Maggie Heineman here, I received a message from Andy Kleppe, communications chair at The Oaks (a Springpoint community) , with a recap of our April 13 conversation by Tom Vona, president of their Resident Association Council. Tom did a great job with more detail that I provided earlier. Here’s what Tom wrote:
ORANJ Zoom Meeting April 13, 2022
Since ORANJ hasn’t been able to have a meeting since the pandemic began, the Executive Committee of ORANJ decided to have a Zoom meeting on April 13th. All Presidents of member communities (20+) received emails informing them of the meeting. Approximately 12 were represented. Andy Kleppe and Tom Vona attended from The Oaks.
The first matter discussed at the meeting dealt with the the financial records of the various Associations from different communities. Most had treasurers, dues, and money-making projects. The Oaks was one of the only communities that did not have a treasury. Some of them had professional accountants, and audits were done each year. Others used retired accountants who were residents in their communities to do their audits or were audited by the organization.
Another discussion ensued about insurance and whether or not Association officers were covered by insurance. A number of participants who had treasurers and funds were covered by some type of insurance policy be it through the parent corporation or through an Association policy. This is something that will be checked on at The Oaks.
Another topic was the Appreciation Fund for employees as it was evident that all communities with representatives at this meeting were not allowed to tip employees. Most do what is done at The Oaks where money is collected with a certain amount recommended from each resident by management. In places with a treasurer it is sometimes collected by the Association, and in other places it is collected by management as it is at The Oaks. The residents from other communities have more to do with the presentation of these yearly “gifts” to employees than at The Oaks. Many have parties where envelops are given out and all residents are invited. Since the money comes from the residents, that seems like a good idea. That is something that will be explored.
The main question raised from this representative of The Oaks dealt with the types of duties and responsibilities other communities with Members at-Large have those individuals included in since, according to our Bylaws, their “responsibilities will vary according to the needs of the Association.” Thus far the main responsibility of the Members-at-Large at The Oaks is to attend different Floor Meetings each month assigned to them by the President. A meeting is then held with the Members-at Large and the President to discuss what transpired at those meetings. An idea coming from the Zoom meeting was to have the Members-at-L act as Liaisons to Committee Meetings each month and report on that meeting at the general Association meeting. Since Committee Chairpersons report at the main meeting each month, it is not necessary to have Members-At Large do it, but they can attend the meetings and
perhaps do something else with the information which will be discussed at a future meeting. Anther idea that one individual brought up that she is having individuals on the Executive Committee (not called Members-at-Large) involved in includes the entire facility. They are collecting information about what is happening in the total CCRC industry and eventually writing a report on it. Time ran out before she could explain it further.
Before the meeting was adjourned there was discourse about when and how the group would meet again. The idea of restarting the two in person meetings each year, one in the spring and one in the fall, was discussed. There may be some problems with that at the moment. It was suggested, however, that each of the five Area Vice Presidents conduct Zdom meetings with the RA Presidents in their respective areas and maybe even include Committee Chairpersons where appropriate.
Association Presidents could voluntarily provide their email addresses and give consent to the Area VP to share that with the other LPC Resident Associations so as to open communication among others in that Area and participate in the Zoom meeting. ORANJ does have a Zoom Adcount, and it is willing to have area VP’s use it for these meetings.
Tom VONA- April18, 2022