Meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m.
Quorum Present?
Yes
Treasurer’s Report
Checking: $56,706.74; CD: $25,000; Mailbox Account: $869/29
P&L Report: There was a negative P&L this year due to a large expenditure for road paving and repair.
Old Business
A. Snow Removal: snowplowing costs amounted to $6700. It was noted that we experienced a heavy snow winter, so that this cost could be generally regarded as an upper limit when projecting future budget expenditures.
B. Sweat Equity Chipper Project: Once again, this project was a success, with widespread resident participation leading to a collection of 79 cubic yards of woody debris. Financially, there was no cost to the POA, as it was covered by the proceeds of a grant from Deschutes County.
OWW1 is a Firewise Community, and, as such, all owners were reminded of the necessity of creating defensible space around their homes—30 feet to begin with, expanding where possible to 100 feet (or out to the roadside.) This work includes limbing trees up six feet from the ground, taking down unhealthy saplings, clearing decks and roofs of pine needles and other debris, etc. Dean noted that this community has made remarkable progress over the years towards securing our homes from the threat of fire, and he urged residents to continue the good work. As an aside, Dean mentioned that this year his homeowner’s insurance was going up 46%—something to be noted by others in the community as this was likely to be a region-wide trend.
C. Road Paving: As was announced at the beginning of 2023, dues were increased as of July 1 to $150 per lot per year. This action was taken by the Board in anticipation of the need for repaving, which was likely to be considerably more expensive than the last project, eight years ago—especially considering that more roads were planned to be repaved than were done last time (including Heierman, Casper, and Jamie Way.) The estimate was that, where the last paving had cost $100,000, the next one would total approximately $240,000.
Bart Gernhart spoke about road-paving details. He noted that Heierman (which was not repaved in 2015) was fully chip-sealed this year, at a cost of $40,000. This included all of the necessary shoulder work. Additionally, shoulder repair and paving was done around the rest of the development, which cost an another $40,000, but was done as a preventative, cost-saving measure, which will result in our not having to do a comprehensive chip-seal on all of our roads for at least another two years. He pointed out that every additional year we are able to derive from our present road system before chip-sealing becomes necessary essentially results in as much as a 10% savings in the total project cost.
Bart also spoke about the problem of heavy trucks causing significant road damage—particularly along road edges—in our community in support of winter construction projects. He will look into the possibility of asking the County to post signs restricting vehicles on our roads to under 25,000 pounds during the winter but warns that if such a ban were to be imposed it would likely curtail construction during that period. This is not something we can do on our own, as the County has sole jurisdiction.
D. Online Payment Portal for Dues and Mailbox Fees: Pay by check or debit card—no charge to owners; pay by credit card—3% service fee to owners.
E. Website Subscription: subscribers to our website now total 68. Dean would like to see 100-150 or more to be on this notification list. The benefit is that when a post is written on the website, subscribers immediately see it in their email—for example, when water service is going to be interrupted. He urged all residents to sign up, and to ask their neighbor to do so as well.
F. Election of Officer: ballots were turned in.
G. Other Neighborhood Concerns:
Dean noted that garbage collection fees had increased.
There was a complaint online about speeding on Big River Drive south of South Century. Dean looked into getting an electronic speed monitor and found that the most economical solution (free) was to have the County Sheriffs loan one to us for a couple of weeks at a time. We are therefore now on a waiting list for the unit and will receive it at some unspecified date in the near future, at which time it will be placed on Big River Drive, near Casper, and facing southbound traffic. According to the County, the speed limit on community roads like ours is 25 MPH, and so the monitor will be set to begin flashing when the speed exceeds that limit.
Someone dug a notch out of the riverbank in order to park a boat. This is illegal, but OWW1 has no power to enforce it, so residents are encouraged to contact the County to report any such activity.
In response to a request for the Forest Service to thin trees to the south of OWW1, Dean spoke with the Forest Service representative and was informed that that area is considered a riparian zone and cannot be touched.
Trash at the mailbox was discussed. Some of these items are donations, but donors are encouraged to post offers of free items on Nextdoor Neighbor instead of leaving them at the mailbox.
Bart mentioned the problem of dogs on the loose, noise and other issues involving short-term renters. This led to a discussion of responsible short-term rental operation, and what might be done to control it. The County generally allows short-term rentals, and therefore any restriction on such activity within our community would necessitate the creation of CC&Rs in OWW1. The Board will take this up at a future meeting.
Good of the Order
Mosquito Control—4 Rivers Vector, 541-593-1689
Apparently, a change of management at 4 Rivers resulted in a delay in neighborhood mosquito abatement, leading to a heavier than normal problem. This has since been resolved, and any resident can call them to report a mosquito problem.
Election Results:
Tim Jenning was re-elected to a new term.
Meeting was adjourned at 10:23 a.m.