Delayed vote

We held our HOA meeting back in Jan. Via the use of proxies a quorum was met. At the meeting a motion was made by a HO to ban fireworks in our community (there is no FW ban by local government). There were multiple loud seconds to the motion and discussion followed with strong emotional opinions on both sides of the issue. Included was a board members spouse who stated that he would do fireworks even if we voted to ban them.

The Pres decided that more owners needed to be aware of the decision and able to be included in the vote. She declared that the vote would be postponed. Well, here it is March 9th and there has been no follow-up with many HO’s not even aware of the issue. I emailed the Pres for an update but no reply; calls not taken. Yesterday I learned she resigned (has nothing to do with this issue).

It makes no sense to wait until near (or after) July 4th. What is the best route to take here in attempt to resolve this? What is the correct procedure?

Was the motion ever stated? ("I move that . . ." )

If so, then the motion needs some kind of closure - either voted on or withdrawn. It must be brought up at the next (SAME category) meeting for some kind of resolution.

If not, then it is not 'activated"

Was this done at a board meeting or the annual meeting?

Donald,
What part of SC are in from? SC has very funny laws about Fireworks, in Beaufort County, you can buy them, but you can't set them off. Beaufort County has a County Law against setting off all fire works. I would look at county Law first. I would check with Local Fire Department and see if there are any fire department restrictions. If you are a POA or HOA, I don't see any reason you can't write a local association rule with specified fines, done all the time, for instance, we can be fined for feeding alligators or deer. We have lots of local restrictions, both inside and outside HOA in SC.

I would caution that you (as the sole member or if you operate with less than a quorum of Board members) do not try and past any restrictions like this or any other kind. Unless you have the full power (majority) of the Board as set by your By-laws, just concentrate on keeping your head above water until you get full authority.

One important area you apparently need to address is re-defining your relationship with your PM. If you are going to be the Boss (as spelled out in your documents (the Board), then be the boss at the start and inform this PM she does not run the show, the Board does.
Do it now or you will be in trouble.

Robert,

I’m in Horry County (the “H” is silent!) and as our locale is not incorporated, Horry County is our local law enforcement. Setting off fireworks is allowed. Agreed that we need a populated board before proceeding on this issue.

I agree with your ending also and if I end up as Pres, one of my first actions will be to sit down with the MC and establish an understanding. Their guidance is needed and is good but they are an employee of our HOA.

Donald,

Considering the fact that a special meeting may be in impossible feat, unless your bylaws explicitly prohibit balloting by mail, I would think this would be the best way to go. Of course, if this a hot topic issue, the members might prefer to have a meeting to discuss it. Once the new board is seated, perhaps it might be a good idea to do a survey of the members to see what their feelings are. Actually you might want to include some other items on a survey just to get a feel of the community. As for the PM: even though she might do a good job and be considered a valuable asset to the operation of the assn, she needs to be aware that the BOD is her boss not the opposite. Other boards in the past have probably let her get away with dictating to them so you will have to let her know that isn't going to happen any more. Good managers may be hard to find, but she's not the only one out there!!

Whoa . . . wait a minute.

A motion deserves its "debate" time. When is that going to be allowed, other than at a live meeting? Sometimes debate changes voter's mind. You must consider that. There also may be amendments added to the motion, you must allow for that. Or the motion may even be withdrawn.

You must send a Notice of Meeting to vote on (word the motion in the notice)
Enclose the ballot, if your bylaws say you can conduct written ballots.

You must hold the LIVE meeting and go thru all the steps of the motion and vote. Count your ballot and live votes using a Teller, who will give the results to the President to announce.

The motion was presented at a Members meeting. It has to be voted on at the SAME kind of meeting, Member's meeting, not a Board meeting. A Special Meeting of the Members needs to be called.

Susan and Michele,

Good point; I did not look at it that way. That gives me pause ... . The maker of a motion, if seconded, certainly deserves a culmination of his/her motion. And, Susan, much debate did take place after the motion was seconded.

In order to follow through on what you suggest, however, we would have to send out another meeting notice with a proxy request included and rent a meeting room. If it goes like the last three annual meetings have, the meeting will then be aborted, due to a lack of a quorum, and we will have to set up a second attempt (with a lower number required for a quorum IAW our CC&R’s) with similar notices sent out with proxy requests (with stamped envelope for return) and renting a meeting room again. That sure is a lot of effort and expense in response to a motion made by a HO (including a motion that might rather easily be voted down).

Short of a change to our CC&R’s to address this matter, wouldn’t this then have to be repeated for any motion made by any HO at any annual HOA meeting? That’s not very efficient and the member making the motion (in January) probably expects that a ban of fireworks, if passed, would go into affect prior to this July 4, 2009. Do your CC&R's address this issue?