Minutes of Mosaic Commons General Meeting
June 2, 2002, 3:30-6:30pm

Decisions:

• We will use "signers," "signed-on folks," and "signed-on people" to refer to Associates and Equity members. Other terms to be determined later.
  
  

• Decision from homeport meeting--Dave will work with John as liaison to Chris to complement his efforts.

Action Items:

Discussion:

0. BankNorth Presentation

Mark Lampson discussed general mortgage process and loan options. Estimated closing costs $1800.00. Discussed a group discount for Mosaic. Information we need in order to prequalify: 2 years of W-2s, bank statements, and pay stubs. "Bridge" loans may assist homeowners in buying a new home when they are selling their current home but haven’t yet sold it.

1. Dwight and Catya explained the significance of the candle lighting. The lighting of the candle signifies an acknowledgement of the decisions that have come before us and that the group and its decisions are larger than any one individual in the group.
   
   
2. Opening activity: What foreign languages do you speak and why?
   
   
3. Review of Colored Cards and Ground Rules. Rosa reviewed cards and guidelines. She focused on Blue vs. Green cards and the introduction of the Question Box. The facilitation team created a question box for anyone who has a question that they wish to bring up anonymously. Questions will be posted to the list for discussion. Time will be made in general meetings if needed to further discuss questions as they arise.
   
   
4. Announcements and approval of agenda.

The agenda was approved. Jim and Abby announced their intention to become Associate members (cheers!) and signed the agreement.

5. Review and approve minutes from previous meeting.
   This was not possible as the last meeting notes were not posted.
   
   
6. Rituals

On behalf of the Facilitation Cmte Judy and Kim brought up the idea of having rituals for our group.

Cat—in favor of rituals; but we need to balance that with not scaring new folks away.

Rick—An introductory ceremony is a ritual; there are words we speak at that time to clarify why we are doing what we are doing and to honor what we have already done.

Kim—talked about the idea of using silence at the beginning of each meeting; for me it’s important that we have formal words that we all say and all know, that live in all of us.

Ben—We can say something about the light not being extinguished at the end of the meeting when we blow the candle out.

Dwight—likes the way we struggle for the words when we light our candle; when things are written down and said over and over they can get stale and dead.

Rosa—thinks Kim is saying everyone doesn’t know what the candle means, not that we need to say the same words over and over.

Greg—agrees with Dwight; perhaps we could agree on the concepts, and people can express in their own words.

Catya—we could also have birthday celebrations.

Rosa—Suggests we take this conversation to email. People should brainstorm ideas about rituals they would like to have.

Janice—We could take turns lighting the candle and then have a few moments of silence after that.

Kim—will start the discussion on line.

7. Nomenclature

Refers to what we call Equity members and Associates. Ben shared his thoughts to open the discussion.

Rosa—We need a term that includes both Equity and Associate members for practical value within the group so we can be clear about who can and should be participating in decisions.

Steph—Why we cant use the term "members?"

Dwight—The LLC is a form of a partnership and carries legal meanings.

Catya—We need to clarify the distinction between formal and informal language; this is important for our informal day to day language.

Roxanne--Supports "signed-on folks."

Rosa—Suggests "Commoners" for prospectives, associates, and equity members.

"Signed-on folks" to refer to Associates and Equity members.

Catya—The term "commoners" implies there’s a lord somewhere and I don’t like that.

…What about "signers?"

Rosa—Let’s start using "signers" or "signed-on folks" since it’s our informal language we’re talking about.

Andre, who is new, likes the term "participants."

Decision—We will use "signers," "signed-on folks," and "signed-on people" to refer to Associates and Equity members. Other terms to be determined later.

8. Upcoming Tours of other cohousing communities

Kim shared her research about touring Alchemy Farms and Island CoHo. \She asked people how they feel about touring Cambridge CoHo and Corner Stone in June. The group would like to tour both, and is comfortable taking a tour along with other people from the general public. John would like to know if there will be enough hosts available to answer our questions.

Roxanne wonders if the height of the touring season will present ferry problems for the Island CoHo tour.

Steph—We need to think about how to integrate new comers along on tours and to balance that with holding a general meeting afterwards.

Catya—doesn’t think we should have a GM after the tour.

9. Team/Cmte Reports

Land/Site:

CSH is focusing on developing a relationship with a developer in Maynard. This developer would like to liquidate property in Maynard and is interested in working with CSH and us to identify potential properties.

John reports that CSH in conjunction with members of the group is researching sewage and 40B-related questions on the Lincoln property, however, he would like to prioritize his work with this developer.

Greg—Feels strongly that CSH should not let the Lincoln property go prematurely and that we shouldn’t put all of our energy into Maynard; hears that this developer will not cut us any financial slack.

Catya—Meetings with CSH should be discussed with everyone; not just for Land Site. Even a friendly 40b is a big pain and we should think about that as we look at different towns.

Roxanne—40b drawbacks include heavy expenses and having to open it up to a lottery system.

Abby—What is the number 20 units based on and where does it come from?

Kim—Rosa and I hope to learn more about this at the 40b seminar.

Greg—suggests that LandSite follow up on these issues this week. Specifically on septic and 40b.

Orange card to Jim and Abby for their research on septic issues.

Greg—frustrated that we spent 25 minutes on other matters and just 15 minutes on land site when we had a lot of important things to discuss.

Dwight—We need to address these issues when San puts the agenda together.

Kim—I think the problem is that the land site notes didn’t get posted to the members’ list.

Greg—feels we need to focus on things that are more important.

Catya—Can someone on land site take responsibility to do a summary to the general list so people know what’s going on prior to a GM?

Dwight-the agenda should be objected to next time if there’s not enough time given for the content you want to discuss.

