Sun City Anthem eMail Bulletin - Board Update June 15, 2007
Starting with this week’s update, one Weekly Update each month will consist of responses to members’ questions and comments to the board. These responses will also be posted on the www.SCA-HOA.org web site under a new category called Recently Asked Questions (RAQ).
Q. Why are there handicapped parking spots by the tennis courts and not enough by Anthem Center?
A. If you noticed the work two weeks ago, we moved 3 of the 4 handicapped parking spots from the tennis court area to the main lot near Hanneman Hall. If the proper channels are utilized, Bruno Panek can get things done very quickly.
Q. Several residents have said that the April 26 Board Meeting was illegal because the agenda wasn’t out 10 days in advance. Was the meeting legal or illegal and why?
A. The April 26 Board Meeting was valid under both NRS116 and our by-laws.
NRS116.3106 Bylaws.
1) The bylaws of the association must provide:
(f) procedural rules for conducting meetings of the association
SCA By-laws Article III: Board of Directors: Number, Power, Meetings
B. Board Meetings
3.10: Notice; Waiver of Notice
(b) the transactions of any board meeting, however called and noticed or wherever held, shall be as valid as those taken at a meeting duly held after regular call and notice if (i) a quorum is present, and (ii) either before or after the meeting each of the directors not present signs a written waiver of notice, a consent to hold the meeting or an approval of the minutes.
The transactions of the April 26 Board Meeting were valid because (i) a quorum of the board was present and (ii) there were no directors absent.
Q. How much opportunity will residents have to address items on the Board Agenda before the Board votes on the item?
A. Residents will have 2 hours with the board at the town hall meeting a week before the Board Meeting, 30 minutes to address the board at the beginning of the board book review workshop on the Tuesday preceding the Board Meeting, and 30 minutes to address the board at the beginning of the regular Board Meeting. We will attempt to get the Board Meeting Agenda published before the Town Meeting. For those Town Meetings held in the evening, this should not be a problem. For the Town Meetings at 10:00 AM, the Agenda will likely be a draft and subject to revision.
Q. How does a resident get a copy of the resolutions the Board will consider during a Board Meeting?
A. Resolutions and other information about issues on the Board Agenda are always available starting Monday the week of the Board Meeting. Come into the membership office and ask for the “Board Book.” We are also exploring other avenues to make this information available to the membership.
Q. I have requested the opportunity to review some of our documents. Why does it take so long to make them available to me?
A. Unfortunately, we have never had a responsive document management system or any storage systems to make the documents available. As a matter of fact most of our documents are in boxes in storage. At this time Board Member Elaine Berg is heading up a team of resident volunteers to organize and catalog our documents so they can be made more readily available. Because of the magnitude of the effort it will take several months to complete it. We will keep you updated on the progress of this project.
Q. Why do we spray pesticides in the exercise rooms? Some are allergic to them.
A. With the pest control, maintenance has stopped spraying during business hours and has a swing supervisor stay late on OT, so any chemicals should be settled by the time people are using the facilities. However, they do have to spray in all rooms due to the ants, water bugs, and field mice that they get in those rooms.
Q. What’s happening with Rec Center 3?
A. At this point Pulte is waiting for the City of Henderson to make the building permits available. An article in Spirit Magazine in June says that construction will begin in the fall. According to the current schedule, construction will take about nine months to complete.
Q. When will the last house be sold? When will the design center be demolished?
A. Pulte says that there are fewer than 200 homes left to sell, and they are selling at a rate of 30-50 per month. This suggests that the last home will be sold within 6 months. The design center will be demolished when there are fewer than 50 homes left to sell. The remainder of the sales will be done in a model home.
Q. Would you clarify your remarks about meetings made last week? Particularly, what constitutes a Board Meeting?
A. As a result of several e-mails and phone calls I received in response to my Board Update on meeting requirements, I would like to clarify a few of my comments. I am sending an e-mail bulletin rather than sending individual e-mail responses because I believe this information should be shared to the entire community and not just those individuals who asked for clarification.
My statements on meetings are not my policies, nor those of Mr. Allit, Mr. Leach, RMI, or other board members. Nor are these my interpretation of the law that governs Common Interest Communities. Nevada Revised Statute Chapter 116: Common-Interest Ownership (Uniform Act) is the law and we must all respect and follow them. My statements were a summary of the interpretations of Mr. Allit and Mr. Leach. I initially contacted Mr. Allit and Mr. Leach because they are far more knowledgeable than I am on the legislature’s intent in creating NRS116. They are familiar with its implementation by the boards of other common interest communities, and, perhaps most important, they are aware of which interpretations are “defensible” and which are not. Where their interpretation differed, for example, one thought no notice or agenda was required for meetings of the board if no action would be taken, such as a workshop, while the other thought a notice and agenda are required but that the agenda could simply say “Discussion of (topic),” I elected to adopt the latter, more restrictive requirement so that you would know when board members were meeting on topics of interest to you and you could make plans to attend, speak to the board on the topic, and listen to their discussion.
According to both Mr. Allit and Mr. Leach, NRS116 is open to interpretation by Association Boards because the legislature can’t anticipate every situation to which the law would apply. Instead, the authors of NRS116 intended to provide a framework for meetings to allow members to comment on business before the board acts on it while enabling the board to conduct association business without interruption. For this reason, NRS116.31085 specifies that except for executive session, “a unit’s owner may attend any meeting of the units’ owners or of the executive board and speak at any meeting”, requiring that the period “devoted to comments by the units’ owners and discussion of those comments must be scheduled at the beginning of every meeting”, and further giving the board the authority to “establish reasonable limitations on the time a unit’s owner may speak at such a meeting.” This enables members to comment on any topic, including agenda items, before the board discusses or takes action on it, while allowing the board to openly discuss and take action on the item without interruption. My intent in asking that you not use the member comment period to criticize or complain about other members was to emphasize that all speakers will be expected to comply with our Member’s Code of Conduct and refrain from verbally abusing or harassing other members.
In the past, most discussion of an agenda item by the board took place prior to the Board Meeting, often via phone calls or e-mail, and not in an open Board Meeting. My intent in clarifying that all meetings of the board in which a quorum (four or more members) participates must be noticed, etc. was to convey that these “virtual” meetings would no longer occur, and that all board discussion and action on association matters, other than that reserved for executive session, would be in an open forum. In fact, under NRS116, if four of us attend the same Club event, we cannot participate in any discussion of association business on which the board might later take action. If four of us run into each other at Albertson’s, we can’t talk about association business unless we “noticed” it 10 days earlier. Similarly, while several residents suggested the board hold an off-site retreat, we can’t do it without inviting all of you to join us.
In summary, all meetings and discussions, formal or informal, of 4 or more board members, except executive sessions, will be duly noticed, agenda posted, and open to members, who will be allowed to speak to the board on any topic during the member comment period at the beginning of every open meeting.