CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS
Bylaws
Bylaws of the Wykagyl Crossing Neighborhood Association
Document Prepared by Chris McGuire on November 16, 2019
Ratified November 20, 2020
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ARTICLE I: PURPOSE
Section 1:
To promote and advance the civic interests of the members of the Wykagyl Crossways Neighborhood Association.
Section 2:
To promote and maintain the best interests of the City of New Rochelle and its residents.
Section 3:
To cooperate with other neighborhood associations of New Rochelle in advancing the best interests of the City.
ARTICLE II: MEMBERSHIP
Section 1:
The residents of any house in our geographical area bounded by the below areas shall be eligible for membership:
North Avenue on the east,
Nature Study Woods on the west
Stratford Rd on the north
Norman Rd on the south
ARTICLE III: DUES
Section 1:
Each household shall pay annual dues in the sum of thirty-five ($35) dollars. Fees are due to be paid at or before the thirtieth (30) of November of each calendar year.
Section 2:
The cost of membership has been placed at a nominal fee in order to maximize membership. Should the board deem the funds inadequate to complete neighborhood objectives membership fees would be reassessed and voted upon by the board. Only a unanimous decision by the board will result in an increase of the original thirty-five-dollar annual membership fee.
Section 3:
No person in default in the payment of their dues for more than six months after the 30th of November shall vote or hold office in the Association.
ARTICLE IV: THE BOARD AND THEIR DUTIES
Section 1:
The board will consist of ten (10) elected officials. Board members will be elected by the Wykagyl Crossways Neighborhood Association on an annual basis. Election will be conducted on the last board meeting of the Association’s fiscal year (January 1st-Dececember 31st). Ideally, board membership should be a broad representation of the community with members of each of the streets within the association (Seacord, Wykygyl Terrace, Bon Aire, Rose Hill, etc). The board will serve to elect the officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary) and shall have full power to act on all matters arising in the intervals between the annual and special meetings of the Association. The board will ensure that the association will not exceed the annual budget and work with the officers to promote the overall improvement of the community.
ARTICLE V: OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES
Section 1:
The officers of the Association shall be a:
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Section 2a:
The main function of the president is to promote and execute the objectives of Wykagyl Neighborhood Association. As such, the president of the association shall prepare agendas and initiatives for meetings that include matters to be discussed. The president shall work with the rest of the board to invite key members of our community to speak at the meetings which may include: The mayor, our city council member and a representative of the New Rochelle police department to discuss public safety matters. Additionally, the president will work with the association, the officers of the association and the board to discuss special initiatives that will strengthen the Association and the community.
Section 2b:
The president will be elected by a majority board vote lasting two years, starting on January 1 and ending on December 31st of the next year. Election will be held in odd years on the last board meeting of the year. If the president cannot fulfill any of the above, the vice president will replace the president on an interim basis until the election cycle has completed. Presidents will only be elected when a quorum of 7 board member votes have been reached.
Section 3a:
The vice president will assist the president in organization matters in an attempt to meet the objectives of the association. The vice president shall perform the duties of the president in the absence of the president.
Section 3b:
The vice president will be elected by a majority board vote lasting two years, serving the same January 1st to December 31st timeline as the president. Election will be held in odd years on the last board meeting of the year. If the president resigns and the vice president is appointed to the position of president, the board will appoint a vice president to perform the duties of vice president until the election cycle has completed.
Section 4a:
The secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Association and give notice of all general and executive committee meetings. The secretary shall be the custodian of the records, books and any other property of the Association, and shall perform such other duties as shall be requested by the president or executive board. The secretary will also be responsible for managing communication between the Association and the residents of the neighborhood. This includes maintenance of the neighborhood website, and any other news that should be disseminated amongst our community. The secretary is responsible for maintaining a repository of the residences, which will not change, and the respective residents. All minutes, records and invoices will be maintained in Google Drive so that they can be reviewed or audited if needed.
Section 4b:
The secretary will be appointed by a majority board vote and will serve a term in line with the other officers.
Section 5a:
The treasurer will be elected by a majority board vote lasting two years, serving the same January 1st to December 31st timeline as the other officers. The treasurer is responsible for monitoring and managing the Association’s bank account. The treasurer is the primary signatory on the Association’s bank account which is held at Orange Bank and Trust Company. Any payment will require written approval from two officers other than the treasurer.
The primary source of capital for the Association is the annual membership fees. The treasurer will be responsible for processing membership fees via the preferred method of electronic transfer via the neighborhood website (https://wykagylneighborhoo.wixsite.com/website). The secondary method of fund collection will be through checks. Although dissuaded by the Association, checks will be accepted through mail or in person during annual meetings. The secretary will provide the list of residents and it is the treasurer’s responsibility to update the payment status within that file.
Any approved payments should have an accompanying invoice form and when completed should be sent to the secretary for storage in the share drive. Only invoices for improvement of the neighborhood shall be approved. This includes: administration fees for the Association, permits for special events that are either orchestrated by the Association or serve the Wykagyl community, reimbursement of improvement to the traffic circles, group events that are offered to the group, donations to local charities when there are annual excess funds, etc. Bank balances will be reconciled semi-annually by the board with the treasurer. That includes a bank statement, credits from the annual membership fees, and debits along with their corresponding invoices.
