes summer!
Well, it’s just around the corner. Another beautiful summer on our lake. Kids laughing and splashing around in the water. The aroma from our neighbor’s barbecue teasing us. More walkers, runners and bicyclists out and about. And of course the never ending pursuit of catching the “Big One”. Fishing guidelines can be found on our website: reflectionlake.net. When using the community accesses, please make sure to use the “pack it in, pack it out” rule.
Message From The President:
We live in interesting times.
With the trauma of the board changeover mostly behind us we should be addressing some of the issues affecting our community. Unfortunately COVID-19 has kept us from even getting organized without the ability to meet. There will be no May board meeting. Hopefully we can meet in June. If not even the July annual meeting may be in doubt.
No one knows what will happen with the economy. Will there be a recovery or will it slide into a depression? This economic uncertainty has lead the board via e-mail motions and votes to delay the due date and amount of dues this year.
We also have to adopt a budget for the coming year beginning October 1st in order to submit it to the membership. We have not even begun this process and the way forward is not clear. Please be patient as we wait for a return to at least semi-normalcy.
If you have questions or concerns you can e-mail me at [email protected] . My cell service can be marginal, but feel free to try 509 263-8814.
James Powers, President
Dam Inspection Report
The last dam inspection report from November 2019 is posted on our web site. The two principal required fixes are to have a survey of both the north and south dams, and armor (put rock) on the downstream face of the south dam. We have a bid of $4000 for the survey. The cost of adding rock is unknown since we don’t know exactly what they want. We have inquired, but not yet received an answer. This work will obviously impact our budget and might have to come out of reserves.
Water Wars:
The former Community Association’s boards sabotage of the Water Association’s grant application and subsequent attempt to seize the Water Association and steal that associations cash was one of the primary reasons those board members ended up resigning. The former board may have thought them selves justified in their actions, but ignorance of the law is no excuse. Their actions were not only illegal, they were criminal even though a criminal investigation was not pursued.
The question of whether the two associations are separate or the same has gone on, back and forth, off and on, for 40 years. All of those positions, either way, were based on personal opinion and belief not law. The Water Association finally asked for a legal opinion on this question last fall. That opinion with supporting documentation is available on their web site reflectionlakewater.org. This letter was made available to the former board prior to their meeting deciding to fire the water board and sieze their assets. Minutes of that meeting are posted on our web site reflectionlake.net. Read them and
draw your own conclusions.
The Community Association called a special meeting at the Church of the Open Bible. After the meeting a preliminary agreement was made with these three points:
1) Recognition that the two associations are completely independent; legally, financially, and managerially.
2) Transfer water rights to the Water Association. This should have been done in 1980 when the Water Association was incorporated, but wasn’t.
3) Grant an easement for the spring/pump house and that portion of the sanitary control area on Community Association property. This also should have been done earlier.
This resolution has advantages for both associations. The water Association needs to own the water rights in order to apply for grants and loans to upgrade and improve the system. Even the grant application the old board thwarted included the requirement this be resolved before payout.
The holder of the water rights, currently the RLCA, is legally responsible to protect the sanitary control area (SCA) either through ownership or legal control. The SCA is a 200 foot radius around the spring/pump house.
When the Community Association abrogated the leases for the properties comprising part of the SCA they forfeited that legal control. This was in itself was illegal.
With the water rights transferred all liability falls on the Water Association where it should be and they will responsible for assuming control of the SCA.
This solution gives the Water Association what they need and removes liability from our Community Association for past actions and future requirements.
The agreement is currently in draft form waiting for a legal description of the easement boundaries.
New budget requirements
The Washington Legislature passed a new law, RCW 64.90 the Washington Uniform Common Interest Organizations Act (WUCIOA), in 2018 to replace the Condo Act and HOA Act for organizations formed after July 2018. Since Reflection Lake Community Association is much older, most of this law does not apply except for sections 64.90.095, .405(1) (b) and (c), .525, and .545. The last two concern budgeting requirements which are addressed here.
Specifically, Section 525 requires that after the board of the homeowner’s association has proposed a budget, the board must provide a copy and summary of the budget to all owners. The board must set a date for the owners to vote on the budget between 14 and 50 days after the budget has been provided.
The budget will be adopted unless the majority of votes reject it. Majority includes all owners, not just those in attendance of the meeting. Thus, a budget may be adopted even if there is no quorum at the meeting.
Section 525 also governs the specific information the budget summary is required to contain. These requirements include projected income and common expenses, the amount of assessments per unit and the date the assessments are due, the current amount of regular assessments budgeted for contribution to the reserve account, and the current balance of the reserve funding per unit. The budget must also contain a statement of whether the association has a reserve study that meets the WUCIOA’s requirements per section 550. Section 545 also addresses this reserve study.
That’s a lot of verbiage especially about reserve account requirements and there is conflicting information as to the requirement to use a “reserve study professional”. Section 550 does not require it, but Section 545 does. We may also be exempt from the requirement since the cost of a study by a “reserve study professional” might exceed 10% of our budget (approximately $3000). We do have a bid request out, but will probably not be able to include it in this years budget due to limited time even if under $3000. The prior board did conduct an internal reserve study, but it does not appear to meet the requirement of the law.
Bottom line; we will probably ignore this issue for the coming budget year. Legal clarification will be sought for going forward.
Reflection Lake Community Association Board Members and Terms
James Powers President 509 263-8814 Term expires 2022
Neal Kimball Vice President 509 954-1825 Term expires 2021
Jerry Parker Treasurer 509 844-1153 Term expires 2022
Susan Emry Secretary 509 768-0418 Term expires 2022
Russ Bishop Term expires 2021
James Case Term expires 2020
Nan Bullish Term expires 2020
Rob Lee Term expires 2020
Richard Miller Term expires 2021
There will be an election for three board positions this summer. If you are interested in running this is a self nominating process. The only requirement is that you must have been a member of the association for one year. The ballot will be printed before the meeting so let us know if wish to be included.
Questions????
Please feel free to contact us with any questions. You can message us on Facebook or
contact one of the board members above.