Minutes of Mosaic Commons general meeting
Sunday, February 20, 2000, 3:30-6:30 p.m.
Location: Peace Lutheran Church in Wayland
Meeting facilitator: San
Process facilitator: Robyn
Notetaker: Lisa
Present: San, Pascal, Janet, Joel, Eliana, Laura, Mike, Ryan, Serena, Lisa, Catya, Dave, Zach, Robyn, Abraham, Ann Danielson, Todd, Karen, Hugh Ernisse
0. Prior to the meeting, printed materials were distributed into envelopes.
1. Opening activity
San. People shared visualizations of what they were doing on a weekend morning in five years.
2. Approve agenda
San. Catya has a short budget approval item to add. Number 7 was moved until after 8a.
3. Discuss and adopt ground rules for discussion
Joel. Several ground rules were suggested for discussion. The group agreed to the following initial set of ground rules, although specific wording was not discussed:
Members were reminded that these ground rules can be modified or added to any time.
4. Discuss and adopt minutes proposal process
Lisa. After each meeting, the minutes will be distributed by email, following the group’s procedure for distribution of documents. According to this procedure, people are asked to review and correct the minutes within 48 hours of receiving them. The secretary will then send the corrected version to the web page committee for conversion into HTML, and the minutes will be posted on the group’s website.
The group came to consensus on the following procedure for approval of minutes during each meeting:
The secretary will bring two hard copies of the minutes to the next meeting. During the minutes approval portion of each meeting, the secretary will summarize any items from the last meeting on which the group reached a decision. Members may request at this time that portions of the minutes be read aloud, and members will have the opportunity to raise additional questions or corrections to the minutes. If there are any changes to the minutes during the approval process, the secretary will revise them after the meeting and re-send them to the web page committee for re-posting.
5. Review & Approve Minutes from 1/23/00 and 2/6/00
Lisa. Minutes from the meetings of 1/23/00 and 2/6/00 were approved without alteration.
6. Emergency decision procedure proposal
San. The following emergency decision procedure proposal was offered to the group:
First, a process proposal may be made at any time by any full or associate member that the issue is termed an Emergency Decision.
1. Group agrees by consensus that issue is urgent.
2. Group agrees upon the length of time that group will take to try to reach consensus first, in light of the importance of the issue under discussion.
3. Discussion of issue.
4. If no consensus is reached, a ¾ majority vote (yes/no) will take place.
Several questions were raised about the proposal, including whether requiring consensus during emergencies is wise, whether we might require different procedures for different types or levels of emergency, and what an example of a current emergency might be, given that we do not yet own property together. The group decided to table the issue.
7. Long Committee Reports
a. Membership
Janet.
Email: Janet reported that there has been some discussion of when the email list should become available to prospective members, and that people agree that it can only benefit us to have the list open to prospective members.
Prospective member participation guidelines: It was agreed that the group should outline some guidelines for prospective members’ participation. We agreed to circulate ideas for exact wording via email. The secretary’s attempt at an initial synthesis is:
We encourage prospective members to listen to discussions in meetings and via email, and if it feels appropriate, to participate in the discussions. We ask that prospective members understand that our decision-making process remains a member-only function.
Janet presented the document, “How to get involved with Mosaic Commons Cohousing,” including descriptions of the three different levels of membership. The following minor wording changes were made during the meeting:
First page, paragraph that begins with “Learn more about our community,” fifth line down insert an “our” before “community” so that the phrase reads, “where we are in the process of building our community.”
Page that is titled, “Associate Member of Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group,” in the “responsibilities” list, third item down, insert the word “constructively” between the words “work” and “with,” so that the sentence reads: “Demonstrate the ability to work constructively with Mosaic Commons community.”
Page that is titled, “Full Member of Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group,” in the “responsibilities” list, fifth item down, insert the word “constructively” between the words “work” and “with,” so that the sentence reads: “Demonstrate the ability to work constructively with Mosaic Commons community.”
