
BYLAWS
OF THE BERWYN
DISTRICT CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC.
Adopted March 17,
2011
ARTICLE
1. NAME AND PURPOSE
Section
1. The name of this organization shall
be the “Berwyn District Civic Association, Inc.”
(BDCA).
The BDCA’s official address is P.O. Box # 535, College Park, MD, 20740.
Section 2. The Berwyn neighborhood is the area bounded
on the east by the CSX railroad
tracks, on the west by the Paint Branch,
on the north by Maryland highway 193
(University Boulevard) and on the
south by the subdivision lines of Lakeland and the
greater Washington Realty Company’s
addition to Berwyn.
Section 3. The purpose of the BDCA is to stimulate the
community’s interest in promoting civic,
community, and general welfare,
giving special attention to public improvements
beneficial to the Berwyn
neighborhood.
Section 4. BDCA activities shall be conducted on a
non-partisan, non-political, and non-
sectarian basis. The BDCA reserves the right to advocate or
oppose any legislation
affecting the welfare of the Berwyn
neighborhood.
Section 5. A
copy of these bylaws shall be kept as a public record in the Maryland State
Hall of
Records, Annapolis, MD, and posted on
the BDCA web site
ARTICLE 2.
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
Section 1. Membership in the BDCA is open to
individuals eighteen (18) years of age and older
who reside in the Berwyn neighborhood,
City of College Park and whose dues are paid
to date.
Section 2. Annual membership dues shall be determined
by the BDCA’s Executive Board.
Section 3. Failure to have paid dues shall
automatically deprive members of the right to vote in
the business of the BDCA until said dues
are paid.
Section 4. Members who paid individual dues shall have
one vote.
Section 5. A family membership entitles a family to
having two separate voting members.
Section 6. There shall be no proxy voting.
ARTICLE 3.
OFFICERS
Section 1. The officers of the BDCA shall consist of a
President, Vice-President, Second Vice-
President, Recording and/or
Correspondence Secretary, and a Treasurer.
None of the
officers shall receive any salary or
compensation for services rendered to the BDCA.
Section 2. The President shall be the Chief Executive
Officer of the BDCA and shall preside at
all regular and special meetings. The President shall prepare the agenda for
all regular
and called meetings, sign all contracts and
agreements in the name of the BDCA,
normally serve as the representative of
the BDCA in meetings and discussions with
other organizations and agencies,
provide leadership to the board in expediting the
goals of the BDCA, and cast the deciding
vote in case of a tie when votes are taken
during Board or regular meetings. The President shall appoint the Chairs of
all
committees unless otherwise directed by
the bylaws or by an affirmative vote of a
majority of the members present when a
committee is appointed. The President
may
also appoint Representatives to keep the
BDCA informed of pertinent measures
deemed important by the BDCA.
Section 3. The Vice President(s) shall perform all the
duties of the President in his/her absence
or inability to act. They shall also
assist the President in performing official duties
when requested to do so, and perform
other tasks as may be assigned by the Board.
Section 4. The Recording Secretary shall keep a
correct and complete record of the proceedings
of the BDCA, maintain the Minutes Book
of the BDCA with a roll of members and
guests present at each called and
regular meetings, and maintain a current listing, with
phone numbers and addresses
of the officers of the BDCA. The
Recording Secretary
is responsible for notifying the members
of all meetings as directed by the bylaws.
The
Recording Secretary maybe a shared position.
The Corresponding Secretary shall
conduct all correspondence ordered by the BDCA
pertaining to its business, and shall
file all communications and copies of
correspondence for preservation.
Section 5.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for all funds for the BDCA and
receive and deposit
all funds into the proper account,
record and monitor receipts and disbursements from
the account at the directions of the
BDCA, keep accurate books and records of the
finances of the BDCA; prepare a
financial accounting for BDCA meetings, and
prepare end of the year accounting,
including filing all federal and state tax reports.
ARTICLE 4.
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Section 1. The Executive Board shall consist of the
officers, the chairs of standing committees,
and three (3) delegates elected from the
membership. Vacancies occurring between
annual meetings shall be filled by the Board.
Section 2. The Executive Board shall have the authority
to act for and to represent the BDCA in
the interim between meetings.
Section 3. A
majority of Executive Board members in attendance shall constitute a quorum.
ARTICLE 5.
COMMITTEES
Section 1. Committees necessary to carry out the
business of the BDCA may be appointed as
deemed necessary by the by-laws of the
BDCA.
