Common House minutes: 2015-11-12

Agenda:

1. shower replacement for guest room
2. review winter thermostat settings
3. dryer repair update
4. projector update
5. shopper list
6. mandate
7. CH content estimate for insurance replacement
8. Longer term - replace marmoleum in laundry room

Minutes:

present: Jim, Nancy, Elph

1. shower replacement for guest room
guests have alerted us that the shower doesn't work.
longer term members claim it has never worked well and is poorly designed.
we would like it to be ADA friendly and ideally "roll-in" - it is currently
a bathtub.
let's have Ted, our maintenance person weigh in, and then let's call a
handy man to get a quote to replace the enclosure.

2. review winter thermostat settings
The winter thermostat settings are in affect - 68 during the day and 60 at
night.
We will document in Wiki.

3. dryer repair update
The controller board has been ordered, is on back order and could take a
while. Total cost is going to be $360. Is it worth thinking about replacing
the dryer at this point? Does not seem like it since a new dryer is
$800-$1000.
Decision: proceed with repair.

4. projector update
The old projector broke and has been replaced with a similar but improved
model for $740. From Reserve. It works like the old one with the same kind
of remote control but is much brighter.

5. shopper list
At the beginning of the work period the combined CH / Meals shopper started
recording what they purchase and who to bill it to. We are hopeful this
will improve how we do purchasing and help folks in the roll. Katie has
been filling in in and seems to be going well.

6. mandate
The CH mandate is really old and part of an early decision to create the
committee. Process provided a mandate template to committees years ago and
we should try to fill it out. We'll work on a question per meeting moving
forward. The template is included at the end of the minutes.

7. CH content estimate for insurance replacement

Syndallas asked for a value for the contents of the common house.

Erik said, "Hmm. $2000 might cover the cost of what we would need to
replace of equipment in the garage. Not counting outdoor furniture. I
haven't priced that but I can't imagine we could replace it all for under
$1000. A new hot tub would be $4000 - $5000. So that's $7000+ before we
even look in the kitchen.

Those are "skinny" estimates. Often the price of insuring say $50,000 of
contents instead of $12,000 is very nearly the same. So it may be wiser to
guess high. If we have a good agent s/he could advise us on the price
difference. For instance at my business the insurance is the same exact
price up to $80,000 of contents. So I wrote in $80,000, that way I don't
have to be calling my agent every time I buy a new tool. There's nothing
wrong with estimating high, this is just the LIMIT on coverage. They will
still only pay out on what is actually damaged"

Elph put together the following list and the committee reviewed it and it
was passed on to Syndallas.

Amateur Accounting of Common House Contents Value

$2000, Network Equipment
$2000, Outdoor furniture
$8000, Hot Tub
$3000, Ovens (2)
$6000, Hobart LXi Dishwasher
$1300, Refrigerator
$2000, Surface mount cook range
$8000, Dining Room tables (8)
$5000, Dining Room chairs (71)
$3000, Dining Room Stereo System with 6 speakers and 3 wireless mics
$2000, TV room and Game room visual entertainment systems
$2300, Exercise Room elliptical
$2100, Exercise Room treadmill
$6000, High Efficiency Laundry Machines (3 washers, 3 dryers)
$1000, Guest room bed, armoire, and bedding
$2000, Sitting Room furniture
$55700, TOTAL


8. Longer term - replace marmoleum in laundry room
It was noted that the marmoleum is failing in the laundry room as well as
the kitchen. The kitchen is slated for major re-work but we need to make
sure to also line up replacement for the laundry room at some point.


Common House Committee Mandate (blank template)

Are we a Standing Committee (do the ongoing work of the group) or an Ad Hoc
Committee (temporary group to accomplish a task)?

1. Explain as precisely as possible (like a job description):

Our Mandate: What did the community ask us to do?

Our Mission: What is our global task in service to the community?

Goals: What are we responsible for?
What aren't we responsible for?
What is expected of committee members?

Objectives: What projects/proposals are we currently working on?
Do we have timelines for various tasks?

When a new person joins your committee, can you hand them a printed
purpose/vision/goals statement? Purpose and goals can change by discussion
and consensus; printed sheet is just the communication/orientation tool.

2. Define physical identity:

Who is on our committee?
Who is the convener?
Who is the minute taker?
Do you need a money handler/bookkeeper?
Who is the point person for work tasks?
Other roles?
Is the diversity of the community represented on the committee?
Are there people who comprise the following traits on your committee:
Initiators, implementers, writing skills, communication/interpersonal
skills, linear and gestalt thinkers, information/knowledge/researchers?

3. Define process identity:

How will committee govern itself (facilitation)?

How will committee make decisions?

How do we communicate with the community?






Example: (Totally made-up)

Meals Committee:

Mandate: Design a system for providing common meals for Great Oak.

Mission: To provide common meals that have wide appeal and encourage
participation five nights per week.

Goals: We are responsible for designing a cook/assistant cook/cleaner
sign-up system.
We are responsible for designing a diner sign-up system.
We are responsible for meals billing and cook reimbursement.
We are responsible for outfitting the kitchen and stocking food
supplies.
We are responsible for creating the job descriptions for cooks, assist
cooks, & cleaners and posting them on the wiki.
We are responsible for creating and maintaining hygiene standards for food
prep.

We are not responsible for assigning people to these jobs (work
committee).
We are not responsible for deep cleaning of the kitchen/dining
room (CH comm.)

Committee members are responsible for attending meetings, providing
feedback/suggestions from all perspectives (cooks, cleaners, diners), and
solving problems related to the meals program.

Objectives: Working on training cooks, cleaners, diners on food hygiene.
(by Oct 18)
Working on figuring out how to meet the needs of both herbivores and
omnivores at most meals. (by Jan 1, 05)
Designing online meal sign-up and menu posting. (by Jan 1, 06)




Name of Committee:

Explain as precisely as possible (like a job description):

Our Mandate: What did the community ask us to do?



Our Mission: What is our global task in service to the community?



Goals: What are we responsible for?
What aren't we responsible for?
What is expected of committee members?



Objectives: What projects/proposals are we currently working on?