The board of the Midway Woods Association proposed a set of changes to our group’s bylaws, intended to make it easier to schedule and hold elections as well as to clean up some of the language of the previous version of the bylaws that proved confusing.
The proposed changes were put up to a vote by the membership, conducted from July 25 through August 5, 2019.
The changes received 18 “Yes” votes and two “no” votes, and so passed. The association’s bylaws have been updated to reflect these changes.
The primary changes to the bylaws are as follows:
SECTION 2.04 MEMBERSHIP FEES
Instead of membership fees being due on September 30th each year, the wording was changed to state that those dues would be due by the date of the annual meeting each year. Wording was changed regarding the annual fee waiver to indicate that such a waiver is available on request.
“An annual fee for membership is $20 per person due by the annual meeting. Membership is for one year, to be renewed if eligible, and must be renewed each year by the annual meeting. The membership fee is prorated quarterly for new members (September through November – $20, December through February – $15, March through May $10, June through August – $5). A waiver of the annual fee is available upon request.”
SECTION 2.05 VOTING RIGHTS
Wording was revised to clarify that proxy, absentee and early voting is not permitted.
“Each member of the Association shall be entitled to one vote. Members vote to elect the Board of Directors and any business brought by the board for approval. To be eligible to vote, individuals must apply for membership 14 days prior to an election or vote. No proxy, absentee, or early voting is permitted.”
The following paragraph was added to allow us to conduct voting electronically as well as in-person:
“Voting can occur electronically and/or in-person at a meeting designated for that purpose, as determined by the board and communicated to members. The time frame during which voting will remain open will be stated in correspondence to members. All ballots remain uncounted until they are tallied.”
SECTION 2.09 SPECIAL MEETING CALLED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Wording was revised to change the notice of special meetings from 30 days to 15 days. The phrase “other electronic means” was also added to the ways in which members may be notified of a special meeting.
“A special meeting of the members may be called by the Board of Directors. Notice of special meetings called by the board shall be given at least fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting in person, by mail, telephone, written notice, or e-mail, or other electronic means utilizing the most current directory, to all members entitled to vote at such meetings. Business conducted at such special meetings shall be confined to the matters specified in the notice.”
SECTION 2.11 NOTICE OF ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE MEMBERS
Wording was revised to change the notification of meetings from 30 to 15 days
“Members shall be notified by the Board of the date, time and place of meetings no fewer than 15 days and no more than 60 days before the meeting date. Notice may be given by means of electronic communication unless the member has elected not to receive electronic communications, in which case notice will be delivered by written notice. The notice shall include a description of the matter or matters for which the meeting is called and a description of any matter or matters that must be approved by the members.”
6.04 DISBURSEMENTS AND REIMBURSEMENTS
Wording was revised in section 4 to indicate that receipts can be presented to the treasurer within 60 days for reimbursement, rather than 30 days.
“1. The Association shall be authorized to incur and pay the normal operating expenses of the Association.”
“2. All disbursements shall be made by check or electronic transfer signed by the Treasurer or President of the Association or in cash for amounts not exceeding $100.00. No money exceeding $100.00 shall be paid or transferred from the Treasury of the Association, except as provided in this article for budgeted and regularly scheduled items. All expenditures exceeding $100.00 require authorization by a majority vote of the Board of Directors. Proposals must be submitted in writing and contain a detailed description of the expenditure and any supporting documentation. Approved disbursements in excess of $100.00 must be signed by the Treasurer and President.”
“3. Association funds will not be dispersed without documentation in the form of a bill, invoice or receipt.”
“4. Any member who advances money for the benefit of the Association may be entitled to reimbursement upon presentation of receipts for the expenditure to the Treasurer within sixty (60) days from the date of transaction. If receipts cannot be presented when requesting reimbursement, or receipts are submitted outside of the reimbursement period, then the Treasurer shall present the claim to the Board of Directors who shall by majority vote determine whether to pay or deny the claim.
The complete bylaws can be found here:
We want to thank all of the members who took the time to read through the bylaws and recommended changs and votes on them, and for everyone for being involved our neighborhood.