September Board Meeting Recap
At the board meeting, every decision was deferred except the one that wasn't on the agenda.
Community Comments
Before the agenda, community comments pointed out that the board had not worked toward resolving concerns about the technology committee chair — and had instead made accusations against her.
The chair further confirmed that she was aware of a board member spreading rumors behind her back, in places where she could not possibly respond.
Committee & Program Reports
(These reports came from the planning-meeting portion — included here for continuity.)
Events Committee: announced the chili cook-off
Lake Committee: will meet to address next steps for the comprehensive lake management plan, approved under former president Evan Cliff Thorne
Garden Committee: requesting volunteers to build a new garden plot
Goose Deterrent Committee: members have been actively waving off geese this season.
Ad Program: has generated $1,600 to date; the board is discussing a maximum number of ad spaces for future newsletters
Governance & Bylaws Committee: continues to meet Wednesdays, open to residents
Technology Committee: repeated its request for the board to clarify what it needs in order to decide whether a website is warranted, per committee recommendations
On the Agenda
The board reported it is actively working on a data privacy policy and a mail-merge structure — both originally recommended by the technology committee. That framing follows a documented exchange: in writing, the treasurer had told the tech committee chair not to bother presenting the mail-merge project at all. The board's report did not credit the committee's earlier work. The tech chair was not allowed to speak for the work of her volunteers.
Most other agenda items were deferred rather than decided. The lake plan will wait for the lake committee's own meeting. The data privacy policy remains active, but board members have not yet reviewed or commented on it. The organizational chart draft was deferred because the sponsoring board member was absent. Decisions on the annual meeting speaker and agenda were also pushed, as was the committee-policy language which will wait for the bylaws committee's recommendations — that section remains under active discussion.
The board also discussed the VIS contract and newsletter printing, with no decisions made on either. Last month, VIS announced that newsletter printing was not a free service. This had been a major part of this summer's discussion about whether or not to contract a new management firm. New ad sales may depend on newsletter printing ; a review of contracts will determine the full impact.
Technology Committee Charter and Hiatus
The board deferred approval of a proposed new charter for the technology committee. In its place, it voted to place the committee on hiatus — a motion that was not on the published agenda, so members had no advance notice that this decision would be up for comment and could not possibly provide meaningful comment.
The board then went into executive session, with mics and cameras locked for members. This has been a policy since May, and the board has stated that the policy is in place so members cannot say negative things about the board. Members have previously recruited for committees and identified issues to solve during executive session.
Afterward, community comments returned to the committee's disbanding, with residents expressing frustration. When the tech chair raised a comment, the board president made a dismissive comment in response. Another member spoke up and told him that was not okay.
We are coming up on an election, and we get to decide what kind of community we want. We are all neighbors trying to take care of a lake.
Comments