October 2015 – Capes News

Proof that the walk up Promontory Lane is totally worth the effort...
Proof that the walk up Promontory Lane is totally worth the effort…

A Letter From the President

Dear Capes Homeowners,

As President of the Capes Homeowners Association’s Board of Directors, a continual concern of mine has been the future availability of good board members. It is, of course, preferable to have a full board whenever possible. I am very happy to report that over the last few months, we have had the good fortune to add several new – and much appreciated – members to our Capes team.

Tim Breaux, elected to the board at the April owner’s meeting, has shown himself to be an excellent member – intelligent, logical, and in possession of a significant level of common sense. At the July board meeting, Mike Sydow (long-time owner, and now a full-time resident) expressed an interest in joining the board to fill a recently vacated position. He submitted the required paperwork and was voted on to the board at the beginning of our September meeting. Mike attended this first meeting having studied the CC&Rs, as well as an HOA educational CD entitled “So Now You’re On the Board” and was quite well-prepared. He definitely contributed to that meeting, and I predict that he will continue to prove himself a valuable asset to the board as well as to the Capes community going forward.

In addition to our new board members, we’ve added Jenny Green to our office staff – which has proven to be a very positive move, with immediate results – and we finally have the right landscaper on board with Ground FX. One other key player who deserves a mention is ARC Chairman, Chuck Stalsberg. Chuck has been an unbelievable help to the Capes, unselfishly filling in wherever needed.

All in all, there is still work to be done, but I am pleased to say that we are definitely headed in the right direction!

Sincerely,

Brian Christopher
President, The Capes Homeowners Association

New Board Member

michaelsydowPlease welcome newly-elected member, Michael Sydow to The Capes Homeowners Association’s Board of Directors. We are all so pleased by his willingness to volunteer, and look forward to his future contributions to our community. Michael is a full time resident here at The Capes, so make sure to say “hi” if you see him around! Michael’s Board Member Biography can be viewed by visiting the Owner’s Only section of this website: https://thecapeshoa.org/owners-only/.  You must be registered and logged in to view – register today, if you haven’t already! (Capes homeowners only, please!)

Brats and Brew

Join us at the Bridge House on Saturday, October 17, 2015 from 4-7 pm for our annual Brats and Brew at The Capes event. We’ll bring the brats (and all the fixings) – you bring a 6-pack of your favorite brew to share. Non-alcoholic beverages will be provided for those who do not wish to imbibe. Lederhosen and drindl are optional, and all yodeling is encouraged. See you then!

The Verdict is in

The Board listened to what homeowners were saying, and voted at their meeting on September 19th to uphold the definition of “family” as stated in “The Capes Rental Policy” dated August 8, 1996. They also agreed that family members fitting this definition that are visiting without the presence of the homeowner will not be required to register with the office. An email went out to all homeowners containing the specifics of this decision on 9/23/2015.

Check Yer Deck!

First, let’s get the legal stuff out of the way: The Capes Homeowners Association (as well as its Board of Directors) is not liable in any way for the maintenance and condition of your elevated decks. That being said, the last thing anyone wants to hear is that a member of our Capes family was hurt (or worse!) because their deck fell down with them on it. Because of the speed at which things seem to dry rot in this climate, the Board would like to strongly urge each and every homeowner in The Capes to check the condition of your deck(s) regularly to ensure that all are in good repair and safe to use.

Calling All Volunteers

Lately we’ve seen a little bit of a slump in homeowner involvement with some of The Capes volunteer committees. Homeowner-run committees like the ARC, Maintenance Committee, Emergency Readiness Committee and the Landscape Committee help to keep HOA dues down by assisting the Board and office with tasks that would otherwise need to be contracted out…but to have the committees, we need to have the volunteers! Check out our HOA Committees page for more information, and contact the office if you’d like to help out!

Clean-Up Success

Our annual fall Clean-Up went pretty well – we lost track of the number of dump runs poor Josh Vance had to make in order to keep up with those huge piles of landscape debris as people around The Capes tidied up their yards. One thing to keep in mind for next year, though – if you are having large trees removed (more than 4 inches in diameter) by a professional tree removal service, it is the responsibility of the professional to dispose of those trees. Large, heavy trees/logs should not be placed in the clean-up piles.

Who Do You Love?

At least once a week we get a call from a homeowner looking for housekeeping recommendations. While it’s easy enough to Google “house cleaning in Tillamook,” the best recommendations are the ones that come from happy clients. If you’ve got a housekeeper or a cleaning service that you absolutely love (and they’re looking for new clients), send us their contact information, and we’ll help spread the word to the community.

Gallery Update

If you haven’t checked out our photo gallery lately, now’s the time! We’ve given it a bit of a face lift, organizing our pictures into albums according to content or event. We welcome user submissions, so if you’ve got photos of past Capes events, beautiful local scenery, or anything at all that’s Capes-related that you’d like to share, feel free to email them to webmaster@thecapeshoa.org.

Contact Information Updates

Please take a moment to update the contact information we have on file for you here at the office, if you haven’t already done so. We can’t communicate news to you – good OR bad – if we have no way to reach you!