Five members of The Country Club, a private golf and swimming club at 2400 Country Club Drive, have filed a federal suit alleging the nonprofit corporation's board of trustees failed to follow its bylaws.
In dispute is a plan to substantially renovate and expand the clubhouse, says the suit, filed by Louis Nichols, Jan Spidell, R. Lee Waldram, Alan Frank and Martin Lindem, residents of Salt Lake County. Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court action are Brian M. Barnard and James L. Harris.
The suit cites club bylaws requiring that any decision of the board approving an expenditure of more than $100,000 shall be posted prominently in the clubhouse for 10 days before it can become effective. If a petition objecting to the project is signed by at least 25 percent of the equity members and delivered to the board within the 10 days, the president of the club is to call a special membership meeting, the suit says.
If the majority of equity members present at the meeting do not approve the board's decision, the suit says, quoting the bylaws, "then the decision of the membership with regard to the proposed expenditure shall be binding upon the board."
The board recently approved and took steps to implement a facilities master plan that includes the renovation and expansion, which will cost more than $9 million, it says.
Those filing the suit are opposed to expenditure and object to implementing the master plan.
"The board has not prominently posted the proposed expenditures" as required, it says. This denied plaintiffs a chance to object and petition for a membership review of the expenditures, they add.
The board sponsored a vote of equity members in April concerning the facilities master plan, but the suit objects that the vote was not conducted according to procedures established by the country club and the board. It charges that because of this, "the vote is null and void and of no force or effect."
The suit seeks a court ruling that the board must comply with the bylaws as described in the action.