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Thanks everyone for the input. The concerns that I have with ‘General Business’ listed as an agenda item is that our EC have actually approved motions under General Business that were not specified on the Agenda. E,G. at one EC meeting a committee member asked the Secretary if she could make alterations to her fence. The secretary gave her the ‘nod and wink’ and the owner made alterations to the fence. The owner of the other side of the fence was not happy with the alterations since they were not in line with the rest of the complex and her fence bordered 4 other properties plus common property hence one part of her fence now looks different to the rest of the fence because of the alterations made by this owner. When the disgruntled owner questioned why this was approved without any consultation or minuted in the EC Meeting minutes she was told “General Business does not have to be recorded”. This is obviously inaccurate but my concerns are that something was approved by a ‘nod and a wink’, there was nothing on the Agenda or Minutes to say it had been discussed and the owner who is stuck with one part of her fence looking out of place is having to fight this and is being told it was “approved by the Committee under General Business and doesn’t have to be recorded”.
This is the example I provided at the Training Course and the Facilitator stated General Business should be avoided as an Agenda item for this reason – it is too vague and since General Business is generally listed as the last item on the Agenda anything discussed cannot be approved since it has not been specifically listed. The facilitator said it would have been better for the Committee Member to send a request for the alteration to the Secretary. The Secretary should have listed this as an Agenda Item and if approved then minuted as having been approved and any conditions applicable.
The last EC meeting had 5 items discussed and approved under “General Business” and I have major concerns about the transparency of this.