THE FUTURE OF THE ASSOCIATION

by Bill Dypchey, President

The White Rock-Surrey Condominium Association has now been in existence for 11 years. We started in 1990 under the chairmanship of Richard Matthews with about 40 member strata corporations. This number has now increased to 120, but recent years have seen little change, we gain a few and occasionally lose a few. Advertising campaigns in the home base area of White Rock and South Surrey have not produced much return and we have begun looking for members in neighbouring municipalities and now have members in Aldergrove, Chilliwack, Delta, Hope, Langley and Maple Ridge. There has always been a steady flow of requests for help and advice and this has increased since the Strata Property Act came into force in 1999. This year, when condominiums have been grappling with the problems of drafting new bylaws, requests have multiplied. We have tried to respond to them all, although we are not an open-ended source of advice for non-members. The Association has gained a good reputation for ready, helpful and knowledgeable advice and this has spread beyond White Rock and Surrey. We have had requests for help from as far away as Burnaby, Kelowna, Richmond, Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Some of these have generated enquiries about membership but it is no surprise that condominiums from the more distant parts of the Province do not rush to join an organization whose name suggests a primary interest in one small area.

By keeping regular contact with Government Departments and others organizations concerned with condominiums, by responding to surveys and requests and by providing complimentary copies of the Condo Chronicle we take every opportunity to remind Government at all levels of our existence. We have certainly improved our "visibility".

Your board of directors believe that the Association has something to offer Government in our representation of member's views and concerns and we would like to be more involved. We shall carry more weight if we are a more widely based organization. Although we represent more than 4500 condominium owners and tenants only a small proportion is outside the home base area. We need a substantially increased membership to give us a bigger voice in the condominium affairs of British Columbia. We aim to do this without increasing our present low membership fee of $2.50 per strata lot. This has been unchanged since the Association was formed. The world being as it is we cannot expect this to continue forever, but there are no present plans for any increase. A major part of our funding comes from advertising in our quarterly newsletter, the "Condo Chronicle", and we are always seeking ways of improving the relevance and interest of Chronicle articles. We are very grateful for the support of our advertisers and believe that in carrying their message into over 4500 homes we are giving good value. Increased circulation and maintenance of a high quality newsletter should enable us to boost this part of our income.

To attract these additional members we must get away from our somewhat parochial "White Rock & Surrey" name. Long time members may regret its passing but we must move on, and at the next Annual General Meeting your Board will bring this topic forth for discussion. The suggested name for the Association is "Condominium Association of British Columbia".

In addition, a new constitution to reflect this, together with new bylaws, is being drafted. None of this introduces any significant change in the purposes or aims of the Association. Some provisions are being clarified and expanded and the whole has been brought more into line with the Society Act, which governs the ways in which we conduct our business. The draft of the new constitution is printed below. We plan to hold a General Meeting next year to present these proposals for your approval. In the meanwhile we encourage all members to contact the Association with any concerns or suggestions, or to discuss any aspect of the future of our Association.