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Norwood Village Association 

Annual Meeting

January 20, 2024· 10:00 – 12:00pm

East Shore Unitarian Church

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Agenda

  • Welcome, roll call, board member introductions
  • Proof of mailing / Reading of minutes
  • Report of President
  • Report of Secretary
  • Report of Treasurer
  • Presentation and approval of budget
  • Reports of committees / ACC
  • Election of Trustees
  • Transaction of other business mentioned in the notice
  • New business (non-budget)
  • Adjournment

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Welcome New Neighbors!

Roll Call, Quorum Check, Board of Director Introductions

Proof of Mailing

Reading of minutes from last annual meeting

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Outgoing Board Members

Thank You!

Greg Lang

President

Term ended Jan 2024

Bill Wojdak

Treasurer

Term ended Jan 2024

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Electing NVA 2024 Board Members

To be voted in…

To be voted in…

Role changes to President

No role change

No role change

Erik Axter

Vice President

Term ends Jan 2025

Jean Lee

Secretary

Term ends Jan 2025

Stephen Lan

Trustee

Term ends Jan 2025

Erin Lavin

Trustee

Term ends Jan 2027

Sonia Sarao

Treasurer

Term ends Jan 2027

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President’s Report

  • Memory Lane - The last 3 years:
    • Improvements to our neighborhood
    • Website
    • Landscaping
    • Social events
    • Pool board relationship
    • Food trucks
    • Business management

  • Thank you to board members and volunteers: You make a difference!
  • Shout-out to our Sponsors
  • Poll results and insights into next year

Greg Lang

President

Term ended Jan 2024

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Memory Lane: Changes in the last few years…

Old sign → New sign(s)

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New, Modern Website

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Summer Social, Food Trucks, and Community

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Pool Property Improvements

The NVA board + pool board have a great working relationship

Resurfaced this fall, new lights, commercial renters, new fence a few years ago

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Pool Facts

General Information

  • Membership last summer = 175 families
  • Norwood Village members = < 10
  • Swim team participation= 125
  • Operational costs = $130-160K (not including capital improvements)
  • Volunteer hours/yr = 1500
  • Staff/Guards hired = 16-22
  • Over past decade, some years have generated losses, some have generated profits. In a good year, the pool will generate $10-20K profit. In ‘23, 12K from commercial rental, spending $75K in capital

Improvements (planned or recently completed)

  • Expansion east; new fence in ‘20
  • Po0l resurfacing fall of ‘23
  • Lights installed for commercial renters, fall of ‘23
  • Parking lot improvements, summer of ‘23
  • Pool deck repairs spring of ‘23
  • Roof replacement planned spring of ‘25

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Rhythm of Business

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Thank You, Sponsors

The following real estate professionals know the Woodridge market. Please consider using them for your real estate needs.

Their generosity to the Norwood Village Association helps to pay for website hosting and social events, such as the July 4th neighborhood celebration.

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Poll Results: End of Year, 2023

39 Responses

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Poll Results

See Appendix for verbatim feedback…

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Poll Results

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Special Topic - Crime

Prevention is key! Mail theft is common in many neighborhoods. Please refer to email about recommendations for increasing mailbox security. We may hold a special session with BPD in the new year. Stay tuned…

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Secretary’s Report

  • Website tour (Meeting minutes, calendar, documentation, maps, info)
  • Monthly meeting cadence, strong board attendance
  • All minutes published on website
  • All agendas sent in advance of meetings
  • All NV Members invited to open regularly-scheduled meetings (Generally, second Tuesday of the month, published on calendar)

Jean Lee

Secretary

Term ends Jan 2025

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Treasurer’s Report

  • Strong adherence to budget
  • Finished year better than projected due to collection of dues from previous years
  • No expense for Long Park clean up of Blackberry bushes

2023

2023

(budget)

(actual)

Current Year Dues

$13,500.00 

$12,723.74 

Real Estate Sponsors

$600.00 

$600.00 

Rent Income

$641.89

$641.89

Interest

Total Income

$14,741.89

$13,950.51

Utilities

$2,950.00

$2,356.47

Insurance

$3,000.00 

$4,599.58

Legal and Professional

$1,000.00 

$-

Misc

$1,500.00 

$558.12 

Blackberry Bushes (pending)

$8,000.00 

$-

Common Property Maintenance

$5,250.00 

$5,190.45 

Social

$1,000.00 

$1,008.53

Total Expense

$22,700.00 

$13,713.15 

Net

($7,958.11)

$237.36

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Dues Collection – Last Year

  • 86 households have paid their 2023 dues (95%)
  • 4 households have not paid their 2023 dues yet
  • 2 of these households owe only 2023
  • 2 liens have been filed

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End of 2023 Balance sheet

Wells Fargo account balance as of 12/31/2023 $38,479

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Committee Updates

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Welcome Committee Update

New neighbors in Norwood Village

  • Fariba & Kheir Zohrizadeh
  • Zeng Hai X & Chen Yanmei
  • Ramamurthi Anup Narayan
  • Hah-Shin Lin & Mckenna Krueger
  • Mike & Erin Lavin
  • Nima & Mona Jafroodi

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Landscaping Committee Update

  • Emphasis on stretching out annual budget to cover bi-weekly maintenance, and trying to address some persistent overgrowth areas

  • Coordination with Seattle City Light
      • As a result, we did not utilize the $8k in reserve funds authorized at last years Annual meeting

  • Focused on North Sign common property area
      • Blackberry clean up
      • Clearing out dead trees and over-growth
      • Weeding
  • Thank you volunteers for mowing at Long Park and other maintenance on our common property!!

