Attending his first meeting Rules and Regulations Committee as general manager of the POA, Tom Judson brought some possible changes to the Declaration for the committee to consider. Each change has been discussed by the committee previously.
The committee met Feb. 3.
The first proposal would give long-term renters some rights to use facilities. The landlord would have to assign his/her rights to renters, although the landlord would retain the right to vote.
Another proposed change could make changing the Declaration slightly easier. Now, it takes two thirds of all members to agree to a change and that's been proven impossible in recent years. If accepted, Judson's proposal would make the two thirds majority a simple majority of members.
"It's still going to be hard," Judson warned the committee, but gaining a simple majority might be possible.
Finally, a proposed change would abolish the three-year wait for changes to take effect. The new language would allow the board to decide on the date that a proposal becomes effective.
Because the proposals haven't yet been approved by legal counsel, they are still preliminary, Judson said. He plans to continue submitting proposed changes to the governing documents to bring them up to date.
The committee will not recommend pursuing a policy that was tabled by the board last month, so city employees may not have the opportunity to purchase member identification cards for POA facilities. The decision was made at the Feb. 3 committee meeting.
The policy, 3.06, was first discussed when the city was considering a wellness plan in an attempt to save money on the employee health insurance plan, Mayor Peter Christie confirmed. Rather than build their own facility, city representatives asked about using POA fitness rooms. But when it became evident that the wellness plan would actually cost the city money rather than saving it, Christie informed the board that the city was no longer interested.
But members of the board continued working towards a policy change that would allow city employees to purchase a POA identification card and use amenities at membership rates. At a meeting with members, chairman Bob Brooks explained that the board felt offering the opportunity to the city employees would help relations between the POA and the city and it might bring needed revenue to the POA.
The board approved a first reading of the policy change in December, but then heard from members who opposed the policy. In January, with Brooks absent, vice chairman Brad Morris suggested the policy change be tabled until the full board was present.
According to Simplified Parliamentary Procedures on the POA website, any board member can move to take a motion off the table and continue the discussion. Rules and Regulations committee chairman Pat Laury said the motion can be tabled indefinitely, but if a member moves to reopen the discussion, the first reading will still be valid. POA documents require two readings to change a policy.
General News on 02/10/2016