Alberta Condo Connections Spring 2024

Membership,

Enjoy access to a range of member benefits and support an organization whose mission is networking condo owners throughout the province of Alberta.

Membership includes newsletters and updates, advocacy reports, access to Condo Owners Forum, articles, and member prices for educational opportunities, webcasts, and seminars. This is all available for a low annual membership fee.

COF advocates for better, fair, and transparent condominium legislation to all levels of government and stakeholders. The more of you there are, the stronger your/our voice is!

For more information please email membership@cofsab.ca or check us out at

www.cofsab.ca/membership-account/membership-levels/

ACCOUNT

Brent

Gary

Mic

Gary

CREATIVE

Kathleen

CONTRIBUTING

Rudy

Terry

Bridgit

David

Douglas

COF does not specifically endorse the editorial, products or services contained within this magazine. These products and services are presented here as an indication of the various possibilities in the Marketplace. COF does not make or imply any warranties as to the suitability of any of these products or services for any specific situation. Furthermore, the opinions expressed in this magazine’s editorial content may not necessarily reflect the opinions of COF. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein and the reliability of the source, the publisher in no way guarantees nor warrants- the informationand is not responsible- for errors, omissions or statements made by advertisers. Opinions and recommendations made by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher, its directors, officers or employees.

Greetings from the chairs of COF David Minifie and Terry Gibson

Welcome to the fifth edition of Alberta Condo Connections. We sincerely thank our contributors and supporting advertisers whose commitment strengthens the Alberta condominium owner community.

With overwhelming support, COF work teams are experiencing significant growth, thanks to the dedicated efforts of COF director Bridgit Kong in expanding our volunteer team.

We have substantially improved our website to enhance the support of members. These changes aim to streamline participation for all owners and boards, ensuring a more accessible and engaging platform.

This edition of our magazine is focused on providing background and education on the roles of condo board members.

For our members, we encourage you to advocate for your condo board to join COF, facilitating broader participation in our educational events. If your condo corporation joins COF, then all your owners become members, too.

Our advocacy efforts continue to focus on three crucial issues:

1. Dispute resolution tribunal: Despite delays since its promised introduction in 2014 legislation,

recent public engagement by the Ministry of Service Alberta and Reduction of Red-Tape sparks optimism for legislative changes this year. While the tribunal’s scope may be limited initially, it holds promise in efficiently resolving minor disputes, which often stem from condo board’s needs for confidentiality. Transparency suffers.

2. Condo registry: Anticipating legislative changes, we envision the establishment of a condo registry to foster better networking among condos and service providers. The Government of Alberta needs comprehensive statistics on the condo landscape, making a registry invaluable for informed decisionmaking.

3. Electrical energy rebates: Our ongoing dialogue with the Ministry of Affordability and Utilities focuses on securing electrical energy rebates for condos with a single electric meter. Since inquiring about the program’s impact in February 2022, we await the Ministry’s attention to this oversight. Unfortunately, poor program design and a lack of condo-specific data have left many owners and corporations without the intended benefits.

Please use our improved online FORUM

to ask questions and share your experiences.

Your continued support and engagement empower COF to champion these critical initiatives and contribute positively to the condo community in Alberta. Together, we can drive positive change and advocate for the needs of condo owners across the province.

Mark the date!

COF will be at the 11th annual Alberta Condominium and Real Estate Conference, which is coming to the Telus Convention Center in Calgary on November 1 and 2. This is one of the best places to both learn and network with condo stakeholders in southern Alberta.

David Minifie, a resident of Canmore, chairs two condos and has had a 37-year career with a major bank.

Terry Gibson, a resident of Calgary, is a co-founder of COF and has been employed in financing and constructing condos. n

Welcome to Brighton Court

By Rudy Strobl, president, board of directors, Brighton Court

Brighton Court board members join as volunteers for a term of two years. Meetings are once per month and generally last for one and a half to two hours. These are hybrid meetings, so members have the option to attend in-person or virtually via Zoom. This hybrid option allows members to join the meeting if travelling or to join from the comforts of their office or home or attend in-person. Parent members will sometimes elect to join virtually, as they care to their young children’s’

needs. The preferred option for most of us is to attend in-person, where we share a glass of wine or beverage of choice, snack, socialize, and communicate face to face. Individuals of the board alternate hosting our meetings in his or her home.

