welcome to highland hills contributed by mary ann russell · 2020. 5. 10. · by the time you read...

June 2016 LINKS web site: www.hhmcsequim.org Editor e-mail: [email protected]

Welcome to Highland Hills contributed by Mary Ann Russell


President’s Message – June 2016 Summer is near and signs are here with it. Longer days, the smell of cut grass and BBQ’s in the warming air. Trees in full leaf and flowers of all kinds backed by magnificent mountains filling the view are just part of our everyday experience here in the Pacific Northwest---a special place. Late spring in Highland Hills has been generally calm and orderly for HHMC. From a maintenance standpoint, little rainfall and warmer days have allowed us to do minor road repairs (crack sealing), re-stripe the Miller Road entrance S-curves, accomplish mowing of all the roadside drainage ditches, and get the summer undeveloped lot weed mowing program underway. Our Roads & Drainage Committee is now preparing for more summertime maintenance, particularly of ditches and detention basins, by briefing contractors and soliciting bids for the planned work. R&D is looking at two possible special ditch “tight-lining” (underground drainage pipe) projects this year, one in the north Doe Run S-curves below Highland Hills Falls where the eroding drainage ditch is encroaching on the road edge; and the other near the Greenbelt in the outflow channel below Basin #4 on north Fox Hollow Road, which is at some future risk of plugging by erosion or sloughing from an adjacent steep earth embankment. While these potential projects have been identified to the Board of Trustees, neither has so far been submitted as a firm proposal for review or approval. R&D is also developing a project plan to eventually build a concrete spillway on the west bank of Detention Basin #6 (near the Happy Valley entrance) to provide for safe handling of basin emergency overflow into Bell Creek. Timing on bringing that project to the Board is yet to be determined. R&D’s work on Basin #1 (at east Quails Roost and Doe Run), enlarged last fall, is now near completion with landscaping completed and growing, with only an official engineering topographical survey remaining to be completed. Currently R&D is doing a visual survey of all of our paved roadways to assess the amount foliage (tree overhang and shrub encroachment) that exists. Survey results will be used to determine if an HHMC-wide removal//trimming project is warranted. While we think our stormwater drainage system here on the Hill is in very good condition, vigilance is important since we never know what weather will develop. For example, snow removal the last two years has been a non-problem---but what about the year ahead? Rainfall was heavy last winter (compared to normal) but occurred in short/heavy bursts. Will that be the future pattern? The recent El-Niño is now history---officially dead. A La-Niña (cooler ocean surface water near the equator) is anticipated later this year. Will it bring us a cooler and wetter winter? We have to be prepared. Our Architectural Control Committee (ACC) has been monitoring two new under-construction homes, and is anticipating a couple more starts this year, as well as a major remodel. They have also been dealing with many tree-removal, pruning and topping requests as well as assorted fence and shed installation applications. As a reminder, if you are a Highland Hills resident and want to pursue tree cutting you should prepare a tree cutting form that you can find and copy from Board Policy 3-7 and submit the request to any member of the ACC, (Note: BP 3-7 can be accessed on the internet under “Governing Documents” on HHMC’s homepage at www.hhmcsequim.org.) Similarly, if you want to install a fence you can find the appropriate application form as the last page of Board Policy 3-5, also available on the HHMC website. ACC has undergone some significant personnel and leadership changes recently. Long-time member Larry Elliott has moved away and even-longer time member (13 years) and Chairman Ed English has recently

Inside: President’s Message 2 Important Notices 3 Internet 4 Mowing 5 Monthly Weather 6 Photos and Comments 7 Day Trip 9 Harrison Article 10 Humor 11

Important Dates

Board Meeting July 6 August 3 Picnic August 28

http://www.hhmcsequim.org/


decided to stand down from day-to-day Committee activities. HHMC member-volunteer Rob Wade is replacing Larry, while Randy Brown is taking over the Committee Chair from Ed. We are grateful for Larry and Ed’s long and dedicated service to the HHMC community, and we are also very appreciative of Rob and Randy’s willingness to assume new responsibilities in our association. And speaking of committee changes, we have a new Chair of the HHMC Mowing Committee. Resident Fritz Langenbacher now takes over the chairmanship from Ted Johnson, who is busy enough as HOA President. The 2016 mowing program is now underway with many lots already mowed. About 80 lots are in the program this year. Rick’s Tractor Service has the contract and you may see his equipment parked on or near lots being mowed. Please drive with caution! By the time you read this Audrey Gift’s Welcoming Committee will have held its summer welcoming party for a large group of new HHMC residents (held at the Orr’s home). This is the largest newcomer group in a long time as home-sales have taken a leap upward in the last year. Welcome newcomers! With all of the recent news media attention to disaster preparedness (Cascadia Rising exercise) I once again ask if we (HHMC) should be doing more advanced planning for our association? Planning not just for disasters, but also for natural changes that occur in common interest communities like ours. Changes like resident demographics, new technologies, legislation and even view impairment. We need to be better prepared as our community and environment continually change. Human nature tends to make us focus on near-term and current needs and interests, but our collective success in the long run really depends on how well we plan for the future. Much more on this topic needs to be discussed in the near-term! A further note regarding our potential technology future: At its June meeting the Board of Trustees appointed HHMC member Fritz Langenbacher to head a member committee to investigate means of improving high-speed internet capability here on Bell Hill. Please see the separate announcement elsewhere in this Highlander. If you are interested in the topic or can recommend someone to participate please contact Fritz on 858-692-2971, or at [email protected]. With regard to the financial status of your Association, our cash position is strong, with the major expense for May being a payment of $6592 from the Road Striping Reserve Fund for road maintenance activities. Two new liens will be filed for non-payment of 2016 member assessments, to be added to five existing liens. As of 1 June 50 of 80 mowing invoice payments had been received. A Board resolution was passed to close a small Money Market Account with State Farm (to save fees) and transfer the balance to our 1st Security operating fund account. That’s it for May/June. Enjoy the long summer days,

