Holliday Park Town Houses Cooperative is by definition “a non-profit corporation that owns the property upon which a number of residential buildings are located.” Each of the 694 units in this cooperative represents ONE MEMBER/SHARE HOLDER. ONE VOTE is therefore, allowed, by the member who has been approved to own a share of the co-op and to occupy a specific unit.
The cooperative is structured by legally binding Articles of Incorporation, as well as, By-Laws which specifically describe and define the acceptable methods for casting a ballot or vote for the candidates who wish to serve on the 7-member Board of Directors.
Annually, the names of co-op members who have submitted resumes that express an interest in participating in this important volunteer position, are placed on a ballot, along with the names of current Board members who are up for re-election. Share holding members cast their vote for the candidates whom they feel will best represent the interests of the entire community.
Election packets are delivered to every unit within ten days or as many as 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting. Each packet contains a cover letter that clearly denotes the voting methods, a copy of the resumes submitted from each candidate for the Board, and the Official Ballot.
Choosing to get involved by reading the submitted resumes and taking the civic action of VOTING seriously, is an excellent way to be pro-active. Voting also honors those who work so hard, with no reward other than to serve their neighbors and fellow co-op members well and unselfishly, while preserving and seeking progress for the corporation.
According to Holliday Park’s By Laws:
WHO RUNS: Three (3) Directors shall be elected in the odd numbered years; and four (4) Directors shall be elected in the even numbered years. Each Director will serve a two (2) year term. The Directors shall hold office until their successors have been elected and hold their first meeting.
WHO VOTES– One member in good standing from each unit has a right to vote for the candidates of his/her choice by exercising one of these options:
Attend the Annual Meeting – at the club house and VOTE IN PERSON.
If you are UNABLE TO BE PRESENT, you are allowed to ask a relative, neighbor or friend at Holliday Park to act as YOUR PROXYand VOTE for YOU. (Proxy Forms are readily available for Members at election time)
**ATTEND THE ANNUAL MEETING “BUT” VOTE BY MAIL. A member may vote by mailing their ballot from the Post Office to the corporate office. Each mail ballot clearly states the name of the member and his or her unit number and it must be signed by the member. This is consistent with laws governing corporations which state that MAIL BALLOTS require a signature. It is IMPORTANT to know that your presence at the annual meeting is a GOOD THING, even though you may have voted by mail ballot.
On Election Day mail-in ballots are handled ONLY by Election Inspectors who check the member- identifying information. Later, when counting these ballots, the Inspectors flip the ballot stacks and ONLY the voting choices are visible for counting purposes.
Holliday Park’s history reflects that during every election for the last 44 years, members have made informed choices and voted confidently. To date, informed members have chosen wisely and for this reason Holliday Park is one of only a select few cooperatives with consistently low carrying charges, a solid infrastructure, and new roofs, furnaces, and vinyl siding, along with the security of being MORTGAGE-FREE! Our Waiting List is growing and every unit is filled!
Let’s continue this legacy of choosing our Board of Directors wisely. Whether there are as many as 20 candidates or the current incumbents are running without opposition PLEASE VOTE!! Voting is a choice and a privilege. It’s a formal expression of your preference in choosing the Board Members who will then work to make the day to day management decisions for the corporation, which keep it financially and structurally sound, and take it forward.
You may vote by mail ballot and STILL attend the 44th Annual Meeting. A quorum of 50 people must be in attendance at the meeting to have a valid election.
Life is change. Growth is optional but possible if you choose your candidates wisely and responsibly. PLEASE VOTE!!
Nearly 30 years ago I met Adriana and Art , and in casual conversation Adriana mentioned that if I ever wanted to “downsize” I should consider Holliday Park, a beautiful, well-run co-operative. She told me it was the best run co-op in Michigan, like a big family of friendly, helpful people, and very economical to live in because of the Board, made up of residents, and her brother-in-law, the treasurer, affectionately known as “El Cheapo”.