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Norwood Village Boundary

Blackberry overgrowth

(3.3 Acres of Common Property)

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The Orchard, Today: Overgrown, Uninviting

The blackberries winning!

Location: Near pool parking lot under power lines

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A Vision: The Orchard, cleaned up & open to all

Concept

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ACC Update

The Architectural Control Committee works with our homeowners to make sure new construction is compliant with ACC guidelines.

But we need your help. The ACC needs new volunteers and fresh leadership. Please reach out to Bob Weiss if you would like to assist.

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Presentation of �2024 Budget

  • Substantial increase in Insurance expenses ($3K to $4.6+K)
  • First dues increase in 2 years ($150/yr to proposed $180)
  • Proposal: Use up to $2K from reserves to pay for landscaping project (equip. rental, dump fees, volunteer labor)
  • Other than proposed landscaping investment, plan is for balanced budget

Approved?

2024

(budget)

Current Year Dues

$16,200.00 

Real Estate Sponsors

$600.00 

Rent Income

$661.15

Interest and Other Income

Total Income

$17,461.15 

Utilities

$3,200.00

Insurance

$4,800.00 

Legal and Professional

$1,000.00 

Misc

$1,250.00 

Landscaping Equipment

$2,000.00 

Common Property Maintenance

$6,000.00 

Social

$1,250.00 

Total Expense

$19,500.00 

Net

($2,038.85)

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Nominations of New Trustees

“Hi, I'm Erin Lavin! My husband (Mike), 3 year old (Lucas), Golden Retriever (Riley) and I moved into Norwood Village in August. We've already seen what an awesome community NV is, and I'd love to contribute to it!”

My name is Manpreet Sarao, known by Sonia to most of you. I have lived in Norwood Village for 12 years with my family of a loving husband, 2 sons & a puppy. I love to hike, walk and spend time with friends in my spare time. Joining the board will be a good opportunity for me to learn & eventually serve the community. Also to help this wonderful neighborhood continue doing good.”

Approved?

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2024 Trustees – New Roles & Terms

Name

Term Length

Through*

2024 Role

Erik Axter

3-Year

Jan 2025

President

Jean Lee

3-Year

Jan 2025

Secretary

Stephen Lan

3-Year

Jan 2025

Trustee

Erin Lavin

3-Year

Jan 2027

Trustee

Sonia Sarao

3-Year

Jan 2027

Treasurer

* Trustees remain active until the completion of the annual meeting in January, whereby new Trustees are elected.

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Other Business / New Business / Q&A?

Future Possibilities for Improving Norwood Village

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Appendix

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1. The pool is such a true gift of the community. While I think that the members from outside communities were a valuable support - both socially and (I would imagine) financially, I am concerned that too many more new members - could be problematic for crowding and other issues. It seems to me that the pool over the summertime is at capacity and could become unsafe due to too many people. Is there a way to grandfather in members that upheld the Norwood code of conduct from this past summer, and limit new families from (over and above the Norwood residents) - to a very small few? I’m not sure how this all works. I just overheard so many people at parties from other areas of Bellevue and Seattle etc. stating that they were looking to become members this upcoming summer - and at some point I feel as though this makes the small community feel and the enforcing of the rules etc. much more difficult and unwieldy.

2. I think the architectural control board should give way to Bellevue City code standards.

3. I think most people can afford to upgrade their own mailbox. For those on a limited budget, maybe a little help. I think information about what is most secure and I think we can offer to help install any new upgraded boxes that homeowners buy. I’d rather spend money on other things.

4. Regarding views. I’m mainly concerned with the new big houses affecting views than trees. Maybe update the covenants reflecting that. The new house heights are concerning more than if they have 2 stories or not.

5. More leaf control in park

6. I know we don't want to turn the meeting into a discussion on how to respond to homelessness, but I would love to understand how we can keep the community safe as the low barrier shelter opens. I haven't done a good job of staying informed of what the broader community is doing and I've missed meetings that probably would have addressed this. Just curious if there could be a summary or resource shared to help educate us all on what the initiatives are and whether there is anything we can do.

7. I am supposedly on the Architectural Control Committee, but clearly it isn't happening or being effective. I don't drive through NV that often but the new house at the top of the loop built by MX shows that the ACC has no control whatsoever. I don't know what to think after seeing that?

8. There are other ways to protect views; the phrase 'tree trimming subsidies' frames it only as a budget item.

9. In terms of neighborhood security, I am concerned about the gunshots at the neighborhood park (twice that I'm aware of) and an unoccupied house with reports of a squatter. Those things concern me much more than the mailbox break-ins.

10. Our community should come up with a disaster/ protection plan of any type. Whether it is weather related, human related, …, ie- Switzerland can mobilize their Country in 15 min in case of an attack. Create a scenario- our Country/our City is under attack…. How could we help each other out!!

Poll Results - Verbatim Responses

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