Frequently Asked Questions

Surf Pines Association Questions

I understand that the Board is looking to change how association elections are conducted. Why are you doing this and what might change?

I thought it would be helpful to give you the historical context and outline the key issues that led to this becoming one of our top priorities during last fall’s planning session.

Why This Became a Priority

One of the main reasons for addressing our voting system is the overly complicated process we’ve used in the past. As you may know, our annual meeting requires a quorum of at least 20% of registered voting owners. Because many of our members do not live in Surf Pines year-round or are unable to attend in person, we have historically relied on proxies to meet this requirement. Unfortunately, this system has been taken advantage of twice in the last six years, prompting the need for change.

How the Current Proxy System Works

Pre-Meeting Proxy Collection – Annual meeting notices are mailed with proxy forms for members unable to attend. A committee of members meets at the Gate House the day before the meeting to tally the proxies received by mail or Dropbox. This process typically takes several hours.
Handling Assigned Proxies – Some members assign their proxy to another member or the Association Secretary. These are set aside and delivered to the designated recipients at the annual meeting.
Morning-of Meeting Procedures – Our administrator brings the proxy tallies to the meeting, and CRC members check in attendees, distributing ballots for each owned property, plus any proxy-assigned votes. With 80 to 120 people attending, this process is chaotic.
Election Timing – Voting must take place early in the meeting so the ballot counters have time to process the results. However, this means the counters miss a large portion of the meeting.

Key Issues with the Current System

Proxy Solicitation & Manipulation – On two occasions, small groups have actively solicited proxies to push specific agendas, complicating the count and sometimes disenfranchising members who assigned their proxy without fully understanding the implications.
Limited Candidate & Ballot Discussion – Because voting happens so early, members have little opportunity to hear from board candidates or discuss ballot measures before casting their votes.
Resource Constraints – While eliminating proxies and extending the voting period beyond the annual meeting would improve fairness, our HOA lacks the resources to manage a secure system that supports both electronic and mail-in voting.

A Proven Alternative: The Inspectors of Election (TIE)

When we conducted the vote to adopt CC&Rs and our updated governing documents, we used a professional voting company, The Inspectors of Election (TIE), based in California. That vote was particularly challenging, requiring 75% approval from all property owners, but TIE handled it with professionalism and at a reasonable cost.

Given their extensive experience with HOA elections, I believe they should be our first point of contact for potential solutions. While it’s always beneficial to explore all options, I strongly recommended reaching out to Kurtis Peterson, the owner of TIE, as a starting point. You can visit their website at https://inspectorsofelection.com/.

Let me know if you have any questions or if you'd like to discuss this further. Thanks for your interest. Thanks T

To the Board and Roads and Grounds, My wife and I live on Ocean Drive and are very concerned about what is happening on a nearby property. The owners of a property on Manion have filled the wetland at the bottom of their Rest of Question below

Rest of Question: property, along Ocean Drive, and including Surf Pines property, with several feet of sand and now dirt. They have filled the drainage channel, which is a wetland and the drainage culvert for the lake and for all the water that accumulates when this area gets a lot of rain. We are concerned about possible flooding of the road and the disruption of the wetlands. Even with the pump, when we get a lot of rain, there can be water standing on Ocean Drive. My wife and I have seen this several times. We're wondering why they have been allowed to fill this? I would like to hear back from you on this matter and I thank you in advance.

Answer:

Thank you for your comment. I would have responded sooner, but my correct email address wasn’t used. I appreciate that another resident forwarded it.

I think specifically, you are referring to the remnants of the drainage ditch that was installed over 20 years ago on the east side of Ocean from High Surf to where Ocean turns up the hill to Manion. In the 1990’s Ocean experienced severe flooding on numerous occasions that actually blocked it at times. The cause of the flooding was the road construction Pinehurst did at its north end adjacent to Ocean. That blocked the infiltration of water originating from rain fall, the aquifer and a lakes (or ponds) that flowed through SP. The solution was to add four submersible pumps in strategically located sumps to transfer excessive water to filter beds. Most resident would never know these pumps are operating. Ken keeps a close eye on the sump water level and when they approach a concerning level he activates the pumps that automatically cycle to keep the water from flooding Ocean. Since they were installed there have been no problems.

