ACM minutes 2024 03 13

Topics: open house, Instagram, signing up for Cohousing Institute programs

Present: Stephen, Lynda, Laraine, Kerry, Michael A, Linda, Emily, Vicky, Eliza (fac), Kay (notes), Cheryl, Alex, 8:00 Vinnie, Jorge, 8:15 Robin

Wednesaday, 7:00-8:45 p.m., common house sitting room.

Events

Friday March 29, movie night.

March 30 and 31. Easter celebration Saturday afternoon egg coloring. Boil eggs before bringing them. Egg hunt, Sunday morning.

March 31, Easter Sunday. Aitch Alexander has a new book coming out. Amy is hosting a book signing. Two hours, probably 2:00 to 4:00, everyone welcome. If you’d like to read some of Aitch’s work, you may borrow a copy from Vicky or Amy.

Saturday before 9 a.m. Food drive & donation sponsored by local LDS ward. Peanut butter, fruit, candy, boxed macacheese. Put a bag by the front door if you’d like to give. QR code to donate, $1 can get more than $8 of food. Make sure the food is not expired.

Friends of Paul’s, David and Pedro from Austin will be sleeping in common house Easter weekend, in town for tattoo convention. Paul is moving back here.

The 2024 National Cohousing Conference is August 2-4. The 'Early Bird' rate to attend expires in eighteen days. Because Wasatch Commons is a Partner, residents get $100 off registration.

Announcements

The bookshelf in the small room between upstairs bedroom and bath is now a puzzle library; everyone is welcome to borrow or donate.

Eliza is sponsoring a bag building for unhoused people at the beginning of April. Socks, gloves, water bottles, fruit snacks, toilet paper, body wipes, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes & toothpaste. Eliza will email details and a link to a site that offers advice about what to include.

Vicky has found a place to recycle styrofoam in Murray. Not peanuts or egg cartons. See her email.

The enclosure southwest of the common house has recycling bins for thin film plastic and scrap metal. Cheryl could use help setting it up.

National Cohousing Open House

National Cohousing Organization has designated the first weekend of May for open houses. Vicky is planning Saturday May 4, possibly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We don’t have any homes for sale this year (that we are expecting). Giving tours. If someone would be willing, let visitors tour your house.

Maintenance Committee was wondering if that was or was not a good weekend to have a work party. It would add to people’s knowledge of what cohousing means.

If you have some of the name tags from previous years, give them to Eliza to collect & make any needed.

Could have music or a drum circle.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the community. Debated combining it with open house, but the current idea is that we would hold an event in the fall.

If someone is interested in doing a weekly post on Instagram, talk to Eliza or Vicky.

Committee Reports

Common House. Thanks to everyone who helped clean up the kitchen and pantry. Jorge put up shelves in the closet/alcove in the sitting room (salvaged wood from #9's remodeling). Robin is working on getting the roomba working. The white stepladder is at the side of the fridge.

Fundraising. Meet 6:00 every Monday. So far have raised $1020. This Friday the fund-raising movie is Song of the Seas. Do people want to keep going with movies in April? If there are dishes that have been popular at potluck, send the recipes to Lynda and Hannah.

Farmette. March 17, fava and pea planting party. Will harvest the leeks and make soup. Request: provide recipes for some of the more unusual vegetables.

Management. Would people like follow-up discussions about what insurance policies should include?

Maintenance. Splitting into two teams, DIY and vendor. DIY will be in charge of work that we can do ourselves. The vendor team will work on researching contractors, vetting them, getting bids, supervising them on-site. The vendor team will also be part of DIY but not in a leadership role. Both groups will meet together on the second Tuesday each month, and between then meet by themselves.

Linda is willing to donate her water softener. The expense would be dis-installing it from her unit and installing it in the common house plus a 40-lb bag of salt every week or two. The final salt content of the water is 5 ppm. Softened water increases the life expectancy of appliances - washers, dishwasher, swamp cooler, fridge water dispenser. If the external spigots are not plumbed separately the water shouldn't be used for irrigating; can still use the hydrant behind the common house. Potassium chloride is safe to irrigate with Does Maintenance need to do a proposal? Yes, please.

Hub. Meeting Sunday at Emily's house. Emily will email the time.

Accessing Online Cohousing Events

We pay $750/year for a partnership with cohousing.org, which gives everyone access to all the programming of the Cohousing Institute. Each resident needs to make an account. Use the link Vicky sent in order to get it free.