The association has heard back from the city that they are willing to offer the same agreement entered with Forster Woods regarding the trees and sidewalks. Our association attorney is in the process of drafting similar language and we hope to have action from the city so that we may begin to build a plan moving forward. Please note, this only covers liability, but is a critical first step for resolution of this issue. The association will be sharing more details at the annual homeowner meeting on November 4th. Please see your mail or Nextdoor for the meeting invitation details. Be sure to return your proxy ballot if you cannot attend in person.

The Forster Woods Homeowner's Association won their recent judgement against the City of North Bend. A court has ruled that the city may not remove the contracts previously signed when the ownership agreements were implemented. While this is great news for the liability in case of injury from a sidewalk, it does not require the city to fix the sidewalks within any set time frame. However, this is a great step forward for making progress in Si View. 

At the recommendation from the association's lawyer, we have drafted a letter to the city to ask for a similar admission that our contracts are still valid. The goal of the letter is to have the city follow suit in the judgement previously rendered by the court for Forster Woods and avoid the time and cost of  additional lawsuits. At this time the letter has been drafted and has been sent to the city along with copies of the original agreements for each of our divisions.

Si View HOA board members attended the North Bend City Council meeting to address concerns around elements of language being moved from City regulations around sidewalks and homeowner responsibility. Our association was joined by the board from Forster Woods, who also shared our concerns. The issue was with language around "repairing" sidewalks rather than keeping them clear. At the time, the Forster Woods Association had pursued legal action with the City regarding the ownership and maintenance of their sidewalks. Our association is following their case closely as it affects the direction we would possibly take based on the outcome. Many board members from both HOAs spoke during the open comments and we felt our concerns were heard. The language around the update to city code was sent to be taken back to committee for re-evaluation.

When the neighborhood was built in the late 1990s, the city of North Bend provided a specific set of rules for neighborhood streets and sidewalk specifications which included the type and amount of trees to be planted in the sidewalk areas. In order for the city to take over maintenance from the builders, these specifications were to be followed or the association would be required to maintain it's own common areas. After the completion of each sub-division in the neighborhood, an agreement was signed with the city transferring ownership of the streets and sidewalks of the division to the city of North Bend for $1. These agreements clearly state the city is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the streets, sidewalks, and trees which were built according to the city specifications at the time.

For many years, the city has done it's job of maintaining issues with the sidewalks where damage has occurred. Unfortunately, in the most recent several years the trees have grown very large due to lack of maintenance and the root systems have been pushing up the sidewalks in many places in the neighborhood. The city did attempt a small temporary fix with asphalt shims in order to help smooth out some of the worst areas, but this temporary fix has outlived it's usefulness.

Recently the city has tried to argue against the ownership of the sidewalks, stating it is the responsibility of our association to maintain them. This is directly against the agreement signed by the city. Another neighborhood in our area has a similar issue with the city.

At this time, the board is persuing legal recourse with the agreements to find out a best possible course of action to A) determine responsibility of the liability and B) settle ownership so that some kind of repairs can be made going forward.