and Terms of Reference
Revised July 1999
Halls Lake and Hawk Lakes Property Owners’ Association
Purposes of the Association
- To promote courteous and safe use of waterways.
- To help establish an equitable water level policy conducive to both ecological and recreational considerations.
- To lobby for a reasonable level of taxation and provision of services from local government authorities.
- To identify and monitor issues that affect the Halls and Hawks Lakes community.
Membership in the Association
Membership is defined as property owners or a family member of a property owner on or in the immediate area of Little Hawk, Big Hawk or Halls Lakes.
Associate Membership
Associate membership may be granted to a renter of property on one of the three lakes or to a property owner from another lake.
An Associate Member may participate in the general meeting but will not, as a rule, have voting privileges. An Associate Member will not hold an elected position.
Special Guest Membership
Special Guest Membership may be accorded to a person(s) at the discretion of the Executive or the Association as the occasion arises.
Composition of the Executive
The Executive Officers shall consist of:
- Past President
- President
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Directors
The Executive will have a minimum of 9 members and a maximum of 12.
There will be at least two representatives from each lake.
The Executive will be elected at an annual general meeting at which time a slate of officers for the coming year will be presented.
The term of office is two years.
An Association Member, who owns a commercial property on one of the lakes, may not hold an Executive position.
Responsibilities of the Executive
The Executive shall be a co-ordinating and directing committee for activities undertaken by the Property Owners’ Association.
The Executive shall endeavour to carry out the majority or consensus decisions arrived at the General meeting and shall explore matters of value to the Association to introduce at regular, special or other planned meetings.
If an Executive member misses three consecutive Executive meetings, the President will consult with that member. Following that discussion, the Executive with a 75% majority vote may appoint another member to complete the term.
Participation in the Lakes Steward Program
A member, who may have expressed interest in fulfilling Lake Steward responsibilities, will be appointed by the Executive as Lake Steward. He or she will represent the Association on the Lakes Steward Program and will make regular reports to the Association.
Schedule of Meetings
The Executive will meet at least twice each calendar year; usually in May and October.
A General Meeting will be held at least once each year in July or August.
Fees
The Association fees shall be a budgeted amount annually to cover the costs of Association business.
The annual fee shall be determined by the Association at the Annual General Meeting on recommendation from the Executive.
A Reserve Fund shall be established and maintained. This Fund shall not, except in extraordinary circumstances and agreed upon by the general membership, be less than an amount equal to 75% of the Association’s usual annual membership income. The Reserve Fund will, where possible, be augmented an on annual basis.
Extraordinary Association expenses shall be met by a special levy equally divided among all members upon recommendations by the Executive, and approved by the Association.
An internal audit of the Association Books shall be undertaken once every two years. The audit shall be done by two members of the Association if possible, and will not include the Treasurer.
Order of Business
- Call to Order
- Minutes of Previous Meeting
- Correspondence
- Treasurer’s Report
- President’s Report
- Business from the Minutes
- Correspondence
- Committee Reports
- Unfinished Business
- New Business
Procedure
Procedure shall be informal when feasible.
Roberts Rules of Order shall be the reference for questions of authority beyond the Constitution and Terms of Reference.
A vote by ballot shall be taken when it would appear to be in the best interests of the Association.
The right to vote is extended only to Members of the Association.
The Constitution and Terms of Reference of the Hawk Lakes and Halls Lake Property Owners’ Association may be amended or extended at a General Meeting where 75% of the total membership present favour the amendment or extension.
Members raising new business at the Annual General Meeting are encouraged to submit the item of business to the President before the meeting.
Information Dissemination
A newsletter will be sent to each member and associate member at least once each year.
Guidelines for Donations
The Executive has discretionary power to donate a sum of $200.00 or less to a cause or organization which meets the following criteria:
- the cause or organization is within the general physical area of Minden, Haliburton, Carnarvon or the Halls and Hawk Lakes Communities;
- the cause or organization will have potential benefit to Association members, e.g. the purchase of jaws of life, medical or fire fighting equipment;
- the donation is not solely for a social function;
- usually the work of the cause or organization would assist in meeting the Aims of the Association;
Proposed donations of amounts greater than $200 or which do not meet the above criteria but which have been endorsed by the Executive will require the approval of a simple majority of the Association.
A single donation shall not exceed, or cause with other donations or extraordinary expenses, to exceed an amount greater than 25% of the Association’s Annual Operating Budget as reported by the Treasurer.
Donations shall not reduce the Association’s Reserve Fund.
A donation to an organization or cause shall be for that fiscal year only and shall not commit the Association to donations in any succeeding year.
Memberships to provincial organizations ego F.O.CA are not subject to the $200 limit.
A summary list of donations will be reported to the membership at the Annual General Meeting and will be published in the Fall Newsletter as part of the Treasurer’s Report of the AGM Minutes.
Rev. July, 1999
