Maine Alliance for Road Associations - Annual meeting minutes

25 Mar 2022 3:15 PM

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Message # 12681041

Anonymous member

Our annual meeting was held in September of 2021. We have a secretary who took the minutes, but we did not receive the minutes until March 2022, six months after the annual meeting. We are a statutory road association and I believe that minutes of meetings should be accurate, include the members present, the results of any vote, officers elected, and include a budget. Then the minutes should be delivered to all of the road association membership via e-mail or mailed within 30 days of the meeting.

26 Mar 2022 3:19 PM

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Reply # 12682032 on 12681041

Anonymous member (Administrator)

I have heard Attorneys Mary Denison and John Cunningham stress the importance of following the directives in the Private Ways Statute carefully so that your road association's statutory status can be documented in court during disputes with owners delinquent in maintenance fee assessments. Unless adherence to the Statute is complete, the court may find your statutory status forfeited and enforcement provisions of the Statute null and void.

Email notifications to owners of association matters must be approved by each owner before use. You are correct that U. S. Mail owner notification of votes and amounts assessed at duly called meetings must be accomplished within 30 days.

I suggest the Board or Commissioner inform the secretary of the above requirements in writing, hold appropriate elections, including the secretary, at the next meeting, and have the members vote to approve the belated minutes for the record.

Last modified: 16 Apr 2022 11:58 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

27 Mar 2022 2:43 PM

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Reply # 12682889 on 12681041

Anonymous member

Thank you for your reply to my question regarding the minutes of meetings. I neglected to say that the secretary of our statutory road association is the president's wife. We have a board of directors but there has never been a meeting of the board of directors and the president. Not all members are notified of meetings, and they do not receive minutes of meetings. Many members of the road association have not received a copy of our road association bylaws. My belief is that when property is transferred to a new owner, the new owner should be given a copy of the bylaws, and the bylaws should be reviewed annually and updated as necessary. There never has been a reading of the minutes for the membership to vote on for approval or to make corrections to the minutes.

27 Mar 2022 10:38 PM

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Reply # 12683199 on 12681041

Anonymous member (Administrator)

Are you sure your association is actually a statutory road association, established in accordance with 23 MRS 3101 - 3104? I have run into other situations where the officers said it was a statutory road association, but were unable to produce any evidence that it was in fact set up originally in the manner specified in section 3101. It certainly doesn't sound as if it is currently being run in accordance with the statute.

In case you need to refer back to the statutes, here is a link: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/23/title23sec3101.html The arrow in the top right hand corner will let you scroll through sections 3102 - 3104.

28 Mar 2022 2:41 PM

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Reply # 12684158 on 12681041

Anonymous member

Thanks again. I sincerely appreciate your comments. I have read all of the Maine Chapter 23 that applies to road associations. I find it is not being followed by our road association. I joined MARA a few years ago when I began to notice discrepancies in the way our road association was being managed. I attended the last MARA conference and was disappointed the pandemic forced cancellation of the conference for the past two years.

Can you please answer a question that remains? If a road association changes from an ad hoc association to a statutory form of association, does it need to be registered as such with the state government, local town office, or the county Registrar of Deeds (ours being Somerset County).

I believe that Chapter 23 does not enforce the statute but gives the road association members the ability to enforce their bylaws.

29 Mar 2022 10:56 AM

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Reply # 12685365 on 12681041

Anonymous member (Administrator)

To be clear, the MARA conference was not cancelled the last two years, it just went to a live/virtual format in 2020, and all virtual in 2021. We hope to be live again this year, but also offer the virtual option for those too far away to travel in for the one day.

Setting up a Statutory Road Association does NOT require registering with the state, the town, or anyone else. (A non-profit is required to file annually with the State.) What IS required is that the initial meeting of a Statutory Road Association must be called by a Notary, and notice must be sent to the owner of EVERY parcel that benefits from the road, including parcels that are undeveloped, or that use other access (that is, they may have frontage on both the private road and on a public road). Failing to do so can provide a loophole for anyone who seeks to find a road association unenforceable.

There is no outside enforcement for road associations. Enforcement of payment of dues is available through the Notice of Claim, or through small claims court. Unfortunately there is no enforcement agency that reviews whether or not a road association was set up properly or is operating within the statutes.

30 Mar 2022 6:31 AM

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Reply # 12686560 on 12681041

Anonymous member

My apology, I had forgotten about the online MARA conference. My hope is that this year's conference can be attended in person, and I will look forward to being there. Regarding our statutory road association, I have come to realize that I am fighting a battle that cannot be won. We seemed to be a more successful road association as an ad Hoc association. Thank you for your responses to my questions, I appreciate your answers.