Time-sensitive matters or agenda items requiring more attention than we can achieve through our relatively short monthly meetings are taken care of via email. We, as a board, can vote and finalize decisions through this

mechanism, ensuring that urgent or unexpected action items are cared for in a timely way.

All board members are volunteers who have expressed their intent of contributing to management of our complex, making our homes safe, beautiful, and well maintained. As a bonus, everyone joining the board can get to know our neighbours better and socialize.

As elected president of the board, my intent includes all the above, as well as to ensure that we continue to stay on budget attending to the short and longterm maintenance. Last year, the board was able to reduce monthly condo fees (slightly) even as costs of most services were rising significantly throughout the city. Reduction in the cost of some contracts were achieved, in part, to

competitive bidding and streamlining while maintaining high quality services.

Good planning is achieved through regular reviews of maintenance, contracts, and fostering good relationships with service providers, including those who provide landscaping, garbage disposal, snow removal, recycling, and organics pickup.

One major key to success has been working proactively and cooperatively with Bridgit Kong from our management company Connelly and Associates. Bridgit provides exceptional communication and reliably takes care for operations and owners’ requests. Her exemplary performance and knowledge of condo rules and regulations, contacts with reliable service providers, attention to our maintenance schedules, and consistently completing action items makes our job as board members look easy. I am not sure if every condo complex has the benefit of someone like Bridgit and we are grateful.

Another major key to success has been our co-empowerment style of management. As a board, we invite every member to contribute their unique skills, talents, and abilities. Each member has an equal voice, and his or her opinion is listened to and acted upon appropriately.

Members with specific expertise will often take on leadership roles for specific projects. In the spirit of cooperation and delegation, a member with extensive insurance background directs an insurance claim; a retired professor who specializes in communication prepares the meeting minutes; the avid gardener directs landscaping; the engineer oversees the long-term maintenance and planning; our chartered accountant oversees the budget.

The spirit of cooperation is not restricted to just the board members. Volunteer owners actively participate in gardening projects, including planting flowers and creating Christmas displays, ensuring that owners and visitors feel welcomed. When our fences were looking sad and weathered, we repaired our own fences and repainted. This saved thousands of dollars in our budget that year. The annual BBQ is well attended each summer and gives us as a board the opportunity to listen to all owners’

suggestions, compliments, as well as complaints.

My main job as president of the board is to simply encourage each board member to provide input into each agenda item or task. When individuals feel valued for their input and leadership, I believe that co-empowerment and standards of excellence are achieved. I am thankful for our spirit of cooperation and the privilege to serve our Brighton Court community. n

First at Making Buildings Last

Building a better condo board

By Terry Gibson

Some questions for you:

• Is your personal condo investment managed as effectively as your other private investments? If not, why? Our condos are usually our largest single asset.

• Is the quality of governance and management of the condo corporation consistent with the value of your complex? If not, what are you, as a shareholder in the corporation, planning to do about that? It is up to you!

At Condo Owners Forum Society of Alberta (COF), we want to improve the quality of condo living in Alberta. That starts with the board, which has the only authority to spend money and make most decisions.

Get the right people: Don’t be satisfied with people who volunteer for the board. Reach out to others for governance, management, finance, and engineering skills. If you cannot find them in your condo, establish relationships with professionals.

If you have been elected to your board

of directors, you have been entrusted with a big responsibility, but you are no more qualified than your neighbours to be a board member.

Orientate new members: Take the time to help new directors understand the board’s history, current issues, and plans.

Many have never sat on a board and need to know their responsibilities. Compared to many non-profit organizations, condo laws and bylaws are complex, and the value of assets is significant.

