#18217
scotlandx
Strataguru

    I know your question is about the issue in getting a quorum for the EC, but to me there are two things.

     

    1. the owner wanting to put in a timber floor – it is irrelevant whether he has a doctor’s certificate.  What you need if you are to properly consider his request is full details of the floor he will be laying, the rooms in which he proposes to lay it, and how the floor will provide adequate sound insulation.  This would include detailed specifications of the underlay.  You would expect all that information to be included in the agenda for any EC meeting, together with the proposed resolution.

    You may also want to consider a special by-law to make it clear that he is responsible for the floor going forward.  That would require approval at a general meeting.  At the same time you might want to consider dealing with the other owner who didn’t get approval.

    2. EC approval of the request – we have an owner who has a habit of talking to various EC members separately, and then going to the strata manager and saying that the EC has said “it is ok”.  Setting aside that none of the EC members have said “that is ok”, that is not how an EC makes decisions.  In the end we had to write him a letter telling him that.  Of course he still does it but at least we have it on record.

    So the owner approaching individual EC members and getting signed approvals doesn’t meet the requirements of the Act.

    You need a properly convened meeting, with notice given as required under the Act (72 hours, agenda with proposed resolution).  You then need a quorum at the actual meeting, and then you need a majority vote.

    A no vote does mean a vote against the motion, what else would it be?  A no vote means – I do not approve the motion.  You can have three types of “action” – a vote for, a vote against, or an abstention.  An abstention doesn’t count towards the vote, as Jimmy has said, it signals that you don’t want to vote on the motion.

    From what you have said, it doesn’t sound like there has been a properly convened meeting anyway (I could be wrong), and there has been no decision.  

    You have said you are the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.  Perhaps you need to exercise a bit more control – it is hard, but it is better than your current situation.  Tell the other EC members that no decision has been made, that a proper resolution with full details of the request needs to be put up by the owner, to be considered at a proper meeting.  If the EC members don’t turn up then too bad, the owner will just have to wait.

     

    You can have a decision made by written resolution under Schedule 3, clause 10.

    10 Voting in writing by members of executive committee

     

    (1) A resolution is taken to have been validly passed even though the meeting at which the motion for the resolution was proposed to be submitted was not held if:

    (a) notice was given in accordance with clause 6 of the intended meeting, and

    (b) a copy of the motion for the resolution was served on each member of the executive committee, and

    (c) the resolution was approved in writing by a majority of members of the executive committee.

    (2) This clause is subject to clause 11 (2).