Common House minutes: 2010-11-20

Minutes:

Hi All,

I want to apologize for the lack of CH minutes for the last couple of
months. Be assured we have been meeting! Here is a brief summary of
what's been going on.

Most of the discussions have centered around planning for the budget.
We've spent a great deal of time going over the improvements we want
to focus on next year now that most of the energy-saving improvements
are complete.

* We want to add some artwork in the dining room, and Heather is going
to head up that project

*We want to get some more durable furniture/climbing blocks for the
kids room. We rarely buy anything new for this room, and we have a
great number of children of all ages using it. Our plan is to start
with a few of these large foam climbing blocks, that can also be used
for seating. We also want to get a couch that can stand up to the
jumping that happens in that room. Katie found a really nice wooden
kitchen, but we've decided to use a donated plastic one for now and
raise the money for the nicer one through donations. Please contact
Katie if you can contribute any $.

*We were going to buy a new chair for the sitting room, but Heather
and Adi have given us a year loan on the black recliner. We will
budget for a replacement for 2012.

*We are still in the planning stages for the Kitchen remodel. The
pricing for a counter top, pass through model is outrageously
expensive. The most affordable one is a model that requires chemicals
to do the sanitizing, and it uses alot, which is pricey. However,
they do sell a stand that will raise up our existing model. We want
to do this, but the first step is to start a rollover account to begin
saving money. We are asking for $1K in the 2011 budget to do this.
Next step will be to begin having joint meetings with the Meals
committee, because there is still a fair amount of planning to do.
Meals also has some money to contribute to this project. At the
special community meeting we had about the kitchen, many ideas were
thrown out about how to make the kitchen better, and we will come back
to the community for some prioritizing before we do any major work.

*We have also been changing our meeting times trying to find one that
works for all of us. We will keep meeting on Saturday mornings for at
least half of the meetings, but we might also try alternating with a
Monday morning time slot.

Again, sorry for the lack of real minutes.
Our next meeting is Nov 20, 10 am in the Media room