Corporate Meeting 24 Apr 2007

4/24 Corporate Meeting The Janet Smith

Present: Tim, Melissa, Melanie, Trip, Eric, Taylor, Becky, Monica, Christy, Cole, Brendan, Pete, Scott

Announcements and Sundry Information

Membership is hoping to have open houses on Thursday nights. These will be hors d'oeuvres/snack/wine(?) events with student performances and student artwork on the walls
The JS solar panel will probably never work again. And it would cost $22,000 for a new system. Keep dreaming, kids.
Keep your eyes peeled for a bike section on the wiki - hopefully, coming soon, directions and bike routes to key co-op hot spots.
Sequoia's softball team, A BUNCH OF NERDS, won their first softball game. They're playing again at 7:00 on Sunday. Pete's soccer team plays Sunday at 11:00. Maybe we need a cheerleading caucus?

Thursday, 4/26, 7:00pm, Willamette 110: A movie on "gang-mutant-bike-jousting." I think it's free.
Friday, 4/27, 1:00, Survival Center: Scott is presenting a history of the Survival Center
ALSO Friday, 4/27, 1:00: Pete's going to the courthouse over the $750 fine from the Halloween in Spring party. He welcomes your attendance and moral support.
In case Friday, 4/27 wasn't already sweet enough...7:00 pm, 17th and Charnelton: Critical Mass rides again! Bring your bike and roam the streets, hopefully avoiding parking tickets while making the bike-presence of Eugene known.

Eric met with a contractor for Markin Co to see about replacing 47 windows in the JS with double-paned, energy-efficient windows with argon filler. These babies are soundproof and insulated.
Estimated cost (pending an actual bid) is projected at $14,000 for the house. We'd pay this in 5 year installments on a loan from EWEB; thus, math fans, this means we'd be paying ~$3,000/year from the corporate maitenance budget
Installing these windows would a) make us eligible for a big tax credit and cash back rebate (Melanie projects it at ~$3500). b) make the JS eligible for grants from EWEB to install heat pumps/get a new heating system/upgrade the JS insulation.
Eric will be back with a firm proposal next week, and we'll be looking into potential window upgrades for the Lorax and CC as well.

Speaking of heat upgrades...the CC got a new heating system put in and this year, they are $2500 OVER BUDGET on their heating allocation (gas money).
The CC will discuss, as a house, ways to reduce their heating costs, including a possible upgrade to a programmable or lockable thermostat.
Tim proposed that the corporate budget cover the excess cost contingent upon a change in heating practice. Melanie suggested the CC buying a new thermostat out of house funds as a penalty. Either way, a $2400 insurance over-allocation in the budget will cover most of the heating for now.
To help control energy costs in the future, we're hoping to make utility bills ongoingly public...perhaps by posting them monthly ON THE WIKI!!!

Eric unearthed our old membership review policy (check it out on the wiki) which, in summary, calls for review with any outstanding balance at term's end. This policy gave 7 days for payment or negotiation, and 72 hours following that week for payment, negotiation, or self-eviction. Note: this policy did still leave room for an individual in debt to contact Melanie and come up with a plan for payment.
We're having a conversation now about whether or not to enforce this old policy. How strict do we want our review policy to be? What kind of bureaucracy do we want to have in the co-ops? How can we respect individuals' problems and get the money we need to do projects that will increase our sustainability and welfare? [If these questions matter to you, come to the corporate meetings!!!]
Melanie and Eric will be working on reconciling the new and old policies and will be bringing their draft back for further discussion.

A man in Eugene going by the names of Hotep or Dr. Williams has been hanging around the SCA. He has been passing himself off as an academic displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrine. Further information has revealed he is a conman.
Some SCA members paid for a hotel voucher for him and his supposed family.
Dr. Williams has had dinner at all 3 co-ops and has been dropping names of co-op members as an attempt to establish credibility within the community. He has also been inappropriate towards some students in terms of sexual innuendos and requests for money. He will act like he knows everyone in the community. Be careful. Read the email that Cole sent out.

We may not have much $$ in the corporate budget for WestCo, so individuals and houses might be asked to kick in some money to cover some of our costs. It'll be ~$1500 all together: $1000 for vans and $15/person for registration.

This group is going to be in town on May 3rd doing a puppet show/live music performance/presentation.
The event will most likely take place at either the Lorax or the CC.
Talk to Monica for more info/with questions.

The corporate board passed a proposal to give each SCA house $500 a year to be used in matching grants for improvement projects that do no meet the usual definition of "capital improvements."
Each house will receive up to $500 from this corporate fund to match the amount of money that they raise to go towards these projects. [Ex: if you raise $250 with a car wash, you'll get $250. If you raise $1000 with a bad-ass bake sale, you'll only get $500]. Multiple fundraisers can be completed in order to get as much of the $500 as possible.
Houses must consense on both what the money is going to be used for and how the money is going to be raised.

The corporate board consensed on giving the JS $1800 of corporate money to buy a new washer and dryer. This will include a 5 year warranty that covers normal wear and tear. [Sequoia: "It probably won't cover it if you put a bunch of bee-bees in there and wash them."]
If you care about the specifics (gas vs. electric; coin-op vs. not) talk to Sequoia or Aaron.

The corporate board consensed to give the CC $275 to pay for 1/2 of their new tandem.

NEXT MEETING, TUESDAY, 5/1, 7:00 PM, THE CAMPBELL CLUB

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