Page that is titled, “Full Member of Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group,” add to the bottom of the “responsibilities” list: “Inform the finance committee within thirty days of any major change in financial status.”
After having made the above changes, consensus was reached on accepting the presented membership documents. The full, approved document is included here as an addendum at the end of the minutes.
Catya. Orientation proposal.
Consensus was reached on approving funds, approximately $50, for the purchase of cohousing videos to show at orientations.
After agreeing that members would take rotating responsibility for childcare during orientation sessions, consensus was reached adopting the following orientation proposal:
Orientation: 90 minute - 2 hour Orientation session, to take place monthly, location tbd. At least 2 members should be present to give the orientation.
On hand for the meeting:
-Copies of the cohousing books
-Handout information in folders
-Name tags for all
-Some refreshments
Childcare during the orientation sessions will be provided by members.
Member Introductions, 3 min: Brief introductions of the members present, including how long they have been involved with the group and what committees, etc. they work on.
Overview of Orientation, 2 min: A quick overview of this agenda
Participant introductions, 5-15 min: As the participants to go around and introduce themselves, telling the group what draws them to cohousing. (Members should participate in this)
Video, 24 minutes: Zev Paiss's Cohousing: Neighbourhoods for People video
Break, 5 min: Quick break
History, 5 min: History of Mosaic Commons
Where we are, 15-20 min: Discussion of where the group is now, including # of households and thumbprint description of individuals in group, group characteristics (what distinguishes our group), locations we are researching/potential sites, committees and any current "hot" discussions that are happening now
How to get involved, 10 min: Membership Opportunities (membership levels will be in the handouts as well)
Q&A. 10-15 min: Question & Answer session
Feedback, 5 min: Ask participants to fill out the feedback form (tbd) including how they thought the session went and what they expect their next step to be (e.g. attend a general meeting as soon as possible, arrange a one-on-one meeting with a current member, read more before coming to meetings, become an associate member ASAP, etc.)
7. Long Committee Reports
b. Site/Land/Building
Robyn and Mike. Robyn has sent inquiries regarding the various land parcels on Winch Street, in Marlborough, and in West Concord. Catya announced additional land in Berlin. Dave and Lisa reported on the previously identified Berlin land. Described as 66 acres, much south-facing wooded hillside. Dave describes as “fantastic.” The land sparked great debate regarding location as it is so far west. Lisa describes as “breathtaking” and offering lots of space to walk.
People were encouraged to drive different distances between proposed sites and important geographical locations in their lives. The group seemed to agree with San when she stated that we are not ready to buy yet, but that we need to find out what our various options are. The land committee is working on a much larger, more detailed map.
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8. Discussion of children’s participation
San. Round Robin. There seemed to be a general consensus that people of all ages who are informed on the issue at hand can participate in discussions. No formal statement or language was proposed. Several members suggested the idea of children as associate members, without the right to block consensus. The question of possible household voting was raised again. Several people said they were willing to try allowing children’s full participation to see how it works. Some suggested an evaluation process be used to assess how it is working for the group.
9. Short committee reports
a. Coordinating committee. San. Nothing specific reported.
b. Diversity/affordability. San. Need more people on this committee.
c. Professionals. Mike. Mike spoke with Carter Scott’s reference, who liked his work. Also spoke with another developer who wanted to hear that we had financial resources available.
d. Finance. San reporting for Kai. Kai believes the finance committee should not report financial figures to the group with only seven families because some want more anonymity than this would offer. The group authorized the disclosure of anonymous family financial information to developers, when the professionals committee deems it appropriate.
e. Website. Catya. The new website is in place, and the following four URLs all work:
www.mosaiccommons.org, www.mosaiccommons.com, www.mosaic-commons.org
and www.mosaic-commons.com. The prospective members survey form will soon be
functional (http://www.mosaic-commons.org/psurvey.html).
The associate member form will be up soon, as well. There was a question of
agreement on logos, and it was decided to leave this in process for now.
