Mason County Commissioner Sharon Trask, Sheriff Ryan Spurling, and the representatives of 5 other county departments.
The discussion fell into five general topics:
- Management of rental property issues; including short-term rentals, B&B’s, owners with multiple rental properties, and absentee landlords.
- Property Issues; including homeless people camping, squatters taking over abandoned houses, abandoned vehicles, and clean-up of properties that violate HOA rules.
- Permit Issues; including buildings constructed without permits, people living on property without a water supply or septic system or a sewer; clearing activity that leaves debris or creates a hazard.
- Public Safety Issues; including when does the sheriff intervene in neighbor-to- neighbor disputes, and how to deal with abandoned cars, people hanging out in public spaces after hours and noise complaints.
- Policy and Procedure Issues; including collecting HOA dues, property and community clean-up, Health and Safety improvements, public health issues and welfare of children.
Big take-aways were:
- If you have a public safety concern that is not an emergency, call the sheriff’s non-emergency phone number (360-427-7761 or 360-426-4441). They want to know what is happening in your neighborhood. It helps them understand how to allocate resources. Do not hesitate to contact them.
- Public Health is involved with housing issues on many levels from homelessness to improper or unsafe living conditions. A number of HOA’s at the meeting alerted the Health Department to ongoing issues and asked them to investigate.
- The county Assessor provided good information about property tax programs including appraisals and tax reduction programs for property owners.
- Scott Gordon is an HOA member and also the vice-president of the Mason County Humane Society. The Humane Society is a good resource for animal issues.
- The Mason County building department has a good website that has up-to-date permit information. If you are concerned about something being built in your neighborhood, you can check if there is a current permit.
Each HOA is following- up on issues that are important to their neighborhood. The HOA’s were interested in additional meetings in the future and want to meet in Shorecrest. We have tentatively agreed to meet again in early Spring.