Beginning on May 1, all members will receive a ballot to vote for several proposed code of regulations changes. The following changes are recommended by your board of trustees.
Click here for the complete code change language.
CHANGE #1 removal of membership certificates:
Purpose for change
Membership Certificates are legally unnecessary, create additional administrative work, overhead, and cost (passed along to the members), and many members do not return their certificates as required by Section 6(b) of the Code.
CHANGE #2 service area
more defined:
Purpose for change
Better clarifies eligibility for membership and definition of service area.
CHANGE #3 extending term limits:
Purpose for change
Extending term limits from four to five will help the co-op retain knowledge and investment in the trustee and provide continuity in the leadership who guides the direction of HWE. A considerable amount of financial investment is made by the co-op for training. A trustee is required to take more than 18 classes incorporated across three director certifications. This training deals with industry-related issues, strategic planning, analyzing financial statements, budgeting, and rate training, to name a few. Each current trustee will have to be re-nominated and elected every three years by the membership in his or her district to continue to serve on the board.
CHANGE #4 uncontested election update:
Purpose for change
The change in subsection (b) clarifies that the cooperative need not send ballots to the membership for uncontested elections, saving on postage and administrative cost.
CHANGE #5 separating secretary and treasurer:
Purpose for change
The change in Section 9 cleans up language regarding the assistant secretary (which is covered in new Section 10) and splits the officer descriptions between secretary and treasurer (and assistant secretary and assistant treasurer). The office of secretary and treasurer (and assistant secretary and assistant treasurer) may still be served by one person, consistent with past practice.
CHANGE #6 capital credit via electronic notice:
Purpose for change
It is sometimes very difficult to track down members to reimburse their capital credits. Notably, if a member moves from the service area without a forwarding address, it does little good to send a letter to a former address and give notice in the cooperative newsletter, which the former member no longer receives. The cooperative proposes also adding electronic notice through the cooperative website or otherwise (e.g. email) to give the departing member more opportunities to claim the unreimbursed capital credit.