Fast forward 18 years and I’m single, children out on their own, and my friend at Ford WHQ tells me she’s going at lunchtime to put her name on the waiting list at Holliday Park. She was so excited, and I remembered what I’d heard so many years earlier, so I put my name on the list for a Barclay unit. Another 12 years passed before my name came up and I was offered a unit. I had a “short list of must haves” and one was a large grassy area for my growing brood of grandkids. The first unit offered to me had almost no backyard so I turned it down A short time later I was offered my beautiful unit on Spring Valley. YES! It has now been 8-1/2 years and I’ve loved every minute of life at Holliday Park! I found that “big happy family” of caring members; volunteered my time as a bin worker and on Night Patrol, then with the Traffic & Safety Committee, and finally, I found my wonderful neighbor who has become my wonderful husband.
In my work as Co-Chairperson of the Traffic & Safety Committee, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Bud and Dorothy Mullin. Bud and Dorothy are an excellent example of the exemplary people who helped make HP what it is today. They moved into Holliday Park in 1988, and almost immediately offered their help wherever it was needed. Their volunteerism included : assisting with Koffee Klutch, setup for collating of the Status Quo, Night Patrol, participation in the White Faucet program which “flowed over” into watering neighbors’ lawns, as well as their own beautiful lawn, and what I came to appreciate more than anything, being VERY involved in Traffic & Safety.
Dorothy was the Lot 14 Rep for many years and made herself available to her neighbors with solutions and information whenever it was necessary. Bud has been our A#1 “computer geek” who kept all the T&S records of registered vehicles on the computer. When Dorothy was no longer able to handle the Lot Rep duties, Bud simply added them to his “to do” list.
Bud is diligent, quiet, unassuming and prompt, and could be voted “best dressed” on any given day! He always looks like he’s “going somewhere to do something right”. He has a wonderful backlog of information about how things have been done over the years and what works and what doesn’t, which made him the perfect choice for Co-Chair on our Committee. Bud knows instinctively when to make an issue of something and when to just let it go.
Bud and Dorothy believed that Holliday Park is only as good as concerned, involved members make it, so he and Dorothy never just sat back and watched other people do the volunteering. Bud stayed informed on current issues at HP and he and Dorothy were quick to vocally support and defend the Board members in their efforts to lead us. They also encouraged people to be knowledgeable and vote to protect their investment in HP at election time.
Bud and Dorothy raised a lovely daughter and have been very involved in the lives of their grandsons, always encouraging them to be good people. When Dorothy became ill and needed more care, Bud was faithful to visit her daily for three years until her death and now, following a recent health challenge, Bud has made the decision to step down from his duties with Traffic & Safety, but you can bet he will have his finger on the pulse of HP. He still wants to protect his investment! As he recently said — “the body may be deteriorating but the mind is still clear and working”!
Thanks to Bud and Dorothy and to the many who have and still are “protecting our investment” by their involvement in our community. I feel blessed to live at Holliday Park (otherwise known to my granddaughter as “GrandmaWorld”) and be the recipient of such a wonderful lifestyle. Moving here was one of the best decisions I ever made!
Administrator’s Note: ** The Waiting List is short, and occupancy is often within six weeks to a year, depending on the availability of your Unit Choice.
(to quote an impressive number of members who were polled for this ditty)
Love…low carrying charges. (Unbelievable to the outside world!)
Love…leaving on vacation with a worry-free mind.
Love…lounging on the patio…often on my neighbor’s.
Love…lending my energy to productive volunteer groups.
Love…lollygagging in the gazebo with others in the springtime.
Love…little perks like movie night and cards in the clubhouse.
Love…looping around the oval on my bike.
Love…letting Maintenance worry about my plumbing.
Love…looking behind the buildings off the beaten path for hidden beauty of “secret” gardens.
Love…lamenting the woes of a poor golf score, with those who understand.
Love…lamenting the woes of the young, who have much responsibility ahead of them, with those who understand.
Love…lingering over coffee with John K.’s famous scones at Koffee Klutch
Love…linking up with the Westland library book club for the latest book.
Love…laughing with my witty neighbor who “sends” fall leaves to my house.
