Members of the Seven Lakes West Landowners Association [SLWLA] will gather on Wednesday, December 15, for a Special Meeting on the closing of the roadway over Lake Auman Dam.
But exactly what will take place during the meeting — the second member-called Special Meeting in the Association’s history — remains very much an open question.
No agenda for the meeting has been published, no ballots have been issued, and the meeting’s parliamentarian is not sure what, if any, question might be put to a vote of the membership during the proceedings.
What is clear is that members who hope to vote, speak, or otherwise participate in Association business conducted during the meeting better arrive early in order to find their place in the registration line.
Community Manager Joan Frost told The Times that CAS, Inc.will pull in extra staff to handle registration for the meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.
“We will begin registering landowners at 6:00 pm,” Frost said, “and we will stop the registration at 7:00 pm.”
Members will need to know their lot number, in order to place themselves in the proper registration line, Frost said. They should also bring photo identification.
Each lot is entitled to one vote at the meeting, so husbands and wives or other co-owners of property will be able to register only once.
Members holding proxies that entitle them to vote on behalf of a landowner who cannot attend the meeting may register those proxies the evening of the meeting, or may drop by the SLWLA office during regular business hours to register their proxies in advance, Frost said.
In addition to establishing that they are Association members, Frost told The Times, registrants will be asked whether they support the Board’s decision to permanently close Longleaf Drive over Lake Auman, or support the position of the Dam Road Group that the road closure should be put to a vote of the membership, or are undecided.
She explained that many members likely already have a firm position one way or the other, and knowing that up front means CAS personnel will not have to have everyone in attendance queue up again for a vote count.
Members who may have stated one preference or another will be able to change that position, if they desire, once a formal question is on the table, she added.
What’s the question?
Whether a formal question will be placed on the table remains a bit of a mystery. Though the Dam Road Group’s petition included a specific question to be put before the membership at the meeting, the announcement of the special meeting included no mention of that question — and no ballot.
The SLWLA Board’s outside counsel, Stephen Later, told The Times: “The topic in the notice is not limited to the Dam Group Petition language in order to encourage a broad discussion and range of voices and opinions. The board would like to be sure that all of the members are able to voice their thoughts, pro or con, on this matter.”
Asked whether the question posed by the Dam Road Group could be offered as a motion during the meeting, Later said it was not possible to judge in advance what motions might be ruled in order or out of order.
Later said he also could not pre-judge whether a motion to ratify the Board’s decision to permanently close the Dam Road would be ruled in or out of order.
The Board has asked Later to Chair the meeting and serve as its parliamentarian. He told The Times that it would be held in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order and “in compliance with the governing documents of SLWLA and state law and, of course, in a manner that is fair to the membership.”
“As to action at the meeting,” Later said, “there is no way to know what motions will be made at the meeting, so we wouldn’t be in a position, at this time, to speculate about what motions might or might not be in order at the meeting.”
Frost told The Times that she was attempting to pull together an agenda for the meeting, but was not sure whether an agenda would be published in advance
Competing Proxies
The notice of the special meeting issued by the SLWLA Board made no mention of the possibility that members unable to attend the meeting could make sure they had an opportunity to vote on any business that comes before the membership by giving a proxy to another landowner who did plan to attend the meeting.
However, shortly after the meeting notice was issued, Vice President John Hoffmann began circulating via email a proxy that landowners could use to give their proxy to SLWLA President Ron Shepard. Similar proxies were later made available at the SLWLA office and promoted on the Seven Lakes West website.
Westsider Mike Gorenflo provided members of the Dam Road Group a blank proxy, also via email, that they could use to designate any landowner as their proxy at the meeting.
Frost told The Times on Wednesday that the SLWLA office had no blank proxies for landowners to use, but added that the office staff would be happy to distribute blank proxies if they were provided by the Dam Road Group.
The Special Meeting will be held at the West Side Park Community Center.
