Finance & Legal minutes: 2016-03-23

Special Notes:

The 3-9-16 F&L meeting was cancelled as two members were not feeling well.

Agenda:

Insurance
Year-end Bookkeeping/Audit
Arrears
Master Deed Update & Timeline
Items arising

Minutes:

Present: Debbi, Becky G., Keith, Amy, Syndallas


1. Insurance



F&L members are in agreement that we would like to move to a new insurer.
Our investigations have shown that State Farm's business model is to sell
pre-packaged insurance products that can't be modified to meet our special
needs as a cohousing community. Through her day job, Syndallas has a good
relationship with an insurance brokerage firm that can put together a
package that is specific to our needs. She got a quote from them in
December that was very close to the amount we pay State Farm now, but with
better coverage. Enough time has passed that they'll need to re-quote.
Syndallas will ask them to quote again at both $2500 and $5000 deductibles
so we can evaluate the difference. She will request the same coverage for
"possessions" as we now have for State Farm (valued at $80,000). After we
settle on the deductible amount and agree to their quote, we'll go through
a "binding process" in which we will explain all the unique or unusual
things we do at Great Oak (e.g. Family Farms, the tree house, the guest
room, the shared truck, and so on), and they will adjust the policy to be
less boiler-plate and more specific to us. We'll go back and forth a little
bit before we arrive at a final version.



We will make sure the policy includes liability insurance for all of us as
officers/board members of GOCA.



Syndallas recommends that we go ahead now with the $300 "volunteer
coverage" policy they have offered us. By "volunteer" they mean that
workers are not paid and are not required to be at a certain place at a
certain time and told what work to do. This policy would be valuable to us
in the case of a serious injury, not something minor, which would be
covered by a person's own health insurance. E.g. if someone were doing
work on a community work day and got badly injured, we'd make a claim. The
coverage is for up to $100,000. For this policy, unlike State Farm's, we
don't have to prove that GO was negligent. We will need to send them a
list of the people who are "volunteer" workers. And we'd have to keep that
up to date. We talked about which committee could do this. Work?
Membership? What if Membership did the initial update, and Work
cross-checked the list each work season? This will need discussion.



We budgeted a certain amount for insurance for 2016. That amount is going
to change with a new policy. We're not in the right point in our budget
cycle to adjust. How will we cover the difference, if it goes up? F&L may
be able to come up with some money from the audit and professional fee
lines if there's a shortfall, or we could ask Steering for money from the
Critical Needs Fund. We decided to wait and see what the amount would be
before problem-solving.



Our Bylaws say we should have a "Book of Mortgagees" a list of the
companies that hold the mortgages for all the units. We don't have this,
but will need to create it so that the new insurance company can notify all
the mortgagees of the change of insurance.



Debbi will send out a message asking people for:



''- Name the house is under

''- Name of mortgage company

''- Contact info for mortgage company

''- Mortgage account #



As needed, we'll put notes in cubbies and announce at meetings, etc.



Our bookkeepers will need a contact at the new insurance company for any
refis or new mortgages.



We may need to educate ourselves, and the community, about what our
insurance really covers. There can be a disconnect between what insurance
will cover and Great Oak's exposure to being sued. We have significant
funds in our reserve fund and accounts that someone could sue us for and
that insurance wouldn't cover. That's why things like the volunteer worker
policy would be good to have. And that's why we're being so fussy about
the truck.



Ah, the truck. We are currently paying $466/every 6 months for the
"personal auto" type of policy we have with State Farm. The new company's
quote is for $900 a year for a commercial policy. They would check the
DL's and run the records, so we wouldn't have to do it. We'd just give
them the names -- they could be owners or renters, as we choose. We just
need to control access. We could say that you can't drive the truck until
you have an orientation to the truck and the truck coordinator gets
affirmation from the insurance company that says "good to go." Syndallas
will ask her contact what would happen if someone unauthorized drove the
truck. We were excited to learn about the existence of a keypad code box
product that we might be able to add to the Truck. It controls the
ignition, along with a key. We could change the code as needed, just like
our other keypads on campus. We will recommend this to Grounds.



We talked about the ideal annual cycle for our policy. January 1 start?
Or November 1 so we know what the new rate will be during the budget
cycle? We definitely want to know if there's going to be an increase
coming by the end of October each year.



What about doing community work inside each other's homes? Is there any
limit in the kinds of work? Syndallas will ask.



Syndallas will let TS and SW know about the volunteer insurance if it
indeed turns out to be a good thing.



In response to our inquiry, our attorney said that our tree house would be
considered to be an "attractive nuisance" to non-resident children, and
that we should talk to our insurance company about it. Syndallas will do
so.



2. Year-end Bookkeeping/Audit

a. Debrief presentation of Bookkeeping docs to the community on Monday
3/21:

Becky did a great job and people seemed interested and like they were
following along.

b. Any other bookkeeping news? GOCA taxes: Susan thinks Len may get to
our return soon.

c. Guest Room: We're temporarily suspending guest room fees while
we're investigating new insurance. State Farm says we're not covered if
any money changes hands, even as little as $5. We saw this coming, and
didn't budget for income this year. Becky G. will send this info to the CH
Com and will find out if CH Com wants to announce it or if F&L should do so.

3. Arrears

a. Matthew Cooke -- has submitted a check for the amount in full and we
are just waiting to be sure it clears. Amy will write to Rick Delonis to
let him know.

b. Other arrears: waiting for the plan we've discussed with the
household to unfold.



4. Master Deed Update & Timeline -- no news -- hoping for next meeting



5. Revised CH Office Lease

a. Amy will communicate with Elph/CH Com about getting the new leases
signed.

b. Amy will send the new leases to Debbi to put on WIKI in Important Docs

c. CH and F&L Committee Mandates need updating to reflect our current
thinking about CH Offices responsibilities.



6. Truck

a. Signs installed, but need to do a better job attaching the sign in
the truck

b. Edits to Truck Usage Policy -- Amy is meeting with Gayle on Sunday

c. Grounds should research the key code device, talk to Erik, get it
installed.



7. Items we are tracking

a. CH Special Assessment Liens (Amy)

b. Turning the working reserve spreadsheet into the final one (Becky &
Keith?)

c. Deck refund decision



8. Items arising



8. Next meeting: Tuesday, April 12 (for real) *in the MEDIA ROOM*



Amy will reserve rooms for summer season meetings.