Steering minutes: 2009-04-04

Minutes:

Steering Minutes
4/4/09

Present: Gail (Process), Laura (Grounds), Sarah (Membership), Amy
(Work), Mac (CH)
Guests: Helen, Linnea, and Ted

1. Committee Reports

MEMBERSHIP: was going to meet with Process to review mandate and make
sure Membership Com is fulfilling its expected functions. This did
not happen. Sarah suggests that Process re-initiate this meeting when
the new Membership crew begins in May. Adi will be the convener.

MONKEY: Process, please initiate a meeting with Membership in May to
discuss its mandate.

GROUNDS: Primarily talking about the Master Plan -- particularly the
items that Grounds was going to take on to discuss (vs items that the
community recently discussed). Also talking about jobs that need
doing on the upcoming Community Work Days.

COMMON HOUSE: Talking about the Game Room - getting rid of Foosball
table, painting the walls a color that hides dirt better, adding a
ceiling fan, possibly finding a new home for the piano, adding sound
baffling and tectum. Issues with the marmoleum in the CH -- it is
coming apart at the seams in some locations. Also discussing how to
rearrange the laundry room to add a new laundry machine and make it
more functional. Also talking about a few kitchen issues.

MONKEY: CH needs to check the job description for CH Maintenance
Worker to make sure it's clear how tasks are communicated (is the list
on the fridge still being used?).

PROCESS: Will soon bring back the Quorum proposal for approval at a
comty mtg; also planning to have a conversation with the community
about the value of training. Suggestion that we go over the basics
again since we've had quite a bit of turnover in residents. Also
talked the fact that it was supposed to be a trial period to have our
Comty Mtgs from 6:30-8, this was extended -- but we have never checked
in to formally change the meeting time.

Gail gave us a tour of some of the Great Oak Resources -- books on a
variety of topics such as gardening, group process, futuring, etc.
Adi has devised an online catalogue, located at: www.librarything.com/catalogue/gocoho
Process is open to suggestions for other items -- donations or
purchase.

WORK: Just finished the May 1 - August 30 work allocation; the Job
Fair is underway and ends Monday, April 6. Now turning our attention
to the upcoming May 2 & 16 Community Work Days. We will be following
up on input from Elph's Alternative Meeting on "what happens when the
work doesn't get done." Also have on the list to think about
budgeting labor much the way we budget money.

F&L is working on a proposal about late association fees.

MONKEY: Sarah will request a report from Buildings and we'll try to
get it in the minutes.

BUILDINGS: [Judith submitted notes after the meeting]

- Painting/staining the cedar siding. We are 'way overdue for the
gold stain. Buildings has decided to use all semi-opaque stains in the
future so that they will last longer. Eventually our buildings will be
on a schedule. I am using the terms "staining" and "painting"
interchangeably in this report. Willie has volunteered to be the
painting "Czar". He will develop a process and bring a proposal to the
community to decide on color schemes. Please give your input to
Willie.

- There are openings in two garages in the south bank. These need
to be closed off so that no one has access to Touchstone's garages from
our side. John will ask Jeff to do this.

- There are several spots of truck damage to the garages. These
will be repaired as soon as the weather co-operates. (John, our #1
maintenance guy will do this).

- Work Days May 2, 16. Jobs include installing Knox Boxes (for fire
safety), repairing garages, and caulking basement egress windows.
(if the weather is good)

#7. To-do List -
a. caulk basement access windows - as soon as the weather is warm
enough to use caulk - John and Dave W. will do some, Ted will probably
do some, and if there is more to be done, we will pay someone
b. Butlers have a bad roof leak with drywall damage and possible mold
issues - this will be repaired by Safe-T Building Company, so if you
see someone tearing the siding off Dave & Carol's chimney, don't be
surprised
c. Adi & Heather have a spot on their upstairs ceiling. If this is
another fire suppression (defective?) pipe, it needs to be fixed before
the system is refilled and re-pressurized again. While we're at it,
maybe company #3 can fix the leak in the risers in their basement.
d. Rod and Pam's icicles. We have photos. This needs to be fixed.
Is there any wet drywall? Odors? When does it happen? Would an
infrared energy audit help us solve this one?

Buildings will definitely be going over budget this year, so plan on
it. We raised our yearly amount to $9000 (from $7000), and we have
something like $15,000 in the critical needs fund. Some of the
critical needs fund will be used,
but we shouldn't have to have a special assessment.

2. Tri-Community Sustainability Meeting Report

Helen attended the meeting at Sunward on March 28 which was organized
by Nick Meima. 5 people attended from TS, Helen from GO, and the rest
from Sunward. It was a big brainstorm. The notes were sent out
recently on e-mail. The next meeting will be at GO on April 25, 9:30
brunch (potluck), 10 am meeting. Ideas and interests included getting
to know Lakestone better, and green burials.

3. Report on TS/GO Sharing

TS wants to have a loan secured before committing to full-blown
sharing mechanisms proposed by GO. They are actively engaged in
seeking a loan and have a strong lead with a local bank. No clear
timeline, but they probably would not start the full-blown sharing
until the next work season in the fall. They might be willing to do
some pre-sharing with filling in on Meals, do a mini-work days, etc.

Amy wanted to know if we could ask TS members to take some of the
unfilled meals jobs in the Job Fair, and asked Sarah if she would
forward a message to TS. Sarah said she would do this, and explained
that there are discussions underway on setting up a GO/TS e-mail group
for communicating about meals jobs, cancellations, etc.

Once TS is well along in building their CH, we need to communicate
with them about how we will end our shared work with them, so we are
not left in the lurch.

MONKEY: Sarah will talk with Becky to find out what she is thinking
about organizing mini-work days for TS.

TS has asked if GO-CH would give a short presentation at a TS meeting
about CH policies, etc. This may happen in late April.

4. Workshop Update

Ted came to share a few issues around the workshop:

- frustration with the lack of contributions of work and money from
TS. We noted that not many GOers had contributed labor to the
project, either. However, GO contributed land, and perhaps some money
(we were not clear on the finances).
- concerns that when the power is turned on soon, that people will
start doing projects before the interior is really finished (it will
still need painting, etc., and they don't want a lot of dust). It was
suggested that the Workshop folks communicate clearly with GO and TS
about the timeline for completion. Might be finished with the
building part in June (insulation, painting, windowsills). Getting
equipment and cabinets, etc, will probably come together in the summer.
- need to develop clear policies around access -- there will be
dangerous tools in the workshop, so it will be important to have clear
limits around training and the age of users because of safety
concerns. Will also have to work out user fees, etc.
- in the draft policy, community projects will have priority over
personal projects. We wondered about making reservations for special
projects
- an overall governance policy is also needed: who is in charge, who
can make decisions. May need to have communication at the Steering
level with TS to hammer this out.

5. Next meeting:

Sunday, May 3 at 5 pm in the CH Sitting Room