Highland Woods Landowners Association
June 2023
Greetings and Salutations Landowners!
Summer’s almost here. Gardens are mostly planted, and the temperature is starting to rise. That means it’s almost time for the Highland Woods Landowners Association’s (HWLA) Annual Meeting!
We are going to have a live meeting—and also have a Zoom connection for those who cannot attend in person.
This year’s Annual Meeting will be held at the Solar School—and also on Zoom—on Friday, June 30th at 5:00 p.m. Central(CDT—Farm Time), 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), 4:00 p.m. Mountain (MDT), and 3:00 p.m. Pacific (PDT).
Please see the Zoom contact information at the end of this letter. We will also send you an e-mail in late June with the Zoom link so that it will be easy to access the meeting with just one click. If you can’t attend via Zoom, you can call one of the phone numbers listed to listen in and participate.
Proxy Reminder: In order to take care of any official business at the meeting, we need to have a Quorum of half of the membership in person, on Zoom, or by Proxy. If you cannot attend, please ask another member to represent you as your Proxy. Please be sure
to contact your representative (Proxy) in advance to ensure that they are planning to attend the Annual Meeting, and that they haven’t already agreed to serve as a Proxy for two members—as that’s the limit.
A letter with a Proxy Form and instructions was sent out to all members in early May. A copy of the Proxy, and a return envelope are also enclosed for your convenience. Proxies
must be received at the Highland Woods office before the meeting in order to be counted. Please mail in your Proxy!
Board of Directors Election: Last year, an application process was instituted for the Board of Directors election. In late March, we sent out a letter with a Board Application to all members seeking applicants, with an application closing date of May 15.
Five members are running for three open seats on the Board of Directors:
Two current Board members are running for re-election: Gretchen Bates and Roger Kanies
Three new members have applied for a seat on the Board: Steve Brady, Mousumi Crowley, and Rowland Huddleston.
Their Board Applications are enclosed for your review.
We are using a written Ballot this year to ensure an accurate vote count. The Ballot, three Board Applications, and a return envelope are enclosed for your convenience. Please vote! Mail in your Ballot by June 15 th . Or you may bring it to the Annual Meeting.
Membership Dues:
Please send in your Membership Dues payment in the enclosed return envelope. If your payment slip lists ultiple years, you owe dues for all of the years listed. Your payment will be applied beginning with the first year of unpaid dues,not to the current year. If you cannot pay your dues in full, please contact us, and make an effort to either pay your dues in full in
the near future, or start a payment plan to catch up.
We are in the process of finding a new attorney who is versed in Landowners Association law, so that we can handle any issues that arise, and update our Bylaws and Covenants as needed. Along with an expected increase in legal costs, the cost of our accounting
software has sharply increased, we need occasional professional help with our website and, in each of the past three years, we have needed to hire contractors for cleanup projects, or to repair and control erosion following storms. Our current budget is not adequate to cover these increased costs. With that in mind, we need to discuss raising our dues at the Annual Meeting–something that we haven’t done since 2006.
Here are a few of the issues that the Board of Directors has been discussing:
Property Maintenance, and how to pay for it—specifically:
o Road maintenance to avoid chemical spraying under the power lines
o Protecting and maintaining our creeks
o Preventing fire hazards
o Adding and maintaining fences and gates
o Care of our parks and easements
Guidelines for:
o Rentals
o Extended-stay camping in trailers, campers, and tents
o Commercial development
There are varying viewpoints among Board members on some of these issues, as we discuss whether—or not—to formulate Policies to present to the membership for a vote. If there is time and interest, we can discuss some of these topics at the Annual Meeting.
Here are a few more important issues to consider:
Personal Property Maintenance. Just a reminder—your property may need maintenance. There are many fallen trees, overgrown underbrush, and debris on our property. If you would like to have someone look at your land, thin the trees, or clean up underbrush and debris, please let us know. We can put you in touch with someone who can do that for you. After
years without maintenance, trees can grow too close together and are not able to grow due to overcrowding. Small to medium-sized trees can be removed for more healthy growth, and are great for cultivating shitake mushrooms.
Please refer to the Covenants before removing trees. Keeping the number of trees removed within the confines of the Covenants helps us preserve the property for the future.
Site Development. Please let us know if you plan to make changes to your site. We are here to help, not to create obstacles.
Please feel free to send comments or questions regarding land use to any of the Board members, or to the Highland Woods e-mail. Board members’ e-mail addresses are listed below.
Land sales. Please let us know if you are thinking of selling your property. We may know of someone who is interested in buying property in Highland Woods. Many of us have received multiple offers for our land from developers. Their intention is to pay as little as possible, and their concern for the land is questionable. Although the Landowners Association is not able to purchase individual properties, we encourage you to sell to buyers who are telepathic with our Covenants and Policies—that we have worked so long and hard to maintain. We want to preserve Highland Woods, and honor our original intention to care for the land over the long haul—for us, and for our children and grandchildren.
If you do sell your land to a group / land-friendly buyer, please let us know. And please let them know about Highland Woods Landowners Association, our Covenants and Policies, our Annual Meetings, and the Membership Dues. Please don’t let the new landowner, or the Association, be blindsided. We are putting together a new owner’s package—that will also be on the Website—so that you can direct prospective purchasers there to read about us and understand our values.
Property Taxes.
Please pay your annual Property Taxes to Lewis County! We check each year to ensure that they have all been paid, but please pay attention and pay them in a timely manner—in order to avoid having your land auctioned off on the Courthouse steps for not paying the small amount that they ask for each year.
Communications. Our website–www.highlandwoods.org—will soon be updated, and we hope to update it regularly. It includes the Highland Woods Landowners Association Bylaws, Covenants, and Policies. The Board of Directors may also e-mail you from time to time with news and information.
If you have any issues, needs, or requests, please call, or send an e-mail to: [email protected]. We will address it on the spot, or bring it up at our next meeting. If it affects the larger community, we will discuss it at the Annual Meeting.
A Big Thanks to everyone who pays their membership dues each year, and participates in any way!
Remember–please send your Proxy, Ballot and Membership Dues in the enclosed return envelope right away!
We hope to see you either live at the Solar School, or on Zoom at the Annual Meeting. Until then, blessings from the Highland
Woods Landowners Association Board of Directors:
Martin Baratz ([email protected]), Gretchen Bates ([email protected]), Julia James ([email protected]), Roger Kanies ([email protected]), Carol Nelson ([email protected]), and Katrina Tsacrios ([email protected])