Commit to Committees - Part II

“If you live in a country run by committee, be on the committee.”  ~ Author Unknown

Now that, hopefully, we understand why committees can play an important part in Condo World, and how they can extend the mental health of Board members, how does an association go about getting people to join a committee? Make it attractive.

Have a party. It's summer, or nearly so. Have a barbecue the weekend after Memorial Day, and/or the weekend after July 4th, and/or the weekend after Labor Day, and/or the weekend after New Year's etc. People generally have commitments with friends and family on Holidays. So set them up for a low key gathering the week after. Then let them know what needs to be done, poke and prod for their interests and you'll likely be able to match people to their interests around the Association.

And the best time to get volunteers? When they move in. People move into condominium associations because they are interested in being there. Get them involved before the interest wanes. How? Every association should have a Welcome Packet with the Declaration, Bylaws, Rules, a small gift, local contact numbers, the Board contacts, etc. Let them know you want them to actually be a part of the community rather than a silent guest. You'd be surprised at how much can be accomplished if a board of directors simply asks for help.

As a board, ask for input. Too often, boards of directors sit on high issuing proclamations. Unless it's a crisis, what's the hurry? If you were thinking about changing a pet rule, for instance, send it out as a draft to the owners. Those who respond obviously have an interest in it and can volunteer to help refine it, gather more input from owners and the result, if not exactly quick, will result in more people understanding and agreeing to the rule, since they played a part in developing it.

On the opposite side of the same coin, make sure, as a board that you don't discourage ideas. No one except my daughter is perfect, so set aside the ego and listen to owners. If you don't, why would they ever volunteer knowing that they will do all the work, but unless it is what the Board wanted all along, then all of their work will have been a waste of time.

And think outside the box a bit. Nearly every association that has committees has the some ones, e.g. a budget committee, a rules committee, a grounds committee. Be creative. Here are some other examples.

Community Committee. Condominium associations are community associations. You, even as board members, will likely not know the resources available at the Association, and this can be a valuable resource both for the association as well as for the owners. If, for instance, someone is a plumber, they may well get business from individual owners. Same with electricians, accountants, investment advisors, pet sitters, etc. Even lawyers.

Start a Notice Board with cards of owners and their services, or create a directory on a website so owners will know who lives in or near them. And have the service providers give a 10% discount to fellow owners. You never know who will respond, and it will help break down barriers between owners and create a true community.

Start a community group for those who have interesting hobbies or crafts, such as pottery making or poetry writing. Almost everyone likes to read and a reading club can be a wonderful way to make the condominium association a warm place where everyone actually knows their neighbors. The fruit is bountiful in a condo association. Ripen it by finding out who is there.

Green Committee. Have them look into solar products, a community compost area, Green contractors.

Savings Committee. See if you can get utilities to give a group rate. It may sound silly, but Comcast doesn't actually service all of the TVs in the area. There are streaming services and satellite dishes. See if you can get a group discount rate that says, for instance for every 10 units that sign up the discount goes up. Get group discounts for home security systems.

Explore area service vendors as well. If you can get a home cleaning/maids service to come into your Association once a month they will likely give a discount, again the more that sign up, the greater the discount.

Simply put, use the strength of numbers that exists in many associations and use that strength to get group discounts.

If you have a locked area such as a community room, think about contacting a local bank and see if they will pay you a small fee to maintain an ATM machine on site. It's added revenue. If that fails, you can purchase or rent one. Every transaction brings in a few dollars times a few people a day times 365 days a year can equal all the money you will need for social gatherings, and excess can be used to help boost the Reserves.

Infrastructure Committee. For instance, if you have one or two boilers that service the Association, start now in finding a contractor to service it and give you an estimate of how much longer each boiler will last. Then, either get a cost on a new one, figure out how much it will cost to replace it, divide it by the number of expected years left, add in 3% for inflation each year, and report to the Board as to what has to be in the condo fee every year to anticipate the repair … and help avoid special assessments.

Does your association have leach fields? There's the field itself, a pumping station, and more that needs to be reviewed and maintained.

A word of advice. With all due respect, the one thing I would not do is create a Rules committee. It's a lot of time spent, but since Rules are laws, they should be reviewed by an attorney. Sadly, but with good intentions, many association have asked me to review their rules after months of hard work. But what they come up with may well violate the law, such as saying children not potty trained can't use the pool. Attorneys know the risks better than non-attorneys, so find a condo attorney, ask to meet and just identify the issues you are having, and then let the attorney do his or her job and craft Rules that will substantively address your issues, but will also legally protect you.

And just because I thought this quote particularly clever, let me leave you with it as you huddle together forming new committees:

“Football is a mistake.  It combines two of the worst things about American life.  It is violence punctuated by committee meetings.”  ~ George Will