Our Constitution

“SOCIETY ACT”

NORTH SHORE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA ASSOCIATION

CONSTITUTION

1. The name of the society is North Shore Business Area Improvement Association.
2. The purposes of the Society are:
3. a) to promote the economic, commercial and social welfare of the City of Kamloops, and in particular, without limiting the generality of the foregoing thereof the North Shore of the said City;
   b) to make studies of and advance any project, plan or improvement designed to benefit the City and to further the development and expansion of such North Shore to maintain and increase real property values in such area;
   c) to co-operate with and aid any person, any group or association in projects intended to benefit the City as a whole and the said North Shore in particular;
   d) to encourage, found or incorporate and if deemed advisable to operate, any organization, society or body corporate proposing to improve the said business area, to disseminate information to the public concerning the welfare of the City and the said North Shore and generally to act in any or all matters for the benefit of the said City and district.

 

Our Bylaws

NORTH SHORE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT AREA ASSOCIATION

BY-LAWS – Updated 2020

For change records, see last page of document

Part 1.  –  Interpretation

• In these by-laws, unless the context otherwise requires,
  1. “Directors” means the Directors of the Society for the time being;
  2. “Societies Act” means The Societies Act of the Province of British Columbia from time to time in force and all amendments to it;
  3. “registered address” of a Member means the address as recorded in the register of Members;
  4. “North Shore” herein and in the by-laws hereof shall mean that area in the City of Kamloops bordered by the North Shore of the Thompson River and being the lands and premises in the confines of North Kamloops, and Brocklehurst.
• The definition in the Societies Act on the date these by-laws became effective apply to these by-laws.
• Words importing the singular include the plural and vice versa; and words importing a male person include a female person and a Corporation.

Part 2.  –  Membership

• The Members of the Society are the applicants for incorporation of the Society, and those persons who subsequently have become Members, in accordance with these by-laws and, in either case, have not ceased to be Members.
• Subject to the other provisions of this by-law a person becomes a voting Member of the Society, provided that person;
  1. is a Commercial Property Owner as defined in the NSBIA’s Levy By-Law; or
  2. is a tenant of said commercial property and is licensed to carry out business in the City of Kamloops
• Where two or more persons are Property Owners with respect to the same real property located within the boundaries of the North Shore, Membership with respect to that real property shall only be granted to one of the Property Owners and only after the consent of all other Property Owners of that real property has been given as certified by the applicant for Membership.
• A person, not meeting the requirements for voting Membership, may apply to become a non-voting Member of the Society but the Society shall never have more non-voting Members than voting Members.
• A person may apply to the Directors for Membership in the Society and on acceptance by the Directors shall be a Member.
• Businesses or organizations who are not within the business improvement area may apply to the Board of Directors for Associate Membership. Associate Membership is approved by a recorded majority vote of the board and the Society having received an annual Membership due as defined by policy. Associate Members are non-voting Members of the Society.
• The Associate Membership fee may be waived as part of the persons’ Membership approval by the Directors.
• The Directors may change the Associate Membership fee by a recorded majority vote of the Directors.
• Every Member shall uphold the Constitution and comply with these By-Laws.
• The amount of the annual voting Membership dues shall be determined by the protocol defined in the Community Charter of British Columbia, the annual allocations shall be ratified by Directors of the Association, prior to presentation to members for ratification.
• A person shall cease to be a Member of the Society:
  1. by delivering their resignation in writing to the Secretary of the Society or by mailing or delivering it to the address of the Society, or
  2. on death or in the case of a Corporation on dissolution, or
  3. on being expelled, or
  4. on having been a Member not in good standing for 12 consecutive months.
• A Member may be expelled as defined in policy and by a special resolution of the Members passed at a General Meeting.
  1. The notice of special resolution for expulsion shall be accompanied by a brief statement to members.
  2. The person who is the subject of the proposed expulsion shall be given an opportunity to be heard at the General Meeting before the special resolution is put to a vote.
• All Members are in good standing except a Member who has failed to pay a subscription or debt due and owing by them to the Society and is not in good standing so long as the debt remains unpaid.

Part 3.  –  Meetings of Members

• General Meetings of the Society shall be held at such time and place, in accordance with the Societies Act, as the Directors decide.
• Every General Meeting, other than an Annual General Meeting, is an extraordinary General Meeting.
• The Directors may, when the need arises, convene an Extraordinary General Meeting.
• Notice of a General Meeting shall specify the place, the day and the hour of meeting, and, in case of special business, the general nature of that business.
  1. The accidental omission to give notice of a meeting to, or the nonreceipt of a notice by, any of the Members entitled to receive notice does not invalidate proceedings at that meeting.
• The first Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held not more than 15 months after the date of incorporation and thereafter an Annual General Meeting shall be held at least once in every calendar year and not more than 15 months after the holding of the last preceding Annual General Meeting.