10. Discussion of retreat
San. San stated that the group has a lot of work to do, and a lot of specifics to work out. The idea of the retreat is to get together for a whole weekend to get things done. People found the idea of doing it away somewhere very attractive. The possibility of a three-hour session in the morning and a three-hour session in the afternoon was mentioned. Also mentioned was the idea that sharing space for a weekend would help the group in designing a common house.
It was suggested that we do a general orientation or two before holding the retreat; someone else suggested that we do a weekend retreat every few months, and hold the first one before summertime. It was agreed that the group should try to agree on a date via email as soon as possible. The question of what our pacing and long-term schedule is was raised, and set as an agenda item for the next business meeting.
11. Group financial considerations and scaling
Round robin. Many points of view were presented. The secretary is sure she will not be able to do everyone’s viewpoint justice, but offers the following flavors of the discussion: We should be active about scaling, should test sliding scale on the retreat. We should avoid sliding scales whenever we can, and should scale only when we can’t get around it another way. It is confusing because personal choices are so deeply involved in a family’s decisions about money; how do we consider these factors? This is a very vulnerable topic for some people. Money is not the only determinant as to what someone can offer the group. It takes a tremendous amount of trust to do sliding scale. If people really care about the group, they will find a way to pay for the required expenses. Resentments could easily arise. Who “truly qualifies” for assistance? This could be an important issue in determining whether the project goes through or not; will this be a dividing factor in the group? It is very concerning. Idea of contributing time and effort instead of finances. It takes a lot of trust and a willingness to be on both ends of the scale for it to work. Idea of categorizing expenses (ie. necessity, capital, luxury).
It was decided that further discussion of this issue will be delegated to a scaling committee. Robyn, Laura and Dave volunteered to be on the committee. [After the meeting, Andey indicated that she would like to serve on this committee, too.]
12. Time, place, agenda items for next meeting
San. Next meeting same time, place to be announced.
Next weekend is the tour of New View, followed by a potluck with their community. Meet 4:00 in the common house. Upcoming social event at Homeport, Saturday, March 11th. An orientation date will be set soon and the membership committee will solicit volunteers.
Agenda items for next meeting:
-Pacing and long-term schedule
-Recruitment
-Emergency decision making
12. Review of Meeting & Closing
Addendum to Feb. 20, 2000 minutes: Membership document approved:
HOW TO GET INVOLVED WITH MOSAIC COMMONS COHOUSING
Contact us. Catya at 978-778-6286, email catya@homeport.org
Janet or Joel at 508-435-0173, email mosaic18@juno.com
Meet us. Come to one of our monthly orientation meetings. After attending
an orientation, interested people are invited to attend our general business
meetings, committee meetings, and social gatherings.
Learn about our community. General meetings are held the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month, 3:30 - 6:30 p.m. Childcare can be provided for a nominal cost. All members may participate in discussion. We encourage prospective members to listen to discussions in meetings and via email, and if it feels appropriate, to participate in the discussions. We ask that prospective members understand that our decision-making process remains a member-only function. Observing general meetings is a good way to get a sense of the group, how we make decisions, and where we are in the process of building our community. Prospective members who have attended orientation are also welcome to follow our e-mail discussions as much of our work in preparation for decision-making gets carried out by in that format. Our website is at www.mosaic-commons.org.
Learn as much as you can about cohousing. Read the books, CoHousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett, and The Cohousing Handbook by Chris Hansen. Both are vailable from on-line bookstores, by order at most general bookstores, and at many libraries.
Surf the web. If you didn’t find us through the cohousing site, visit at www.cohousing.org.
Visit a Cohousing Community. Cambridge Cohousing will set up tours, call 617-661-1682. New View, in Acton, will give you a tour of their cohousing community as well. Contact Nancy Wight at wight@newview.org or Nola Sheffer at nsheffer@aics.net. Keep in mind that cohousing communities vary in size, structure, location, priorities, and more.
