Full House for Annual General Meeting

One of the largest turnouts in years took place on Monday, November 4 for the 2013 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Blackburne Creek Homeowner’s Association.

Well over 100 people were in attendance at the Ellerslie Rugby Club for the 16th AGM of the association when President Brian Hawrelak called the meeting to order. In his President’s Report, Hawrelak talked about the work of the association during the previous year and then took several minutes to update members on the reasons behind the decision of the Board of Directors to commerce legal action against three homeowners who applied roofing material that the Board believes does not meet the terms of the Restrictive Covenant for the community. Members in attendance also asked a number of questions and made comments on the issue.

Another highlight of the meeting was the approval of a revised set of bylaws for the association. The revised Articles of Association for the organization has been submitted to Corporate Registries and are now in effect. They include several amendments that will change the responsibility for governance of the association from the area’s developer to the residents.  Other changes include:

• The definition of the term “member” was altered to only include the registered owner of a home that is legally encumbered,
• The elimination of proxy voting,
• A requirement for a quorum to be met at an AGM for business to be conducted,
• Increasing the number of members needed to force a special general meeting to 25,
• Adjusting the number of Board members from three to seven to five to nine people.
  

Finally the year’s financial statements were presented and they showed the association accumulated a surplus of almost $10,000 during the year, which is roughly the same amount as the deficit for the previous year. The association's budget for the 2013-2014 year was also presented and it forecasts an equal amount will be spent on expenses as revenue brought in. Koshman & Schaaf LLP of Sherwood Park was again appointed as auditors to do the association’s financial review for the year ending June 30, 2014.

The meeting ended with Nathan Maslanko and Melissa Tilburn elected to the Board of Directors. Nell Vandewark decided to not return for a second year.  Returning Board members include Brian Hawrelak, Dan Edwards, Drew Schofield, Grant Ainsley and Sushanta Mitra.  The Board will vote on positions for Officers at its first meeting of the new year.