CB South POA still counting votes on when to hold a new vote

Answers expected by next week, board seat nominations due June 22

[  By Katherine Nettles  ]

It is unclear whether the Crested Butte South Property Owner’s Association (POA) will hold a re-vote on covenant changes next month, but a large turnout of members last week might have achieved a quorum to make that decision. The POA board of directors was looking for direction from its membership and held a special meeting on Wednesday, June 1 to address a difference in opinions over the timing of a new vote as board member elections are coming up in August. About 100 people attended the meeting in person and on Zoom, and approximately 100 votes came in—based on early estimates—regarding whether to vote on covenant changes in July or after a new board of directors is seated and has time to review the material. 

“We don’t have final results yet, but it seems likely that we have a quorum,” said POA board president Andrew Sandstrom on Monday, June 6. Under new policies, the POA is allocating votes differently than in the past to be more consistent according to lot separation, so that a property owner gets one vote per legally separate, unclustered property. The POA formed a committee of four bipartisan members to count the votes and cross check one another that evening, but the counting process has taken more than a week. Sandstrom said the group should be reporting back with results by Friday, June 10.  

The special meeting was held at the request of 16 property owners in a notarized letter last month. The letter stated the group’s formal objection to the current POA moving forward with the proposed Amended and Restated Covenants and Restrictions Vote. The board sent out notice of the meeting to its membership on May 21 and made voting and participation available both in person and on Zoom. During the meeting board members tried to limit discussion with Sandstrom pointing out, “We could be here all night,” based on previous lengthy public meeting discussions on the topic, and a regular board meeting scheduled immediately after the special meeting. After allowing statements from a handful of people representing both preferences to either hold a July covenant vote or delay it, the board handed out QR codes and laptops for members to use for voting and posted a link on Zoom to an online voting form. 

A quorum of at least 10% of all owner/members in good standing, or about 95 people, is required for a vote to be effective. 

In addition to individual membership votes, some of those who requested the special meeting in favor of delaying a new covenant vote collected an estimated 30 to 40 proxy votes and submitted those as well. 

“What we do not have information about yet is, were there some votes that were not legitimate? That’s what the committee is working through,” said Sandstrom.

Sandstrom said one thing is clear, however: “I think we have had large numbers of community member engagement and I hope that interest and engagement helps our community come forward with an interest in board seats.”

There are five out of seven seats either being vacated or up for re-election, and nominations are due by Wednesday, June 22. Each seat has a two-year term. The rolling board election happens throughout the month of July. 

“We’d love to have people,” said Sandstrom. He said he had spoken to four interested parties so far, and one had submitted the nomination paperwork. Any property owner in good standing in CB South can run, although board members must attend board meetings in person to vote or give their proxy to another board member attending in person.

“I think we’re in a big period of change,” said Sandstrom. “And we’re buttoning up a lot of our processes to hopefully get moving in a positive direction in the future.”