Follow-up
To
Focus Group Meetings 
(December 2007)

As many of you know, the Board held three focus group meetings during the past two months to begin defining a shared vision of Shumway, our community, and the Association over the next 10 to 20 years. The project originated with the help of our resident consultant in organizational governance, Bob Hughes, who facilitated a day-long workshop to help Board members identify key concepts of that vision and define goals that will drive decision-making that supports those goals.

Many thanks to all of you who participated, shared ideas and concerns, and made excellent suggestions. Owners contributed over 80 suggestions that were almost equally divided among the following three areas. (See attached information.)

Physical Facilities. Almost 20 thoughts and suggestions related to landscaping, and other comments related to maintenance and security.

Social Sense of Community comments included pros and cons regarding social events, suggestions for fostering good relationships among owners, thoughts regarding rules and how rules should be made and/or changed, and ideas for resolving conflicts at the lowest possible level.

Governance comments focused on the need for responsible financial planning and management, suggestions for fostering good communication, thoughts regarding problem solving and issues resolution, and management practices.

Owners made several positive comments regarding distribution of new documents:

•           Good practices for long term absences

•           Emergency procedures

Again, thank you. The Board's next step is to incorporate these thoughts into a comprehensive set of goals for 2008 that will guide operational, budget and financial, and management practice decisions. We appreciate your time, participation, and good ideas. This process is an important first step in implementing a proactive, forward-looking governance system that will serve Shumway well in the years ahead. We will definitely involve interested homeowners in the development of plans and actions as we move forward.

Board Members: 

        Ken Allender
        Gary Teper
        Shirley Miller
        Jack Danforth
        Glenn Luther

LONG TERM VISION FOR SHUMWAY

Ensure that Shumway will continue to be a safe and well-maintained place to live and visit, is regarded as a premier condominium development in the Kirkland area, and the owners' investments are protected

Physical Facilities

·        Perform common area maintenance to an acceptable standard in a timely and cost effective manner.

·        Insure that resources and facilities are sound, safe, and well maintained. Maintain a secure and safe site

·        Maintain a pleasant living environment including landscaping, architectural appearance, and other site amenities.

·        Maintain views to the maximum legal extent

Social Sense of Community

·        Association Rules are viewed by residents as reasonable and fairly enforced.

·        Foster a collegial and good neighbor culture between and among residents.

·        Pleasant and enjoyable social environment.

·        Interactive and open communication between residents.

·        Active and responsible participant in the local Kirkland community.

·        Environmentally conscious and sustainable community.

Governance

·        Open and timely communication among residents, property management, and the Board.

·        HOA dues are reasonable, well understood and wisely managed.         

·        Insure that polices and management practices are understood and support the highest possible real and intrinsic property values.

·        Rotating owner involvement in association leadership.

·        Limited terms for board members and officers.

·        Professional, responsive, and stable property management processes and reporting systems.

·        Minority interests, concerns, and conflicts are accommodated in a fair and equitable manner.

·        HOA will have a pro-active, documented issues resolution and appeals process.

COMPILED FOCUS GROUP COMMENTS

Physical Facilities           (30 comments)

Landscaping (19 comments)

 Assessment of current landscaping.

·        Landscaping is adequate, although areas range from bare to overkill.

·        Overall, the landscaping is good, although many things need to be trimmed and pruned.

·        We need to maintain the good parts of what we have.

·        Overall landscaping is okay, but the views need to be improved and the bald spots and poorly planted areas need to be fixed.

·        The Lake Street entry is not up to the same standard as the rest of the Lake Street landscape. Both entry areas need attention.

·        One group rated current landscaping on a scale of 1 (low) and 10 (high).   Responses varied widely and averaged 7.

Views.

·        Maintaining clear views adds value to the association.

·        My view is important and I would like it to be maintained.

·        Retain views as much as possible.

Specific areas needing attention.

·        Barrels sitting empty are unattractive.

·        Birch trees near the 5th Avenue gate are overcrowded and have interfered with views.

