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Our EC has called an EGM of the Owners Corporation to change the Strata Managers currently in place. There are only 2 agenda items listed.
1. Minutes of previous EGM
2. Appointment of new Strata Managers
My question is – I thought you had to request other agenda items so you make the best use of the time and cost involved in having the EGM. Is this a strata requirement?
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Since it is not the AGM I don't see why the EC would have to call for other matters. Could they not assume that any matter serious enough to take to a meeting might have been brought to their attention already? However, now a meeting is called you and any other owner could check what the process is for adding any other matters to the agenda. If it is too late to put any resolution I would expect you could request that the meeting and the chair permits discussion of other matters on the night to give guidance to the EC before the next AGM.
I don't know about NSW. In the ACT a general meeting can be called any time the EC thinks it is appropriate (even to consider only one matter) or if 25% of owners request it (IE by petition). Otherwise an annual meeting is required.
Macfadyen said:
My question is – I thought you had to request other agenda items so you make the best use of the time and cost involved in having the EGM. Is this a strata requirement?
I don't know of any requirement to call for additional items to be discussed at an EGM. If anything, given the 'extraordinary” nature of an EGM, most of those involved prefer to deal with the one or two items requiring attention in isolation, rather than allowing the meeting to turn into an extended discussion of all and sundry (especially when there's a reasonable chance that emotions will be running high).
The Executive Committee meeting is where you get the day-to-day stuff discussed and the best thing to do is to put down a motion for the next meeting when you decide you want it discussed, rather than waiting for th notice of meeting to go out (by which time it may be too late to go on the agenda).
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Macfadyen said:
My question is – I thought you had to request other agenda items so you make the best use of the time and cost involved in having the EGM. Is this a strata requirement?
Hi Macfadyen;
It is the case that there is no requirement on anyone to request items for an EC meeting, an EGM, or an AGM.The onus is on owners to requisition motions they want included.
This is found in cl 36 of Sch 2 of the Strata Act.
If a matter comes up that an owner wants dealt with then an owner should send the requisition for the inclusion of a motion ASAP just in case an EGM is called without it being known the meeting is coming. Often owners do not see EGM's coming and as stated in another post it is often the case these meetings (EGMs) are specific to particular issues.
In my SP EGM's are extremely rare and often turn into pseudo AGMs because owners are made aware the meeting is coming prior to an agenda being sent. This clutters the agenda with all sorts of other matters and somewhat distracts from the main reason for holding the EGM in the first place.
It is interesting that prior to receiving your notice that there was not some indication the meeting was coming.
Did an EC meeting have an agenda item stating that the EC was going to make a determination on holding an EGM?
Were there EC minutes that stated the EC voted to call an EGM?Clause 31 part 2 of Sch 2 empowers the EC to call an EGM but i would suggest that the EC needs to make a decision (pass a motion to create a resolution) to do so and therefore some sort of agenda item or notice of the intent to make a decision on exercising that authority should have been made clear to the owners.
The EC is subordinate to the OC and so something should have appeared somewhere in an agenda/minutes indicating the intent/decison of the EC.
If you just go an agenda for an EGM and had no idea the EC made the decision then the decision is arguably faulty but it is not a fault that would be worthwhile pursuing.
“I accept in effect the applicant’s submission that before a decision can be made by the owners corporation whether at its general meeting or by its executive committee meeting there must be due notice.”
M Balding in Bales v The Owners Corporation SP 12303 (Strata and Community Schemes) [2009] NSWCTTT 296 (2 June 2009)You should have been able to see the EGM coming in time to make a requisition. If you didn't see it coming then a little more transparency from the management might help next time the EC wish to call an EGM.