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Maine Alliance for Road Associations

quorum required for a Statutory road association?

  • 04 May 2017 8:48 AM
    Message # 4814151

    Our annual meeting was planned for Sunday. We don't have a requirement in our By-laws for a quorum. Does the State require it?  We plan to use absentee ballots.

  • 06 May 2017 5:51 AM
    Reply # 4817754 on 4814151
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I am assuming your association was formed according to Title 23, ยง 3101 Call of Meetings and that 30 days written notice of a your current meeting and agenda was provided to all owners. If so, as I understand it, no quorum is necessary. A majority vote of the owners present and voting or by written proxy or absentee ballot may approve matters of the association. Be sure to report the outcome of all votes by mail to owners within 30 days.

    Last modified: 11 Jul 2019 8:26 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 08 May 2017 2:51 PM
    Reply # 4820843 on 4814151
    Deleted user

    I agree with Andrew's interpretation that under the statute a quorum is not needed. Our by-laws actually do indicate a quorum is required, and if not reached, the meeting is to be rescheduled. But as long as your by-laws don't address the issue, you should be fine. Even if you are using absentee ballots you do still have to follow the procedures for sending out meeting notices 30 days prior. 

  • 08 Aug 2017 9:52 PM
    Reply # 5019973 on 4814151
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    I am a member of a statutory road association that was formed after a previously-existing non-profit road association folded.  The non-profit was unsuccessful because a) such a small proportion of landowners contributed what they were assessed that there were not even enough funds to cover the cost of snow removal, and b) the bylaws of the original association required a quorum, and we could never get a quorum to show up or to vote by absentee ballot; therefore we could do nothing.  After struggling this way for several years, the participating members agreed to disband the existing non-profit and form a new Statutory road association.  Our new bylaws do not require a quorum, and by sending out letters warning that a notice of claim will be filed with the registry of deeds if payment is not made, we have now gotten all but a few landowners to join in.  In five years we have gone from about a dozen payers to about three dozen.  We are now in the process of actually filing our first notices of claim against the worst two offenders (who each owe for over three years.)  We do send out the agenda thirty days before annual meeting, and we do allow proxy voting.  If people don't care to participate, we figure they have agreed to trust those of us who do show up to make the decisions for them. This year we had a barbecue/potluck in the hope of getting more members to come to annual meeting.  Twelve people showed up, out of about forty.

                            The Maine Alliance for Road Associations


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