ACM minutes May 22, 2022

Topics: Business events, attendance, recycling, benefits of cohousing
All-Community Meeting, Sunday, May 22, 2022
3:00-5:00 p.m.  Online & in-person

Decision: Do a survey on meeting attendance.
Present: Ben, Vicky, Emilie (co-fac), Crew (sp? Emilie’s friend), Thomas, Kay (notes), Lynda, Marina, Beth, 
Joe, Kathy, Laura, Laraine, Linda (co-fac), Myste, Cheryl, Lauren, Coleen, Mary, Jude 3:40, Maxine 3:50, 
Scott 4:15.  Guests Amir, Vinnie & Eliza, Jorge & Robin.  Units Represented 1, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 
17, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26.

Business Events

Emilie’s event last Sunday was on the spiral; breathwork, somatic exercises.  She needs RSVPs to keep 
attendance manageable.  Crew spends much of his time here but doesn’t officially live here.

Ben spoke to a lawyer about an indemnity agreement. He also called Justin at Am Fam.  Even with an 
indemnity agreement it’s very difficult not to be liable at all.  It’s a small but catastrophic risk.  Can get 
sued not necessarily by the injured person but by their insurance company and even if we turn out not 
to have liability.  We have liability (and insurance) for anything happening to residents and guests; 
people attending a paid event aren’t really “guests”.

We’ve had plenty of events with outsiders, but usually at no cost or by donation. 
- Tim’s luthier business was mostly a resident working here, without a lot of clients visiting.  
- The Cousins had a Waldorf pre-school for a while (how Thomas learned about the community).
- Vaughn sponsored a paid permaculture class.  
- Laraine did dances on a donation basis. 
- Kathy did a fund raiser for tar sands.  
- Several businesses operating out of someone’s home, e.g., violin lessons, some with no one the wiser 
such as lawyers.  
- Semi-private events where community members are welcome but probably won’t be interested.

Have guidelines? Might restrict paid activities to lower risk events (no fires), no alcohol/drugs.

City regulations for in-home businesses have limits on how many people at a time.  Might look into how 
that interfaces with our zoning.

How do paid events change the quality of life here for the residents?  Some awkwardness of feeling one 
can’t disturb a private event on our own land.  Less awkward outdoors than inside.  Perception is 
important. Health and safety are important; e.g., maybe masks in c.h.

Point of process:  Emilie is an interested party, thus not ideal to facilitate this discussion.

Want to support the creativity in the community.  

How often are events likely to happen?  Emilie envisions maybe once a month.

Discussion to be continued.

ACM Attendance

The expectation is that every unit should be represented at half of ACMs.  For the ACMs this year, 13 
households met that standard and 13 didn’t.

Are people comfortable with the attendance summary being publicly posted?  Anyone could calculate it 
from published minutes.  The people present today are likely among the more-frequent attendees, so a 
poll here doesn’t capture infrequent attendees’ views.

Seeing attendance tracked might cause people who don’t realize they aren’t attending 50% to make 
more of an effort.

We’ve never enforced participation requirements (and aren’t proposing to do so now).

Besides participating in decisions, attendance is important as it builds relationships and trust that spill 
over into other aspects of the community.

Maybe do a survey, piece of paper on doors.  Are there reasons why you don’t attend? What were your 
reasons for moving to cohousing and are they being fulfilled?  What could we do to support you 
attending more often?  Ad hoc to put together a survey: Jude, Laura, Beth 

Recycling

The community uses Ace for its recycling.  Ace requires that plastic be a jug or bottle.  Plastic that isn’t a 
jug or bottle just goes to the landfill.  Salt Lake has less strict standards.  Linda will look up how much we 
pay per bin.  

Committee Reports

Management. There is a lockbox in the common house inner office with keys to each unit.  If there is a 
fire or other emergency, Management has legal authority to enter a unit.  If entry is required not in an 
emergency, Management must provide notice.  The most-common use for the stored keys is when 
people lock themselves out.  We are encouraging everyone to provide other keys also: mailbox, storage, 
even vehicle keys if desired.  Useful to you if you lose your keys.  

Reminder that Management is unpaid and most members work full-time.  Please be patient and 
courteous when you need something.

Management is asking for a member of every committee to attend the next Management meeting. 
Discuss how to make minutes available etc.

Maintenance.  Getting bids for painting wood trim.  Looks like being around $40K.  We encourage 
residents to consider painting the lower story themselves.  Maintenance will supply paint.

Welcoming.  Still three homes for sale.  Tracy and son Keenan are on the email listserv now.

Landscaping.  Treework is nearing completion. Plan to grind stumps.  Emilie will be drafting something 
on fire hazard. Let Emilie know if you are interested in having a tree behind your unit that you will keep 
watered.

Parents.  Cleaned up kids room.  Will be painting it this summer.

Getting rid of most books from the c.h., next week will be taken to the library for their sale.

Checkout:  What is some way your life has benefited from living in cohousing? [Grouped by theme]

Relationships: Social
- Don’t feel alone
- Built-in friends, shared passions
- Creating community with dance, talent shows
- Love to cook and enjoy neighbors who love to eat

Relationships: Support
- As a single person, have a network of support
- Getting help without even putting out a call for it
- Make best decisions as a community
- Democracy at its core
- Structures in place for [word(s) left out.  “relationships”? -notetaker]
- Neighbors interested in being neighbors
- Feel safe as a woman
- Where do we meet in the middle

Relationships: Children/Family/Elders
- Growing up in a community helped the success of adult children building their own lives
- A space to be adults and a space for kids
- Borrowing other people’s kids
- Kids having an extended family/neighborhood
- Multi-generational
- Many adult relationships for children

Personal growth
- Education, learning, mentoring
- Opportunities to see things from other points of view
- Challenging selves and boundaries, becoming more open, knowing people
- Rich source of learning, building sustainability, building community
- Growth opportunities
- Grown a lot, learned a lot, more confidence

Physical Space
- Land, trees, spiral, flowers
- Great exercise
--  
Emailed 6/2.