GRF Board tackles a variety of issues Oct. 25
GRF BOARD HIGHLIGHTS
The Golden Rain Foundation Board is faced with the massive task of amending the Golden Rain Foundation Bylaws, which will require a community-wide special election.
GRF directors discussed the ramifications of the undertaking at the regular board meeting Oct. 25.
At issue are quorum requirements. A quorum is the minimum number of GRF members who must be present at any of its meetings to make the proceedings of that meeting valid.
Legal counsel has determined that the language in the GRF Bylaws does not match the process by which GRF elections are conducted. Therefore, the bylaws language must be brought into compliance to reflect actual election procedures.
As it stands now, “a literal reading of the current bylaws suggests that 6,608 ballots go out and the top 16 vote getters would be on the GRF Board for the next year,” GRF Vice President William Thompson said. “The new bylaw would codify that each Mutual elects its specific representative to the GRF Board. That information is not clear right now.”
The new language would read (with the change in bold): “The presence in person of 33-1/3% of the members of record in good standing at any meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at said meeting, except for the election of directors whereby quorum is based on 33-1/3% (33.33%) of the members of record in good standing of the Mutual that is voting for their respective GRF director representative, not all GRF members.”
This revision will align actual practice with GRF Bylaws.
It sounds like a simple task, but the challenge is that a majority of the community must agree to the proposed amendment for it to pass. And the logistics of that present a signifcant hurdle. Instead of having a single-issue special election, GRF directors opted to have a ballot on this specific issue as part of the 2023 annual elections since half the community— specifically those in odd-numbered Mutuals—will already be participating in GRF elections.
In other news:
• The board gratefully received donations to the LW Library from the LW Woman’s Club, represented by President Rose Marie Sprague, $400; and the Friends of the Library Bookstore, represented by President Joyce Brannon, $5,000. LW Library Manager Taylor Greene accepted the donations, which will fund library materials (see pages 12 and 18 for photos).
• Upon the recommendation of the Recreation Committee, the board unanimously approved awarding a $5.3-million contract to Innovative Cleaning Services for a three-year term. The company is the GRF’s current janitorial service provider and has been praised for extraordinary service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The contract is for a three-year period and will be funded via the operating budget.
• The board approved a fiveyear lease for NuVision Credit Union, which is located in LW between the LW Library and Clubhouse 4. The current lease amount is $1,500 per month. Upon the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the board renewed the lease a rate of $2,000 per month for 12 months with a 5% increase commencing Dec. 1 during each successive year of the contract.
• The board voted to a contract to Zaino Tennis Courts for fencing to divide the pickleball courts at a cost of $6,997, plus a 10% contingency for a contract. A makeshift fence now prevents balls from migrating into others’ games, and the new fence will make the courts safer for all players.
• On the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the board amended 40-5528-1, Refund of Excess Income, to add a new transferred funds category, “Transfer to Capital Funds.”
Prior to this amendment, the policy allowed the GRF to move excess funds to its operating budget in one of several ways, including transferring to a contingency operating fund, refunding to Mutuals, transferring to the reserve fund or retaining in operating funds. Now a new category will permit a transfer into capital funds.
•Upon the recommendation of the Physical Property Committee, the board voted to award a contract to County Heating and Air for the emergency replacement of a heat pump on the first floor of Clubhouse 6 at a cost not to exceed $18,760, which includes a 20% contingency.
• Upon the recommendation of the Information Technology Services Committee, the board voted to fund a Sharepoint Migration project at a cost not to exceed $5,000 in capital funding. The current Team/Sharepoint Site is used by all the departments. To increase security, the site will migrate to Office365 Cloud, per the recommendation of IT staff. The licensing is currently included with the email hosting, so there are no hosting costs, only the cost of migration services.
• The board sent a request for a robotic pool sweep back to the Recreation Committee for further investigation. The department wants to purchase the pool vacuum for the Aquatic Center as a first step to possibly expanding the operating hours of the facility. The Recreation Committee initially recommended buying the machine at the lowest bid of $5,363. Upon discussion by board members, it was decided to further investigate the potential purchase to see how much it would cost to include a cable winder, storage reel and caddy in the package. The higher priced quote, which came in at $12,171, included those crucial components.
The robotic vaccuum could save staff time hand cleaning the pool. That might provide a way for an earlier opening time, which some residents have requested.
—Ruth Osborn, editor
