The minutes of a meeting document the decisions made during the meeting. This provides a permanent public record of positions and actions taken by a board. The secretary of the board is responsible for maintaining all official records, including the minute book of all board meetings. All states require that the associations keep minutes of their meetings and these minutes be available for inspection by the membership.
To Be or Not to Be….Taped
I’ve heard the argument go both ways. “You know, if we taped our meetings and kept the tapes for posterity, we would have an accurate record, which would be much better than minutes,” says a new board member.A seasoned board member responds, “What are you talking about? Do you want everybody to hear all the remarks that are made at these meetings?”
Taking your HOA meeting minutes
Author P. Michael Nagle writes: “It is crucial to the conduct of any meeting that the chair be composed, organized, soft-spoken, equitable, and obviously in charge without being overbearing.” (”Meetings & Elections: How Community Associations Exercise Democracy”). If the chair fails to control the meeting, the resulting chaos will be reflected in the minutes.