Ted Johnson Picnic!!

Peggy Napier and Laurie Brown are the new co-chairs of the picnic planning committee. The 27th Annual Highland Hills Picnic/Potluck will be held on Sunday-August 28th at the Sequim Pioneer Park at 4 p.m. If you would like to help out at the picnic, please contact Peggy at [email protected] or

Laurie at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




High Speed Internet for Bell Hill

Resolution to the HHMC Board of Trustees Proposal: Form a committee or study group to assess the potential of improving high speed internet access to residents on Bell Hill, near Sequim, Washington. Committee: The “HHMC Internet Service Committee” would be created as an HHMC member committee by resolution of the Highland Hills Maintenance Commission Board of Trustees. Fritz Langenbacher would be appointed as Chairperson, who shall select any members of the committee from volunteers.

Tasks: Study, review, document and promulgate information regarding high speed internet services actually and potentially

available to Bell Hill residents. Include:

Create Committee Operating Procedure

Definitions

Capabilities vs. speed (up & down)

Connection types

Types of distribution (Cable (coax), fiber, DSL, satellite, microwave, Wi-Fi, fixed wireless, multipoint distribution, community wi-fi, etc)

Speed vs. distribution method

Providers

Security considerations

Costs

Paying for service

Scheduling

Assistance available

Resolution passed by BOT on June 1, 2016

Internet Committee Formation By Fritz Langenbacher As the initial chairman of the newly formed HHMC Internet Committee, I have started planning activities and researching internet in our community. I am soliciting volunteers for committee membership. Committee members

will be invited to monthly meetings

direct the focus of committee activities

research and evaluate available internet services

research and document the level and types of services desired by Bell Hill residents

research and evaluate potential new and improved services for Bell Hill

document our findings and promulgate information to Bell Hill residents

respond to inquiries

So far, Bob Conklin and John Orr have volunteered to serve as committee members. Whether or not you would like to be a committee member, I invite you to comment, make suggestions, ask questions and attend meetings. The first meeting will be Monday, June 20, 7:00 to 8:30 pm at my house, 222 Quails Roost Rd. Please contact me if you would like to attend this meeting or be invited to future meetings. Thank you for your interest in the Internet Committee. My contact details are: Fritz Langenbacher 222 Quails Roost Rd Sequim, WA 98382 (858) 692-2971 [email protected]


Mowing Committee Chairmanship Transition Submitted by Fritz Langenbacher As the newly appointed chairman of the Mowing Committee, I would first like to thank Ted Johnson for his years of service as chairman. I am especially impressed that he did this on top of his many other obligations as president of the board of trustees of Highland Hills Maintenance Corporation. I expect the transition to go smoothly since he has provided me with excellent documentation of the duties, procedures, forms and expectations of the Mowing Committee. Ted has volunteered to continue on as a committee member. I am sure consulting with him will prove valuable but I would like to allow him to focus on his many other responsibilities as President of the Board of Trustees. So I am asking for another volunteer to serve on the committee. I fully expect to do 95% of the work but since I frequently travel it would be helpful to have someone to call on when issues arise while I am out of town. Some of the expected duties of the committee member would be:

Inspection of mowing contractor progress

Research of reported mowing or noxious weed issues

Direction of noxious weed control contractors

I will perform these duties when I am available. My rough estimate is that the new committee member may initially spend 2 to 6 hours learning the responsibilities of the mowing committee and then another 5 to 10 hours per year performing duties. Here is a quick summary of what the Mowing committee does.

Promote compliance of both developed and undeveloped lot owners

with

o grass and brush fire safety requirements

o noxious weed control requirements.

Annually notify undeveloped lot owners of the current year mowing

requirements

Solicit participation in the HHMC mowing program.

Prepare annual mowing program bid package and submit to contractors.

