Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
I agree. It is improper to put a motion to any sort of meeting if it was not included on the meeting notice. The exceptions are 1) procedural motions – Eg. you can propose ‘that the motion be put’ if you think debate has been going long enough, all the points of argument have been aired and it is time to be getting on, and 2) motions to amend a motion. Motions to amend should only be accepted by the chair if they are within the scope of the original motion and don’t alter its nature.
If the gate that is noisy to close is common property, then couldn’t the problem be fixed by the OC modifying the gate?
If the noisy gate is part of the lot, then couldn’t the OC require the owner of the lot to modify the gate so that it can be used without making a loud noise?
Engineering solutions tend to be more satisfactory than regulatory ones! IE. if the gate is fitted with a soft closing mechanism, it won’t matter who uses it or when.
I thought we all stopped wasting water like this decades ago!
Is yours one of those apartment blocks where the OC pays one water bill for everyone? If so, perhaps start a conversation about moving to individual metering. When our OC did that many years ago, we had the advantage that meters were already in place. Having data that highlighted that a very few residents were using grossly more than everyone else helped to pursuade owners to move to individual billing.
Is there someone upstairs of this woman? Perhaps they can be persuaded to provide a deluge on a regular basis!
If you are not a committee member, could the committee make the request in writing through the managing agent? I expect the letter could refer to imposing an unreasonable cost on the owners corporation through excessive water use. The letter could also refer to bylaws about not interfering with reasonable use and enjoyment of another’s unit. Having one’s balcony flooded would seem to fit the bill.
Generally, if an owner would like particular plants or landscaping on the common property, that should be with the approval of the OC, or at least from the committee in line with some agreed guidelines from the OC. Erecting screens within the unit area may or may not be consistent with any controls you have on erections and alterations on the unit. Eg. where I am, we have OC resolutions limiting the types of walls, fences and screens to a few style and height options.
If the AGM is not too far away, just propose an admin fund levy which is much less than the admin fund budget. Also propose a capital works levy which is correspondingly higher so that overall this year’s levies are not very different from last years. If you worry that part of that might fail, put it all into one budget and levies motion.
[One year we had a rather forceful committee member who seemed to think it was somehow improper for an AGM motion to include the word ‘and’. So we had six motions: three budget motions, one for each of a special purpose fund, the admin fund and the sinking fund and then a further three levy motions. The next year I made a point (as treasurer) of proposing the whole lot in a single motion.]
Are they anonymous or signed? We have occasionally had such problems. Ours were often anonymously distributed. When we responded we made a point referring to their anonymity and signing our note with contact details an invitation to contact the committee for any further info. The contrast of inviting queries vs. anonymous is helpful.
You might find that she is making herself unpopular all by herself and you might not need to do much.
Your committee could make a point of producing a friendly chatty newsletter which could also include nice polite requests/reminders where necessary about where to put the bins or whatever. Make it clearly ‘official’. By contrast the nasty impolite notes will be seen for what they are.
Your newsletter may not need to directly address the misleading notes but it could provide accurate and more plausible information on some of the topics. In time, the note-writer will lose credibility.
In the ACT you can transfer from the Admin to Sinking fund with an ordinary resolution of a general meeting (UTMA s.87(c)). You can also amend the sinking fund plan at any time by ordinary resolution. Other states may be different.
Yes, there is a general principle that all resident should have access to common property. There is also a general principle that law should be interpreted in a reasonable common sense manner.
So, for reasons of safety and avoiding mischief, it is not a good idea to leave the switchboard open for all to access and that would not be in conflict with a reasonable interpretation of the law. For another example, nobody can occupy exactly the same bit of common property as is being occupied at that moment by another resident, or is being occupied by a tree for that matter, but nobody applies excessive pedantry to those situations!
The DA probably intended to require a minimum number of parking spots for the number and size of units so having one more actually on the ground is unlikely to be a problem.
If the OC, by passing a by-law, decided to allocate these parking spots a particular way, then that is also probably OK, so long as it did not unfairly disadvantage one unit. I would think that if parking spaces on the common property are allocated to some units then every unit should have at least one allocated. That would enable an equitable use of the common property by all units.
Unit entitlements only come into it if the parking spaces were part of the lot/unit.
