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As community associations mature, there comes a time when the long-term direction
of the community needs to be addressed by the Board of Directors. Time constraints
of the volunteers and economic constraints of the budget can be impediments
to the development of a long-term community plan. However, development of
the plan is paramount in establishing the direction of an aging community
and will provide focus to the existing and future boards of directors. Developing
the plan itself can sometimes be difficult, however, without knowing where
to begin the process.
The first step is to prepare a broad outline of the areas that
should be included in any plan. Successful long-range plans include
organizational, communications, facilities, community activities,
operations, legal, and financial issues. It is a comprehensive
undertaking.
The second step is to ask the community leadership to provide
specific written input into the items they wish to focus on in
each of these seven topics. You may be somewhat surprised in the
comments that will come out of such an exercise.
The typical input from the community leadership on each of the
overall topics revolves around the following:
- Organizational – Board member attitudes, conduct of meetings/work
sessions, resident participation, defining the committee structure,
preparation of terms of reference, committee member participation
process, development of orientation manual, and board liaison
to the committees. The purpose of establishing the organizational
structure is to insure that the decision making process is efficient
and timely.
- Communications – Communications can be broken down into internal
communications (within the community) and external communications
(outside the community). Typical comments on internal communication
include “Board to Owner” (town meetings); “Board to Committees” (Annual
Orientations); “Board to Management”; newsletters; web sites;
welcome package; community directory; resident surveys; bulletin
boards and closed circuit TV. External communications focus on
development of policies dealing with the local media; participation
in local government as it relates to community issues, and establishing
relationships with neighboring communities.
- Facilities – This topic is usually the easiest one when identifying
issues, but the most difficult one because of cost. Curb appeal
and maintaining the physical plant of any community is the major
duty of the board of directors of an association. Development
of the list of community improvements, additions and alterations,
especially with older by-laws, can be an enormous task. Older
by-law provisions, for example, typically did not take into consideration
advances in technology.
- Community Activities – These topics are important in creating
a sense of community. Typical issues to address are volunteer
appreciation functions; developing a list of special interest
groups; establishing a “welcome to the community program” and
volunteer community help programs.
- Operations – Topics included in this discussion are the handling
of action items; inventory; personnel; contracting procedures;
staff training (or volunteer training in self managed communities);
annual calendar updates and computerization.
- Legal – Topics include by-law revisions; book of resolutions;
personnel handbook; delinquency policy; community rules and enforcement
processes.
- Financial – Topics include establishing a budget process to
implement the long range plan; establishing a reserve funding
plan; financial reporting requirements and investment policy.
With the input provided by individual volunteers, you can now
begin the process of establishing the detailed agenda of a long-range
planning meeting. Successful meetings are often handled by an independent
facilitator whose responsibilities are to insure that all items
on the agenda are discussed, that all participants have the opportunity
to enter into the discussion, and that no one individual dominates
the discussion.
Attendance at the initial planning meeting should be limited to
Board members, management (unless the community is self managed)
and committee chairs.
The meeting should prioritize (1, 2 or 3) the issues, establish
a time frame by year (1st year through 5th year) when the issue
will be on the agenda, assign the responsible party to initiate
the idea (Board, committee or management) and, finally, determine
when the issue will be implemented. Each topic should be discussed
on the basis of identifying why an action is required and what
resources are necessary to accomplish it.
After the meeting, the plan should be put in writing identifying
the task, the initiating party, starting date and completion date.
The board of directors should formally adopt the plan at a board
meeting and indicate that the board will revisit the plan annually
and make adjustments as appropriate. Once adopted, the plan should
become a living document for future Boards.
Communicating the long-range plan to the community and periodic
reporting of the results is essential in assuring community support
for the future direction and goals of the community.
Happy planning.
Association Times' Staff Writer
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