Steering minutes: 2010-11-07

Minutes:

MINUTES: GO Steering Committee / 5 pm, Sunday, 7 Nov. 2010 / CH sitting room

PRESENT: Gail, Kathy B, Jim G, Willie, Catherine, Amy H, Vincent, Gayle
[observer] and MaryAnn [Touchstone].


REPORT FROM TOUCHSTONE:

As our "Ambassador" to TS, Kathy attended their Steering committee, to
invite their participation in the joint summit meeting which was held Saturday
the 6th. Noted that their schedule, and other community info, is posted on
their office door in our CH.

MaryAnn reported:
a) TouchStone is still held up on plans to build their own Common
House, and so has put in a bid on a unit there, to use temporarily; they are
waiting to see whether that will be successful;
b) They don't want to wear out their welcome here - she was
assured by our group that they continue to be welcome;
c) She knows that there is an issue about meals workers sometimes
not reporting, or coming late; and Willie will inform her how to access the
list of who is assigned when.

At the 2-community summit, there was a great deal of attention paid to
traffic problems and safety. Erik K was convene an ad-hoc committee to work on
this. While volunteers from both communities will be solicited to participate,
from GO's side they will function as a sub-committee reporting to Grounds, who
will decide how to bring recommendations to the community and how to implement
them.

Another principal topic of discussion Saturday was issues with recycling,
and especially access to the bins here.


JOBS FOR THE NEXT WORK SEASON, Jan-April:

Committee representatives - Jim for CH, Kathy for Meals, Amy for F&L,
Willie for Work, Gail for Process. Other committee reps are still to be named.
In some cases, committees may not find it possible to have the same
representative at every Steering meeting.

Ambassador to TS: Willie.

Convener - still open. Gail has served for a full year, and it is
generally desirable to have any such position rotate. However, this is a
position that must be filled by someone who served on the committee, it cannot
just be assigned during the allocation party.


COMMITTEE REPORTS:

F&L (Amy) - Has been working to complete the Reserve Fund - many thanks to
Aaron! Carl will be taking over as bookkeeper. Getting bids for insurance. On
the horizon: financial review in 2011,

MEALS (Kathy) - Request from Sunward for joint meals was turned down as
impractical. Not many cooks responded to request for info on how to make their
job less stressful. Meals Committee may come to the community with a
recommendation to eliminate Thursday dinners, in order to reduce demands on
labor; but they know there will be push-back.

COMMON HOUSE (Jim) - Has been concentrating on its budget request for next
year. Committee believes it is time to make some improvements in the facility,
but also recognizes the pressures to hold the line on costs.

WORK (Willie) - 2 good work days; have not tried to nag workers, but
instead have asked for help to finish things. Passed out graphs of responses to
work survey, and that led to discussion of why some jobs are popular and others
are not, and why conveners are hard to get.

GROUNDS (Vincent) - Budget concerns: will propose 3 different levels of
funding for landscaping. Eliminating some jobs for the winter. Intend to add
work hours for the convener, and add another committee member. [It was noted
that each committee determines hours in its own area - which may be on a
different basis than for other committees.] Path lighting is coming - we are
using the contractor already known to us. On the workday, achieved a good
clean-up of the West boundary.

MEMBERSHIP (Catherine) - New Member packet is now available on-line.
Caring Fund seems robust. New Member ceremonies are going well. Packet about
co-housing has been sent to the Realtor that is listing Unit #17.

PROCESS (Gail) - Working on 'Skills & Thrills' weekend - need to get
community members to sign up. Need to recruit new committee members - 'new
blood' who offer fresh perspectives.

BUILDINGS (written report sent by Judith S) - Budget request divides
Maintenance into 2 lines, one for fire suppression and one for other matters -
with both lines being roll-overs. Deciding on schedule for re-painting
buildings, next year and the years following.


NEXT MEETING: 5 pm, Sunday, Dec. 5.
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