Frequently Asked Questions - Board of Directors

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1. What is the Board of Directors? 
   The documents that created and govern The Woodlands Homeowners Association documents provide for a 7 person Board of Directors, consisting of, and elected by, the association members in good standing.  During one of the January meetings each year, the Board elects its officers from it's own membership. 

2. How does the Board manage the community?
   By virtue of the Association documents, all Association members grant Power of Attorney to the Board to manage and maintain the community. The Board of Directors, in turn, hires a property manager to handle day-to-day management.  Hiring of additional staff is delegated to the manager, but final control of the all association matters remain with the Board which can override decisions made by its delegates. 

3. Who can run for election to the Board of Directors or vote in the election? How long is the term? What is the procedure to run for the Board? What if the Board has a vacancy?
   Any member in good standing can run for the Board or vote in that election.  Elections are held in December. Terms, beginning in mid-January, are for 3 years and have a staggered expiration. To be a Board candidate only requires that you fill out a short information page along with the reasons why you want to join the Board. At a public meeting before the election, all candidates are given a chance to speak about why they feel their election to the Board would be an asset to our community.  If there is a vacancy on the Board, for any reason, the balance of the Board attempts to keep the board fully staffed by appointing a willing association member-in-good-standing to fill the unexpired term of the vacancy. 

4. When & where are Board meetings? Can I attend the meetings?
   The Board generally meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at the Clubhouse. Occasionally, when a meeting interferes with a holiday or if there is advance notice that a majority of the Board cannot be in attendance, a meeting will be moved or cancelled. The meeting consists of a closed executive session that starts at 6:30 PM. The balance of the meeting is an open meeting, generally starting at 7:30 PM, that Association members are welcome, and encouraged, to attend. When necessary, an executive meeting on the first wednesday of the month is held, that starts at 6:30 pm. As per NJ state law, the meeting schedule for the whole year is posted at the Clubhouse and is published in at least 2 newspapers serving the community. When not due to emergency, advance notice is given if a meeting must be cancelled or changed, as well as when any additional meeting is scheduled. You can call the Association office to find out whether a particular meeting is on the posted date and time and also to find out what are the discussion items are on the agenda.

5. What happens during executive sessions?
   The Board is very conscious that our business is YOUR business. As required by NJ law, and our bylaws, we limit closed executive sessions to the discussion of confidential matters such as those dealing with employees, contractual matters, legal matters and other confidential matters that are not appropriate to be discussed in open session. Occasionally, the Board will use extra executive session time to discuss matters that are of more public nature, but these discussions often preliminary only. A board consensus may be requested, but no binding votes are taken in executive session. In the rare occassion when an emergency matter requires a board decision &/or vote outside of the public forum, the matter and vote will be read into the public record at the next open board meeting.

6. Can I speak at Board Meetings?
   While the board is not obligated to do so, your Board tries to open up a portion of each meeting at which time Association members are allowed to speak about anything relevant, even if it is to gripe about the board, without prior notice.  We only ask that you keep your comments to the point because our meeting agenda is often overloaded.  The Board does reserve the right to end the public comment session at its own discretion.  Bear in mind that members are not permitted to break into the agenda during the rest of the meeting as that would often lead to interminable or boisterous sessions. In the rare case of a meeting becoming uncontrollable, the Board reserves the right to adjourn the meeting at its discretion.  For your information: Though the Board traditionally provides that open comment time for members, NJ law specifically states that the amount of member participation, beyond mere attendance, that is allowed at meetings, is entirely up to the Board's discretion. This is the same procedure that is followed at nearly most public  meetings, such as township committees, etc. 

7. Can I speak to the Board in private?
   If you have a matter that you want to discuss in private with the Board during the executive session and/or you have documents you want the Board to see before you speak to the Board, time can be arranged for you to do so. However, in this case, you will need to make prior arrangements to meet with the Board or provide those documents as our executive sessions are of limited duration. We will give your matter its due attention, but we ask that you keep you time with us concise and to-the-point as we often have a crowded meeting agenda.

8. What is the procedure, if a motion was passed, and comments or information surfaces afterward that make the motion unviable?
   All associations, committees, etc., that use parliamentary procedure have a protocol that is used to reverse motions that have already passed, when it is appropriate to do so.  If you feel that you have information that would tend to show that a motion should be revisited, please bring it to the attention of the board and we will give your information the weight it deserves.

9. How much are Board Members paid for their service? 
   Our Association documents allow for payments for a part-time or full-time secretary &/or treasurer, but at present, no Board members receive any compensation. 

10. Can Board members be paid for work they do for the association that is of a non-Board nature? If so, couldn't that be considered a conflict of interest?
    There is nothing in the controlling documents that prevent a Board member from performing paid, non-board service for the Association. To prevent a conflict of interest, any member in such a position generally abstains from voting when the issue involves the subject of their paid service.  In addition, we have an unofficial custom of disclosing such non-board service to the other board members.  There is also no requirement for the Board to vote on that non-Board employment but, by custom, a vote is generally taken.

11. Is it a conflict of interest for the relative or close friend of a Board members to work for the association in a non-board capacity? 
    As in the above situation, there is no specific requirement in our controlling documents that covers this situation.  However, it has been the informal policy of the Board, when a close friend or relative wants to work for the Association, to make full disclosure to the Board and have the potential employee approved, to prevent, even, the appearance of a conflict of interest, followed by a board vote on the matter.  Also, as above, the Board member in such a position generally abstains from voting.

12. Is it possible for joint owners of one unit to be board members at the same time?
    Our controlling documents do not allow two owners of the one unit, such as a husband and wife, to be board members simultaneously, though there is nothing to specifically prohibit persons who jointly own multiple units from being on the board simultaneously. Whether this presents a possible problem is something that may come up for discussion in the future.  Likewise, discussion may take place regarding the appropriateness of other related people (such as employer/employee) being on the board simultaneously.

13. Can I email the Board, or individual members of the Board?
    The board is happy to hear from you by email, and any members with email would also. However, because of increasing problems from SPAM and other email nuisances, that are common these days, most email addresses have been removed from our web pages. CLICK HERE to take advantage of our easy-to-use full service Email, Live Chat and Work Order support system that avoids the problem of publishing email addresses on web pages as clickable links. Please keep in mind that your Board is unpaid and most members work full-time. We will get back to you ASAP, but delays are sometimes unavoidable.