2003-06-20

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING BHT Neighborhood Association (Barrington Heights, Hidden Creek Estates, and Tanner Creek Neighborhood Association) Date: June 20, 2003 (1st Board Meeting) Location: Pam Yokubaitis’ home Meeting Started and Ended: 7:00 – 9:00 PM Attendees: Sake Reindersma (Secty.), Taryn Shapiro (VP) and Pam Yokubaitis (Pres.) Excused: Kathy Berry (Treasurer) I. Introduction of Attendees Each Board member introduced themselves and explained why they volunteered to serve as officers on the Neighborhood Association (NA) Board. II. Review of Last Year’s NA Handbook Contents Pam showed the Board members the NA handbook provided to the NA Presidents last year by the city of West Linn, which lists ordinances, what a neighborhood association is, administrative policy and the bylaws. Of interest to all were the maps indicating the boundary of the BHTNA and the various NAs within West Linn. The NA boundary map is posted on the city website for all residents to view. III. How to Accomplish Issues our Neighbors Want Addressed At the annual meeting, 5 issues were raised by residents for the Neighborhood Association to address. The Board discussed each as follows: 1) Establish a communication network/website: It was agreed that the most efficient and cost beneficial means of communication to our residents is though an electronic means: email or website. At the annual meeting in May, Mike Fullman presented a website he created for BHTNA, but it was since learned that the city has a website for NAs. Mike stated the initial intent of the website he created was for posting speeding and tracking traffic violations by our own residents. The Board discussed their concerns about this being an invasion of privacy, too subjective, too difficult to maintain, and unenforceable to take any corrective action on as residents. Thus, the Board did not support this idea as was initially conceived by the Traffic Committee from the previous year. The Board decided to use the city’s website for posting all of BHTNA’s information because West Linn could post information for us timely, without the dependency on one resident to design and maintain a separate website, and the costs associated for such. The NA website shall be used as a centralized database/historical file of actions taken by the NA over time by posting Board of Director and Annual Meeting minutes, leadership rosters and the like for historical reference. Additionally, due to the concern that most individuals need news “delivered” to them to read rather than being told to seek it out, emailing NA news to residents was the preferred method of choice. Tanner Creek, Hidden Springs Estates, Radcliff Court, and Phase 10 all have email addresses of their residents, leaving Barrington Heights without the ability to electronically deliver news to all of their residents. Since only some emails are known for Barrington Heights residents, it was decided that we would email to those we do have email addresses for, while also seeking permission from Barrington’s Board of Directors to publish key items in their newsletter and/or on their HOA website. Pam stated that the establishment of an electronic communications network is necessary for cost effective dissemination of information to our residents, vital for rapid response needs, enables neighbors to conveniently network, and most importantly allows for feedback from neighbors. Thus, once the communication network is established, this grassroots effort will prove to be a cornerstone to our Neighborhood Association’s effectiveness. 2) Resident Directory with Map of Boundaries: It was determined that each subdivision within our Neighborhood Association has its own directory of residents and a coordinator who maintains this. Thus, the need for one massive directory would be monumental to maintain and keep current, so it was decided that electronic information would be disseminated to one person in each subdivision - or portions thereof (Barrington Heights, Phase 10, Radcliff Court, Hidden Springs Estates, and Tanner Creek) who would then forward the NA email information to all of their own residents. This subdivided method of maintenance affords greater control in collecting and distributing emails to residents, especially since we live in a transient neighborhood with frequent home sales/turnover in residents. The boundaries of BHTNA are delineated on West Linn’s website for reference by all at: http://www.ci.west-linn.or.us/CommunityServices/htmls/NeighborhoodAssoci... There are 11 NAs in all. 3) Soap in the Fountains: It was determined that soap bubbles in Le Chevalier/”The Horseman” fountain is the responsibility of those residents to resolve, and the same for the fountain at the entrance of Barrington Heights. These are not Neighborhood Association responsibilities because they belong to specific subdivisions. 4) Cars Parked on Barrington Drive: This was discussed at the annual meeting as a Traffic Committee issue that must be addressed between neighbors or with the police. The Traffic Committee will investigate alternative solutions. 5) Issues posted on Website: It was agreed that the following items will be posted on our NA website with the city for our residents to read: Annual Meeting and Board meeting minutes, Bylaws, Photos, Neighborhood Association News, Leadership Roster, and other items of interest. IV. Items for the Board to Address This Year Pam stated she wants the NA to be: a visible presence to our neighbors, informative, provide value, fun, and have integrity. To accomplish this, she wants to establish a NA presence by having the goals of this year’s BHTNA leadership accomplish the following: 1) Establish a Communication Network amongst the Subdivision residents: This is already underway with efforts made to date. Communication with Barrington Heights residents remains the largest issue to resolve. 2) Make Bylaw Changes: Propose changes to the initial set of bylaws issued to our NA. They will be modified to meet our neighborhood needs and changes shall be adopted at the annual meeting. 3) Address Traffic Committee Issues: Sue Jones and Ron Weiss are co-chairing this effort. A Board liaison will be assigned to this committee. Ted Watson serves on the Police Advisory Committee, so he too can assist with these matters. 4) Change the Date of Annual Meeting: The Board discussed holding BHTNA’s Annual Meeting in September instead of May so that a neighborhood gathering could be held in late spring or early fall with any unused NA funds. Shauna Shroyer with the City of West Linn stated this is not a problem to change if all current Board members are willing to serve a slightly longer term, however, the city’s fiscal year runs July 1st to June 30th. The Board agreed it’s in the best interests of incoming leadership to afford them a full budget to work with, so having new officer elections in late May/early June (to take office July 1st), and a possible neighborhood social at the end of June will be the plan for this year. 5) Utilize the Budget Wisely: Since July 1st starts the new fiscal year for the Neighborhood Associations, the current board has a $1500 budget to work with. It is anticipated that funds will be spent on mailouts for an Annual Meeting and possible neighborhood social since all other neighborhood communications will be done electronically. Pam informed the Board that the first class mailing of the Annual Meeting May 2003 announcement to all NA residents cost $191.71, whereas Sue Jones’ postcard mailer for the Traffic Committee meeting in February 2003 cost $290.87. The postcards cost more to mail because Sue had a $42 mass mailing charge and $150 clerical time charge for Barrington Heights Management Company prepare the mailouts. She recommended that the NA not use a management company’s services for simple clerical work in the future due to these excessive costs that could have been avoided. V. Announcements 1) June 25th NA President’s Meeting at City Hall: Pam will attend this meeting and report to the leadership what was learned. 2) Police Advisory Committee: Rob Barker, Chair of the Police Advisory Committee contacted Pam to suggest that Pam appoint Ted Watson, a Barrington Heights neighbor, as our NA representative to this city committee. Pam stated she spoke with both Ted and Rob before making this appointment for our association to ensure the right person was appointed for this position. 3) Board meetings: Pam stated that Board meetings will be held when needed at a location to be determined, so there is no set schedule at this time. She anticipates at least 2 more Board meetings this year to address bylaw changes and plan a neighborhood gathering. 4) BHT Leadership List: Pam is compiling a list of all of our neighborhood association and HOA leaders for reference and networking purposes in the neighborhood. 5) Community Development Code: Pam stated she will pick up one of these free reference manuals for our NA from City Hall. This shall be passed on to future Presidents because only one copy is provided free per NA, with revised pages mailed for insertion. Reviewed and approved by the BHTNA Board of Directors in September 2003 Pam Yokubaitis, MPH, RHIA BHTNA President, 2003-2004