Minutes of Mosaic Commons General Meeting
December 1, 2002 , 3:30-6:30pm

Decisions:

Sarah will be stepping into the role of Treasurer and Jenn C. will be taking over the Bookkeeper position.

Accept new Lump Sum policy. (See membership goals, second half)

Action Items:

Discussion:

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1. Opening Activity

Linda lit candle and Judy explained its significance to the group.

Opening Question: "What are you thankful for?"

2. Review of Colored Cards

Judy and San reviewed the cards and ground rules. Judy discussed Orange Consensus card, which means, "I have a serious reservation about this proposal, but I am not willing to block consensus." This is the strongest card an Associate has during consensus process, and this should be kept in mind when used by an Associate.

3. Announcements

Susan Douglass and Jim Guinness became Associates. (Yay!)

4. Review and Approve Minutes

Last GM Minutes and Workshop Minutes approved

5. Land/Site Report--Kai

At the workshop with Mary and Laura, we developed ideas about how we might want our development to look on the land on Red Acre Road. We had two abutters there and one town selectman. When we played with the blocks, we realized that there are some constraints having to do especially with the septic system requirements. We should all be prepared to allow our site plans to go through tweaking as we take our proposal through the approval process. Unfortunately, the town did not wave its first right of refusal because some abutters have been quite vocal about resisting our plan. The town officials are granting the abutters some time to put a plan together but our professionals are confident that we will be able to take ownership of this property at the end of the 120 day timeline. In the case that the land does not work out, we would expect to get 17K back from the feasibility and 10K of our earnest money back from the owner of the land. The most important issues now are the relationship between us and the townspeople and the technical issue of septic. If the town cannot buy the land, and decides to transfer their right to buy to another organization, that third party would still need to be closing by the 120 day deadline in order to be eligible to buy the land. February 10^th is the end of the 120 day clock, and that is when we would begin the 40B process, if not sooner.

6. Site Workshop

How did the name tag distinction work for people?

Kai–I didn’t feel there was a basis to judge this as there were serious time constraints which we were all aware of.

John–I at no time felt unheard.

Jenn–Missed remarks (sorry!)

Catya–Since I talk a lot, I felt Mary and Laura were comfortable putting me at the bottom of the stack and that that was perfectly appropriate.

Jen WC–I appreciated Kim checking in with me because she noticed I was kind of quiet; having the discussion be forehand helped me think about how important my comments were and being judicious about the comments.

San–I would like to discuss the possibility of doing a distinction again at the next workshop.

Liz–I agree with the idea of talking to Rosa first, but I also like the idea of deciding this when we are in an unemotional state and not about to vote on something big and scary.
Greg–I agree.

Steph–Can we put it on the next agenda?

Roxanne–Can we vote after we see what Mary and Laura have to say? Also, I’d like to hear what Joan and Sal think, bc they had pretty strong feelings about this.

7. Bios: Jenn, Chuck, Jen

   San: What about doing something like bios of old MC people, so all the newer people can hear them? (Nods)

8. Finance Team

**Decision: Sarah: Dwight is resigning as treasurer due to the change in his family structure. I will be stepping into the role of treasurer and Jenn will be taking over the bookkeeper position. Both changes enthusiastically approved; Dwight’s service cheered with appreciation. Cathy, Peter, and Jenn have joined the FC. Sarah gave the Finance Report update.

9. Action Items

**Everyone needs to close a mock Action Item. If you can’t figure it out, email Catya and she will help you. Send questions about the AI system itself to Chuck.

10. Review/Establish time, place, agenda items for next meetings and social events

San: Should we use the Assabet Valley Family Network) AVFN space in Marlborough on the 1^st week and the Whitney Place on the 3 ^rd week? The price is about the same, but the big advantage is the kids space and the kitchen facilities. Predictability is important for kids as well as new people who show up to Whitney Place one month and then try to find us again later. Should we try to have meetings in Stow? Christie–I think we can move those bookcases. San–I will talk with Kim and the folks at AVFN about that. Catya–If we can re-arrange the space, I would be in favor of using that space.

12/7–Meeting at Whitney Place with CSH (SOFs only)

12/12--Peace Abbey in Sherborne, Follow Up Meeting with Mary and Laura. Dinner: 6:15 (vegetarian).

12/15, 12/29--GMs

1/5--Conflict Resolution Workshop (AM for everyone; PM for CR Team)

Break

11. And now for something completely different

The Big Wind Blows

12. Process Check in

Dwight thinks things going well.

13. Equity Membership Process Overview

We’ve had a cap on Equity memberships until we were settled on the piece of land we would make a move on. We’ve heard from our professionals that it is extremely difficult to make a land choice with too many households. We would like to report that the earliest folks could become Equity members is 12/29. One needs to give 2 weeks notice in order to be eligible. The Finance Team is responsible for contacting prospective Equity members to make sure they can commit the necessary financial resources. Last we will vote on membership. If you wish to proxy, you need to go through the Coordinating Team. If there is an issue brought up about a particular membership, a meeting may be called among Equity members and discussed with the prospective Equity member, depending on the circumstances. Any concerns about a particular membership should go to the Conflict Resolution Team. San will be sending a Conflict Resolution Team list out so folks can get in touch with them easily.

14. Proposal on Lump Sum Contribution Policy

**Passed after a brief Q& ;A session (See separate document)

15. Team/Cmte Reports

Facilitation–If you are interested in facilitating a meeting, you can come to Facilitation Team meetings. Associates need to have 6 months in the group before they facilitate a meeting, but are welcome to begin attending facilitation team meetings before that time.

CR–Upcoming meeting, 2pm, 12/15. Roxanne is the point person for the workshop logistics.

Finance–Had a meeting; CR would like us to pay them $20K a month. Catya would like to discuss this further. Dwight–They did send us a statement of a bank acct they have opened on our behalf. Steph–How much is Stephen getting paid? We don’t know. We pay CR and they pay him.

Membership–New people who would like a mentor, talk to Judy. The role of the membership team is to take people from their intro meeting to Equity membership. We could use more help on this team.

Marketing–Nothing to report. Betsy Waters was looking into marketing to more diverse populations. We are not concerned about our numbers, but we are concerned about diversity.

PR–Great ideas on the list. John will get back to the list.

Website–New people are helping on web site! The non-www-domain name is still not working.

Diversity–No report.

Affordability–Cathy will be going to the Grantmaker Library tomorrow.

Green–Roxanne is doing research on alternative septic systems. Kim and Roxanne were in contact with a company that would help reclaim the wood from the barn.

Professionals–We got a bill from our attorney. The contract with Mary and Laura is between them and CHR, not between them and us. What is our internal policy in terms of who signs what? Can we make a more formal decision?

Legal–We got a bill from Jonathan and it came in under budget.

16. Spectrums.
17. Review of Meeting & Closing

Went well. Child space far away works really well for acoustic s.

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Last modified: December 16, 2002