Forming a committee

So far so good with this new board. Touch wood.

They have been very aggressive, in a positive way, to turn our property around, make it safe, and be transparent.

We have structural issues on some of our limited common areas that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

Since this is a big deal, we created an ad hoc committee to move full steam ahead.

This is just a formality question on creating committees:

When creating a committee, does someone formally motion to create the committee, and then a vote, or is a motion not needed?

It came up in our board meeting, and someone said we don't have to motion to create a committee, and she is well read.

We motioned on it anyway, just to cover our bases.

Since we will need to create a few more committees in order to improve our association, what is the formal way of doing so?

Tennessee condos

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Bylaws below:
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Specifically included in the foregoing general powers of the Board of Directors
are the following powers and duties, which are listed by way of enumeration
and not by limitation:

(8) To appoint committees of the Board and to delegate to such
committees the Board's authority to carry out certain duties of the Board
of Directors;

I agree.

While I disagree they are a losing proposition, because if managed correctly they can be very helpful, the last part deserves emphasis. If it is not explained to them very plainly from the start that they have no official power and that their advise may or not be accepted, they can easily start to think they are in charge of things.

Because I'm the only resident board member in a growing community with all kinds of growing pains, it has been invaluable to have committees to take a lot of the busy work off of my hands. But absolutely they can get VERY offended as soon as you don't take their advice on something.

What is the involvement of the Architectural Committee or the Maintenance committee with your concerns?

I agree with others on the importance of managing your committees.

In addition to choosing members wisely and making sure they understand that they are not board members and serve at the pleasure of the board, the board should create some version of a charter for that committee. For example: "Committee X was formed for this purpose, here is the list of tasks they will perform, here is the desired end point (time-wise and results-wise), and written minutes and reports to the board will presented at board meetings."

My bylaws require at least one board member to sit on any committee, although the board member doesn't necessarily need to be a voting member of the committee.

(Like some others, our committees were more trouble than they were worth: most of them got nothing done, didn't stay in their lanes, and created more work for the board. The one successful one (Nominating committee) is required by our bylaws - and at our lawyer's suggestion, the three board members make up the committee unless they're planning to run for re-election, in which case they step down and pull in homeowners as needed. It's basically jumping through hoops...)

All very good advise. Thank you! And it seems that so far all are leaning towards that a motion should be made to create a committee.

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As for the structural issues. Most definably this is for professionals and not for a committee.
Before being on the board, I have been classed as a 'difficult owner' or even an "ankle biter" on this forum in stressing that there are major structural safety issues in our condominium that need to be addressed by a structural engineer.

It took a year and a half, but finally a structural engineer was paid for by the Association. And yes, unfortunately, there are major issues, some limited common areas need to be closed, and we don't have the reserve funds to tackle all the repairs.

The new committee is mostly to address communication to the owners regarding this major issue, and to engage in raising revenue. But we have a professional structural engineer reporting to the Board.

The comments that committees are losing proposition are most unfortunate. Our Association has had well-functioning committees for 25 years. The committee members are residential volunteers who have an interest to serve and assist the Board. We have the following committees:

Welcome committee
Landscape committee
Architectural committee
Maintenance committee
Social committee
Care and Concern committee
Nominating committee
Light committee
Association garden committee

Hopefully, soon we will have an Association website committee.