DAPHNE, Ala. — A Daphne man has filed a lawsuit against the Lake Forest Property Owners Association in reference to the eight-member board of directors’ April action to amend old bylaws.

The board earlier this year voted to rescind a November 2003 change to the association’s bylaws that stated no rules could be amended without 30 days’ notice of the vote and a members’ majority; the board’s majority, alone, would be insufficient, according to the 2003 rule.

The suit alleges that April proceedings were unauthorized — according to the association’s bylaws — when the current board voted 8-1, without notice, to rescind the rule. The board includes president, John Peterson; Jim Moss; Willie Robison; Sherrie Weller; Bryan Frater; Marie Bidney; Clint Martin; and Selena Vaughn, according to Lake Forest’s official web site.. Moss made the motion to amend the 2003 rule.

 The Daphne Bulletin has not learned the lone dissenter’s identity. However, no current board members sat on the 2003 board, according to the suit.

Ed Kirby — the plaintiff — requests that the decision be made invalid and that the board pay his attorney and court fees.

The Daphne Bulletin last Wednesday reported that Kirby had considered the lawsuit, but the complaint, with no assigned case number, was in the court’s “problem box,” which meant the plaintiff hadn’t paid the filing fee. The suit was entered last week after fees were paid, though at press time no defendants had been served, according to the Baldwin County Circuit Court clerk’s office.

“This is a private organization and a private matter and it needs to be handled that way,” Peterson  said.  “I am out of town until Monday and have not been served yet.

“When we receive the information, we will talk to our attorney and form a statement.”

Opponents of the board’s April action fear the directors could vote for an increase in membership fees after raising the amount of money the association can borrow, which is currently set at $100,000 per year, according to Mitch Davis, an association member and former board president.

“If they amend the bylaws so that they can borrow over $1 million, how do they intend to make the payments if they cannot operate now?” Davis said last week. “They would have to increase dues, which this action would also let them do.”

Monthly dues are currently $37.50, according to a member.

The board may amend bylaws if it notifies voters at least 30 days before the vote; however, the board, after its April action, doesn’t need members’ approval to do so. Robert’s Rules of Order, a handbook that many government and private entities — like the property owners association — use for governing meetings, seems to support the action’s validity.

“Any vote taken by an assembly … may be rescinded by a majority vote with notice or without notice with a two-thirds vote or a vote of the majority of the entire membership,” according to Robert’s Rules.