SYLVIA LAKE ASSOCIATION CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I — Name and Place of Business

This association will be known as the SYLVIA LAKE ASSOCIATION. Its principle place of business shall be at Sylvia Lake in the Town of Fowler,County of St. Lawrence and the State of New York, but meetings of the association and its officers and directors may be held in Gouverneur, New York, or elsewhere as hereinafter provided.

Committee Notes: No proposed changes

ARTICLE II — Purposes

The purposes of the association shall be to preserve, protect and promote the welfare of Sylvia Lake, its area and environment, for the use and enjoyment of it by the camp and property owners.

Committee Notes: It should be noted here that nowhere in this sentence is there any mention of promoting the lake for use by the public. If in fact Article II were to be followed then there should an evaluation to determine whether or not the lake can sustain the current level of use and not only determine if Public use should be allowed but also as responsible Camp and Property owners if there should be restrictions that we place upon ourselves, ie. Restricting 2 cycle engine use to meet 4 cycle engine standards that the State and Federal Governments will soon be issuing, horsepower limits, noise levels, etc. These issues should be addressed formally by either amendment or Article and are mentioned again in Article V.

ARTICLE III — Membership

Membership shall be open to all persons interested in the welfare of Sylvia Lake and its area, with voting privileges extended only to property owners over the age of 21 years, with one vote each on each parcel of land. All members shall cooperate for the promotion of the purposes of the association, and give active aid and loyal support in carrying out its objectives and policies.

ARTICLE IV — Officers and Directors

The officers of the association shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer, all of whom shall be elected at the annual meeting, to serve for a term of one year. * At the conclusion of the President‘s term or terms of office he or she shall then serve on the Board of Directors for one year. The Vice President may assume the Presidency, if duly nominated and elected at the annual meeting. The President shall preside at all meetings and shall perform the usual and customary duties of the President, as well as such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the association.

The Vice President shall, in the absence or disability of the President, perform all of the duties of the President and such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Association.

The Secretary shall prepare and keep a roll of the Sylvia Lake property owners. He or she shall conduct the correspondence of the association, send out notices of meetings, gather information for an annual newsletter and keep a full and complete record of all the proceedings of the association, its officers and directors.

The Treasurer shall collect the dues, issue membership cards, prepare and keep a role of members, act as chairperson of the lake area representatives and pay all bills as directed by the Officers. If a vacancy occurs in any of the offices of the association, it shall be filled by appointment by the Board of Directors, acting as an executive committee until the next annual meeting.

The Board of Directors shall consist of the four above named officers, by virtue of their office, **and the immediate Past President for a term of one year. In addition, four adult directors shall be elected at the annual meeting, to represent different areas of the Sylvia Lake development. Two directors shall be elected each year, each to serve for a term of two years. *** In addition, two junior directors shall be elected to serve for a term of one year each. The total number of directors shall then be eleven.

**** Continuity of programming will be insured by the proposal that the Vice President succeed to the Presidency the President remaining on the Board of Directors for one year, and by only two of additional four adult directors being replaced each year. The Board of Directors shall act as the Executive Committee of the association in planning, proposing and carrying out its programs and may act for the association accordingly.

Committee: Notes:
* being realistic we need to understand that there will always be a limited number of individuals willing and able to fulfill the functions of an officer for the Association. By keeping only a President, vice president, Sec. /Treas., and 4 directors as your executive board you don’t deplete the pool of available individuals willing to serve the Association. Eleven people are not needed.
** This position should be eliminated
*** This position should also be eliminated
**** While a nice thought it is neither necessary or prudent to apply this proposal. It expresses no real authority and is given only as an idea. If left in it should be stated that the Vice -president shall succeed the President or be left out. New ideas from a new administration should be free to progress for the good of the association. Presidents don’t “run the show”, they lead and are allowed access to change only through the executive board and members.

ARTICLE V — Standing Committees

Subject to the action of the members at any regular or special meeting, the Board of Directors, acting as an Executive Committee, shall appoint the chairperson and fix the number of members of each committee. The chairperson shall fill the committee by appointment accordingly. There shall be the following standing committees and such other standing or special committees as the members at a regular or special meeting, or the Executive Committee between meetings shall determine, as follows:

FISH and GAME COMMITTEE To Promote and control fishing. To assist in regulating the water level of the lake by control of the beaver population and dams.

NAVIGATION COMMITTEE To advise and publicize to the campers and the public the proper use of all watercraft. and all use of the lake for recreation. To promote and publicize safety and boating courses for youth.

Committee Notes: there should be an Amendment to this relating to policing and reporting unsafe or illegal activity regarding and recreational use of the lake.

SANITATION and WATER TESTING COMMITTEE To determine the purity of the lake water by periodic testing. To promote the use of acceptable sanitary sewage and water disposal. To see that good environmental practices are followed by campers on the land and in the water.

Committee Notes: As stated after Article II, use of the Lake has Dramatically increased over the past Decade. Purity is a vague term at best. This committee should be responsible for not only monitoring pollution levels but for being more active in striving to reach the State and Federal Standards for outboard emissions that will be imposed soon. Lakes have an ability to cleanse themselves of some pollution but they all have limits. The one thing saving Sylvia Lake at present is its large volume of water due to it’s great depth. If Sylvia was a shallower lake it would already be polluted. Noise pollution is another issue that needs to be addressed. But that should come under a different Article. The lake means many different things to different individuals-we need to discuss and find compromise that we are all willing to live with.

ARTICLE VI — Dues

* The annual dues of the property owners shall be $10.00, payable to the Treasurer or lake representatives before September 1st of each year.  

Committee Notes: * change to, The annual dues for the Association shall be set at the Spring meeting, and will be payable to the Secretary/Treasurer before the 1st of September each year.

ARTICLE VII — Meetings

The spring meeting shall be held in June of each year prior to the summer season. The summer meeting shall be held the 2nd Friday in August. The time and place of these meetings shall be selected by the President. Special meetings of the association may be held on the call of the President, and shall be called and held upon the * written request of five or more members. Standing and Special committees shall meet on the call of their respective chairperson.

At a meeting of the Executive Committee or of the Board of Directors, five members shall constitute a quorum; and a majority of those present may transact business. Members of the association attending at a regular or special meeting, duly called and held, shall constitute a quorum and a majority of those may transact business.

Committee Notes: * delete the word written.

ARTICLE VIII — Amendments

This constitution may be amended by a *majority vote of the members present and eligible to vote at any regular meeting, or special meeting called on notice to consider such amendment.

Committee Notes: * change this to 2/3 majority to pass an Amendment. Changing an Amendment by a simple majority means you are setting yourself up to constantly changing your amendments. If something passes 51% to 49%, next year someone who was in the 49% will bring it up again for another vote with the hope it will be favorable to them. However if something passes 75% to 25% it is unlikely that someone will push the issue to vote again. In the long run it will save constantly making Amendments to the Constitution.

Adopted 11 Dec 1969
Revised 24 Jun 1972
Revised 28 Jul 1975
Revision (proposed) 14 Jun 1996
Revised 25 Mar 2004