@Wirihana said:
Yes Jimmy, it is a large scheme and I am unable to find anything in the legislation that only permits proxies to be presented to the original meeting and not to the adjourned meeting.
I think we need look no further than the official proxy form – which must be used for proxies – which defines the proxy to be issued “for the purposes of meetings of the owners corporation (including adjournments of meetings).”
In a footnote at the bottom, the form says: “This form is ineffective unless it … is given to the secretary of the owners corporation at least 24 hours before the first meeting in relation to which it is to operate (in the case of a large strata scheme).” The bold emphasis is mine in both case.
I’m no lawyer but I would take those two statements to mean that proxy votes for an adjourned meeting have to be valid for the original meeting.
The reason I thought that the meeting could be declared invalid was because it was not called by a formally convened executive committee meeting. I understood this to be necessary and a function that cannot be delegated to the strata manager (Mgt Act Schedule 2 31 (2)).
Schedule 2, 31, (2) says this: “A general meeting of an owners corporation … which is not an annual general meeting, may be convened by the executive committee at any time.”
I don’t see anything in that clause that precludes a strata manager from calling a general meeting if they have delegated powers (as most do). All it says is that an EC can call a meeting any time it likes. In fact, if owners holding 25 percent of the votes ask for a meeting, in the absence of the secretary, any member of the EC can call the meeting.
For further clarification, I’m indebted to our friends at Strataman whose excellent website says this about Extraordinary General Meetings (any general meetings that aren’t AGMs):
EGM’s are held:
when a special matter (that cannot wait until the next AGM) needs to be considered – such as to authorise major works, raise a special levy, change by-laws, appoint a Strata Manager, etc
when a request for an EGM is received by the Executive Committee (EC) from one or more persons eligible to vote and having a unit entitlement value of at least 1/4 of the total unit entitlement for the scheme
when there is a majority vote of the Executive Committee for the holding of an EGM
How to convene an EGM
EGM’s are convened by the secretary of the Owners Corporation (OC) or the Strata Manager … forwarding a notice of meeting to all owners, first mortgagees and covenant chargees, as shown on the strata roll.