GEORGIA SECTION OF AWWA BYLAWS REVISIONS

At the annual conference in July 2020, the Georgia Section of AWWA will be voting on proposed changes to our bylaws. Here is where we need your help! As a member of GAWWA, it’s your right and responsibility to approve any changes to our bylaws. Below we have provided a brief overview of why there are changes being made and what those changes are. As required by our bylaws, we are also providing you with a chance to review the full bylaws revisions. Please see below for more information and the link to the documents.

2020_GEO_Bylaws_-_CLEAN.docx
2020_GEO_Bylaws_-_REDLINE.docx

Why are the bylaws being revised?
The American Water Works Association (AWWA) requires Section bylaws be consistent with the AWWA Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, and the Affiliation Agreement (the document that defines the relationship between AWWA and its Sections). Since GAWWA’s bylaws were last updated in 2010, AWWA’s primary governing document, the Board Policy Manual, has been updated. As a result, AWWA has asked Sections to review their bylaws. The proposed changes would bring GAWWA’s bylaws into line with AWWA governance requirements, legal standards, and nonprofit best practices.

What changes are being made?
While some changes are minor grammatical edits, here is an overview of some of the major changes addressed in the revisions:

  • Addition of the full objectives in Article II, as opposed to a reference to the AWWA objectives
  • More detailed definition of the relationship between AWWA policies and Section policies in Article III
  • Several items in Article V, which articulate members’ right to call a meeting and details the number of members needed to take action on any matter put to a member vote
  • Addition of language in Article VI to provide greater transparency on audit procedures
  • Several additions to Article VII, including the vote threshold for electing candidates to the board, basic duties of officers, and other minor edits
  • Updates to bylaws amendment in Article XI process to conform with AWWA Board Policy Manual and current process at the Association level

Review the full documents

  • Click here for the clean version of the bylaws (what the document will look like if all changes are approved)
  • Click here for the redline version of the bylaws (all changes are reflected in a different color to show the current language compared to the proposed language).

Next steps
These bylaws revisions will be put to a formal vote during the annual conference in July. A virtual business meeting will be held on July 14, 2020 at 4:00pm EDT. We hope you will join us for that meeting and exercise your rights as a member of our Section.

Questions?
Questions about the GAWWA bylaws revisions can be directed to: Rita Neely, Chair GAWWA at Chair@GAWWA.org or Kelly Comstock, Director GAWWA at Director@GAWWA.org.