Board meeting attendance and interval

We don't have set dates for Board meetings for the exact reason you specify. Scheduling conflicts.

Instead, at the board meeting we will schedule our next three meetings (everyone looking at their calendars).
At the following meeting, we review that schedule and make adjustments as necessary.

We also don't have a set number of meetings.
We base the number of meetings on the amount of work that has to be done.

Our bylaws do specify we meet at least quarterly.

three years ago we met 17 times.
Two years ago we met 11 times.
This year we met 10 times.
Next year, who knows how many times we will meet.

Billy, your Bylaws (and perhaps state law) should spell out what kind of notice you have to give the members and whether or not an agenda is also required to be sent out. We have about 8 board meetings a year, sometimes one more, sometimes one less, depending on what business needs to get done. By law, notice of board meetings in FL needs to be given - several differnt ways to do it - at least 48 hours in advance. We usually post notice conspicuously in the community 7 days in advance.

[Except for right now since FL is under a state of emergency due to the hurricane. That will probably last another few weeks, although the board hasn't felt the need for any special meetings.]

No.

We publish them in a newsletter that is delivered to each door and post them on the Associations website.

We don't have a clubhouse, or a sign board to 'post' anything on. We could use a yard sign I suppose.

We don't have a newsletter any more either. It sounds like a nice thing to do of course, but it takes a lot of time to put together, it's not required per bylaws, and we just couldn't keep doing it.

Our bylaws require
1) providing a list of the year's board meeting dates and locations at the annual.
or
2) providing notice and agenda between 10 and 60 days before each meeting.

I would much prefer #1. It seems like less unpaid work, and less likely to attract trouble. But it requires the board members to value their HOA commitment above other commitments. That's what I would like to work towards.

That is correct. I know its legal with as little as 3. I feel like its more responsible however to have everyone there.

How many homes are in your HOA, Billy? Do you have a property manager? Do you have many amenities, e.g., pool, tot lots, walking trials, etc.?

Asnwes might hop us understand whether you need monthly board meetings? I'm also a little confused about the r equipped notice period. Are you sure the 60 days isn't for Members (Owners) Meetings?

another topic:
- what the builder broke now / what they're doing or not doing and why aren't they doing it.

I'm an HOA President in Kansas. Our bylaws ( in compliance with applicable state laws) require the board to advise the homeowners within he HOA of any meeting a minimum of 10 days prior to any meeting. Currently, we post a large banner at the entrances to our neighborhood. We have established a new website for our HOA. Currently, we have all of the documents loaded, and are in the process of getting the calendar and newsletter loaded with applicable data. This website will be the primary means of communication. I hesitate to use mailings, simply because its a cost we shouldn't have to pay for, when we have all of the information on the web site. Granted, there are many older neighbors within our HOA who might not use email/web pages. I have yet to verify this though.

Our board meetings are usually held 5-7 days prior to any actual HOA meeting. This is usually our opportunity to go over what will be discussed during the actual HOA meeting, in order to validate the agenda, as well as help keeping the meeting to an hour, as best as we can. Again, the biggest issue I hear is a lack of communication amongst HOAs. The board is comprised of volunteers who, should be involved because they are concerned for the well being of the HOA, not to advance a personal agenda. If this is the case, being on the board is NOT the place for them to be!

I agree you potentially have too many chiefs (a.k.a. Board Members). My last HOA was 40 units and we had three BOD members. My new HOA is smaller with same number. Potentially if you have too many chiefs in a small HOA everyone gets tired of serving because more have to potentially serve longer ... in a small HOA this leads to apathy.

Here’s one person’s opinion on your questions and concerns (much of what’s already been said is good)

If people keep on bailing out when board meetings are scheduled, it’s time for a come to Jesus meeting. They need to understand that THEY volunteered for the board and therefore they must make the time to do the job. Except for February, there are at least 30 days to work with, so if the 4th Thursday is no longer convenient, select another date.
There will never be a time that works 100% for everyone 100% of the time, so do the best you can. Once that date is set, that’s the date – tell the other board members they need to clear their schedules accordingly and if they can’t they need to reconsider if they really want the job - everytime you have to cancel a meeting for lack of quorum means more work at the next one. Sooner or later, that will catch up and you'll end up with a mess.

A quarterly meeting is fine – in fact, it may be helpful to establish a calendar listing the quarterly meetings and annual meeting and send that to everyone once a year. You might also consider setting up a website – it doesn’t have to be fancy, but someone needs to update it from time to time and if you have quarterly meetings anyway, you can do that once a year and be done with it. If you and/or your colleagues don’t have time to do it, hire someone and negotiate a fee – maybe find a responsible student who will do it for a little money and class credit (make sure you look at what’s to be posted before it goes up)

Since people can and do forget, it may be helpful to send an email blast a week before the meeting reminding everyone quarterly meetings and the annual meeting are approaching – when the agenda is set, put it in the message.
Regarding the agenda, you can set up a basic format once and then tailor it to add specific subjects. Give your colleagues a deadline if they want to add specific topics – after the deadline, set your agenda and don’t add anything else until the next meeting.

Our association has monthly board meetings – can’t remember if that’s mandated in our Bylaws, but in my opinion the larger the community and the more stuff the Association is responsible, the more important it becomes to meet at least monthly. However, a well-organized board may be able to get away with every other month or even quarterly meetings, especially if you have a property manager to handle day to day stuff. If you don’t have a lot in the way of common area, you may not need a property manager – it’s a matter of deciding what has to be done and then determining who will do it.

A five-member board for a 37 home community doesn’t seem excessive to me – again it’s not so much about the size as it is the willingness of the board members to do the job. You said the association is responsible for mowing, fertilizing and trash pickup – negotiate those contracts once a year and let the contractors do their job, addressing issues as they come up. You didn’t say what it takes to maintain the monuments, but could you get away with an annual inspection and deal with repairs as they arise? I would think that doesn’t have to be discussed at every meeting.

Janet, you have strayed far off topic to this thread. See subject.