Check out Cohousing Nexus, a monthly gathering for people interested in learning more about cohousing. It is specifically geared towards people who know little or nothing about the cohousing concept. Currently the 2nd Monday of the month from 6- 8 pm at the Dogwood Cafe near Forest Hills Station in Jamaica Plains. Contact person is Diane Simpson, 617-522-2209 or dqs@world.std.com. Nexus is at www.world.std.com/~dqs.
Read more about our 3 levels of membership FULL, ASSOCIATE, and FRIEND.
FRIEND of Mosaic Commons cohousing group
- to be more involved with our community
A Friend is any person who is interested in the success of the project. A Friend may also wish to become part of the community at a later date.
Benefits include:
-Regular progress updates and invitations to social events.
To become a friend:
-Attend an orientation meeting.
-Attend at least one general meeting.
-Pay $25 per year to Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group. (The yearly fee can be applied to associate or full membership fee within the same calendar year.)
-Complete and submit an information form.
ASSOCIATE MEMBER of Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group
- to become a potential homebuyer or renter
Associate members are people who are interested in becoming full members. They want to work with the group before committing to the capital contributions required of full members, or they may be unable to fulfill the capital contribution requirements of the full member but expect to be able to in the near future.
Benefits:
-The opportunity to build community and form ties with future neighbors.
-The right to actively participate in the design, programming and decision making process.
-A copy of the Mosaic Commons Group Handbook with all the information and decisions made to date.
Responsibilities:
-Attend meetings regularly and workshops as scheduled. Exceptions may be considered on a case by case basis.
-Participate on committees and perform other tasks necessary for the project to proceed.
-Demonstrate the ability to work constructively with Mosaic Commons community.
-Be familiar with the minutes of past meetings so as not to hamper the group’s process out of lack of awareness of previous decisions and discussions.
-Be familiar with the concept of cohousing, i.e. books, tours.
-Read all currently prepared legal documents and agreements.
Process for becoming an Associate Member:
-Thirty days of active participation including attending general business meetings and committee work.
-Complete and submit an information form and financial questionnaire.
-Sign the Initial Organizing Agreement (IOA)
-Pay a $50 membership fee per household.
-Pay monthly dues (assessed per adult).
At any time an Associate Member may become a Full Member by submitting a mortgage pre-qualification letter and paying the capital contributions to date.
NOTE: At present all members are either Friends or Associates, as we have not yet reached the point of assessing capital contributions, nor have we solicited mortgage pre-qualification letters. Currently Associate members may participate in decision-making and may block consensus. Once the group proceeds with Full membership, only Full members will have the right to block consensus.
FULL MEMBER of Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group
- in order to be a homeowner
Full Members are people who are prepared to make the commitment to help build and live in our cohousing project.
Benefits:
-The opportunity to build community and form ties with future neighbors.
-Full participation and decision making rights during the design process of our community.
-Unit selection seniority. (Seniority is based on the date a household becomes a full member.)
-A copy of the Mosaic Commons Group Handbook with all the information and decisions made to date.
Responsibilities:
-Attend meetings regularly and workshops as scheduled. Exceptions may be considered on a case by case basis.
-Be familiar with the concept of cohousing, i.e. books, tours.
-Participate on committees and perform other tasks necessary for the project to proceed.
-Participate in meeting facilitation.
-Demonstrate the ability to work constructively with Mosaic Commons community.
-Be familiar with the minutes of past meetings so as not to hamper the group’s process out of lack of awareness of previous decisions and discussions.
-Read all currently prepared legal documents and agreements.
-Make a proportional share of the capital contributions as needed to finance project development.
-Inform the finance committee within thirty days of any major change in financial status.
Process for becoming a Full Member:
-Thirty days of active participation including attending general business meetings and committee work.
-Obtain a mortgage pre-qualification letter and submit to finance committee.
-Complete and submit an information form and financial questionnaire.
-Sign the Initial Organizing Agreement (IOA)
-Pay a $50 membership fee per household.
-Pay monthly dues (assessed per adult).
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October 3, 2003
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