I           TITLE:             COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE CHARTER      

 

II          COMPOSITION:

 

A.         The Committee will be composed of not less than five (5) nor more than seven (7)

            voting members and as many alternates and/or advisors as requested by the Chair.   Alternates may be considered voting members when replacing voting members for purposes of determining the presence of a quorum.  A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum.  No absentee or proxy voting is allowed.  A member of the Board may serve on the Committee as Board Liaison without voting privileges.  A tenant of the community may serve only as an advisor without vote, in accordance with the Association’s Bylaws.  No person shall serve on more than one standing committee of the Association reporting directly to the Board of Directors.  Two family members or husband/wife may not serve together on the same standing committee.

 

B.         CHAIR: To be elected by the Committee members.

 

C.         VICE CHAIR: To be elected by the Committee members or, in the absence of a vote, may be appointed by the Chair.

 

D.        SECRETARY:   To be elected by the Committee members or, in the absence of a vote, may be appointed by the Chair.

 

E.         The Vice Chair, in the absence of the Chair, shall perform all duties of the Chair.  In the absence of both the Chair and Vice Chair, the Secretary shall act as Chair pro tempore.

 

III        TENURE: The Committee membership shall begin on May l and end on April 30 of the following year at the discretion of the Board.  No voting member shall serve more than three (3) consecutive years unless a qualified volunteer cannot be found. Vacancies will be filled in accordance with the LOWA Bylaws.  A list of recommended members will be submitted to the Vice President of the Board of Directors each April by the Committee Chair.

 

Any members of the Committee who are consistent in their failure to attend Committee meetings may be removed for cause on petition to the LOWA Board of Directors by the Committee Chair.

 

IV        AUTHORITY: This Committee functions as advisory to the Board of Directors, and has only that specific authority granted to it by the Board to accomplish action on projects requested by the Board.  Under no circumstance shall the committee Chair or committee member give direction to any LOWA personnel in dealing with committee matters.  Primary contact for information gathering purposes shall be with the General Manager.  In addition, no personal gain shall accrue from service on a LOWA Committee. Any member violating these guidelines shall be removed from the committee.

 

V          REPORTS TO: The Board of Directors.  The Committee shall submit a copy of all its minutes to the Board of Directors and the General Manager.  Verbal reports may be made at Board of Directors’ meetings.  A brief annual report of the Committee’s activities during the preceding year shall be submitted to the Board of Directors by August l of each year.

 


VI        RELATIONSHIPS:

 

A.         Other committees: The Committee shall coordinate with the Finance and Planning

            Committees:

 

1.                The Committee shall annually submit recommendations for New Capital expenditures in its area of responsibility to the Planning Committee on the schedule established by that committee.  A copy will be provided to the appropriate Cost Center Manager and General Manager.

 

2.                The Committee shall annually submit recommendations for Replacement Capital expenditures in its area of responsibility to the General Manager on the schedule established by the GM.  A copy will be provided to the appropriate Cost Center Manager.

 

3.         The Committee shall meet with the General Manager to discuss budget issues in its area of responsibility to be addressed in the General Manager's Budget.

 

4.         The Committee shall review the General Manager’s Budget.  The Committee may submit an alternative budget or concerns about the General Manager’s Budget directly to the Finance Committee.  A copy will be provided to the General Manager.

 

5.         A committee representative will attend the Finance Committee budget review for its Cost Center Budget and may comment as appropriate.

 

B.         Outside Contacts:

 

1.                Sponsorship: After informing the General Manager of plans to do so, business firms and interested persons may be contacted for sponsorship of

            special events.

 

2.         Press: With approval of the General Manager, local news media may be informed of scheduled events and LOW participation in outside events.  Other contacts with the media on LOWA matters will be conducted through the General Manager.

 

3.         Counsel or Government Representatives: Contact with LOWA General Counsel, any government representative, or other agency on official LOWA business must have prior approval of the General Manager.

 

4.         Information Gathering: With the approval of the General Manager, the committee members may contact business firms or other organizations as necessary to gather information to carry out committee responsibilities.

 

VII       RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

A.         This committee is an advisory body to the board and is responsible for providing advice and making recommendations for the development and improvement of all forms of communications from the Board and the General Manager to, and from Association members and community organizations.  It will carry out its responsibilities in accordance with the provisions in the LOW Operations Manual Section on Communications.  The committee will work in cooperation with the General Manager’s Communications Staff as necessary.

 

B.         In carrying out these responsibilities, the committee will cover two major communications areas.  These are (A) written media and (B) video media.

 

1.                Written Media responsibilities are:

 

a.         To make recommendations to the General Manager and the Board regarding commercial advertisements, classified sections, etc. in the association Highlights and other publications of the association.              

 

b.         To give advisory assistance to the General Manager for the information service center.

 

c.         To perform such other tasks assigned to the  Committee by the Board that will promote relations within this community and the surrounding community, utilizing printed media.

 

                         2.        Video Media responsibilities of the Committee will consist o the following:

 

a.         Advise and make recommendations for the design, operation and maintenance of the LOWA local origination channel which is transmitted over the Adelphia Cable TV system within LOW.

 

b.         To assist the General Manager in relations with Adelphia Cable TV regarding changes in service offerings, quality of service, LOWA customer concerns and other matters that may be assigned to the committee by the board and management.

 

c.         To assist in providing video coverage of appropriate activities within or of interest to LOWA.  Such coverage may be live or by means of video tapes as appropriate.  The schedule of events live or taped will be publicized to LOWA residents by video and printed media.

 

d.         To review video tapes submitted by LOWA members or  other sources and determine compliance with Board of Directors’ written policies.

 

e.         Tapes will be shown only where permission is granted by the owner in writing for all copyright material.  A waiver of copyrights in writing must be obtained.  LOWA management must approve the use of all externally provided tapes.

 

 

THIS CHARTER IS EFFECTIVE UPON APPROVAL BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

 

DATE OF APPROVAL:            August 5, 1995

 

Revised:                                    February 1, 1997

Revised:                                    October 2, 1999

Revised:                                    May 6, 2000

Revised                                     November, 2 2002

Revised:                                    August 7, 2004