bod agenda

i have a resident that has sent a letter stateing 4 items he want's to put on this month's agenda i am with the understanding as president along with the directors we may limit the time on each item since this residet does not speak to me.he has called some members as ststed wanting to know when the meeting will be i would like to know since he put in writeing what he wants to address can he at the day of the meeting add more if the agenda has already been set or do i just wait and start the meeting as planed with his items as he stated....in his letter to the directors i want to be fair yet, i also don;t want to listen to him for the whole meeting , i want to wait and have the agenda @ the meeting to hand out as the members arrive .

The Board President establishes the agenda. Items raised by owners, in writing, or at an open forum, should be added to the "New Business" part of the agenda. I suggest having an owner's forum, prior to the board meeting being called to order. Set a time limit (say 10-15 minutes), based on the number of people present (if there are a lot of owners, limit each speaker to 3 minutes to present their issue, and go around again if there is time and if an owner has additional issues. Once the open forum is over, convene the board meeting. Invite the owners to stay and observe, but they should not be allowed to comment or raise questions or issues during the business portion meeting. (at the same time, board members should not direct comments at the observers). The board meeting is to decide items on the agenda. It's up to the Pres/Chair to control both the board meeting and the owners in attendance. Try announcing the ground rules up front so everyone knows how the meeting will progress, and won't feel like they are being singled out or shut out. Your state may have some specific laws regarding meetings. If you let us know which state you're in, we may be able to find out.

Joe

Joe i live in fl' and thank you it seemes fair that all be heard and issues addressed but must we discuss the things that were on the agenda that night rather than simply saying thank you for you.re input the board will discuess and adress you,re concerns ect,ect then let them know the boards position ?

JOE thanks

When an item is tabled it actually lives through the following meeting, then it dies. It stays on the table until someone moves to bring it up for discussion. Even if the issue is not brought up during the next meeting where it dies, a new motion can be made for the same issue at any later date.

Postpone to a later time in the same meeting, or to another specific date, is another way of doing it.

In addition to what Joseph has suggested, I recommend making a small form. You can male four forms from one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and then cut them into quarters so you have four forms.

Title the card like this:

"Homeowner Comment Card.

Welcome to the Ideal Community Board of Directors meeting. If you plan to address the Board during the Homeowner Forum section of the agenda, please fill out the front and back of this card and submit to the Board President prior to the start of the meeting.

Thank you,

Name_______________________________
Lot #______________________________
Phone Number_______________________
Adress_____________________________

On the back side write:

I am currently: Listed on the agenda: ________________
Not listed on the agenda:_____________

Topic or Question for the Board:__________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

Place the forms in a conspicuous place.

In addition, as the meeting begins ask everyone to fill out a form if they wish to speak on a topic at the meeting. The President will have the forms and can call on each to speak in turn during the homeowner forum phase.

This should save a lot of time.

You will have the form for future reference in case there needs to be follow up on the issue after the meeting, and you'll have the contact information handy for that homeowner.

You'll have a permanent record of comments from homeowners that could be valuable for future reference.

The homeowners should appreciate that the Board is thinking in advance and soliciting their comments in a professional manner.

Bill

Vince:

I think it is a good idea to let members bring things up and speak at meetings. Others have posted the process and appropriate spot. You can certainly limit what they say, but always remember that if it is not addressed one way or the other people will remember that. Homeowners are the reason you have that position, and I think it is important to listen to all ideas from everyone. Just my 2 cents.

Vince:

Glad we could help, you should listen to them, but within reason. If he wants to be a control freak tell him he can run for a board position.

Eveyone has given you great advice and procedure on this issue. I thought I would add how our Board brings the Community Voice into our meetins.
Our Board agenda is set by the President before the meeting with agenda items sent in by Board and community members. New Business is added as able to be accomodated to our time frame and information presented beforehand. (Our Board meetings are generally 2 1/2 to 3 hours long on a Friday evening.)
Our meeting begins with a Community Member introduction and forum in which any member may present to the Board an issue. We do set a time limit, if needed and this is flexible. (What if 50 members showed up and all wanted to speak? A 5-minute time limit would have to be whittled down to 2-minutes or less...so you don't want to state your time limit.) Community member Joe Small presents plans to start a mink farm on his vacant lot. The President thanks him for his detailed plans and lets him know we will add that item to our New Business section of our agenda and we move onto the next Community member. Joe Small is not given the floor to discuss his plans or debate, etc. He simply presents his item during this speaking time.
Community member Jane Grant presents the need to remove a dangerous tree from the common area at the foot of her driveway. The President thanks her for the notification and passes the information to our Grounds & Maintenance Director's report later in the meeting and the Director informs Ms. Grant he will notify her by phone. Ms. Grant leaves the meeting.
We move through the community time fairly quickly but it still allows the members to be heard and added to the agenda where need be. This also allows us to control our agenda. However this only works because we commit to contacting any member who shows up at our monthly Board meeting within a week.

William T; I did not start his thread, but have benefited from it immensely. I thank you, Bill, for this form. I adapted it to our community and situations and used it last night at my first meeting of the HOA since the resignation of our pres, treas, and sec. It was very helpful to let people have a voice and is easier to quantify the complaints, etc. to act on them. Thanks so much to all that have helped.

Brad,

I've been dealing with associations for over 30 years. More often than not, when a control freak gets on the board, the other members begin a long, slow, fade into the background, allowing the dominant personality to take over, rather than become confrontational. The term "Condo Commando" originated from this behavior.

This doesn't always happen, but it requires the presence of a strong, counter-personality to hold the control freak in check. And that person has to remain on the board for as long as the control person does.

I used to encourage people to "get on the board" if they had a problem with the way the association was run. I'm more careful now, as I've seen the damage some of these people can cause. In many of the associations, the good, conscientous board members left, rather than deal with this type of personality.

Joe

i maybe explained when i started this thread i was looking for input and rec'd some great info, yet i see that i maybe did'nt explain the Control Freak in way that i should have this is not the usual [a] personality but, some one that goes out of the way to find fault in every single issue and can,t wait to try and belittle me as well as the rest of the board by contacting them ,In other words he's pooling to see if we can be a board divided , i thank my bod for not only seeing through his scame but the foresight to do what we are here for to serve our neighbors and to insure that the cc-r are observed .....................once again thanks