Board meetings must be audio recorded

Editor's note: In last week's column, Holland wrote about the requirement to tape board meetings. The correct term is audio record, which would include the older technology of taping the meeting using a video camera or cassette recorder and as well as the new technology of audio recording with other devices such an MP3 recorder, which would allow a copy to be duplicated onto a compact disc or MP3 player.

Q: I would like to respectfully offer a correction to your response to a question in your Sept. 26 column, in which you advise a reader that board meetings must be taped.

While the subject is covered in the amendment to NRS 116.31083, specifically Section 17 Subsection 7 of SB 182, it does not state that taping must be the method of recording.

Section 7 reads: The secretary or other officer specified in the bylaws shall cause each meeting of the executive board to be audio recorded and the minutes to be recorded or otherwise taken at each meeting of the executive board.

Section 7 goes on to say: A copy of the audio recording ... must be provided to any unit's owner upon request.

The distinction between taping and audio recording is, I believe, an important one because tape-recording as a method of making and preserving records is an old technology that has been largely superseded by technologically superior methods of recording.

I am currently writing an article for the Nevada Chapter Community Association Institute magazine, Community Interest, in which I describe the newest technologies for capturing, preserving and making available the required audio recordings of meetings. The latest generation of relatively affordable portable devices records meetings in CD quality in the popular MP3 and .wav format. The recordings are made onto small SD microchips which, depending on size, can hold thousands of minutes of recordings. These files can then be transferred in a matter of minutes to inexpensive CDs suitable for archiving and giving to homeowner association members who request them.

Informing readers about the new recording requirement is very important and I believe reporting it as a taping requirement may be unintentionally misleading and may send readers off in the wrong direction, at a detriment to efficiency if nothing else.

A: You are correct. I realize the term is audio record and should have been written to inform the readers that meetings must be audio recorded and archived.

Management companies have been discussing many options as to the equipment that needs to be purchased and all are concerned about the technology. Obviously, gone are the days of 8-track tapes, etc. Since associations must preserve these recordings for a period of time, using the current technology is best, even as technology will continue to change throughout the years.

Q: Do you know if a community manager of a high-rise condominium, the treasurer from the board of directors and one member of the budget committee can meet privately and discuss the budget? I have been trying to find something on that in the NRS 116 rules but can not find anything. What is your opinion?

A: The high-rise homeowners association communities are under the guidelines of NRS116 B and NAC 116B, which you can obtain on the Internet at Nevada Web site, nv.gov. Associations can conduct committee meetings in order to help expedite the processing of information that will eventually be brought forward to the board and membership for their review, approval and/or ratification (i.e. the budget).

In this case, you have the treasurer, one member of the budget committee and the community manager working on a draft of the budget. That draft will then be sent to the board for their review and final comments and or revisions and then sent to the membership for ratification or rejection.

Barbara Holland, certified property manager, is president and owner of H&L Realty and Management Co. To ask her a question, e-mail support@hlrealty.com.