The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Online ballots only; results and board elections scheduled for August
[ By Katherine Nettles ]
Crested Butte South property owners will have the opportunity to cast ballots once again to update their governing documents through a month-long vote on restated covenants and amendments beginning July 1. The Crested Butte South Property Owner’s Association (POA) will hold a second vote on its covenants this summer after having nullified its previous November 2021 vote due to issues with vote allocations and ballot language. The POA board of directors has made it a priority in the past four months to address the former issues and prepare a new vote as quickly as possible.
The new vote will be held electronically from July 1 until 11:50 p.m. on July 31, and this time will be handled entirely by third party agency Vote HOA Now. The results will be announced at the annual POA meeting on August 13, along with board election results.
Board members agreed on the new ballot language during their March meeting and set the date for a new vote during their May 11 meeting last week. This time around the POA will allocate votes based on property deed and plat and add two ballot questions that had previously been included in the restated covenants document but proved to be controversial.
The two added covenant questions single out removing the 10% dues increase cap and allowing backyard hens; the restated covenants clarify that properties clustered prior to the vote are grandfathered into an assessed vote of 1.5.
During the May 11 meeting, the board agreed unanimously to a 30-day period to conduct the election from July 1 to 31 and agreed to now focus on getting out the vote. The POA had reported a historically high voter turnout for the community of 86% during the November 2021 vote, with 851 out of 989 possible ballots cast. June will be dedicated to getting the word out online and in print through the POA website, social media, flyers and in the Crested Butte News.
Property owners who are not in good standing (delinquent on account payments) will be able to vote in July as they were in the last vote. Board member David Neben expressed that “my opinion is that everybody should be able to vote,” and all other board members agreed in a unanimous vote.
The POA has been trying to track down the 40 or so property owners who do not have a recorded email with the POA for sending the electronic ballot information. POA office assistant Tee Pleak updated the board that she had sent letters to everybody whose email was missing, and left them voicemails as well. “None of the letters were returned,” she said.
The new proposed amended and restated covenants, along with the current 1970 covenants and a ‘redline’ version of the covenants voted on in 2021 compared to the upcoming 2022 vote, can be found on the POA website at https://crestedbuttesouth.net/new-covenants/.
