SGM December 14 2022

Administrative, Building, Council

Highlights of SGM – Loading Bay Door Vote

Maybe Lowlights is a more accurate description.

Summary

In attendance: 14 owners + 4 proxies = 18 votes + FJL’s 18 votes totals 36 votes
FJL said they did not have enough information so would not vote for either design
Council said they didn’t send out detailed information because they didn’t have to and because they didn’t want to “confuse” / “overwhelm” owners with details.
I questioned FJL as to why they did not ask for information before the meeting but waited until the actual meeting
I questioned council as to why they felt that owners would be confused / overwhelmed by details if council wasn’t
Nothing was decided. Voting had to be 75% to pass and FJL voted no on each vote.
Waste of time and strata money
Loading bay door remains boarded up, making loading bay inaccessible for garbage removal or trade parking.
Each delay means the cost of the door goes up.

Solution

Create a Sequel Coalition of Owners & Residents (SCOR) to give voices to everyone.
Ensure all Owners’ votes are registered and counted.
There are 127.1 votes in total for the building.
If Owners do not group together to vote, FJL will decide every vote.
Owners who cannot attend meetings give their proxy votes to those who can attend.
Owners let the proxies know how they wish to vote and the proxies vote as directed.
Owners and Residents make decisions for the best of the building and direct council to act
Both Owners & Residents are invested in the health of the building.
Residents want to ensure a safe and happy building that they can call home.
Owners want stable, long term tenants and to protect their investment.

Please Check Out SCOR

Share your input, feedback and voice for a safe and happy Sequel

Details of SGM

Meeting Discussion

As you can read in the Minutes, 14 owners showed up. That makes for 14 votes. I had 4 additional proxy votes from other owners. The representative for FJL Housing Society, Julia Lis, attended with the 18 votes that FJL holds. FJL owns 18 units on the third floor. That made a total of 36 votes out of a possible 127.1. Votes are based on square footage.
Even though the 36 votes was not a quorum, the meeting went ahead in accordance with the “Strata Plan bylaws or legislation”.
Three resolutions were on the agenda.
Before the vote there was a short discussion. During that discussion two things happened that took me by surprise:
(1) Julia Lis had been directed not to vote for either door option because FJL had not been given enough information.
(2) The president of council said owners did not receive detailed information because (a) the council was under no obligation to provide such information to owners and (b) council did not wish to confuse the owners by providing details.
I made the following comments:
(1) Julia Lis had lots of time to request details before the meeting and coming to the meeting to say that FJL would not vote for either option was wasting everyone’s time and the strata’s money.
(2) Council saying that (a) they had no obligation to provide details did not speak well to council’s assertion that they are transparent with owners and (b) council is neither smarter nor more experienced than owners and saying council would confuse owners by providing details was insulting. The council president at that point said she wished to change the word “confuse” to “overwhelm”. Which to my mind was pretty much the same thing.

Meeting Resolutions

Vote 1 – Approval to alter the appearance of the back of the building to accommodate 2 doors instead of 1
Vote 2 – Approval for loading bay door to be a 2 door system and funded 100% from the contingency reserve fund
Vote 3 – Approval for loading bay door to be replaced by 1 door with blended funding from owners and contingency
Please see the minutes for a fuller explanation of the resolutions.
If Vote 1 was approved, then Vote 2 would be called. If Vote 1 was not approved then Vote 3 would be called.

Meeting Voting

Vote 1 – 18 in favour, 18 against. Defeated.
Individual owners voted in favour. FJL voted against.
Vote 2 – Not called because vote 1 was defeated.
Vote 3 – 2 in favour, 34 against. Defeated.

Meeting Result

A complete waste of time for those who attended.
A waste of strata dollars to set up and prepare the meeting and pay FSR extra for the meeting outside regular hours.
An insight into the thinking of council and how they feel towards owners.
Another long wait for anything to happen to secure the loading bay door. *The cost increases with each delay.
A reminder that FJL can control a meeting with their 18 votes.

My Thoughts

Owners & Residents need to provide direction for the good of the building.
How to do this?
Creation of a Sequel Coalition of Owners & Residents (SCOR)
Owners who are unable to attend a meeting may give their proxies to someone. That person would vote for the Owner, as directed by the Owner. That last part is important: As directed by the Owner.
I would like to see Owners vote. And it doesn’t matter if they do not vote as I vote, it is important that they vote. The more input from Owners the better the decisions for the building.
When I was on council I asked for and received a lot of input from Owners & Residents and that input saved strata $2500 on a $7500 roof maintenance bill.
And Owners & Residents recommending that I check out other garage door companies lead me to find Garage Door Ninja who proposed the 2 door loading bay door system. Bringing the cost down from an estimated $126,000 to $47,000.
Residents live here and know what’s going on. So even if a person is renting and doesn’t vote, their perspective is important for the stability and safety of the building. We want long term tenants. People to stay and live here and make it their home.
Owners & Residents were vital during my time on council for my decisions.
So please, join the Sequel Coalition of Owners & Residents and let’s make our buildling the best it can be.