April 19, 2008

Two years ago, a committee was appointed to look at options for the lands the Holiday Hideaway Homeowners Association owns in common. These lands are at Cook’s Cove, Long Bay, and a small parcel at Deadman’s Bay. The committee was formed to look at land and vegetation management options including view enhancement issues. (See the previous detailed report dated December 6, 2006, and also the summary report mailed out a year ago with last year’s notice of the HHA annual meeting. Both reports are here . The committee also dealt with other issues such as cleaning up the Cooks Cove area.

The committee has continued to meet this past 12 months, and has focused its work in the following areas:

1. With board approval, the committee hired a consultant Bob Bailey from Edison Engineering in Bow, WA. He has expertise and certification in several areas including geotechnical engineering, slope stability, water quality, fish and wildlife, and wetlands analysis. He is primarily guiding us on vegetation management issues at Cooks Cove and Long Bay and what is and is not allowed in terms of view clearing issues. There are various regulatory laws and agencies that control what we can do on these sites.

One of the primary pieces of the regulatory puzzle is the Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO), which has been in draft form and is expected to be finalized this summer. We have met with Bob both in the field and in meetings. We have requested that Bob hold off on his final report until the Critical Areas Ordinance is finalized, so that we won’t have to redo it again in a few months. As soon as we receive the final document, we will make it available to all association members.

2. The HHA Board and Commons Committee met with Philip Buri of the law firm Buri, Funston, and Mumford (Bellingham), who is experienced in homeowner association law. He is currently the general council for the Shelter Bay Homeowner’s Assoc. where he has helped with legal concerns about their common areas and other association policy. Philip was asked to discuss legal questions on the role of the HH Association in managing the Commons properties under our covenants, bylaws, articles of incorporation, and state law. The Board also asked him to review these documents to provide guidance on the limits they place on the Board’s actions in general. The Board has since retained Philip as general council for the association, and legal and bylaw aspects will be pursued under the Board’s initiative.

3. The committee held a cleanup day at Cooks Cove last October 13th. About a dozen association members participated. Another cleanup day is planned for late this summer or early fall. The committee also contacted the Anacortes Port Authority to clean up some old broken pieces of docks that were along the beach east of Cook’s Cove, which has been taken care of.

In regards to view enhancement, it appears that the CAO will be the primary limiting factor and will place significant restrictions on what we will be able to do in terms of view clearing. Also it should be noted that what is permissible on the Commons areas is more restrictive than what is permissible on a building site. The Commons Committee will continue its review and assessment when the final report is received from the consultant.

Commons Committee members: Bob Anderson (Chair), Hal Forsey, Roz Glasser, Kirsten Harma, and Fred Wintermantel