Country Village Homeowners Association

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Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Annual Meeting Q/A

 Nov 14 at 2:26 PM

On Tuesday, November 14, 2017 2:26 PM, Veronica Coleman wrote:


During last night’s Annual Meeting, the presentation for the 2018 proposed budget contained a new line item—Comcast.  It was stated that the Association had a contract with Comcast for 15 years.  No other explanation was provided since I was required to follow president Max Roe’s process despite my request for point of information.  So, in order to minimize Mr. Roe and the board’s hostile exchange with my asking questions, I did not press the issue to include Mr. Roe and the board for not adhering to Roberts Rules of Order.  Therefore, as a homeowner and member of the Association, it would be greatly appreciated if you would respond to the following questions since the Comcast item is new for 2018:

1.  Where in the Association’s governing documents, specifically the covenants and bylaws as it relates to the Indiana Code, that allows the board to enter into an exclusive contract with Comcast particularly without notification to the membership and restricted dollar amounts for entering into such an agreement/contract?

2.  Who signed and when was the Agreement/contract signed?  Can I obtain a copy of the Agreement/contract since it has now been finalized?

3.  What are the terms of the Comcast Agreement/contract such as years in effect, base rate, current rate and percentage rate increase each year for the life of the Agreement/contract?

4.  How does the association benefit from this bulk service agreement/contract compared to having each homeowner be responsible for cable and/or internet service?

5.  What other cable or fiber optic companies did the board seek to compare pricing and services that would be more beneficial to the Association?

6.  Why did the board select Comcast other than it held the Agreement/contract previously?

7.  It was stated that the Association would receive $100 per unit from Comcast for having exclusive rights to provide cable and internet service.  Does this mean that all 108 units will be required to pay Comcast whether or not it uses the service?

8.  How will homeowners be notified that the Comcast is the board’s preferred cable and internet service provider and how to upgrade services?

9.  Will homeowners be required to pay an additional fee or see an increase in assessment fees for the board selecting comcast?  If so, when?

10.  When and/or wIll there be a special assessment implemented in order to pay Comcast?  If so, how much and when to anticipate the special assessment?


roni


Veronica,

          I recall you asking for a "Point of Order" (PoO) while Susan was giving the financial report. Below is the PoO definition.

Point of order definition: A term of parliamentary law and procedure which refers to an interjection during a meeting by a member, who does not have the floor, to call the attention of the chair to an alleged violation or breach of the assembly's or meeting's rules of order.

          If, in fact, you did ask for "Request for Information", you were out of order for not rising and addressing the chair with your request.

This was copied from Robert's Rules Online: RulesOnline.com.
Article IV. Incidental Motions.
Section 27. Requests Growing out of the Business of the Assembly.
(b) Request for Information. A request for information relating to the pending business is treated just as a parliamentary inquiry, and has the same privileges. The inquirer rises and says, "Mr. Chairman, I rise for information," or, "I rise to a point of information," whereupon the chair directs him to state the point upon which he desires information, and the procedure continues as in case of a parliamentary inquiry. If the information is desired of the speaker, instead of the chair, the inquirer upon rising says, "Mr. Chairman, I should like to ask the gentleman a question." The chairman inquires if the speaker is willing to be interrupted, and if he consents, he directs the inquirer to proceed. The inquirer then asks the question through the chair, thus, "Mr. Chairman, I should like to ask the gentleman," etc. The reply is made in the same way, as it is not in order for members to address one another in the assembly. While each speaker addresses the chair, the chair remains silent during the conversation. If the speaker consents to the interruption the time consumed is taken out of his time.

          The 2018 proposed budget does not have a line item for Comcast. Comcast approached Country Village Homeowners Association in 2017 for the right to be the only cable company to be allowed to bury cable in the community to provide homeowners interested in having Comcast services.

          This was explained eloquently by Susan after the financials were presented.

          This agreement in no way costs the Association, nor its membership anything. The membership is not required to patronize Comcast in any way unless the member desires Comcast to provide service to them.

          The Association benefits from the fact that Comcast has gifted Country Village Homeowners Association with $10,800.00.

          It was never stated that Comcast would have exclusive rights to provide cable and internet service. Please refer to the third paragraph starting "The 2018 proposed budget..." So, with that in mind, the membership will never be required to pay Comcast for services the member has not signed up to receive.

          Because Comcast has never been touted as Country Village Homeowners Association preferred cable and internet service, there is no need to notify the membership. All members are free to chose any service they want.

          Be assured that there will not be any increase in association fees, nor will there ever be a assessment fee because of Comcast.

          The questions that were in your email were all answered. It is hoped that this will ease your anxiety on this issue. 

Max Roe,
Country Village Homeowners Association
Board of Directors 
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