Love…lighting my porch light for my late-to-come-home neighbor, and for Community Watch.
Love…”lazing” around the pool and picnic area in summer.
Love…lettuce and tomatoes growing in my neighbor’s rear garden area. (He shares…)
Love…listening to our own Mother Goose read kids’ stories during the summer walk-about yard sale.
Love…locking the positive spirit of Holliday Park’s upbeat members into my daily life.
The energy is contagious!
Yes, I do love livin’ here!
Love livin’ in a mortgage-free co-op—–
Once you become a member of Holliday Park, a nonprofit co-op, you have to take on the responsibilities that go with membership. The benefits of living at Holliday Park are many. They include:
- Heat
- Maintenance, except personal items
- Property taxes (providing you a Michigan resident)
- Insurance on Holliday Park property (common facilities and your unit)
- Stove, refrigerator and garbage disposal
- Furnace and hot water heater
- Doors, windows, roofs and siding
- Pool, tennis court, and clubhouse
- & more.
You will become a shareholder in the corporation by investing your money in a fully paid membership. You no longer have a mortgage, and the monthly living costs which are referred to as carrying charges, are very reasonable.
VOTING: As a member/shareholder, you take on the responsibility of keeping Holliday Park a nice, safe, peaceful, well managed, and economical place to live. That is why you came to live here. You continue to keep Holliday Park this way by exercising your shareholder vote.
As a member or shareholder, you do take on the responsibility of voting for a Volunteer Board of Directors who will look after the overall affairs of Holliday Park. Holliday Park became such a nice, reasonable place to live by responsible members voting for responsible Board Members. They looked after your interests. You now hold the responsibility to keep Holliday Park the place that you saw when you moved in. You do this by voting for Board Members who will continue to keep us on the right track. If you like what you are seeing, please vote to keep the same Board Members in office. They have proven their ability to perform properly. Otherwise, vote for others that you think may do better. It is important that you know what is going on so you can vote responsibly.
COMMITTEE INVOLVEMENT: The board needs your help. If you are asked to get involved on the various committees that assist the Board, please try and do so. Many hands make less work for the few. All committee workers are volunteers also. Please be responsible and do your part if asked.
NIGHT PATROL & COMMUNITY WATCH: Every member is asked to volunteer to assist in keeping Holliday Park a safe place to live, by joining Night Patrol. As part of the Holliday Park Night Patrol, the member commits to going out three nights a year for 3 hours. You go with a partner and a cell phone, and you use one of the Maintenance Department’s trucks. You never do any more than call the Westland Police Department if you see anything suspicious. This Night Patrol Program has been very successful for years, and your involvement will help to continue to keep it that way. Please be responsible and do your part. Community Watch is the eyes and ears of the Westland Police Department. All Holliday Park members watch out for each other and report any suspicious activity or unusual occurrences in the co-op to the Westland Police Department, day or night.
MAINTENANCE: The member is responsible to call the Maintenance Department if you see anything that needs repairs, replacement, or just plain simple maintenance. It is in the members’ best interest and the Co-op’s best interest to have a well-maintained Co-op. We have a full staff on duty; and this staff is available evenings and on weekends for emergencies. Please be responsible by reporting to the Maintenance Department, any items in your unit that need repair. The purpose of the maintenance staff is to assist you in keeping your unit in good condition which in turn protects your investment.
To be Continued ~ Next Topic… “Responsibility of the Board”
Responsibility is a word that Holliday Park was founded upon, and its applications in our cooperative will be discussed herein. This blog is a synopsis of the various responsible areas that make Holliday Park so successful. Responsibility starts with:
APPLICANT: You, the applicant, are the beginning in a responsible non-profit cooperative. When you submit an application, the Membership Committee will review your finances, via a credit check, and other information needed to see if you qualify for a moderate-income Community, because you may become the future of Holliday Park.
