A member suggested, at the SLCA's November 2021 Special Meeting, that the Silver Lake Community Association explore various self funding options to raise the funds needed for the rehabilitation of our dams following the damage caused by Hurricane Ida. Suggestions included member provided longer term interest free loans, as well as limited prepayment of maintenance fees, in order to avoid the need for a community wide special assessment.
The community recognizes the economic diversity of its members, and the hardship that a "share and share alike" special assessment would cause for some of our members. The SLCA BoD did not dismiss the idea, rather they chose to continue to pursue various government disaster relief aid money and grants from philanthropic organizations interested in maintaining the wetlands and natural habitat for wildlife, particularly the migratory birds.
The SLCA BoD met with PA Senator Mike Regan on October 7, 2021. A key out-take of that meeting, as described by the BoD's communication to the SLCA members, is he wanted to see the SLCA BoD "to be aggressive in raising funds."
At the SLCA BoD called Special Meeting a member proposed a self funding model to the community. At that point the BoD was pursuing other funding options, and reserved the right to circle back to this idea later.
A SLCA board member called the member who proposed the self-funding model at the Nov 2021 Special Meeting to explore the idea further. The member made it clear that several items needed to be addressed by the BoD before his family's money would go into that fund, to include by-law revisions to correct past mistakes (famously the word NOT was change to TO in 2014, presumably in error), and provide for more transparency of the BoD meetings and issues to the members.
The same BoD member approached the proposing member again in early March and advised there were multiple other members interested in making interest free 20-year loans to the SLCA and that there would be an organizing meeting held Tuesday March 29 at the BoD member's home. As the proposing member was out of town, a Zoom setup was arranged.
The Silver Lake Stewardship organizing meeting was held. 3 board members were in attendance, as well as 3 members representing two other properties. A 6th property owner interested in participating was not in attendance.
There were 3 sticking points:
1. Silt Maintenance - resolved.
2. Funding - whether pledges were fully funded in advance or "just in time" as the projects were contracted. No consensus was reached.
3. By-law safeguards - 2 member households were tasked with proposing revisions.
Draft By-laws and draft Stewardship Organizing Documents, as prepared by the members tasked to do so on 29 Mar 2022, are circulated to the Stewardship participants for review and comment. It was at this point that the process broke down. Facing opposition and believing that time is not on our side - the DEP wants what they want when they want it - two stewards began exploring a Member led special meeting petition.
The SLCA advised in March that they would schedule a work party to clear the SLCA island of brush on April 30, 2022. So as not to interfere, the petitioning members placed a date of May 7 on their petitions and secured meeting space at their own expense.
The presumption is that one or more of the SLCA Board Members who are also potential Stewards shared the work in progress with the full SLCA Board. At this point, one Board member outright insisted that this member led process could not continue independent of the board. The SLCA Board Secretary, using the SLCA email account and distribution, asked all members to not sign any petitions. The petitioning member received email, again from the SLCA official account, advising that even if we got th
Petitioning member submitted petition for a Members' Special Meeting to the board with 3x the needed signatures, all collected in a 3 day window, and requested formally a May 7 Members Special Meeting be called.
SLCA Board formally denies the petitioner's request, stating that THEY, not the member, control the scheduling. If we wished to proceed, we needed to circulate another petition without a date, and exclude certain agenda items as THEY did not approve these items.
We have reached the point where one wonders does the Board control the members or do the members direct the Board?
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