Recommend contract award to HHMC Board of Trustees.

Finalize contract with BOT approved contractor.

Coordinate/consult/observe contractor activities

Track lot owner payments

Deal with delinquent lots

Answer member and participant questions

HHMC Board Policy No. 11-1 (www.hhmcsequim.org/Policies-2.html) details the annual mowing and noxious weed control policies. Thank you for your interest in the Mowing Committee. My contact details are below: Fritz Langenbacher 222 Quails Roost Rd Sequim, WA 98382 (858)692-2971 [email protected]

NOTICE 2016 Board

Designated

Lot Mowing Period Board Policy 11-1,

Annual Mowing/Noxious

Weed Control, specifies

that undeveloped lots

must be mowed at least

once each year between

the dates established by

the HHMC Board

The Board at its

May 4th

meeting

designated the

2016 HHMC

Mowing Period to

be: June 1 to July

31, 2016

http://www.hhmcsequim.org/Policies-2.html


Our Monthly Weather

Back to Normal

We’ve had a few days of June gloom followed by several days of sunshine and then a few days of both. This seems to be the norm for late May and early June. The fields of daisies are just now starting to dry out, some of the lawns are showing signs of summer dormancy, fox tails are appearing in the local fields and there seem to be a surplus of bees this year. Just watch the evening news on TV and it makes you

realize what good weather we are having.

All measurements are taken at 600’. Precipitation is measured daily at 7 am.

Electronic Consent Progressing

Progress in getting more HHMC members to participate in electronic notice distribution and voting has been encouraging. We have now gone past the 66% mark with subscribers. Electronic participation saves time, money and clutter. State law requires that you request/consent in writing with your personal signature to participate in e-distribution. An E-consent authorization form is available on the HHMC website members-only page. If you have not yet done so, please sign up. Join the majority!

2016 2015

2016

2015

2016

2015

2016

2015 Precipitation Precipitation Snowfall Snowfall High High Low Low

(In.) (In.) (In.) (In.) °F °F °F °F

January 1.74 2.59 0.0 0.0 61 58 29 28

February 1.92 3.20 0.0 0.0 57 54 36 35

March 2.51 3.27 0.0 0.0 70 53 36 34

April .91 .66 0.0 0.0 81 67 45 37

May .75 .41 0.0 0.0 75 82 46 43

Month to Date (June 14th) .35 .24 0.0 0.0 88 76 47 44

Annual Totals 8.24 10.37 0.0 0.0 88 82 29 28

Running Year Total (6/15/15 - 6/14/16) 24.17

0.0

92

27


Photos and Comments It’s that time of year!

Beautiful Baby contributed by Mary Ann Russell

Taking a Stroll on Doe Run contributed by John Orr


June Sunrise contributed by Marilynn Elliot

Above the Fog contributed by Marilynn Elliot


This Month’s Day Trip

Bloedel Reserve

The Bloedel Reserve is located just 1 hour from Sequim, a short distance from the Agate Pass Bridge on Bainbridge Island. If you are in the mood for a leisurely and peaceful stroll for a couple of hours, the Reserve is perfect. It is 150 acres of what the New York Times describes as “one of this country’s most original and ambitious gardens”. Developed over decades by timber magnate Prentice Bloedel and his wife Virginia, the grounds consist of many different gardens, ponds, forest trails, a Japanese tea house and a mansion open to the public. For more information the website is www.bloedelreserve.org

If there any more aspiring poets, writers, photographers, restaurant critics, news reporters, or other talented members who would like to give our community the benefit of their talents, WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU at [email protected]

The Mansion at Bloedel Reserve

www.bloedelreserve.org



Harrison Article

ANNUAL DISCOVERY MARATHON

I joined the Peninsula Trails Coalition when we moved downtown, mainly because our home was on the Discovery Trail along E. Fir Street and I was interested to learn more about the Coalition. Their annual meeting was held last month and I became even more interested in getting involved. So when the day of the annual Discovery Marathon, June 5th, came along I set out a table with cups and ice water as refreshment for the runners.

As a young lad I had entered a marathon** at school in Kashmir, not because I expected to win -I had two elder brothers in the same race- but because I didn’t wish to be left out. I still remember the effort it took to cover the course and the welcome at the finishing line. The temperature in Sequim last Sunday was in the 80’s and following the first runner past my table I did not have time to return to my chair and watch in comfort because of the popularity of my ice water. “God Bless You!” was the most frequent comment but I also received one young man’s plea “ Where is the first aid station?”. As he said it without stopping I can only surmise that it was meant in jest and I ignored his plea. All in all it was a most satisfactory morning and I plan to be out there again next year for the 15th running of the Discovery Trails Marathon. ** On checking with one of my brothers I learned that while it was the schools’ annual long distance race, which he won two years running - no pun intended - it could not be called a marathon in the true sense.


Finally a little humor, submitted by Jerry Hayman Our Generation (most of us that is)