The owner filling that area has identified the property line and is not materially infringing on SP right-of-way. It appears that any remnant of the culvert was on their property. Their only intention is to create a better conditions for beach grass to grow and be periodically mowed. The remnants of the drainage ditch are not visible, which may have been located on their property. SP has few regulation and the ones we have don’t significantly restrict impact what a person can or cannot do with their property. It is dictated by the county.

We absolutely love the Surf Pines neighborhood and are looking to purchase a parcel. Our questions relates to whether a pre-manufactured, or partially manufactured home is permitted to be built on a parcel. (rest of question in answer)

Rest of question:

We're conscientious of the environment and would like to build a home that is manufactured in modules offsite, then assembled and partially built onsite. Could you advise on whether something like this would be acceptable and if so, what the approval process involves.

Answer: Currently our recently passed CC&Rs do not have any Architectural Review provisions. While many of the homes in Surf Pines are custom manufactured we do have some pre-manufactured homes in our community. Also according to the prevailing Clatsop Building code there are no specific rules against pre-manufactured homes. That being said, you may want to look at the homes around your proposed location to review whether the style of home does not affect your neighbors values. Surf Pines has very few rules compared to most HOA’s in Oregon but we also have to get along with our neighbors. Thank you for your question.

Can you help me? I'd like to get one of those red reflecting house number signs in front of my house. I believe they are emergency and fire markers and it looks like a great idea but I missed getting on the first time. What do I need to do to get one?

The red colored street signs are issued by the county Community Development Department at Clatsop county when you apply for your building permit and they issue you a new street address. I am not sure if you can get one once your home is completed but their info is:

Clatsop County Community Development Department...

Phone us at: (503) 338-5183
Fax us at: (503) 338-6538
E-mail us at: planning@astoria.or.us

Walk-in at:
Astoria City Hall, 1095 Duane Street, Astoria, OR 97103

Is there an agenda for the exec session? I understand residents are not invited to attend, but understand a published agenda was required.

Answer 10-16-2023:

Thank you for reaching out with your inquiry. As for the agenda of the executive session, it mirrors that of the open meeting. However, in alignment with our bylaws, specifically section 6.8 (b) (1), and as outlined in the Oregon State Statutes section 94, any discussions concerning personnel matters are first held in an executive session to safeguard individual privacy. After such discussions, any subsequent motion or vote related to those topics will be conducted in an open meeting, ensuring transparency for all members. I hope this provides clarity regarding our process. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Tom Smith

Secretary Surf Pines Association

Do you allow long term leases?

Currently we do not have any Association rules that apply to Long Term renters. In fact, we have several that have been residents in Surf Pines for several years. One in particular has lived as a member here for over 21 years. Our rules apply to the property however we do include the renter in our community information blasts if you choose to participate.

Please be careful to read our association rules to make sure you and the property owner do not violate the wishes of the association. Here is a link to our Governing Documents on our publicly available Web site at surfpines.org . If you do move in please contact our Administrator or Security person so your information is current and that you are included in items that impact our community.

Follow-up question. Is the "new Director" a personnel matter? It seems it is not, as a Board Director is not an employee. Like myself, I know that others are interested in the new director appointment, and don't consider this appointment (Cont answer)

(rest of question) to be an employee. Please clarify. Thx

Answer 10-16-2023:

Thank you for your follow-up question. I appreciate your interest in the appointment of the new Director. The classification of the "new Director" as a personnel matter is indeed subject to interpretation, and I understand your perspective that a Board Director is not an employee.

At Surf Pines, our approach is to treat all volunteers, including Board of Directors (BOD) members, with the same respect and consideration that we would provide to an employee. While BOD members are volunteers, we believe they should be afforded a similar level of confidentiality and privacy in discussions related to their appointment. This approach is in line with our commitment to transparency and fairness.

Moreover, Surf Pines' guiding documents, which have been approved by a majority of our residents, outline that BOD replacements are determined by the Board of Directors. These same documents also indicate that the Board of Directors, elected by the majority of our members to represent them, are responsible for making the decision on who will replace a resigning Board member. This process is similar to how many states handle the replacement of a federal congressperson.

I'm pleased to inform you that we had two highly qualified individuals apply for this position, and our BOD will review their qualifications in an executive session. After this review, we will transition to an open meeting on the 25th of October for the motion to appoint and provide our decision to the community in that open meeting.

