Common House minutes: 2011-09-29

Minutes:

CH meeting 9/29/11

Present: Heather, Katie, Jim, Becky

Agenda:
*Floor color
*Budget
*Work day
*Middle Office

Floor Color
Discussed coloring of the game room flooring - darkest would be way too dark for that room, we also think the lightest would show dirt way too much. Choosing one of the mid range colors. Now, we just need to finalize the type. Pricing from Lowes, Lumber Liquidators, Chelsea Lumber.. Chelsea doesn't carry the locking type which we want. Becky will work with Jeff to finalize which floor to get and from where.


Budget:
We did a brainstorming of all the possible improvements, then went back and talked about each one. Then put prices to the ones we want to do in 2012. A great deal of the discussion was around the media room. We want new seating, but sometime in the next few years we will be able to replace the entertainment equipment out of the reserve fund. At that time, we would like to go with a wall mounted system. Pretty sure this is a few years off, so for now we are just going to focus on the seating.

*New furniture media room- $800 for either a big couch or small couch and chair

*Soundproofing for the game room -$400-$500 for the boards, batting and fabric (for those who are curious, we are going to make some art that is also soundproofing for that room)

*second aquarioum - $150 - We had Eric move the aquarium in preparation for the carpet removal, and we've had lots of good feedback from folks who like it in the dining room. We talked about how it would be great to get a 2nd one so we can have them in both dining and sitting room. Jim will contact Eric to see if 1. he would be ok with leaving the aquarium in the dining room and 2. does he have another one to add for the sitting room? We don't want to spend very much money, but it is a very nice feature!


*Power Monitoring system - $300 Adi sent us a request for a power monitoring device that will track electrical use and help us further improve our reduction in utility costs. We all think this is go good investment.

*Misc - $250 - we always have small purchases throughout the year that come up, that are improvements and not maintenance. This extra would be to cover those.

TOTAL IMPROVEMENT REQUEST = $2000

KITCHEN ROLLOVER REQUEST = $1000
Remember, CH created a new rollover account last year that so that we can slowly save up money to do some remodeling in the kitchen.

Becky has started the spreadsheet of 2010 actuals, 2011 year to date and projected totals, and will plug in our normal 3% increase for utilities. Becky will send all the numbers to Rod by Saturday.

MIDDLE OFFICE
We've heard from Julie and Tom at TS that while they are still planning to continue sharing the CH with us for 2012, it is unlikely that they will keep renting the office. This means we need to start collecting names for possible renters, and if we get more than 1, we will hold a lottery. Becky will send that info out in a separate email, and will announce it at the community meeting next week. Just keep in mind we are not positive it will be available.

Office vs something else?
In the past, the CH committee has heard some members suggest other uses for the offices. Right now, our policy AND our budget assumes that we continue renting these rooms. The annual rent for the office is 2400. We do not feel changing the office to something else is the right thing at this time, as it would raise each unit's fees by approximately $5.40/month.

If any member, or group of members, strongly want this to become something else, then they need to bring a formal proposal to the community, starting with the CH committee. The Committee would explain costs and concerns, give feedback, and lend general assistance, but the proposal itself would need to be presented by the individual(s).

MISC Stuff
When looking through the media room, we noticed the pair of speakers, and the old artwork just stored in there. Katie will email about getting rid of the speakers and Heather will move the old artwork out of the CH.