Education: To build a better board, you and your board colleagues must budget for and participate in education events. Boards frequently get into trouble because they don’t know the potential pitfalls of their decisions: they don’t always know what they don’t know. COF has multiple education sources, including virtual and in-person events, our online FORUM, newsletters, and this magazine.

The Board Development Program of Alberta Culture has excellent programs for managing non-profits. The internet

is also helpful but be cautious as the legislation is markedly different from province to province.

Get help: If you have a condominium manager, delegate tasks and heed their advice. Being a condominium manager is one of the most challenging jobs. Pay them accordingly and hold them accountable.

Don’t try to be an amateur lawyer. You will waste a lot of time, and you will fail. Have a relationship with a condo lawyer specialist who can give advice.

Communicate: Your owners need and want you to be successful. They can only do that if you keep them informed and ask them for advice. Boards cannot take everyone’s advice, but they can be more successful if they listen to their owners.

Disputes in condos are distracting, expensive, and time-consuming. Did you know that one of the significant reasons for condo disputes is that boards are not sharing access to critical legal, financial, and related documents with owners? Most documents are required to be provided

At Condo Owners Forum Society of Alberta (COF),

by the Condominium Property Act (CPA) and CPA Regulation.

If you fail to communicate as a board, communication will still happen. But then it will be the rumour mill: illinformed, frequently inaccurate, and eroding trust in the board.

Good communication builds trust. Your board needs the trust of owners.

Be proactive: Don’t be so focused on current, urgent issues that you fail to plan. Proactive maintenance and replacement of critical components is much cheaper than emergency

fixes. One of the most crucial planning devices is the replacement reserve plan. Plans are initially made on reserve surveys, but the plans should be updated annually.

Principle of now surprises: Owners don’t like surprises, particularly those that impact their home’s livability or finances. You may only know some answers, but it is wise to inform owners as soon as the board knows of any issue.

You are not alone: We established an online FORUM when we started COF in 2015. This is a key tool to support

owners. It is there to use if you want advice or to share your experiences.

Board activities: A condo board is responsible for ensuring the condo is well-managed, both physically and financially. That does not mean the board has to do it all. Boards should delegate tasks to their manager, other owners, and service providers.

Terry Gibson, a resident of Calgary and a condo owner in both Calgary and Hawaii, has lived in condos for over 26 years. He co-founded COF and, in his career, was employed in financing and constructing condos. n

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Treasurers: More than financial statements

By Bridgit Kong, director, COF

The condo treasurer is the backbone of financial stability and community prosperity within a condominium. While their primary role revolves around managing finances, their responsibilities extend beyond crunching numbers. When it comes to crunching numbers, there will always be bookkeepers, accountants, and auditors that can help. Here, we explore the best practices that empower condo treasurers to excel beyond financial statements and contribute to the overall well-being of the community.

Transparent communication: Effective communication is essential for building trust and fostering transparency within the community. Condo treasurers should provide regular

updates on financial matters, including budget allocations, expenditure reports, and reserve fund status. Hosting town hall meetings or virtual forums allows residents to ask questions and voice concerns directly, ensuring that everyone is informed and engaged in financial decisions affecting the community.

Strategic financial planning: Condo treasurers play a crucial role in shaping the financial future of the community through strategic planning. Developing a comprehensive financial strategy that aligns with the community’s long-term goals and priorities is essential. This includes setting aside funds for maintenance, repairs, and future projects, as well as planning for contingencies to ensure financial resilience in the face of unforeseen challenges.

Collaborative decision-making: Collaboration is key to effective governance within a condominium community. Condo treasurers should work closely with fellow board members, property managers, and residents to make informed decisions that benefit the community as a whole. Seeking input and feedback from stakeholders ensures that decisions are inclusive and reflect the diverse needs and preferences of residents.

Continuous education and growth: Staying informed about relevant laws, regulations, and industry best practices is essential for condo treasurers to fulfill their responsibilities

Here, we explore the best practices that empower condo treasurers to excel beyond financial statements and contribute to the overall well-being of the community.

effectively. Attending workshops, seminars, or online courses on financial management and governance provides valuable insights and resources to support treasurers in their role. Continuous learning and professional development enable treasurers to stay ahead of emerging trends and changes in the industry.

