HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - September 12, 2014
Published: Fri, 09/12/14
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Lighten Up? Installing Solar Panels in Your HOA's Common Areas
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In this week's tip, we discuss a reader question we've been asked more than
once: Should we put fallow common area space to use by installing solar
panels?
We can't find an HOA that's gone ahead and acted on the idea. "I had a client
developer talk about doing it but never did it," says Janet Bozeman, a
shareholder at Hyatt & Stubblefield, an Atlanta law firm that's
represented hundreds of associations. "Because of the economy, the
project didn't get built. And I don't know of any clients who are doing this
now."
Nor does Hal Barrow, founder of Barrowlaw, a suburban Philadelphia law firm
that has represented hundreds of associations. "I've never seen
associations do it, but I have seen owners who want to do it on their homes," he
says. "With an HOA, I'd look first at its power as set forth in the governing
documents and see if the HOA can use common areas for that purpose. A related
question is what they'd use the power for. Would it be for the HOA's own
purposes or to sell elsewhere?
"It's an intriguing idea, and I try not to answer my clients' questions with a
yes or a no," adds Barrow. "I try to ask, 'What do you want to do, and how can we
accomplish it?' So maybe the HOA wants to do it to power its clubhouse or
provide power to residents. That's probably within the powers of the
association. I'd be looking for those kinds of uses."
Bozeman also suggests gauging your owners' interest. "One step in this
process is going to be asking whether your community really wants that," she
explains. "A lot of times, you've got a few board members who think this is a
great use of space, and the rest of the community thinks, 'I was enjoying that
green space, and now you've put up those ugly solar panels.' For some people,
it's very valuable to have nothing there. Also, you read all the time about
people complaining about neighboring property being used as a solar or a
wind farm-there are lots of complaints about those things. So economics
aside, is this really the right thing to do for your community?"
Those aren't the only issues you should address before you follow the sun.
Get more insights, and find out why our experts are as intrigued by solar
power as our readers, in our new article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/1062.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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Recent articles posted at HOAleader.com:
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Solar Panels for HOA Common Areas: A Bright Idea?
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "Our common property contains an area that
seems most suitable for placing [solar] panels and useless for most
anything else. Have you any wisdom, knowledge, and experience from other
HOAs on this subject? Tax incentives and electric company buybacks seem
irresistible." Here we uncover some insights.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Solar-Panels-for-HOA-Common-Areas-Bright-Idea.cfm
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Recording Public and Confidential HOA Meetings: Pros and Cons
An HOAleader.com reader writes, "It has been a board practice to record the
public and legal meetings and transfer the recordings to discs.
Unfortunately both public and legal minutes are on one disc. Since the
minutes are written and approved by the board and are consider the legal
document, is it wise for us to be transferring this information to discs?"
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Recording-Public-Confidential-HOA-Meetings-Pros-Cons.cfm
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Anger and Apathy at Your HOA: Best Practices to Beat These Bedeviling Issues
Are angry and disruptive owners increasingly taking their toll on you, your
fellow community association board members, and your community? Are you
frustrated by the apathy among your fellow homeowners that's also all too
common? Take a deep breath and start turning those stress-inducing
challenges into worries of the past!
In this on-demand webinar you'll hear practical solutions from two
professionals experienced in successfully managing anger and apathy
challenges among HOA owners--a California lawyer and a Florida community
manager who've each represented community associations for more than a
decade.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/snip/172.htm
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The Risks of Recording: When It's OK to Tape HOA Meetings
In this week's tip, we ask: What could possibly go wrong when you record your
HOA board and executive session meetings? And surely, there's no risk if you
store those recordings on the same disk, is there?
Actually, our reader wrote in just wanting to know if it was OK to store both
recordings on the same disk. We've backed up the truck and are asking the more
basic question of whether it's a good idea to record at all.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Risks-Recording-When-Its-OK-Tape-HOA-Meetings.cfm
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Bidding Out Your Management Contract? Read These Seven Tips and Sample RFPs
First
Need a leg up on hiring the right management company? We've got you covered.
Here are seven tips from industry insiders and five sample RFPs you can use to
sift through the volume of information you'll need to collect on the
bidders.
Click here to read full article:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/Bidding-Out-Your-Management-Contract-Read-These-Seven-Tips-Sample-RFPs-First.cfm
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