Part 4.  –  Proceedings at General Meetings

• Special business is;
  1. all business at an Extraordinary General Meeting except the adoption of rules of order, and;
  2. all business that is transacted at an Annual General Meeting, except
     1. the adoption of rules of order,
     2. the consideration of the financial statements,
     3. the report of the Directors,
     4. the report of the Auditor, if any,
     5. the election of Directors,
     6. the appointment of the Auditor, if required, and
     • such other business as, under these By-Laws, ought to be transacted at an Annual General Meeting, or business which is brought under consideration by the report of the Directors issued with the notice convening the meeting.
     • No business, other than the election of a Chair and the adjournment or termination of the meeting, shall be conducted at a general meeting at a time when a quorum is not present.
     • If at any time during a General Meeting there ceases to be a quorum present, business then in progress shall be suspended until there is a quorum present or until the meeting is adjourned or terminated.
     • A quorum is 3 Members present or such greater number as the Members may determine at a General Meeting.
     • If within 30 minutes from the time appointed for a general meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened on the requisition of Members, shall be terminated; but in any other case, it shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week, at the same time and place, and if, at the adjourned meeting, a quorum is not present within 30 minutes from the time appointed for the meeting, the Members present constitute a quorum.
     • Subject to by-law 19, the President of the Society, the Vice-President, or in the absence of both, one of the other Directors shall preside as Chair of a General Meeting.
     • If at a General Meeting;
       1. there is no President, Vice-President, or other Directors present within 15 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, or
       2. the President and all the other Directors present are unwilling to act as Chair, the Members present shall choose someone of their number to be Chair.
     • A General Meeting may be adjourned from time to time and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at an adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place.
     • Where a meeting is adjourned for 10 days or more, notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given as in the case of the original meeting.
     • Except as provided in this Bylaw, it is not necessary to give notice of an adjournment or of the business to be transacted at an adjourned General Meeting.
     • Any resolution proposed at a meeting shall be seconded and the Chair of a meeting may move to propose a resolution.
     • In case of an equality of votes the Chair shall not have a casting or second vote in addition to the vote to which he may be entitled as a Member and the proposed resolution shall not pass.
     • A Member in good standing present at a meeting of Members is entitled to one vote.
       1. Voting is by show of hands.
       2. Voting by proxy is not permitted.
     • A corporate Member may vote by its authorized representative, who is entitled to speak and vote, and in all other respect exercise the rights of a Member for all purposes with respect to a meeting of the Society.

     Part 5.  –  Directors and Officers

     • The Directors may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as the Society may exercise and do, and which are not by these By-laws or by statute or otherwise lawfully directed or required to be exercised or done by the Society in General Meeting, but subject, nevertheless, to the provisions of;
       1. all Laws affecting the Society,
       2. these By-laws, and
       3. Policies, not being inconsistent with these by-laws, which are made from time to time by the Society in General Meeting.
     • No rule, made by the Society in a General Meeting, invalidates a prior act of the Directors that would have been valid if that rule had not been made.
     • The President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer and one or more other persons shall be the Directors of the Society.
     • The number of Directors shall be 6 or such greater number as may be determined from time to time at a General Meeting.
     • The Directors shall retire from office at each Annual General Meeting when their successors shall be elected.
     • An election may be by acclamation, otherwise, it shall be by ballot.
     • If no successor is elected the person previously elected or appointed continues to hold office, if they so choose
     • The Executive Committee shall be formed by the Directors, following the Annual General Meeting.
     • The Directors may at any time and from time to time appoint a Member as a Director to fill a vacancy in the Directors.
       1. A Director so appointed holds office only until the conclusion of the next following Annual General Meeting of the Society, but, is eligible for re-election or re-appointment at the meeting.
     • If a Director resigns office or otherwise ceases to hold office, the remaining Directors shall appoint a Member to take the place of the former Director.
     • No act or proceeding of the Directors is invalid only by reason of there being less than the prescribed number of Directors in office.
     • The Members may by special resolution remove a Director before the expiration of his term of office and may appoint a successor to complete the term of office.
     • No Director shall be remunerated for being or acting as a Director, but a Director shall be reimbursed for all expenses necessarily and reasonably incurred by them while engaged in the affairs of the Society.

