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01) What Does One Do if One Joins the DRCA (Discovery Ridge Community Association) Board??? 01) What Does One Do if One Joins the DRCA (Discovery Ridge Community Association) Board??? This short document is meant to address the above question for new or aspiring members of the Board of the Discovery Ridge Community Association. We want to clear up any confusion or concern for those who are thinking about running as a Board Member, and give new Members a head start. Once elected, you are also to be given the Discovery Ridge Community Association Constitution, so please ask if you didn't receive it yet. Thanks for reading this, and should you run and get elected to the Board, I hope you find the experience as fun and rewarding as I have. Regards, Pat Parno
02) H ow Does One Join the Community Association?The Community Association requirements are ownership in Discovery Ridge, and an annual fee (currently set at $25). You can download a membership form from our website DiscoveryRidge.com and mail it in with your check.
03) Who is on the Board of Directors?The Board of Directors members are all Community Association members, and are elected either at the annual Discovery Ridge AGM, or by a majority vote of Board of Directors members in the case of mid-year additions to the Board. There is no difference between the terms “Board Members” and “Board Directors”. So to be clear, one joins the DRCA, but is elected to the DRCA Board.
04) What Are the Duties of the Board Members?The Board Members are expected to:
05) How Much Time Does This Take?Ok, so this is the BIG question. The honest answer is that it varies – but there is a minimum of the 2 hour meeting each month, and probably 2-5 hours through the month. In truth, many Directors do not meet this requirement. They have the best of intentions when joining, but do not meet this modest commitment. I would encourage you in the strongest terms not to join the Board if you cannot give this amount of time (4-7 hour total) each month. We have many successful, busy people on the Board who manage to squeeze more than this time commitment into their month, and my feeling is that this is the type of person who is successful in many parts of their lives.
06) What Goes on in Board Meetings?The meetings are comprised of an update from the committees on their progress towards objectives through the month, general Board updates, and confirmation from the Board for any expenditure required from the committees. Occasionally there are outside speakers which address the board, and often our Alderman attends the meetings and updates us and answers questions. The meetings are open to the public (although this is not a constitution stipulation, rather common practice).
07) What Are the Committees For?The committees are where the actual work is done. Sometimes this is a surprise for new members, but in reality you cannot vote at the Board level about each issue that arises, nor get consensus on issues with such a large group. So the committees come to conclusions about their respective areas, and take action. If they think further confirmation needs to come from the general Board, they bring the issue to the general Board meeting. As new issues come to the attention of the President or the Board at large, they are distributed to the responsible committee. At the time of this writing the following committees are active: Environment – parks, the forest, the water, signage and related Social – including but not limited to the annual gala, the family BBQ (twice now rained out!), Stampede Breakfast,… Traffic – surrounding traffic and the affect on Discovery Ridge, the proposed ring road, the transportation corridor development, the speed of vehicles inside Discovery Ridge, use of the traffic circle and more Community Space – what to do with our 3000 ft2 room; keep, sell, use? Hockey Rink/CBE Grounds – should we build a hockey rink and if so, how will it look, who will maintain it? Membership – build the membership, understand what Discovery Ridge wants Fundraising – enabling all of the DISCOVERY RIDGE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION activities, how do we go about raising funds? Communication – this newsletter, the website, others? There is, in addition, one more committee that is really a “virtual committee” as it is comprised of one person from each of the other committees. It is not yet active at the time of this writing, as we needed to wait for the resolution of the Community Space issues prior to moving forward with this one…. Vision – what do we want to look like in 5, 10 years?
08) Who Is On the Executive Committee and What Do They Do?The Executive Committee is comprised of the DRCA President, Vice-President(s), Treasurer, and Secretary. They tend to meet in between general Board meetings, and set general direction of the Board. They may deal with issues which are sensitive, or just need more time than most general Board members wish to volunteer.
09) What is the Difference Between the DRCA and the NDHA?The NDHA (New Discovery Homeowners Association) looks after the green spaces in Discovery Ridge. Our community has more intensive landscaping maintenance requirements than the City of Calgary normally provides, so we fund this common area by a levy on all households in Discovery Ridge. Since this takes care of common areas, it doesn't matter if you have a house or an apartment in Discovery Ridge, the levy is the same. The Community Association looks after all other common interests. It generally promotes the family lifestyle of Discovery Ridge, and works to enhance the value of our collective investments in the region. It is also the representative of Discovery Ridge to the City of Calgary . Most, if not all, communities in Calgary have a Community Association to represent them. Typical DRCA activities include the Annual Gala, the Stampede Pancake Breakfast, Hockey Rink building and maintenance etc. The two Boards work together, in fact there is a New Discovery Homeowners Association representative on the DRCA.
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