Overview and
Summary of Updates Covenants
As
announced at the 2013 Annual Membership Meeting and updated in 2014, the Board
of Directors commissioned a sub-committee to review and make suggestions for
updating the Little Swan Lake Subdivision’s Declaration of Restrictions and the
Little Swan Lake Club’s By-Laws and Rules and Regulations.
The
main reasons for the review are that there are currently two (2) inconsistent
versions of the Declaration of Restrictions written in 1968 and 1977 that are
both still active and the need to conform to state law, the Illinois Common
Interest Association Act.
This
overview concerns only the Covenants, that part of the LSL subdivision and club
documents that is recorded with, and impacts the deed of each lot. The changes
to each part of the subdivision and club documents must be approved separately
since they currently require very different voting methods and have different
requirements.
This
document gives an overview and a summary of the updates to the covenants which
you, as owners of lots in the Little Swan Lake subdivision are being asked to
approve at this time.
Summary
of changes
NO
changes to fees or dues are proposed. The name is changed from “Restrictions” to
“Covenants” to better match what it actually is. Corresponding clauses from the
1968 and 1977 versions are merged, removing inconsistencies. Normal practice
(what has traditionally been done) is used to choose between inconsistent
versions. The language is updated to modern English. Obsolete clauses or parts
of clauses have been eliminated as detailed below. And the requirements of the
state law have been included.
The
1968 Clause 9 (Sale, Transfer or Lease) is removed in its entirety. This clause
gave the Association/Club veto power over all sales, transfers and leases and
otherwise restricted who could own or lease property at the lake.
Voting
requirements to sell Club property and to amend the covenants are modified to
be 2/3 of all lot owners voting at a duly called membership meeting (voting in
person, by proxy, or by absentee ballot) with one vote per lot owned. This is
currently 2/3 of all lots with no restrictions on how the vote is done.
The
way that the dues and fees are determined and approved is clarified.
·
They
are determined by the Board and approved by the lot owners as set forth in the
By-Laws.
·
The
vote required to change the membership fees and the amount ($150/year/family)
has been removed from the covenants. It is already, properly, in the Club
By-Laws, which has more restrictive requirements than is currently listed here.
·
The
current requirement to change the Maintenance and Community Fund Fees ($35/lot)
is a 2/3 majority vote of all the lots with no restrictions on how or when the
vote is done. This update moves the voting requirements to the By-Laws where
they properly belong. The result is that the requirement will be relaxed to
require a 2/3 majority vote of the lot owners voting at a duly called
Membership Meeting, voting in person, by absentee ballot, or by proxy. This
will be the same for both types of fees.
·
In
addition the By-Laws are being changed to require a quorum of 20% of the
members voting before any changes to the fees or dues can be made. This
conforms to state law whereas the current requirements don’t.
These
procedures are more restrictive to change the membership dues, but less
restrictive to change the maintenance fee. This update removed the actual
dollar amounts from the Covenants since they are also listed in the By-Laws.
Having them in two places, especially when they are different in the two can
only cause problems.
When
and how membership is terminated and suspended and how to appeal is clarified.
In
the Local Improvements and Roads sections improvements that have already been
done (water is supplied by LSL Water District not the Club) or hypothetical
improvements (sewer etc.) that will never be done by the Club are removed.
These may someday be supplied but it is assumed that that will be done in the
same way that water is supplied, by a separate district, not the Club.
Further
Documentation available:
·
The
original covenants
·
The
updated covenants
·
A
clause-by-clause summary of the updates
·
A
very detailed markup (word-by-word) difference of the changes (only for
the intrepid)
These
documents can be obtained at http://tinyurl.com/LSLMembers or as either hard
copy or electronically via email, contact:
LSL Clerk 309-465-6734 LSLClerk@hotmail.com
Alan Jonckheere 630-263-0283
amjonckheere@gmail.com chair (unavailable in Feb)
Barbara
Dunlap 630-740-6459 boscobarb@gmail.com
Kristen Lail 937-433-5089 kadee@kadeesplace.com
Overview and Summary Covenants November 20,
2014