ARTICLE VI: MEETINGS
Section 1:
The officers and the board will meet, at minimum, four times per year. While logistics can be modified, the expectation is that board meetings will begin at 7:30 PM.
Section 2:
The expectation is for the Association to meet once a quarter. As to best accommodate holiday and vacation schedules, the second Wednesday, in the second month of the quarter (February, May, August, November) will tentatively be set for each meeting.
Section 3:
At meetings of the Association, the order of business, so far as the character and nature of the meeting may permit, shall be as follows:
First quarter meeting objective:
Intro and Welcome
Minutes of the last meeting (Secretary)
State of the association briefing (Wykagyl president and vice president)
Annual agenda and expectations
Reconcile bank accounts
Unfinished Business
New Business
Second quarter meeting objective:
Intro and Welcome
Minutes of the last meeting (Secretary)
State of the association briefing (Wykagyl president and vice president)
City council member briefing
Public safety briefing (New Rochelle Police representative)
Nomination of president and vice president (if odd year)
Nomination of the Treasurer
Unfinished Business
New Business
Third quarter meeting objective:
Intro and Welcome
Minutes of the last meeting (Secretary)
State of the association briefing (Wykagyl president and vice president)
Nomination of board
Reconcile bank accounts
Unfinished Business
New Business
Fourth quarter meeting objective:
Intro and Welcome
Minutes of the last meeting (Secretary)
State of the association briefing (Wykagyl president and vice president)
Elect officers (in odd years)
Elect board members
Unfinished Business
New Business
Section 4:
Special meetings of the Association may be called by any two members of the board and with a two week's written notice to each member of the Association on where and when the special meeting will take place. These special meeting will serve to fill a void or address an urgent need by the community.
Section 5:
Officials and board members will communicate through the preferred method of e-mails. The email maintained by the association is wykagylneighborhoodassociation@gmail.com and all officers and board members will communicate between meetings via this method.
ARTICLE VII: ELECTIONS & VOTING
Section 1:
Nominations for board members- each person seeking a board membership must submit, either electronically or in person, their desire to run for a set position. If so suitable, in the future, the board will be broken down into segments based on the street location. Ideally, there would be a board member for each of our upper and lower streets (ie one member for upper Seacord and lower Seacord, one member for upper Bon Air and lower Bon Air, etc.).
Section 2:
Nomination for presidency and vice presidency- each person seeking an officer membership much submit either electronically or in person, their desire to run for the open position. If deemed necessary, a short bio should be submitted with petition to run for the desired office. The board will then vote on the open position in the fourth quarter meeting with the winner of the most votes be nominated for the Associations presidency and the winner of the second most votes being nominated for the vice presidency of the Association.
Upon completion of the election, the secretary shall before December 15th, notify each member in writing of the date and place of the election meeting and the proposed slate.
Section 3:
Nomination for a treasurer- each person seeking an officer membership much submit either electronically or in person, their desire to run for the open position. If deemed necessary, a short bio should be submitted with petition to run for the desired office. The board will then vote on the open position in the fourth quarter meeting with the winner of the most votes be nominated for the Associations treasurer position. Once that vote has been completed, the board membership vote will be conducted.
Section 4:
No person shall be a candidate for more than one position to avoid conflict possible conflict of interest (e.g., president and treasurer as each checks the other when it comes to payments).
Only voting members in good standing shall be eligible for nomination.
Section 5:
Annual Board Election. At the fourth quarter meeting, the election for board members will be conducted. Only those members who are in good standing and paid their dues are eligible to vote.
The person receiving the greatest number of votes for each position shall be declared elected. If there is an unopposed slate, the president shall propose a motion that the secretary cast a unanimous vote for the position.
Section 6:
Inability to Serve. If any nominee, at the time of the election meeting, is unable to serve for any reason, such nominee shall not be elected, and any vacancy so created shall be filled by the new Executive Committee.
Section 7:
Vacancies- Any vacancies on the board occurring between annual elections shall be filled for the unexpired term of office by a majority vote of all the remaining members of the board at its first meeting following the creation of such vacancy, or at a special meeting called for that purpose. The only exception is that a vacancy in the office of the presidency shall be filled automatically by the vice president, and the resulting vacancy filled by the board.
Section 8:
Voting - shall be limited to eligible members in good standing, where each address or house represents one vote. Budget votes will be the responsibility of the board and will need a 7 in 10 majority for ratification.
ARTICLE VIII: AMENDMENTS
This Constitution and bylaws may be amended at any meeting of the Association by a seven in ten board majority and approval by the president, provided a quorum is present, and provided the meeting announcement shall have included notice of the item(s) to be acted upon.
ARTICLE IX: STATEMENT OF POLICY
Section 1:
Public statements in the name of the Association or in its behalf shall be issued only after such public statements are approved by the majority vote of the board. The board shall seek to reflect the sense of the Association in its public statements. Absent such majority vote, the matter shall be submitted to the members of the Association, at a special meeting (to be called as herein provided).
ARTICLE X: PROCEDURE
Section 1:
The rules governing meetings procedure as laid down in this this Wykagyl Crossways Neighborhood Association bylaws document shall govern all meetings of the Association where they are not contrary to the provisions of these bylaws, or any other special rules the Association may adopt.