NAME CHANGE NOTICE

At the annual general meeting on 18 April members voted unanimously to change the name of the Association to the Pacific Condominium Association. This change has been under discussion by your Board for some time. The Board felt that to give the Association a stronger voice with government, at all levels, a larger membership was desirable. Membership has grown only slowly in the past few years and the Board felt that we should look outside the core White Rock-Surrey area for new members. We have been encouraged over the past 18 months by the number of enquiries about membership which have been received from places as far apart as Hope, Chilliwack, Langley, Richmond, Kelowna, etc. Already we have new members from some of these places.

A larger membership is also needed to provide additional funds. Fees ($2.50 per unit per year) have not changed since the Association was founded in 1990. The Association is in a healthy financial situation, thanks to good housekeeping by previous Boards. However, new expenses, an office, a web site (due to come on-line in May) can rapidly erode reserves unless action is taken to increase income. A larger membership, with a larger circulation of the Condo Chronicle newsletter, may justify some increase in our advertising rates.

There have been several occasions when we have felt that the Association has been overlooked by government agencies because we are small and only claim a representation from 'lil ole' White Rock and Surrey. To be able to demonstrate a province wide and more substantial membership would certainly increase our clout with government. Big is beautiful when dealing with government agencies.

The annual general meeting also approved a revised constitution and bylaws. The changes are mainly improvements in presentation and bringing the bylaws more into line with the Societies Act by which we, and all associations are governed. The significant changes are: 1. Reduction of the notice to be given for general meetings from one month to 14 days. 2. The introduction of associate membership.

Associate membership. Provision is made in the new constitution for two types of associate membership: individual and corporate. Fees were set at the AGM at $25 for individuals and $100 for corporate members.

Individual. Over the past 18 months the Association has had a number of enquiries from non-members on a variety of topics. We always try to respond positively while making it clear that there is a limit to the time we can devote to non-members. Such enquirers may wish to become associate members especially if they are considering a move to a condominium or, if already a condominium dweller, may wish to find out more about the Association before suggesting to their Strata Council that they should join.

Corporate. The Board hopes that we will find corporate members from businesses and organizations who believe that our Association performs a useful community function and might wish to give us some support.