Thank you for your understanding and engagement in this important matter.

Sincerely,

Tom Smith Secretary of Surf Pines Association

How Many homes are in Surf Pines

As of May 14, 2021

At the Safety and Security meeting on May 12, 2021 there was a question on the number of homes in Surf Pines (SP) over the years. Well with our new Sales Force database we were able to generate the number of homes that existed in Surf Pines on specific years based on the year built listed in the Clatsop County Property Tax Map. The results were very interesting.

As of this year we have 353 homes in SP. 10 of these are still under construction. In 2020 there were 9 homes completed, in 2019 there were 9 new homes completed, and in 2018 there were 8 new homes completed. That means in the last 4 years we have had 46 new homes built in SP. As of today there are 55 buildable lots left in SP.

Here is a breakdown of all homes built by decades and 1969 the year SPA was incorporated, so you can see how the community has grown over the years.

Year……Total homes Located in SP
2021……………353
2011……………304
2001……………230
1991……………177
1981……………136
1971…………….66
1969…………...53

Lastly, in the last year the percentage of full-time residents increased from 50.2% to over 55%. Also, we seem to be having more younger residents moving in. It is tough to determine the actual age ranges, since we do not have age information available.

I was reading your information in the BOD Candidates. You are wanting to sell/re-subdivide the Manion property and develop a park. We have a park that is under developed, not used much and infested with sand burrs.. (Rest of question in answer)

(rest of question) Why develop another? What type of park are you suggesting to develop? I would suggest the current park be developed and maintained prior to creating another.

Answer:
The existing park only has (expensive) city water available for irrigation and that is the only way to control the sand burrs. The Manion property has existing water wells that presumably could be reworked inexpensively and used to irrigate the park. Also, the Manion property could be developed into two or three lots and it is more property than we need for a park. We pay almost $3,000 a year in property tax on the Manion property now.

The concept is to study the feasibility of selling part of the Manion property and all of the existing park property to pay for the development of a much nicer park and raise money for the reserve fund to avoid or postpone the necessity of raising the HOA fees. Any proposal would be presented to the membership for approval.
Thank you for your question.

Member Comments: Could I get a copy of the minutes or the date of the meeting at which the board (rest of question in answer)

Rest of question: decided that they were not going to take comments or questions from the owners that were at special or general meetings? I do know that at the general meetings members are allowed to make comments, so is it just special meetings that owners are not allowed to voice their opinions or ask questions? John said the board decided a while back that they weren't going to allow comments, but he didn't specify what kinds of meetings and something about one meeting going close to 3 hours.

Answer: Of course we want and encourage comments from the membership. However, prior to 2019, when John and I joined the Board of Directors (BOD), the meetings were notably chaotic and lacked order. In 2019, we adopted Robert's Rules of Order. This decision was aligned with ORS 94.657 (Rules of Order), which mandates that, unless otherwise stated in our Guiding Documents, all Homeowners Associations (HOA) are obligated to adhere to Robert's Rules of Order.

According to these rules, the decision-making authority lies with the board that is elected by the members. As a consequence, homeowners do not inherently have a right to speak during the board meetings. While the chair can choose to allow homeowners to voice their opinions, this is not a guaranteed right. [Click here for interpretation.]

To maintain structure and productivity during our regular meetings, we established that homeowner comments would be permitted after the BOD has worked through the agenda. However, in the context of special meetings like the one in question, where we needed to address an urgent matter, we provided an exception. During this meeting, we allowed members to comment before we had finished the entire agenda. This approach is what was referenced when mentioning the restriction on comments during the primary agenda segment of the meeting.

Questions and answers from a member on SPA regarding CCR vote

Response to comments made by a SPA individual regarding our SPA CCR vote.

I received numerous copies from many SPA members of a question-and-answer piece that one of our members mailed to many of our SPA members. It is a series of Questions and Answers sent to members of SPA regarding our attempt to try and normalize our current documents to meet the requirements of ORS chapter 94 planned developments. We would like to clarify for members what we have determined from their comments.

We researched each of these statements and have provided answers based on Oregon Law and actual minutes and correspondence that specifically address these comments. We have not altered any of this individual’s comments, which are in black, except to remove personal information of this individual. All responses from our research are in red.

Click here for full questions and answers.