Embracing technology and innovation: Condo treasurers should leverage technology to streamline processes and enhance efficiency in financial management. Implementing accounting software, financial management tools, and digital communication platforms facilitates accurate record-keeping, expense tracking, and communication with residents. Embracing innovation allows treasurers to adapt

to changing needs and preferences within the community while improving transparency and accessibility of financial information.

Community engagement and outreach: Condo treasurers should actively engage with residents to foster a sense of community and ownership within the condominium. Hosting community events, workshops, or informational sessions provides opportunities for residents to connect, share ideas, and participate in the governance of the community. Building strong relationships and promoting open dialogue strengthens trust and collaboration among residents, board members, and property management.

In conclusion, the role of the condo treasurer goes beyond financial statements to encompass transparent communication, strategic planning, collaborative decisionmaking, continuous education, technological innovation, and community engagement. By embracing these best practices, condo treasurers can effectively fulfill their responsibilities and contribute to the overall well-being and prosperity of the community they serve. n

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On becoming a condo board member

By Mary Smith

The challenges of being a condo board member are enormous but also exciting.

I have been a condo owner for a little over a year and a condo board member for approximately one and a half months. Although I have served as a member on numerous not-for-profit boards in the past, it is amazing to realize how little I know about condo boards and how much there is to learn.

For example, what should the relationship be with the management company and the condo manager? How does the board assess how effective its condo management company is or has been? When is a change in management in the best interests of the board? Has the board been inappropriately leaving decisions

to management, which should be decisions of the board? What sort of orientation should be provided by management and repeat board members?

New board members received no orientation apart from an email with attachments from the manager, which provided no history of how the board and management have worked together. We also have difficulty obtaining copies of important contracts. The situation is complicated because the manager resigned from our condo. Now, we have a new manager who seems fine but needs to get up to speed, too.

We are attempting to remedy the lack of meaningful orientation by inviting management members to our next

board meeting. We also have the benefit of receiving ongoing advice from returning board members.

Another concern we have is figuring out what the condo corporation’s obligations are to owners for damage caused within the owner’s unit with no resulting damage to other units or the common property. Our bylaws seem to be unclear in this regard. On the one hand, the bylaws state that the corporation is not responsible for such damage. On the other hand, another provision requires the corporation to maintain insurance on “…all of the units…” We are arranging a meeting with the corporation’s insurance broker to help obtain clarification on the above.

We also need to work on communication. My fellow board members are wonderful, committed people, and email communication is steady. However, in-person meetings could be better organized, sometimes running for as long as four hours. Agendas are sketchy – done from a template – and provided only two days before the meeting (a week would be better).

As I write this, I may offer to look after the agendas. That way, I would be part of the solution instead of the problem. n

Mary Smith is a resident of Calgary. Her real name has not been used to respect her other board members.

Is your board exercising governance?

By David Minifie

COF, since its inception in 2015, has focused on improving condo governance. Good governance adds value to your condo corporation and needs to become more of a priority for all condos.

The Condominium Property Act (CPA) and the CPA Regulation describes several duties and responsibilities for board members. In addition, “Consumer Tips – Owning a Condominium,” a Service Alberta publication, provides a very good reference. The documentation details general management requirements.

Management: Management principles have not really changed over the years:

• Planning

• Organizing

• Directing

• Controlling

Plan what needs to be done, figure out how it will be done and by whom, and monitor the results. Make changes where needed. The definitions related to these elements have evolved to support a shift towards governance. Leadership has been added. Leadership works with colleagues to develop and share the vision for board operations. The leader works to motivate people to achieve their best work. Relationship management is a priority, as is quality communications with owners, board members, and external resources (e.g., condo manager, contractors).

Management should align with the board’s administrative duties. If your condo has a paid condo manager, then they have been hired to do much of this work (e.g., issue the budget, collect condo fees, accounting, obtain quotes from vendors, issue contracts to vendors, pay invoices).

