Common House minutes: 2006-09-16

Minutes:

Present: Laura, Nancy, Becky

IKEA Report
Becky went to IKEA yesterday and had a blast! She was able to get 2
bedside tables and a wardrobe. Now we just need to get them put
together. Spent under $200. Also found a very small chair that she
thinks will fit, but didn't buy it yet. Saw many items that we
could use throughout the CH. Wall mounted storage cabinets for the
bathrooms, couches for the media room, and some very reasonably
priced artwork.

Talked about priorities. The media room couch needs to go, but we
don't have enough to get a really good one right now. Laura has one
in her basement she will let us use. ***NOTE: after looking at the
couch, the committee decided it would not work.


The committee debated the pros and cons of using the remaining
fundraising money on a couch now vs the other items we had already
prioritized. We know the couch is in very bad shape, but until the
community comes to more agreements about how to use that room, it
doesn't seem wise to spend the money there. Also, our long term
goal is to budget for more than just a couch. We want to redo that
room to include more sitting and a better shelving/storage system.
So, we are going to plan out the whole room, and budget at various
levels for the upcoming year.

The money we have left from fundraising will go to the concrete
staining, and more general improvements.


Common House Usage and Email
The big item for discussion today is the recent flood of emails
regarding common house usage and misuse. We are going to have one
hour on Monday's community meeting's agenda.

The committee discussed at length. Some notes were jotted down, but
this was a very free-flowing discussion.

*We have an agreement that people will clean up their messes, but no
agreement about what a "mess" is.
*Can we get folks to talk about what they wish the common house would
be like?
*although some people say that too much cleanliness would make the
common house unwelcome to them - others feel that too messy makes
them stay away from the CH

*We know there are strong feelings right now, and need to have some
time on the agenda for people to vent. But we really want to move to
more constructive discussions too.

* awareness that the media room is sometimes used as a baby sitter.
Many people understand this and it is ok, but how do we make sure
that the parents are then cleaning up the room when the kids are
finished?
*We know that adults leave messes too.
* We could make extreme rules, like no food anywhere but the dining
room. But feel that is extreme and would change how everyone uses
media room
*what about rules for supervision in the ch for kids? Many people
are talking about it now.

* our committee has be hesitant to post 'rules' in each room, but
maybe it is time. Some members have said this would actually help
them when talking with children. Feeling that they would have more
backing.
*It might be helpful to post how the room is expected to look when
you leave


Becky will meet with facilitators on Sunday and talk about how to
proceed with t discussion at the business meeting
start with a general talking stick - venting of frustration about ch
living, cleanliness and supervision

break into small groups for suggested solutions

POST COMMITTEE MTG NOTES
Becky met with the facilitators and Laird Sunday night, and we went
back and forth about the talking stick piece. They pointed out that
the community has already devoted a lot of time at the training
weekends to this, and that one of the goals is to get people to use
the proper communication pathways. We decided to try that method
instead.