@Ziggy said:
What if a vote against something does not appear in the minutes? Is that then brought up at the next meeting under “the previous minutes motion” or can you write to the SM beforehand?You can write to the SM and/or committee any time you like about any matter that concerns you about the running of the OC ;-).
How urgently you act would depend on the consequences. If the vote was close and perhaps should have failed and the motion was to do something that may occur soon, then get on with it. If the motion passed overwhelmingly but you simply want it noted for posterity that it was not without some dissent, then that can wait: Propose an amendment to the minutes at the next meeting to record that some voted no.
Sometimes minute takers prefer to simply record that a motion passed or failed but I would prefer to give the numbers, e.g. ‘Motion X. Ordinary Resolution: That the Owners Corporation does XYZ. Passed. Yes 25, No 10, Abstentions 3’.
Or, perhaps I have misunderstood. Do you mean that a motion was put to the meeting and failed and neither the motion nor the outcome were recorded? If so, you can let the chair of the meeting and secretary know that you think this should be included in the record of the meeting and then propose such an amendment when minutes are accepted at the next meeting.
@Austman said:
Sir Humphrey said
And then Part 3 and elsewhere in the Act provides more detail. I would argue that s.16(1)(c) covers comment on development proposals in the neighbourhood.
I think you might be over interpreting S.16(1)(c)? That function exists in Victoria too. I think it means the other laws have to specifically give that power to an OC…
As I suggested elsewhere above, let’s forget about pedantic interpretations. However, if you insist: The EC exercises the functions of the OC. The OC is a ‘legal personality’. Legal persons can have opinions and state them. The EC can say what it likes to whoever it likes on behalf of the OC – so long as it is careful to not overstate things.
If there is an OC resolution to (say) condemn some proposal, it can state very strongly that the OC objects.
If it is just plain obvious that some proposal would have some effect, the EC can and should say so on behalf of the OC, even if it would not warrant calling a general meeting or conducting a survey.
The EC should say what it believes to be defensible and true. If that is “Many of our residents are concerned that…”, then that is what it can say, no more, no less, perhaps on the basis of just talking informally to a fair sampling of residents and finding most concerned. If it is only that “The members of the committee of Units Plan XYZ are concerned that…” then that could also be a fair, true and honest statement to make, even if the committee has not spoken to anyone else.
Looking for a specific legal power seems like excessive pedantry to me so long as the committee is being honest, not overstating the situation, and acting defensibly in the interests of the OC.
JimmyT wrote:
Why … is there no organisation that will get involved on the spot and tell committees, especially, when they are in the wrong?In the ACT, we have managed to extract an opinion on a couple of matters without it needing to be tested at the Tribunal in a dispute.
On one matter, an owner wrote to the Office of Regulatory Services complaining that the meeting agenda included a motion for a resolution that should have stated a different class of resolution. At first the ORS wrote to our managing agent strongly advising her to advise our general meeting that we needed the different class of resolution. After some rushed correspondence and a long phone call, the ORS better understood our situation and wrote out a reasoned opinion why the class of resolution we originally had was correct.
On another matter, we had one member of our committee who was adamant that a particular rule (aka ‘bylaw’ in other states) amendment would be void and of no effect if passed. He asserted that it would be inconsistent with the Act. He was not convinced by various authorities and sources of evidence. Eventually, I wrote to the Attorney-General who confirmed that our proposed rule amendment could be made and was not an unusual change to make.
With persistence, in other states, there might be similar authorities who have the function of administering the relevant strata act who might be persuaded to provide an authoritative written opinion.
The balcony might be common property.
Also, if loose asbestos were a possibility, I would not want some amateur risking disturbing it. I would want an expert taking appropriate precautions to look in my roof.
@JimmyT said:
You might think that all those skills you acquired climbing the business ladder and studying for your MBA make you the perfect candidate for your strata committee…Specially for those of us in Canberra: I will repeat the above sentence with one modification:
You might think that all those skills you acquired climbing the ladder to a senior position in public administration and policy make you the perfect candidate for your strata committee…
In strata you will have to do the work yourself. There are no minions to dictate and delegate to.
Strata budgets are not the same as budgets for large organisations. Big numbers and small numbers behave differently.
In the ACT the power point would probably be a responsibility of the individual unit but our OC made sure by adopting a rule to state that any equipment on common property that only benefitted one unit was the responsibility of that unit to repair and maintain, whether it had been approved or not. (paraphrasing)