Minutes of ECM

Cosmo is right, that ship has sailed but you can put another boat in the water (to extend the analogy).

You could try to have a letter to the EC correcting the minutes adopted as a matter of record (best of luck with that).  Or you could wait until your next general meeting (probably your next AGM) and put up a motion that the minutes of the specific meeting be noted as suspect and misleading.  

You motion has to be added to the agenda (if you get it in before the agenda is issued) and you are entitled to add an explanatory note to that motion which will also go on the record, even if the motion is defeated.  That way you have recorded your dissent and it is a much fresher record than months-old minutes of a meeting everyone has forgotten.

Just to twist the knife, you could propose a motion that the in future the EC minutes must not be issued until they have been approved by all members of the EC.  I know what the argument against that will be – there is no time if they are to fulfil their statutory duty of issuing the minutes within two weeks (??)  –  but the very fact that the motion is there means everyone will be alerted to the fact that there is a problem with the minutes.

From what Felix has said I gather this was an Executive Committee meeting?

You can’t put up a motion at a General Meeting of the OC in relation to minutes of the EC, as it is a different forum.  The people voting at a general meeting are different to the people voting at an EC – people who were not in attendance at a meeting cannot then vote on whether or not a minute of that meeting was wrong.(also refer below re the general principles that apply to minutes)

In terms of minutes generally – once they are approved at a subsequent meeting and signed by the Chair they cannot be changed and they stand as a record of that meeting.  Even if all of the attendees agree they are wrong they can’t be changed (really).  You can make minor changes to signed minutes, such as changing a date, this would have to be done by the Chair and initialled by hand.

What you can do if you believe the minutes of an ECM are incorrect is raise it as a motion to be included in the agenda of a subsequent meeting.  You can do that in a number of ways depending on why you think they are wrong.  For example – the motion can say, “That in respect of Motion X approved by the EC at its meeting on X, the EC noted that the following was incorrect….” and then insert what was wrong, and what the minutes should have said.

That way you correct the record.  Of course the others may not agree with you, but if the minutes are properly drafted there should be a record that the issue was raised.

If you believe an actual resolution was wrong you would have to have the EC rescind that resolution and put up another resolution for approval.

@scotlandx said:

You can’t put up a motion at a General Meeting of the OC in relation to minutes of the EC, as it is a different forum.  The people voting at a general meeting are different to the people voting at an EC – people who were not in attendance at a meeting cannot then vote on whether or not a minute of that meeting was wrong.(also refer below re the general principles that apply to minutes)

Well, there you go. Reading ScotlandX’s explanation, it all makes perfect sense, although I wonder if there is a subtle but significant difference in what I was suggesting.  I didn’t mean that the Owners Corp should rescind the decision of the EC meeting, just that it somehow go on the record that the minutes had been a bit suss.  Having said that, I can see how that might not fly.

Again, perhaps the correct motion would be to ask the meeting to instruct the EC that their minutes should be accurate and not misleading as to the content of discussions and and intent of decisions made.  And again, wouldn’t any supporting explanatory comments then be on the record? 

By the way, I know motions can be rejected by the chairman if they would contravene the law – but this one would simply be asking the EC to make sure that they were abiding by it.  Would that work?

As the EC Secretary of a large Strata, I struggle now to prepare and circulate minutes of our meetings to all Owners and Members within the 7 day requirement of the current Act. I would find it impossible to prepare the minutes and then get approval from all EC Members, prior to circulation to all Owners, within this specified time. The proposed new Act suggests unlimited EC Member numbers, which makes this even more difficult. 

Fortunately, I’ve rarely experienced this problem with inaccurate minutes, and when I have, it has been really minor. Possibly the Secretary not the system needs changing.

The outcome: Motion was defeated at the AGM and the secretary did not stand for the position again but remained on the Executive Committee.

Earlier Post – Thank you. Today I have emailed the Strata Manager, addressed to the Executive Committee of the Owners Corporation,  asking that on the next Annual General Meeting Notice that the following item be included: That the Executive Committee Meeting Minutes be approved by all members of the Executive Committee before being distributed to owners.   The next AGM is planned for May 2014 and I will let you know the outcome.