MEMBER: If you become a member of Holliday Park, a further responsibility rests with you. You now have an investment in a non-profit corporation that you wish to maintain. You become, if at all possible, involved in the day-to-day functions by volunteering on some Committee. You do your part, also, by voting for a responsible Board of Directors that will also look after your interests. This is a must. You will receive a quarterly update of our finances through the Board’s newsletter, called the Status Quo. As a responsible member, you are to take the time to review our finances and other pertinent information in our newsletter…
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The Board is responsible for the overall efficient operation of our non-profit corporation. The Board hires a manager for the day to day operations. Because the future of Holliday Park rests also in their hands, you as a member are allowed to vote for responsible Board members yearly. The Board is responsible to come up with a yearly Budget as to how the affairs will be conducted for the forthcoming year. Proper planning by your Board of Directors includes in this Budget, the setting aside of money which is ear-marked for future years when needed replacements and repairs occur, to help assure that the money will be available without any assessments.
FINANCE COMMITTEE: The Finance Committee has the responsibility of reviewing all the finances of Holliday Park to include each check written, where your money is being spent, where your money is being invested, and to see that the yearly plan which is called the Budget is being adhered to. The Finance Committee is responsible to see that the Board is being fiscally responsible, and not going off the Budget by spending money irresponsibly, or for special interests. No one Board Member can act individually with spending your money. The Finance Committee is the Internal Audit for you, the members, and the Board of Directors.
CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT: Yearly, our By-laws require that we have a certified audit. Our CPA has the responsibility to see that your investment is still secure, and that we have adequate money set aside for planned replacements, and for the upgrading of our community. The CPA will make recommendations to the Board of Directors on any issue that they deem necessary.
So, if you potential applicants are considering Holliday Park as your future home, we ask you to think seriously about the responsibility of becoming a member of this non-profit corporation. The benefits of Holliday Park far outweigh the responsibility that you take on. Holliday Park has had a proven record of responsible members, Committees, and Board of Directors to make this cooperative so successful. We pride ourselves in our very reasonable carrying charges, and in keeping your facilities well maintained. This is a nice, safe, reasonable, caring place to live. We hope you will consider Holliday Park as your new home.
It's All in the Bag
Our committee gathered again to brain storm and create several more phrases that promote the cooperative and also might meet the necessary space requirements, but these phrases too, did not fit the template. Thankfully, a few days later I received a call from a member who was part of the group working on the project. She told me that she had trouble sleeping one night and the phrase, “Love Living Here” came to her. The feedback from the other committee members was that they all really liked the wording. It was a winner because within that simply terminology was the essence of how members feel about our community. Yes, we now had a working phrase to express our feelings in a few words, but again it wouldn’t fit the bag company’s template. How were we going to get past this last hurdle? This frustrating scenario was now the only daunting obstacle between our success and failure in our attempt to inform the public about co-op life and direct them to our web site, via these conversation starting (marketing) bags.
That’s when I got the call that changed everything. One of the committee member’s granddaughter had purchased a silk screening machine and was willing to let us use it. She even offered to create the stencil for our phrase, which takes patience and skill. Plus, she was willing to help with the printing process and share tips and tricks that keep the paint from smudging, and taping techniques to hold the stencil firmly. Finally, everything was falling into place.
The stencil she created was amazing! She made the O in Love a heart and tweaked the word “Living” which became “Livin”. Her creativity was another gift to us.
Now, could we get the bags done in time for our huge Walk About Yard Sale that was scheduled just over one week away? The blank bags were ordered according to the committee specifications in a small size; and the color we chose was a shade of beige which closely matched the color of the siding on the co-op units, to tie in with the colors of our community.
The bags arrived on Friday, and everyone was able to meet on the following Tuesday to see how to do the printing process, and get started. More volunteers joined in, and we screen printed the bags Tuesday night. That Saturday at the Walk About Yard Sale our bags sold out completely in 30 minutes.
This depiction is about more than just engaging in the process of making printed thought provoking bags that celebrate our co-op community. It’s about all those generous and dedicated volunteers, behind the bags, who joined the Marketing Committee to do the work it takes to get the word out about the place where they live economically and very happily. These good people wanted to express their true affection for Holliday Park and the lifestyle it affords everyone. They put their energies into this task, and for months, they gave of their time and talent to come together and make it happen with a dedication which was truly heartfelt.