Governance: Is governance the same as management? Management takes a ground-level view of condominium

operations; quality leadership elevates that view. Governance is more like the perspective of the condominium from, say, 30,000 feet.

There are over 9,000 condominiums in Alberta and most are small (12 or fewer units) and self-managed. As condominium size increases, there is a need to increase governance while maintaining good management. The principles of governance are accountability, transparency, fairness, and responsibility.

Is there a long-term “vision” for your condo’s future, and is it reviewed and adjusted periodically? What does the condo mean to its owners? How would owners describe the condo?

• It could be stated as well run, a nice place, has nice neighbours, and the like. This is the management perspective.

• If it is described as:

— A community of people/families, and that the community can be further described;

— A place where the past, current, and desired future state is considered, and action taken to ensure the maintenance of property value and marketability;

— Transparent in its operations with open communications

Then the condo may be reflective of good governance.

A few examples of condo governance:

• Annual budget: Understanding what expenses are routine and what are non-routine. Understanding that the consumer price index (generally what is in the news from time to time and covers a defined “basket of consumer goods”) is different from the construction cost index and knowing that it is the latter that drives condo costs when dealing with construction/industrial work and reserve fund planning. Consider the economic climate locally, provincially, and federally (e.g., supply chain issues, equipment [e.g. HVAC] pricing pattern changes, technical improvements in equipment, and political influences that may give rise to tariffs).

• Condo manager: Board assessment of the quality of the work done. Does the board understand why they should conduct regular performance reviews of the manager? Does the board know what it is looking to achieve from the manager in addition to quality administrative workflow?

• Risk management: This does not appear in the budget. Does the board consider the potential risks associated with, say,

a wildfire, hail, envelope failures, or overland flood? What are the implications for the budget or a disaster planning initiative? Should you conduct fire drills?

• Future focus: Take EVs (electrical vehicles) as an example. Do you have a plan to deal with owners when they get an EV, or do you have a vision for the condo’s future when EVs are more common? Knowing that vision, the board can develop shorter-term actions to align the current state with the visionary future state. The difference is governance for the future state compared to managing the current state.

Governance refers to the structures, systems, and practices your condo board has in place to:

• Define how decisions are to be made, and establish and/or support the organization’s long-term goals;

• Oversee and assess the delivery of services; develop and implement policies and procedures;

• Address and deliver on the communications needs of owners regarding plans, programs, and projects;

• Monitor and mitigate key risks; and

• Report on the organization’s performance in achieving intended results and use performance information to drive ongoing improvements and corrective actions.

Some condominium problems encountered by a board, its owners, and other stakeholders can be traced back to a failure of some aspect of condominium corporate governance. Tread forward with as much knowledge and know-how as you can acquire. You and your condo community will benefit from a governance focus. n

David Minifie, a resident of Canmore, chairs two condos and has had a 37-year career with a major bank.

Rumour-mill management in a condo community

By Bridgit Kong, director, COF

Living in a condominium community offers many benefits, including shared amenities, a sense of community, and mutual support. However, like any close-knit environment, condo communities are susceptible to the spread of rumours and gossip. Managing the rumor mill in a condo community is essential to maintaining harmony and fostering positive relationships among residents. A few tips to help quell the easily unruly:

1. Establish clear communication channels: Simple and clear

channels is the cornerstone of rumour management. Asking people to contact this person, about “this” but not “that,” is easily confusing. Everyone is busy, and the simpler it is to communicate, the more communication happens. Communication channels should be split into different levels (e.g. board/ committee, people involved, general occupants) because of privacy and coordination management. Everyone in the channel gets the same message consistently and at the same time. As always, too many chefs in the kitchen

rarely makes a great meal, but more than one chef is ideal.

2. Maintain an open-door policy: An open-door policy promotes transparency and helps address issues before they escalate into rumours. Every question deserves a respectful answer, regardless of whom it’s from or what the question is. Many things are important and bear repeating, no matter how brain numbing it can be at times.

