Because of the wildfires, poor air quality, Highway 20 closure, and a “Level 2 - Be Ready” order, the LRAA Board held an emergency meeting Monday, 7/26, to pass emergency bylaw amendments. These amendments allow the board to make changes to our scheduled membership meeting on September 5th, if needed due to the wildfire emergency.
The emergency amendments are very similar to the ones the board passed to address changes necessitated by the Covid emergency last Spring. These emergency bylaws allow the board to change the date, time, and location of the meeting, balloting methods, as well as to change the meeting to a digital format such as Zoom. The emergency bylaws are posted on the Governance page.
The preference and intent of the board is to hold the meeting on September 5th in person in Lost River. The emergency bylaws give us options for responding to current realities. However, we were advised by the Okanogan National Forest fire information officer to NOT hold the meeting in person IF Highway 20 is still closed and we are still on Level 2 evacuation as of August 15th. Our plan is to continue to monitor the fires and to communicate with the fire managers involved with the Cedar Creek fire. The board has a meeting scheduled for Sunday, August 15th where we intend to make a final decision regarding where, when, and how the membership meeting will occur.
To help us with this difficult decision we would like to gather input from our members. To do this we have created a 2021 Member Meeting Option Survey. We ask that each owner household respond to the survey just once. This is not a binding vote, but the board will be guided by this feedback. If there is a clear preference indicated by the survey, then the board will follow this preference. If the feedback is split, then the board will have to make a difficult decision. Either way, we will post the survey results on our website.
The board is considering the following options if an in-person meeting on Sept. 5th cannot be held, and a change is necessary.
Meeting Options
Keep the meeting on the scheduled date and time (Sept. 5th at 10:00 AM) but hold it via Zoom.
This allows us to move forward with the meeting, however, the Zoom format may be somewhat awkward and less than ideal. People in Lost River may have a hard time participating due to slow or no Wi-Fi.
Postpone the meeting until Sunday, Oct. 17th and plan to hold the meeting in person.
The hope is that by then the fire situation may allow us to safely meet in Lost River and that the weather will still be comfortable. However, this is risky since the fires and the weather may not cooperate. Covid variants and a possible return to mask mandates and social distancing may preclude meeting indoors in the Fire Hall if the weather is bad.
Postpone the meeting until December or January.
The fires will be out. We can bundle up and hold our meeting outdoors. This may work well on a beautiful winter day. However, we could also encounter extreme weather. We could also try to rent an indoor facility to hold our meeting in the area (a church, the Red Barn). The Covid situation may not allow the meeting to be held inside.
Postpone the meeting until May 29th, 2022.
The board has the authority to appoint new board members who serve until a meeting can be held and the membership can vote. Other business can be postponed until the meeting. We would likely still have to function under the 2019 budget.
Please share your preferences by responding to the 2021 Member Meeting Option Survey by August 13th, so that we have time to compile the results for consideration at our August 15th meeting.