Attend the Annual HOA Meeting: All members of the Association (which includes all owners and all renters) are invited to attend the the Annual Association Meeting held in the main meeting room at the North Strabane Township Building at 7:00pm on Thursday, August 24, 2023.
Your BALLOTS were sent by U.S. mail to your home. If you have not mailed your ballots, your ballots can still be delivered in person at the Annual HOA Meeting on Thursday
Your Ballot for By-Law Amendments & Your Ballot for two Directors: Every member in the Association will be receiving ballots by U.S. Mail in order to 1st to vote on By-Law amendments and 2nd to vote to elect two owners to the Board of Directors.
Ballot for By-Laws Amendments: This 2023 ballot to update the amendments will be only the second time residents have voted on amendments to the By-Laws. In 2012, members of the Association voted to approve and add one new Article XV, which established initial conditions for leasing townhouse units. This Amendment Ballot being sent to all owners and renters adds no new Articles. Instead, the proposed amendments offer updates and revisions to various Sections among the 15 articles. Importantly, this vote marks the first time in 20 years that the original 14 articles in our By-Laws have been reviewed and updates proposed for owners to vote to approve.
Goal in updating By-Laws: The goal in reviewing the By-Laws was to identify outdated By-Laws and bring them up to date, to reinforce the family-oriented focus of the community, to embrace a more solicitous, transparent and accountable approach toward the community, and to maintain and enhance property values.
By-Laws updates proposed by Owners: To stimulate consideration of diverse perspectives while reviewing current By-Laws, an ad hoc Rules and By-Laws Committee of eight owners (10% of owners) collaborated with the board to study, examine, discuss and propose a select number of updates and revisions to the By-Laws.
Ballot for electing two Directors: This 2023 ballot to elect two people to the Board of Directors will be similar to election ballots for directors you have seen in the past. This year, two positions need to be filled by owners who agree to serve on the five-member Board of Directors.
Role of the Board of Directors: The Board of Directors manages the affairs of the HOA and acts in the best interest of the Owners Association. When you vote for a director to serve on the all-volunteer board, you’re voting for a neighbor who is invested in the community. However, across Pennsylvania, the legal authority for every HOA non-profit corporation rests with all of the owners of each Association.
What you need to know about the ballots:
• Each townhouse can cast 2 votes (or 144 votes maximum)
• Occupants of each townhouse cast 1 ballot for amendments AND Occupants of each townhouse cast 1 ballot for directors
• Owners of each townhouse cast 1 ballot for amendments AND Owners of each townhouse cast 1 ballot for directors
Each Townhouse gets 2 votes; therefore, 72 townhouses x 2 = maximum of 144 votes: The Declaration which governs our HOA grants two votes per each townhouse unit with one vote allocated to the occupants (or residents) of each townhouse unit AND one vote allocated to the actual owners of each townhouse unit. Given that each townhouse unit is entitled to cast two votes. And, given that we have a total of 72 townhouses; therefore, the maximum possible ballots cast can never exceed 144 ballots cast for any given ballot issue.
72 Occupant (or resident) Ballots: Whether the residents occupying a townhouse are owners or the residents occupying a townhouse are renters, the occupants of each townhouse unit may cast 1 ballot for the Amendments and 1 ballot for the election of Directors. Our Declaration entitles all residents to vote. The only exception is that residents who are renters cannot vote on select ballot issues, usually a ballot issue concerning HOA financial matters.
72 Owner Ballots: The owners of each townhouse unit may cast 1 ballot for Amendments and 1 ballot for the election of Directors. Importantly, since our Declaration grants all owners and all occupants the right to vote, this effectively means that owners who also occupy the townhouse unit will actually be receiving double the number of ballots to cast. In other words, owners who occupy their townhouse unit are eligible to cast 2 ballots for Amendments and 2 ballots for the election of Directors. Owners who lease their townhouse unit—instead of occupying their townhouse unit—are entitled, in fairness, to cast only 1 ballot one ballot for Amendments and 1 ballot for the election of Directors.
Your Ballots can still be delivered in person at the Annual HOA Meeting on Thursday
Ballot Security: To protect the integrity of the 144 total ballots, only valid ballots with a raised seal of the Sandy Brae Corporation embossed on its pages will be counted. Members of the Association can maintain the secrecy of their ballots by placing their ballots in the plain ballot envelopes provided. Ballot envelopes then need to be placed in the pre-labeled, pre-stamped return envelope, which can either be (a) mailed to the property manager by August 20, 2023, or (b) carried and delivered in person at the Annual Association Meeting held at the North Strabane Township Building at 7:00pm on Thursday, August 24, 2023. Return envelopes will be opened at the meeting, the ballot will be separated from the return envelopes, shuffled, opened, and then counted.