Vol. 16, No. 1
540.972.2237
LOWA.org
/LOWAssociation
May 4, 2018
LOWA Membership Speaks: Referendum Disapproved by Dan McFarland, Lake Currents copy editor
With a historically high response rate, (approximately 61 percent of the 4,257 lots voted) the LOWA membership disapproved the referendum proposal at the Special Meeting of the Membership April 24. Although 1,207 votes were received favoring a proposed amendment to the LOWA governing documents to limit the Board of Directors ability to spend more than $500,000 without holding a full member referendum, that tally fell (922 votes, or 43 percent) short of the 2,129 votes needed to amend the Declaration of Restrictions. A total of 1,359 votes against the proposal were received, amounting to a six percent advantage over the pro-referendum count. Some 39 percent of lot owners did not register a vote in the balloting. Referendums held in the past three years have needed to be extended in order to reach comparable numbers of votes cast. A last-minute motion by petition organizer Jim Logan to extend the referendum until June 26 also failed, and the voting was closed.
The final tally of the votes is as follows: Total Ballots Cast: Approve: Disapprove: Ballot Cast Without a Vote: ballots cast)
2,575.67 (60.5% of the total LOWA lots) 1,207.42 (47.05%) 1,358.75 (52.95%) 9.50 (These are reflected in total
May the 4th Be With You! See Independence Day Parade ad on Page 24.
Proxy Ballot Use Explained
by Jennifer Zukowski, LOWA Board Secretary
Boat Registration Decals should be affixed to your watercraft by May 1. LOWA Security will begin decal enforcement on May 2.
Agenda 2 President's letter 2 Association News 2-10 CARC Update 3 General Manager's Column 3 Calendar 9-10 Board Minutes 14 Viewpoints 16 Orange County 21 Classifieds 22-23
Clubhouse Deck is Open Come enjoy the view!
The Secretary of the Board is the default proxy holder so that members do not have to attend Member meetings to cast their vote. The Secretary of the Board cannot change a member vote. As the default proxy holder, the Secretary of the Board establishes a quorum and votes whether to extend a referendum or not. The reason I voted not to extend the referendum is because should LOWA ever need to make emergency repairs, 50 days would be a very long time to wait before repairs could be made. For example, if a hurricane damaged the dam, we would be unable to use insurance money until a referendum was held. Imagine if such a referendum had to be extended beyond 50 days before repairs could be made. The results could be disastrous. The referendum failed because petitioners were unable to get 50 percent plus 1 votes within 50 days. If they had, the referendum would have passed. Some members believe that our attorney’s opinion is incorrect, but the way the Homeowner Association Covenants are worded matters. If LOWA had to be defended in a court of law, we would rely on our attorney, not a member, to defend the Association, even if that member happened to be a Board Director. We welcome your questions. Please do not hesitate to email Board@lowa.org with your questions.
Wednesday, May 16 LOWA Regular Board Meeting 2 PM, Community Center
Saturday, May 5 LOWA Regular Board Meeting 10 AM, Community Center
Join us at our LOW Realtor's Open House Sunday, May 6 Noon - 4 PM, Clubhouse
LOWA Website Links Clubhouse Area Recreation Complex Info LOWA.ORG/CAPITALPROJECTS dwellingLive LOWA.ORG/DWELLINGLIVE Lake Currents online: LOWA.ORG/LAKECURRENTS