3. More than an AGM: Host town halls to counteract the impact of rumours

and gossip on th e community. Help residents understand the importance of topics and to verify information before sharing it and encourage them to be mindful of the potential consequences of spreading rumours. There’s nothing wrong with asking the general ownership for feedback about a project that is being planned.

4. Lead by example: Condo board members and condo managers should lead by example by refraining from participating in gossip or spreading rumours themselves. Demonstrating integrity and professionalism sets a positive tone for the community and encourages residents to follow suit.

5. Encourage foundation interactions: Foster a sense of camaraderie by organizing community activities to educate newbies and remind oldies of condo living foundations. Positive interactions help strengthen relationships and reduce the likelihood of rumours taking hold. Getting general sponsors by building vendors (e.g. Telus/ENMAX/fire safety) helps increase general

knowledge of occupants. Everyone comes to condo life from somewhere different (e.g. from living in a detached house 20 years to living in a different country, or to living without family for the first time) and no one knows everything, and we don’t know what we don’t know.

6. Address concerns proactively: Take proactive measures to address common concerns within the community, such as noise complaints, maintenance issues, or disputes between residents. By addressing these issues promptly and transparently, you can prevent them from fueling rumours or escalating into larger conflicts. Keep in mind Conflict of Interest and PIPA (Personal Information Privacy Act) governing principles to ensure no one is negatively targeted and everyone is supported equitably.

7. Establish a grievance process: Implement a formal grievance resolution process to address disputes or conflicts that arise within the community. Having a structured process in place that can help resolve

issues quickly and fairly reduces the likelihood of rumours spreading because of unresolved conflicts. No one gets decisions or processes right every time. Having helpful guidance before things get out of hand helps grievances managed and rumour mill kept to a minimum. Many hands make light work, and some topics require many hands.

8. Celebrate achievements: Highlight the positive aspects of condo living by celebrating community achievements and milestones. Recognize residents who contribute positively to the community and showcase successful initiatives or projects. Focusing on the strengths of the community can help counteract the negative effects of rumours and gossip. “What gets measured gets managed,” and we all want more positive things happening in our communities.

So, there you have it, folks – eight tips to manage the rumour mill and keep the vibes positive in our condo communities. Remember, when life gives you rumours, turn them into opportunities to spread even more sunshine. n

REWRITING your condo’s bylaws

By Douglas Macdonald, team leader, Crossbow Bylaw Review Committee

The years 2014-2020 saw many changes to Alberta’s Condominium Property Act. Importantly, the government made it more difficult and exacting to levy financial penalties for bylaw infractions, put a grandfather date on any age restrictions except 55-plus, and brought us all into the electronic age of communications and voting, along with many more changes.

Those are the reasons WHY we need to review and update our bylaws. This article is about the HOW – how to create the new bylaws, communicate them to our owners, and especially how to move them past the high hurdle of 75 per cent of all units and 75 per cent of all unit factors in favour.

Spoiler alert: We think we’ve done a lot of the right things to get our bylaws

passed, but we’re not there yet! Our vote is still to come.

It’s especially challenging in our condo – 248 units with a large number of them rented or seasonally occupied.

Here are a few tips on how to get to a successful result.

Phase 1: Get your draft bylaw package drafted

Start with the lawyers: In an initial review, the board goes over the old bylaws and identifies needed changes. Then, get your counsel to deliver you a draft set of bylaws. Your condo is unique, so the government’s standard bylaws will help but will not be 100 per cent right for you.

But remember…

Unless your lawyer lives in your condo,

they don’t know all the unique things that make your home what it is, so you’ll still have a big job to make sure your bylaws reflect the reality of your own home. Things like pets and parking come to mind on that score.

Delegate: Get a dedicated group of non-board members to carry the workload. Realistically, it’s a complex job and your board already has a lot on its plate. An added benefit: you get several additional owners familiar with the bylaws. Appoint at least one board member to the bylaw team to be able to communicate issues and speak from a board-insider perspective.