Section 2. Special Committees. The President shall have the power to appoint
special
committees when they have been
authorized by the BDCA in response to a specific
need determined by the
Board. The Nominating committee is an
example of a special
committee.
Section 3. Committee Limitations. No committee shall commit the BDCA to the
advocacy or
opposition to any subject without prior
confirmation of the BDCA, unless such
confirmation is clearly granted under
the general powers delegated by the bylaws.
Section 4. Standing committees of the BDCA include
Neighborhood Watch, the Neighborhood
Preservation Task Force, and the Welcoming
Committee.
ARTICLE 6.
ELECTIONS
Section 1. The election of BDCA officers shall be held
during the annual meeting in June. Any
office becoming vacant in the interim by
reason of death, resignation, or for any other
cause, shall be filled at the next
regular meeting in such manner as a majority of the
membership present shall determine.
Section 2.
All officers shall be elected for a term of one year.
Section 3. A Nominating Committee of three members
shall be elected at the regular meeting in
April prior to the Annual meeting in
June. To form the Nominating Committee,
any
member in good standing shall have the
right to nominate or be nominated from the
floor. The Nominating Committee
shall nominate one person for each office and
place their nominations during the
Annual meeting. After the Nominating committee
has placed the nominations for officers,
additional nominations may be taken from the
floor.
Any person nominated to an office of the BDCA must be a member in good
standing. The nominating committee is
adjourned following the Annual meeting.
Section 4. Voting for all elections shall be by hand
count; if more than one candidate, it shall be
done by ballot. A majority of votes cast shall be required to
elect. In the event of a
tie, a second ballot shall be cast with
the President also casting a vote.
Section 5. All officers elected at the annual meeting, or
at any other meeting, shall assume their
duties at the conclusion of the meeting
at which they are elected. The retiring
officers
shall continue to perform their duties
as officers until the conclusion of the meeting at
which their successors are elected.
ARTICLE 7.
MEETINGS
Section 1. The annual meeting of the BDCA in which new
officers are elected shall be held in June
of each year of at such time as practical
thereafter as determined by the Executive Board.
Section 2. Regular meetings of the BDCA shall be held
on the third Thursday of each month,
except for the months of July and August
during which regular meetings shall be
suspended. The BDCA shall have the power to select and
designate the place of its
meetings.
Section 3. The presence of five (5) members in
attendance shall be required to constitute a legal
quorum at any regular or special meeting
of the BDCA.
Section 4. Regular meetings shall start promptly at
8:00 p.m. and adjourn not later than 10:00
p.m., except when a motion is adopted to
continue for a limited time.
Section 5. Special meetings shall be called by the
President whenever, in his/her judgement, it
may be necessary. It shall be mandatory for the President to
call a special meeting if
asked to do so in a written request
signed by five members. Business at
special
meetings shall be confined to the
purposes of the meeting as stated in the notice of the
meeting.
Section 6. Notices of regular and special meetings
shall include of the time and place and must
be delivered not less than three (3)
days preceding the date of the meeting.
In cases
of special meetings, the notice shall
also state the nature of the business to be
considered.
Section 7. Any meeting of the BDCA shall be conducted
in accordance with the parliamentary
procedure prescribed by the current
edition of Robert’s Rules of Order or by any
other generally accepted procedure
agreed upon by the Executive Board and
announced to the members.
The following shall be the order of
business:
Procedure at meetings.
Roll-call of officers
Approval of minutes from
the prior meeting
New business
Treasurer’s
Report
Committee Reports
President’s Update
Unfinished business
Berwyn Updates
Adjournment
Section 8. The regular order of business may be
suspended at any meeting by a majority vote of
the members present.
ARTICLE 8. AMENDMENTS
Section 1. These bylaws may be amended or altered so
long as the suggested policy or
procedure is not contrary to law or
these bylaws.
Section 2. The suggested change(s) or additions may be
offered by resolution or in writing by
any member at any regular meeting of the BDCA. The resolution shall then be tabled
until the next regular meeting. Notice
of the resolution shall be posted on the web site
and the community bulletin board. Any
member of the BDCA can submit a written
request (P. O. Box 535) for a copy of
the proposed bylaws no less than seven (7)
days prior to the meeting at which the
proposed changes or additions are to be
considered. A two-thirds vote of the members present shall
be required to adopt the
resolution.
I, the undersigned, being the Corresponding Secretary of the Berwyn
District Civic Association, Inc.,
hereby certify that the above is a true, complete, and accurate copy of the
Bylaws as adopted by the
Executive Board.
Timothy Triplett
Corresponding Secretary
Date : 03/17/2011