Meeting Notice – March 23, 2018
Meeting Summary: A regular meeting of the Board was held on Friday, March 23, 2018 at the office of Board President Bruce Wilson. Notice of the meeting was announced and posted on the North Shores website. Attending the meeting in person and by teleconference were: President Bruce Wilson, Secretary Debbie Director, Treasurer Helen Hoart, ARC Head Paul Salditt, and Vice President Louisa Hollman.
The meeting was called to order by President Wilson and a quorum was declared. The first item of business, the review and ratification of votes taken by email was postponed until the next meeting. The Board agreed the limited meeting time should be used to discuss a succession plan for the North Shores office manager position.
President Wilson explained to the Board recent developments in the search for candidates to replace office manager Linda Travers, who has given notice of her retirement. Over the past few weeks President Wilson and Secretary Debbie Director had reviewed the resumes of several candidates provided by a local temporary employment agency for the office manager position. Recognizing the increasing demands on the North Shores office in terms of covenant administration and community maintenance, much of which is being handled directly by the Board, Mr. Wilson and Ms. Director decided to expand the candidate search to include professional management companies.
President Wilson and Secretary Director explained the benefits that they perceived a professional property management company would contribute to the North Shores community and Board. The companies that had been interviewed would use a team approach to support the management of the office, drawing on experience from other communities. An executive group from the company’s local office would oversee the training and supervision of the new office manager, who would report to the Board but would remain employed by the management company. This arrangement would facilitate both hiring and retention, through the appeal to a wider applicant pool with greater support from a bigger organization than North Shores could manage on its own. An executive from the property management group would be assigned as the contact from the company, reporting directly to President Wilson. President Wilson and Secretary Director explained the need for greater property management experience and oversight of the office manager as essential elements to a successful office operation and administration of community business.
At the same time, President Wilson cautioned that the professionalism and responsiveness of any management company chosen for the role would be an essential predicate to their retention; President Wilson believed that the Board would want to balance the desire for greater professionalism and the availability of additional management resources against the “personal” nature of the North Shores staff and the need for non-bureaucratic interactions with the community. President Wilson indicated that he had made clear to the property management companies being interviewed that only the office management and administration role would be assigned to the management company at this time; that a dedicated North Shores office manager would be required and expected on-site in the North Shores office, providing a consistent level of engagement with the community; and that there would be no current change in the bookkeeping/financial management, pool/beach management, or pure property management/maintenance functions (currently outsourced to Steve Houston, the community’s property manager).
The Board discussed the proposal at length, focusing on: the need to minimize the impact of a change in the office management structure on the community; the need for a longer-term continuity plan for the community’s office functions; the increasing time demands on the North Shores office as more residents build in the community; the need for greater administrative resources in managing the community in the coming years; the balance between perceived improvements in office and community administration and the increased costs associated with expanded office hours, a full-time employee, and engaging a professional property management company; the Board’s control over the selection, performance review and retention of the office manager, and such other matters as the directors deemed relevant to their consideration of the proposal.
After an in-depth discussion that evaluated the projected demands on the office staff over the next several years, and the potential that the North Shores office management role could ultimately involve other functions currently handled on a part-time basis by other staff members, the Board concluded that the community’s interests would best be served by experimenting with a one-year management company contract.
President Wilson then reported on his discussions with different management companies in the area, and concluded with his recommendation that Legum & Norman, an Associa property management affiliate, be chosen for the initial evaluation contract. President Wilson and Secretary Director reviewed their interactions with the Legum & Norman staff, highlighting the more creative and flexible approach adopted by Legum as an advantage over the other property management firms considered for the role. President Wilson then reviewed the other management companies that had been consulted on the proposed engagement, and reviewed the reasons for his recommendation that Legum be engaged.
After discussion of the local and some other more distant management company alternatives, the Board directed President Wilson to complete negotiations with the Legum firm and to execute a one-year agreement as a means of testing the premise that the community would benefit from the introduction of a management company to support the North Shores office manager.
The meeting was adjourned.