Read: To really understand how your condo is regulated and governed, you need to have a working knowledge of the act, the regulation (both from the government), and your bylaws

themselves. Dry as dust maybe, but oh, so necessary.

Communicate and consult (and lots): Provide periodic updates to the board and to owners. Do you have an issue where you need to find out what your owners think? Call a meeting or send a carefully drafted email and ASK them.

Once you have a set of draft bylaws you think will do the job, send them to all your owners and ask for written comments. You will be surprised by what they spot in your bylaws that you all missed. Those responses will also give you some sense of the things in your draft bylaws that personally concern your owners.

We made a point of sending each owner who provided comments a personal response to each comment they made. Many of the comments were quite familiar, as they echoed things our bylaw committee and board had already discussed. In the end, we published on our website all the written comments and responses, anonymized but not otherwise edited.

Apathy (NOT!) : All condos experience “owner apathy” – the large number of owners who are just silent and don’t participate in any way. Please don’t make the mistake of believing your owners are going to be that way on new bylaws. If you take the time and effort to engage your owners, they will richly reward you with detailed, thoughtful commentary.

Meet your owners: We called a series of “town hall” meetings (two in person and two by electronic means). We wanted our owners to be able to voice their concerns and comments in an open forum, where they could discuss and debate the things they had observed in the bylaws. We tried to make sure there was a range of times and dates to

increase the probability owners could attend. Each meeting started with a slide presentation by the board that contained some of the key changes from previous bylaws and other areas we thought might be of wider interest. Those meetings were attended by about half of our owners. We think

that’s a pretty good showing! The discussions were lively and varied.

Phase 2: Getting the bylaws passed

At the point the bylaw committee turned the draft bylaw package over to our board and our board approved

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it (minor wording glitches excepted), the objective fundamentally changed from “what do we want in our bylaws?” to “how do we proceed to get the package passed by a 75 per cent majority of all our owners, by both unit factor and number of units?” HANG ONTO THAT 75 PER CENT NUMBER; IT’S VITALLY IMPORTANT!

Is this a hill you want to die on?

Turning around the question of how we get the bylaws passed, we asked: “Who will vote against the package and why?”

Group 1: Owners who don’t care and/or won’t vote.

Group 2: Owners having an issue(s) with the package that is so serious to them that they will vote against the entire package even if they like everything else… or as we say, “is this a hill you want to die on?”

Said another way: “What issues are very important to a large enough proportion

of our owners that they will potentially swing the vote to the negative?” Remember, it takes ONLY 25 per cent of your vote coming in negative to sink your bylaw ship.

Identify the knotty issues

As a result of the written comments and the discussions at the four meetings, the bylaw committee and our board together assessed which issues pose a threat to getting the bylaws passed. While there are many issues of importance to our owners, we identified three (in order of significance to the vote). NOTE: Your issues will be different, but I’m going to guess there are two or three you will identify if you take the trouble to listen to your owners.

1. Dog size restrictions – the most important issue to many our owners

2. Facility to pay directors a stipend or salary

3. Prohibition of propane BBQs (we have natural gas outlets throughout)

Of these three, we assessed that the dog size issue was the only one that by itself could sink the bylaw ship. Our town hall meetings indicated there was a strong contingent on both sides of the issue, such that irrespective of which side has the majority opinion, neither side has a 75 per cent majority. If that’s the way our owners vote, the voting process will fail to pass the entire bylaw package.

Just how knotty are they?

We commissioned a one-question survey to better gauge where we stand and chart a path forward regarding dog size. It showed a 60/40 split among owners. So, if the bylaws go to a vote and people vote on all the bylaws because they have a preference for dog size limitations, the bylaws will fail – irrespective of whether the owners split 60/40 in favour or against dog size limitations!

As of now, our board has made no decisions on how to proceed from here. Our most likely option is to change the wording of certain bylaws to reduce the opposition to them we perceive is there.

