ACM minutes, Mar 9, 2022

Topics: pay’r’work reporting, committees, work parties
Minutes, All-Community Meeting, Wednesday, March 9, 2022
7:00-9:00 p.m.  Hybrid in-person and on-line.

Present: Beth, Lauren, Cheryl, Kay (notes), Linda, Ben, Vicky, Thomas, Mary, Isabella, Myste, Laura, Jude 
Westwood (joining Ben in #13), Joe & Lila, Laraine, Alex 8:25-8:00, Susan

Community work party on March 19, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  

What Does the Agenda Setters Committee Do

Agenda Setters collect topics suggested by community members or that appear to be on people’s 
minds.  They evaluate whether the subject is appropriate for discussion at a community meeting or 
might be better addressed on a committee or personal level.

Pay’r’Work

At the bottom of any email that starts with [wacoho], meaning it comes from the community listserv, 
there is a link “report your time and more” which takes you to a website where you can report your 
hours (the clipboard icon), or see all work reported; the directory, zoom link, calendar, email guidelines, 
other resources.  If people feel other things should be linked here, let Beth know.

The question who should be given credit has the choices “myself” and “other”. For “other”, fill in the 
blank with the person’s name.  

When you submit, it sends an email confirmation.  You can put in another report or see responses.  Each 
month Beth will move the data to a tab for the month.

Q.  If I work more than two hours, does the extra carry forward?  A. Under the current policy, yes. To 
help Beth know who has fulfilled their hours, if you intend it to carry forward, either put in the hours in 
the future month, or send her an email telling her you intend hours to be carried forward.

A rule of thumb for what is community work:  Does what you did add value to the community?

Committees

We ask every resident to participate in at least one committee.  

Most decisions should be made on a committee level. For instance, it isn’t a good use of community 
time to discuss what tree to plant where.  Committees make decisions about what should be done, but 
do not necessarily do the work themselves. Work can be done by work party, by individuals interested in 
the work but not wanting to make decisions, etc.

Every committee should have a convener. This person is more of a cat-herder than a boss and acts as a 
point person for people outside the committee to contact the committee.

We ask committees to let the community know when they are meeting and to put out minutes or at 
least make a report at ACM.  

Suggestion to add a button to the landing page for the committee lists.  Include a sentence describing 
the mandate.

A committee can be created if people see a need in a particular area of community life that isn’t already 
covered by a committee and want to work on it.

Q. What is “dining committee”?  A. In our early years, we had several community meals per week, for 
which a small team of people cooked and cleaned and others showed up to eat.  Meals were $3 each, to 
pay for the supplies.  Participants  were expected to cook or clean two meals a month. We keep trying to 
get meals started again.

Work Parties

Most cohousing communities have work parties once a month or more.  We have been having only a 
couple per year.

3:00 Saturday work party to haul broken branches to Amy’s truck.

The Maintenance Committee has reformed and is organizing a list of projects that need doing.

Would it be helpful to have regularly scheduled work parties, for instance on a particular Saturday each 
month?  Change it up so it isn’t always the same day, for people who have other regular commitments 
that day.  Also have work parties that are on an ad hoc as-needed basis.

At a community Vicky visited, they had a big butcher block paper listing jobs to be done on the work day, 
posted a week ahead, and people would sign up for what they wanted to do.

There are plenty of support jobs that people who can’t do physical labor can do.  Bring lemonade. 
Manage the work party, steering people to particular jobs. Run out for supplies.  Gather tools 
beforehand.  Cook a meal for the workers.  Enter work hours for everyone after the work party.

April 24 is an open house – clean up the grounds ahead of it.

Scheduled:  March 19, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  Next April 16, or possibly the 9th. 

Committee Reports

Safety Committee.  Coordinating fire extinguisher inspection.  Would like help identifying safety issues 
that need taking care of.  Email Joe or Lila if you are interested in joining the committee.  

Underutilized Spaces.  Meeting 6 p.m. Thursday, wrapping up the final stages of preparing the gym for 
use.  Marina is preparing a page of rules on a form that people will sign if they want a membership.

Welcoming.  Saturday April 23 is the Open House.  Currently aren’t planning on doing a virtual session, 
unless someone wants to head that up.  Kathy will be selling #17, probably in April. 

Announcements

Be cautious of hanging branches.

Beth will be requesting photos of everyone for the directory.

Susan will be living at Capital Hill, 7600 S 500 E.  She would like to receive visitors.

Wiki.  Ben has set up a wiki for the community.  Everyone should have gotten a link to sign up; if you 
didn’t contact Ben.  

Linda would like to hold a drum circle.  Probably held in the sitting room.  She will schedule it.

Alex will be scheduling a concert by some friends of hers.

Lynda is putting on a Death by Chocolate party, Friday March 25, 7:00-8:00.  Eat dinner at home then 
drop by for an hour of chocolate indulgence.

Check-out.  Say something positive about the person to your left, or pick a person on zoom.

Emailed 3/13.