     Part 6.  –  Proceedings of Directors

     • The Directors may meet together at such places as they think fit for the dispatch of business, adjourn and otherwise regulate their meetings and proceedings, as they see fit.
     • The Directors may from time to time align the quorum necessary for the transaction of business and unless so fixed, quorum shall be a majority of the Directors then in office.
     • The President shall be Chair of all meetings of the Directors; but if at any meeting the President is not present within 30 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the Vice-President shall act as Chair, but if neither is present the Directors present may choose someone of their number to be Chair of that meeting.
     • A Director may at any time, and the Secretary, on the request of a Director, convene a meeting of the Directors.
     • The Directors may delegate any, but not all, of their powers to committees consisting of such Director or Directors as they think fit.
     • A Committee so formed in the exercise of the powers so delegated shall conform to any policies that may from time to time be imposed on it by the Directors and shall report every act or thing done in exercise of those powers to the earliest meeting of the Directors to be held next after it has been done.
     • A Committee shall appoint a Chair of its meetings; but if no Chair is elected, or if at any meeting the Chair is not present within 30 minutes after the time appointed for holding the meeting, the Directors present who are Members of the Committee shall choose one of their number to be Chair of the meeting.
     • The Members of a Committee may meet and adjourn as they think proper.
     • For a first meeting of the Directors held immediately following the appointment or election of a Director or Directors at an Annual or other General Meeting of Members, or for a meeting of the Directors at which a Director is appointed to fill a vacancy in the Directors, every effort will be made to give notice of the meeting to the newly-elected or appointed Director or Directors.
     • A Director who may be absent temporarily from British Columbia may send or deliver to the address of the Society a waiver of notice, which may be by written or electronic correspondence, of any meeting of the Directors and may, at any time, withdraw the waiver, and until the waiver is withdrawn;
       1. no notice of meetings of Directors shall be sent to that Director, and,
       2. any and all meetings of the Directors of the Society; notice of which has not been given to that Director, shall, if a quorum of the Directors is present, be valid and effective.
     • Questions arising at any meeting of the Directors and committee of Directors shall be decided by majority of votes.
       1. In case of an equality of votes the Chair does not have a second or casting vote.
       2. A resolution in writing, signed by all the Directors and placed with the minutes of the Directors is as valid and effective as if regularly passed at a meeting of the Directors.

     Part 7.  –  Duties of Officers

     • The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the Directors.
     • The President is the Chief Executive Officer of the Society and shall supervise the other Officers in the execution of their duties.
     • The Vice-President shall carry out the duties of the President during his absence.
     • The Secretary shall
       1. conduct the correspondence of the Society;
       2. issue notice of meetings of the Society and Directors;
       3. keep minutes of all meetings of the Society and Directors;
       4. have custody of all records and documents of the Society except those required to be kept by the Treasurer;
       5. have custody of the common seal of the Society; and
       6. (f) maintain the register of Members.
     • The Treasurer shall
       1. keep such financial records, including books of account as are necessary to comply with the Societies Act, and
       2. render financial statements to the Directors, Members and others when required.
     • The offices of Secretary and Treasurer may be held by one person who shall be known as the Secretary-treasurer.
     • Where a Secretary-treasurer holds office the total number of Directors’ shall not be less than or greater number as may have been determined pursuant to By-law 38.
     • In the absence of the Secretary from a meeting, the Directors shall appoint another person to act as Secretary at the meeting.
     • The Directors may provide a common seal for the Society and they shall have power from time to time to destroy it and substitute a new seal in place of the seal destroyed.
     • The common seal shall be affixed only when authorized by a resolution of the Directors and then only in the presence of the persons prescribed in the resolution or if no persons are prescribed in the presence of the President and Secretary or President and Secretary-Treasurer.
     • In order to carry out the purposes of the Society the Directors may, on behalf of and in the name of the Society, raise or secure the payment or repayment of money in such manner as they decide.
     • No debenture shall be issued.
     • Upon dissolution of the Society and after payment of all debts, and liabilities, the remaining property of the Society, including any accumulated profits shall be distributed or disposed of to other non-profit charitable organizations, the object of which are beneficial to the North Shore community, this provision shall be unalterable.

     Part 10.  –  Auditor

     • This part applies only where the Society is required or has resolved to have an Auditor.
     • The first Auditor shall be appointed by the Directors who shall also fill all vacancies occurring in the office of Auditor.
     • At each Annual General Meeting the Society shall appoint Auditor to hold office until he is re-elected or his successor is elected at the next Annual General Meeting.
     • An Auditor may be removed by ordinary resolution.
     • An Auditor shall be informed forthwith in writing of appointment or removal.
     • No Director and no employee of the Society shall be Auditor.
     • The Auditor may attend General Meetings.

     Part 11.  –  Notices to Members

     • A notice may be given to a Member, either personally or by other form of correspondence at their registered address.
     • A notice sent by correspondence shall be deemed to have been given on the second day following that on which the notice is posted, and in proving that notice has been given it is sufficient to prove that the notice was properly addressed and put in a Canadian post office receptacle, sent electronically or delivered by hand
     • Notice of a General Meeting shall be given to;
       1. every Member shown on the register of Members on the day notice is given, and
       2. the Auditor, if Part 10 applies.
     • No other person is entitled to receive a notice of General Meeting.

     Part 12.  –  By-laws

     • On being admitted to Membership, a Member is entitled to and the Society shall give him, without charge, a copy of the constitution and by-laws of the Society.
     • These by-laws shall not be altered or added to except by special resolution.

     Record of Changes

     ADOPTED: October 19, 1988

     ADOPTED: March 26, 2002

     ADOPTED: February 19, 2015

     ADOPTED: February 19, 2020 – Editorial edits for gender-based language, Spelling and Grammar, Re-numbering, Addition of Clause 43, Removal of Clause 38 and Removal of Clause 50. See old Bylaws for reference.