I suppose more surveys could be done on the other issues but the team and our board together assessed that after five years of detailed discussions, the additional time and effort versus the possible benefits did not justify proceeding down that track. Owner “fatigue” with bylaws is real, in our opinion.

Carve out the problem issue?

We are exploring carving the dog issue out as a second resolution in the voting process. The first resolution would cover all the bylaws but dog size limitation. We think we have 75 per cent support to pass that package, giving us a positive result on at least the lion’s share of our bylaw package. The second resolution would then amend the bylaws as passed in the first resolution to add a dog size restriction.

Starting to sound quite political, isn’t it? What concessions do we have to make to our electorate to get our bylaws “elected”?

I wish we could tell you the ending of our story. Either pass or fail, we would know the outcome of all our efforts. In the meantime, we are confident of the benefits of our process of continuous engagement with our owners – our bylaws are as relevant as possible to our condo and its owners, and we have greatly increased the odds they will pass.

As with our owners, we look forward to your questions and comments. Tell us about YOUR journey! n

Doug Macdonald is a retired professional engineer. He is a resident of the Crossbow Condominium in Canmore. He has owned condominium property in Alberta and/or British Columbia since 1986 and has held positions of secretary and president. For the past five years, Doug has chaired the Crossbow Bylaw Review Committee. He is currently also chair of the Bylaw Review Committee for the Brierwood Strata in Nelson, B.C. In both cases, the committee’s mandate is to develop new bylaws in response to legislative changes in the relevant Acts.

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On being board secretary

By Kathryn Church, PhD, Brighton Court board secretary

Ibecame a condo association board member and board secretary at the same time. I had no previous experience in either role and was new to the city and the neighbourhood. I agreed to serve because I wanted to know how things worked in the complex that had become my home. Freshly retired, I had discretionary time, and

saw these roles as an interesting way to get to know people. Being secretary seemed like a good fit for my skill set – if somewhat gender stereotyped. I have plenty of experience writing for both academic publication and administration. As it turns out, only some of it was helpful.

As a social scientist, I am trained to provide detail, to convey complexity, and to be present as a subject in writing. As board secretary, my task is to produce minutes that are succinct and objective with a focus on decisions and outcomes rather than process and debate. That’s a sharp shift learning curve! Fortunately, the board’s

previous secretary set a good example, and I used his minutes as a template while I retooled. From the start, I sent draft minutes to all board members with a request for corrections, omissions, and other feedback. I continue this practice because it yields a collective account that we then ratify at in-person meetings.

Some secretaries record their minutes directly to an electronic file while the meeting is in progress. I see the advantage but, sadly, that’s not one of my skills. Instead, I take handwritten notes that I work into minutes after the meeting. I take copious notes, often recording verbatim the words people use, especially when they reflect professional or practical expertise. I don’t use every scritch and scratch, but I like having lots of detail to whittle into main points.

Mirroring the approved agenda, I highlight basic information, motions made (by whom and the outcome), and action arising. I attach names to action arising (deliberately in bold) so that members know exactly what is to happen – and who is responsible. There are disadvantages to this approach: first, although it primes me to ask for necessary information, notetaking tends to inhibit my participation in discussion; and second, I can be slow to move from rough to complete draft. I wrangle continually with my tendency to procrastinate.

Our management rep posts ratified minutes to the owners’ portal on the company’s website. Over time, they constitute an important archive for owners and potential purchasers. I don’t know how many owners actually enter that digital space to seek them

out. (Note to self on a small survey.) Further, the board agrees that, even though it’s not large, our condo complex needs information sharing beyond the minutes. We need to tell people regularly what the current issues are and what decisions we are making on their behalf – decisions that affect not just the complex, but a substantial chunk of the whole neighbourhood – now and into the future. Recently, I’ve started to assemble highlights from the board: an email to all owners with three to four bullet points listing things they should know each month. It’s a proactive communication that we hope will inform, clarify, connect, and help strengthen our community.

I am reaching the end of my first twoyear term. There’s a good chance I will volunteer again. n

Dionne Levesque John McDougall Kate Kozowyk

Barlow