The story of the bags is just one story about how the members of Holliday Park have come together over the years to make something good happen. Whether that something was to improve or promote our community, strengthen community spirit, engage in cost-cutting committee work, reducing overhead and keeping carrying charges low, or to plan Welcome and Thank You Dinners for all new members and fellow volunteers; members have come together, again and again to get the job done.
These activities have done more than improve and enrich Holliday Park. They have created many wonderful memories for the members involved and their extended families. Plus, many long lasting friendships have been forged because the people of the cooperative did and do to this day, their share of the work it takes to be a viable community. They do this because they truly LOVE LIVIN’ HERE!!
The day has been circled on my calendar for a few weeks. Tonight is the night! I spend the afternoon taking a rare nap and awake in the very early evening. Refreshed and ready to face the coming hours, I throw a frozen dinner in the microwave. While sitting at the kitchen table, I find that my anticipation grows for the night to come. After finishing my Salisbury steak and mashed potato entrée, I switch on the TV to enjoy a few hours of viewing. A cop show, a game show, one hour long drama, the news, then a bit of Leno…then the witching hour arrives. I’m on Night Patrol!
As I go out to meet my partner at the truck, I look forward to catching a bit of the latest neighborhood gossip. We didn’t know each other before being assigned as partners, but have formed a friendship after spending some hours together talking quietly in the white truck. What an unexpected benefit…I have someone to call when I need a friendly ear, someone to meet up with at cards, and a dinner companion once in a while – a new found friend, just from joining the patrol.
While we’re driving around, I notice that the neighborhood is quiet and most of our fellow members are tucked snuggly in their beds, and sound asleep. But there are lights and TV’s on, and it seems like some people never sleep! Throughout the late hours, several cars go in and out. Some of these vehicles are from the complex, some are just passing through, but it makes one wonder why they are out and about so late? Since I’m usually not outside at this time of the morning, I notice some things that I don’t often observe…the crisp, cool air, the sparkling street lights, the faint stars, lovely gardens, the soft glow of solar lighting randomly placed here and there, and the movement of various nocturnal animals.
All of the teams on patrol use this time wisely, and note that all the security lights which have been strategically placed throughout our community, are in good working order. Any dimming or flickering security lights and those which are burned out are noted on our report and a copy is given to our Maintenance Office for prompt repair or replacement.
If a member is coming home, we often accompany them to their unit, as a courtesy which everyone appreciates. We are vigilant in noting any cars in our parking lots which do not have the proper identity tags connoting membership in our cooperative. Unidentified vehicles in the parking lots are noted in our nightly report and given to the Traffic & Safety committee for follow up to make sure that only members and their guests are parking in our lots. This kind of “scrutiny” keeps us all safe, and avoids the problems that would surely occur if anyone in any kind of vehicle could easily park in any of our parking lots at night.
Taking our Night Patrol volunteering seriously and gaining a friend in the process is truly a win/win situation. While one of us drives the truck, in random patterns around our streets, the other looks for any suspicious activity, such as cars cruising the streets, children out after curfew. Any gathering of teens who might be loitering, are dealt with in kind and diplomatic ways. This does not mean, however, that we don’t find time for laughter, and the sharing of our latest life experiences, e-mail updates, bucket lists, kids and grandkids accomplishments, and the high points of our most recent vacations and family gatherings.
As our Night Patrol evening ends, I find that once again I have enjoyed the conversation and observing things around me, but, let’s be honest… it can get boring. Yes, I admit, three hours takes a long time to go by. But as we lock up the truck (turning off the lights before locking the door!), I walk back to my unit reflecting on the satisfaction of doing my part for the community. No break-ins or vandalism have occurred (during my shift anyway, and they RARELY DO?) and my neighbors are safe. Tomorrow I can catch up on the little bit of lost sleep, and YES I sleep easier knowing that another caring team is out on patrol.