·        Topiary trees were nice. They should have been maintained.

·        Grasses grow too tall for the areas where some have been planted.

Suggestions.

·        Hire a landscape architect to develop a master plan.

·        A master plan should be "concrete" and based on a "vision of landscaping" that would be equal to or better than what the original design was when Shumway was built.

·        Legal requirements and constraints, budget, and resources that we have all

·        need to be taken into consideration.

·        Need a long-term landscape plan that preserves views.

·        Focus on fixing the weak spots in landscaping.

Security and safety (2 comments)

·        I like the security of having two gates.

·        The fireman could not find a key for the Sprinkler room to shut off the water.

Maintenance (6 comments)

·        Things are acceptable.

·        Common hallways could be cleaner.

·        Lighting should be checked more frequently to make sure all common areas are well lighted.

·        Lobbies and elevator interiors are becoming dated and need to be refurbished.

·        The bicycle rack in the A Building garage is empty and in the way.

·        Consider adding padding for garage posts as a preventive measure.

Property Management (3 comments)

·        Have an independent company that is separate from the Board.

·        How do we know we can trust Property Management?

·        Participants made several comments related to Dream View Property Management. Inasmuch as the goal of these forums was to solicit input for long-range planning, those are not included. However, they did provide guidance to the Board for near term planning.

Social Sense of Community   (19 comments)

Rules (6 comments)

·        Rules should require owner approval.

·        Rules should be specific, enforceable, and change as time and situations change.

·        Owners should vote on the rules before they are implemented.

·        No noise rule should be enforced.

·        Rules may need building specific adjustments.

·        How are decisions made on controversial issues such as smoking?

Social Environment (5 comments)

·        Create a community feeling of wholeness.

·        Flowers to hospitalized owners.

·        -  Maybe a card would do.

·        -  Don't get too cheap.

·        -  Encourage neighbors to take care of doing something.

·        -  There is a fairness issue when the person who is responsible for sending f lowers is not aware that an owner has been hospitalized.

Social Events (7 comments)

·        The purpose for having social events should be to build relationships.

·        Summer party should be funded by attendees with minimal cost to the Association.

·        -  Activities should be self-supporting.

·        -  Events should be potluck.

·        Holding small social functions with a program would be a good idea.

·        -  A response to that suggestion was to have a "resource suggestion" forum. (Capitalizing on talent and skills available within the Shumway Community and outside resources that have been helpful.)

·        The association is not responsible for my social life.

Governance    (20 comments)

Finance (4 comments)

·        For funding of operations, use the priorities list.

·        Keep homeowner dues competitive.

·        Keep homeowner dues affordable.

·        Have solid reserves.

Communication (9 comments)

·        Delivering minutes to doorsteps is a good practice.

Website:

·        -  E-mail notice would be good.

·        -  Have only community-essential information on the website.

·        -  Create a link to Board members (Completed by Bob Hughes)

Focus groups:

·        -  Invite owners to more focus groups.

·        -  Having small group meetings is important.

·        -  Please hold more meetings of this kind.

·        Owner input should be solicited and considered in decision-making.

·        There should be term limits on Board participation.

Issues Resolution (2 comments)

·        Is there a conflict resolution process?

·        Conflicts should be resolved informally by having people talk whenever possible.

 Other Suggestions (2 comments)

·        A note sent to the Board suggested adding this statement to Governance. "The homeowners have a right to expect that all board members will exhibit professional and ethical conduct in carrying out their responsibilities. They are bound to always act in the best interest of homeowners and the Home Owners Association as a whole and abide by all applicable RCW, By-Law, and CCR's."

·        Comment on Governance section. Change "Minority Interests" to "All Interests"

Additional Comments (3 comments)

·        Having a resource list would be helpful. For example, plumber, electrician, and handy man.

·        Emergency Procedures for owners is very helpful.

·        A welcome and orientation for new owners, including emergency procedures and how-to instructions, would be nice.