Catya—It may make sense to just allot more time at every meeting for land site.

Abby-Let’s put land site first on the agenda.

Catya—Just because something is first doesn’t make it more or less important. We need to give it enough time, not just change it’s location on the agenda.

Proposed agenda change to insert 14 between 11 and 12, and move 10 to later in the agenda.

10. Process Check-in

Sarah—We’ve cut a lot of people off during this meeting.

Greg—Was I too vehement in my statement earlier? If so, I apologize, but I’m feeling concerned and have a lot of anxiety.

Catya—Reminder to talk about where they’re coming from when people share their comments.

Judy—Try not to repeat things that have already been said; try to be brief.

Abby—I put my cards up and wasn’t recognized; and then it sounded like people were jumping in and so I did too.

Ben—noticed a lack of communication which was inadvertent and that some people on land site didn’t realize the hot topics we had and for new people to point out.

11. Remaining Team/Cmte Reports
    
    
12. Hot Topics: was, Political Signs and Evangelizing: Now, Land-Site Issues.

A decision was made to change Hot Topics to the issues that came up today about how land site issues are handled and where they are put on the agenda.

Kim—frustrated b/c we are waiting on a lot of information around 40b stuff and feels that that is where some of the group’s frustration may be coming from.

Judy—thinks part of our frustration is that Jim came up with the sewer info so quickly and CSH hasn’t been able to find it after 3 weeks.

Catya—talked about where the number of units (20) came from; that’s the number our most informed source on the Lincoln property provided.

Roxanne—Has CSH met w/ planning people in Lincoln who would be able to tell us the number of units we’d be able to put on the land in Lincoln?

Jim—We could find out what the density is on existing 40B properties based on recent projects.

Rosa and Kim will try to find this out at the seminar.

Roxanne—we do know what the standard residential zoning is.

Dwight—What happened to Jessica who was interested in doing research for us? Can we hire her?

Greg—She’s not available right now.

Abby—There’s a lot we can do here and I want to be careful about how much we give to CSH.

Jim—Jessica has an interest in another cohousing group, just FYI.

When do we delegate work to CSH? Developers don’t want to work with a many headed monster; also we use CSH to make initial contact with property owners and developers. We can do work after a relationship is made.

John—Is struggling with his role with respect to CSH. Is he meeting the group’s expectations?

Rosa—Suggests that John post that question to the list since that may be a big discussion.

Decision from homeport meeting : Dave will work with John as liaison to Chris to complement his efforts.

Steph—Evidently the group’s emotional state changed when Greg commented on his frustration with our land search.

Sarah—frustrated with communication during this meeting; finding it hard to keep track of all of the meetings we have that she is not directly involved in and suggests we need to be careful about forwarding meeting minutes.

Dwight—There are ways to raise concerns without sounding so dark; I am concerned about the impact that sharing concerns creates.

Dave—I think we hit our bottom about a month ago. In the last 2 months a bunch of people have recognized this hole and have stepped in to fill the gap. These are growing pains that we’re going to go through over and over. The way we’re handling things is good and is going to help us move ahead.

Catya—During team reports may be a good time to report when teams have met and what they discussed. It’s important to remember that there are a lot of things getting done, but were no longer reporting it at meetings.

Judy—I don’t want to wait for a GM to hear a report from a team.

Steph—This was not the first time Greg has raised concerns.

Decision—when a team meets, post a summary to the general list to keep people abreast of happenings, especially those around land site.

Marty—Searching for land is inherently frustration and scary.

Catya—It would be useful to have a list of names of people, a who’s who list for Mosaic Commons, esp. for new people.

Judy volunteered to create a Moco who’s who list.

Rosa—Land is important but building community is too. We have struggled with balancing this as a group in the past and in Facilitation Team. I don’t think spending time on how we talk about ourselves is a bad use of our time.

Judy-We can build community now, before we have land; that’s what it’s all about.

Kim—I feel cmty is more important than finding land.

Affordability:

Kim and Rosa are going to a 40b seminar on Wednesday.

Finance:

Announces a new team member – Sarah.

Sarah—make sure you check your statements when you write checks and adjust your payments to your reimbursements.

Coordinating

Nothing to report.

Marketing

Virginia—we need to have a meeting and need more volunteers.

Sarah—we now own the rights to our logo.

Catya—there was an article in the Boston Parents Paper and there was an article about us in it; grab it if you see it.

Kim was interviewed by the Boston Globe. The reporter would like to talk to other members.

Catya—Phrasing to the press suggestion—"No members have left the group."

Christie--offered to make a video of the group for promo purposes.

Facilitation

Our idea is to have teams of people facilitate 2 meetings in a row; we are always open to comments and suggestions for other ways to facilitate the meeting.

Steph—When San posts the agenda on line, is that final? Or can we ask about adding an item?

Rosa—Usually it’s final, but were flexible.

Web Site

No updates.

Professionals

Catya spoke with Kelly about our cash flow questions and she is going to discuss it with CSH and get back to us.

Legal

Dwight—This is the first anniversary of the LLC and we need to pay $500.00 to the Commonwealth for our renewal fee.

13. Review Establish time, place, agenda items for next meeting and social event

June 14^th Social at Kai and San’s house in Cambridge.

June 16^th Intro and GM.

July 7, 21

Drumlin Farm Island Coho or Drumlin Farm

CSH meetings: Saturday and Monday. CSH will meet with the aynard developer on Friday and will have more info to share with us. John will put up a poll to solidify times to meet with CSH. Meeting with CSH will happen at Sarah’s in Watertown on Monday night.

Sept meetings will be the 3^rd and 5^th Sundays.

Contact us! * Email info or webmaster

Last modified: June 19, 2002