The New Mark Commons Homes Association is governed by a set of Covenants and Bylaws that are 52 years old. During that period, state and local laws regarding homeowner associations have changed drastically, and New Mark’s governing documents need to be updated.

At its March organizational meeting, the Board voted to form a committee headed by Board President John Daroff to tackle the pressingly important task of bringing the community’s governance documents into line with current standards.

The five-member committee is to include Board member David Sloane, who has experience in governance issues, and three other homeowners.

The Board is inviting volunteers to step forward with a letter of application that could, for example, include ideas on the issue, or problems that they would like to see addressed in governing New Mark Commons. Interested persons should send an email to board@newmarkcommons.net by June 3, so the Board can consider the applicants and decide on the final makeup of the committee at its next meeting on June 6.

The first meeting is to be scheduled for mid to late June. All meetings will be open to all residents.. Three volunteers have already applied, in response to John’s column in the April newsletter.

This will be a concentrated effort extending well into this year and most likely through the next. Full community involvement is needed. In order for any changes to be adopted, at least 60 per cent of homeowners, possibly up to two/thirds of all homeowners, will need to approve.

“We anticipate wide community involvement,” John said.

At the May 2 meeting, the Board fine-tuned its plans for the effort.

“The main charge [for the governance committee] is to work on modernizing the documents,” John said. “But if other policy issues come up, it would be a good space to talk about those ideas too.”

The Board agreed that the committee will work from a template to be customized that includes up-to-date industry standard language and provisions. The Board’s attorney will provide recommended template and advise the committee throughout the project.

“Our attorney has advised it’s easier to customize a modern set of documents, than it is to retrofit [our] old set of documents,” John said.

Once the committee is formed, the community will be asked as a whole if they have specific issues with the bylaws and Covenants.

The current documents have been the basis for keeping New Mark Commons the cohesive and enjoyable community that it is for more than 50 years. In 2017, we celebrated our 50th anniversary and were recognized on the national level that same year with our inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Board intends to lead the community into its next successful 50 years by reviewing and keeping what is good about our current guidelines and making changes that will improve future governance.