2012 Asphalt Seal Coat Project

An asphalt seal coat project was completed near the west ends of Buildings I and J, and near the south side of Building I.

This completed work on a section of the property plat that was begun by Easthill Apartments in July of 2011.  At that time, Easthill Apartments completed an asphalt seal coat project on their parking stalls, but no work was done on the nearby Kenthill Townhomes parking stalls (near Buildings I and J).

Local Improvement District (LID) Project progress

City of Kent activity related to the SE 256th Street LID Project continues to be observed.

These photographs show marking stakes that were inserted into the ground along the southern side of Kenthill Townhomes Building A.

The stake may be seen by viewing the very center of each photograph.

More on the Local Improvement District (LID)

Go to the city of Kent website.
http://www.ci.kent.wa.us/default.aspx
Mouse over to, "City Hall"
Mouse down to, "City Council"
Scoll down to "Meeting Schedule and Agendas"
Click on, "View meeting schedule . . . "
Scroll down to Upcoming Meetings, August 7, 2012.
Click on, "Agenda Packet".
The City of Kent Agenda packet opens in a pdf file using Adobe.  At the top of the screen, under the word, "Window", there is a number. Scroll down until you get to "page" 130. Doing so will take you to the following:
256th Street Improvements Appraisal Preparation
Agreement – Authorize
It certainly does seem like the City Of Kent is moving forward with this LID Project.

Building M water valve replaced

The water valve at Building M was replaced.

Building E water valve replaced

The water valve at Builing E was replaced.

Water to be turned off

On July 25, 2012 the City of Kent will be turning off the main water shut off at Kenthill Townhomes and Easthill Apartments starting at 9:00 A.M.  Kenthill has a valve replacement project – whereas the water must be turned off to complete this project.  The property will be without water until the repair has been completed on that day.  Please make sure you turn off your water heater electrical supply located in the electrical breaker box. This is to prevent your water heater from any damage.

Not very smart

Just when I thought I’d seen everything.
Today, I was doing some work near Buildings C, D, and E.  I went out to the dumpster and looked down and I noticed something that had not been there before.  It was a cardboard box.  But as I looked closer, I notice that the cardboard box had fireplace ashes in it.

I thought, “How dumb do you got to be.  Nobody could be that stupid.  That ash must be old ash.  No one could be so crazy as to place embers and ashes from a recent fire that was in their fireplace into a cardboard box, and then set it on the ground near the dumpster”.

But sure enough, as I had another look, the box was smoking and smoldering.  So I grabbed the edge of the box.  I pulled it along the ground and then stopped.  As soon as I stopped, the box caught fire.

Soon it was completely engulfed in flames, some reaching two feet high.

In a little over a minute, it was completely reduced to ashes.

2012 Wood siding repairs, part three

This is a picture of the wood siding repairs occurring at Building B (south end).

2012 Wood siding repairs, part two

This is a picture of the wood siding repairs occurring at Building Q (north end), and at Building J (west end).

2012 Wood siding repairs, part one

This is a picture of the wood siding repairs occurring at Building N (east end and west end).

LID information (continued)

The paperwork that the City of Kent sent to all homeowners states, “The City received a $2 million grant from the Transportation Improvement Board to apply towards the estimated project cost of $7 million.” So I thought that it logically followed that the remaining $5 million would come from the homeowners. There is nothing in the paperwork to imply otherwise.

Only if you attended the meeting would you know otherwise. View the second photo in the posted dated May 11, 2012 (below).

I telephoned the engineer from the City of Kent. I left a message on his voicemail. I asked, “I own a condo at Kenthill Townhomes. I received a notice from the City of Kent regarding the proposed LID. It states that the assessed amount for my condo would be approximately $2,400. Now is that $2,400 every year for 15 years, or is that $2,400 divided up by fifteen years?”

He telephoned me back and left a message on my voicemail. He said, “The assessed amount is the total for that property. A homeowner may choose to pay it all at once, or may choose to spread it out in yearly payments over the fifteen years.”

2012 Proposed Local Improvement District [LID]

I sure everyone received their notice from the City of Kent by now regarding the proposed Local Improvement District (LID) and have read the additional letter from the City of Kent, notifying the homeowner how much of an assessment will be assigned their Unit. The notice also included an invitation to attend an informational meeting so that those affected by the LID could learn more about it and so that they could ask questions.

The meeting was held Wednesday evening at Kent Meridian High School on May 9th from 5:30 to 7:30PM in the gym. I arrived at 6:15. There were about fifteen people there, and about that amount came in and left during the 45 minutes I remained. I walked around and viewed the displays that were mounted on tripods.

2012 Roof installations continue (part two)

This is a picture of the roof installation which occurred at Building B this week.

Bird problems

Woodpecker and starling bird intrusions have occurred.  Repairs are ongoing and will be categorized under the Wood Siding Repair Project.

2012 Roof installations continue

 

This is a picture of the roof installation which occurred at Building A this week.

Significantly raised cost of water

Pre-arraigned agreements govern the division of various for Easthill Apartments and Kenthill Townhomes. Generally speaking, Easthill pays 60% and Kenthill Townhomes pays 40% of all shared invoices, under the Joint Access and Easement Agreement of 1976, signed by both Kenthill Townhomes and Easthill Apartments.

In 2012, The City of Kent significantly raised the cost for water and sewer to all citizens.

The Association has received the 2010 Kenthill Townhomes Audit from the Certified Public Accountant for Kenthill Townhomes (the 2011 Audit is still being worked on).

The audit states that, for the year ending 2010, water and sewer costs totaled $60,577.

Remember, that number reflects what we, Kenthill Townhomes, actually paid in 2010, for water and sewer.

The audit contains 20 line items expenses. No other line item expense even comes close.

[Delinquencies are another matter].

There is a great deal of information on the topic of water and saving money on this blog. As a beginning, homeowners may wish to view the right hand side of the blog, under, "Blog Archive".  Go down to 2005, go down to July, go down to the series entitled, "Investigating cost savings", reading parts one, two, and three.

2012 Annual Meeting

The 2012 Kenthill Townhomes Annual Meeting was held on March 26th at 7:00PM in the Cabana. The turnout was good. [According to Washington State law, and our Declarations & Bylaws, a minimum of 25% of the owners must attend, either in person, or by proxy]. A lot of topics were covered, a considerable amount of frustration was expressed, some anger was conveyed; many misunderstandings were cleared up, a lot of insight was given; apologies were offered; apologies were accepted. All in all, it was good meeting.

2012 Weather damage

Some pictures of the recent weather damage:

2011 Dry rot repairs continue (more)

This is a picture of the dry rot repairs which occurred at Unit P-5.

Utility work being done

Utility work [telephone line (Quest), cable television (Century Link), internet, water pipe line (Pacific Utilities), etc.] is being done near the southwest corner of our property plat (near 256th Street SE).