All-Community
Wasatch Commons All Community Meeting November 15, 2009
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Discussion: air hockey table in upstairs c.h., weeds
Proposal: air hockey table
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Discussion: ping pong table
Proposal File: proposals/prp-use2009-02-19air hocky table.pdf
All-Community
Decisions:
Topics:
Jon started us with deep breathing and setting of intentions.
Vicky: Selling international calendars.
Vicky: Winter Arts and Crafts Bazaar on Sun., Nov. 29, 10:00-4:00. Deadline for letting Vicky know you want to participate with a booth for your crafts is Friday, Nov. 20.
Hans: He is ordering compact fluorescent light bulbs. Let him know if you want to order some for your unit.
Laraine: Next Community Dance is coming up.
Naomi: Fair Boundaries Petition. Put on ballot in 2010 a resolution to establish a commission to examine the voting boundaries in Salt Lake City.
Vivian: Thanksgiving Dinner sign-up is ready and will be posted. Please join the group for dinner.
Linda R.: Copies of insurance policy are on table.
Mike A.: Vicky and I just bought a natural gas car. I would be happy to share with anyone the details of the process of buying a natural gas car.
Vicky: Regarding the chicken ordinance, you have until Tuesday to talk with Van Turner, our Councilperson, or to attend the Council meeting on Tue., Nov. 17, at 7:00 p.m. The current draft bans raising chickens if you live in a multi-family dwelling. Please speak out about this restriction.
Kevin: Water recommendations will be posted near the internal mail.
Rebecca: Food safety ordinance that would make the tamale sales illegal has been transmitted to City Council. May come up on an agenda soon. Suggests a number of us send an email message.
Welcoming Committee (Vicky): Several appearances recently, including the Health and Wellness Fair yesterday.
Process Committee (Kevin): Focusing on big picture issues. Thinking of a community retreat in January or February. Would welcome more volunteers, as the committee consists of only Kevin and Nancy currently.
Parents Committee (Bea): Bowling outing recently was great. Committee just met and worked out the budget for next year.
Management Committee (Vaughn): Please get your committee budgets into us before this Thursday's Mgmt committee meeting. Two seats are coming available on the committee, so please consider volunteering to serve. Hans added: We sent an eviction notice for the first time to someone in the community (Adrienne). It looks as though she is going to move out, despite Hans' individual offer to help her with rent if she participated in the community.
Ad Hoc Landscape Committee (Joanne): Cleaning up the garden and leaves. We are down to the end of the budget.
Everyone in attendance checked in briefly.
Jon acknowledged the email threads over the last few weeks, including especially Kay's. Handouts were passed out: (1) Reserve Funds (from Kay), and (2) Reserve Account Reconciliation (from Linda).
Linda explained the second one. She added that we attempted to submit funds to Oppenheimer that were rejected recently. We were putting in about $520/month ($20/unit) until about 2004 and then stopped for a while. Closed the Wells Fargo account and put it in Oppenheimer Strategic Income Fund (SIF). Then caught it back up and increased it to $1004/month ($40/unit). In 2008 there was a great loss, and so in early 2009 we closed the Oppenheimer SIF and put it into Oppenheimer Cash Reserve Account.
Kay explained some of the research she has been doing about good policy for investing reserve funds. She wanted to make an initial draft of what our own policy should be. We would like more return than the Cash Reserve Fund gives. The first handout suggests some principles for the community in governing the choices.
Lydia: Our biggest concern is the preservation of principal. Mgmt's initial idea was to put it into CD's at a credit union. One community member (Mike A.) complained. And now this meeting is necessary.
Rebecca: What is a Cash Reserve Fund? Lydia: Like a mutual fund. Not FDIC or SLIC insured. The insurance issue is part of why we were looking at a credit union.
Kay wrote out five principles for us to consider (on handout).
Jon: Mgmt weighted the first principle the highest. The others are weighted roughly equally.
Lydia: No, correction: Mgmt weighted "be consistent with our community values" as #2 in importance.
Nancy: Will putting money in a local credit union actually mean that the money will be invested locally? Has anyone looked into how our local credit unions invest their money? (This was deemed out of order at the moment. The group returned to a discussion of the five goals.)
Rebecca: Requested clarification of renters' role in this discussion. Renters' input was welcomed by some. Nancy said she thought renters should not have input on consensus. Lydia: Move that we acknowledge renters equally. Jon: My under-standing is that this community is a culture of consensus involving all people. Are we willing to depart from this for this situation? Hob: Propose that we go through the normal consensus process, but that in the case of a block, an owner would be treated differently from a renter. Isabella: Problems may not happen at all. Laraine: Renters have a stake in the community. Naomi: Bylaws have something to say about this. We should read the relevant part of the bylaws first. Jon: We didn't intend to have a decision today anyway. Let's have a discussion today, with everyone participating, and then review the bylaws before the next meeting. Linda: We have always operated by consensus, including renters. I have a problem with any changes to this long-standing practice, regardless of what the bylaws say.
Jon: Any difficulty with any of these principles?
Lynda: Isn't earning a return an inherent part of maintaining the principle?
Hob: would you be willing to restate that as earning a return that keeps pace with inflation?
Kevin: We are not protected from macroeconomic effects like the devaluation of the dollar. Since many of our construction purchases are in an international environment, it may be reasonable to include that in our considerations.
Hans: The recent economic meltdown demon-strates that there is no way to ensure the safety of your money. The level of uncer-tainty right now makes it impossible to know. That's why I advocated focusing on another goal that we could actually do, like ensuring our community values are met.
Mike A.: I would like to see it earn some value. The more it earns, the less we have to put into it each year.
Vaughn: There are a lot of assumptions about the future now that simply do not hold any longer. Mgmt looked at investing in this community to make our-selves more self-sufficient, but there was some resistance to that idea. We don't have a way to know what to put it into to know what our return will be. The more we put it locally, the more we can see what is happening with our money.
Mike W.: What we are willing to earn is directly related to what we are willing to risk. That is related to time before we need to use the money. The closer you get to needing to pull your money out, the less risk you should take. We are saving for roofing. After looking at roofs recently, while maintaining the swamp coolers, it looks to me like we are not in good shape.
Kevin: It's probably within five years that we need to use it for roof repair/replace.
Laraine: The market is still crazy, and there are no regulations. We need to take the risk into consideration. There might be another drop.
Rebecca: A few things have helped me get perspective on this. There are things we can know and things we can't know. The assumptions that we all were brought up with about risk don't apply any more. The things that are out of our control are the value of the dollar, the national debt. The increase of the market in the last few months doesn't seem to be connected to anything related to value. The stock market process seems untethered to reality.
Lydia: The idea of endless growth of the economy is based on two assumptions: (a) population will continue to grow, and (b) resources are unlimited. We think there will be a burst. We felt that being risk-adverse was a reasonable and prudent approach.
Hob: A friend of mine in another condo community last year said that his community didn't have a sufficient reserve fund to cover the roof repair they needed, and each unit was assessed $5000 for roof repair.
Mary: Think of that $5000 in terms of when you're retired in 10 years.
Tyler: Are these reserved funds just for roofs?
Hob: It is the maintenance of everything we own in common. Storm water system, carport, storm damage to sheds, etc. Any unusual and non-routine expenses. This is the only fund we have for such expenses.
Naomi: What is the year warranty for our roofs? It was either 50 or 20 years. We should with that have a reasonable expectation on when the roofs will wear out. There is no real way to ensure making money, because only the banks are making money. Maybe we should turn our fund into a credit union.
Hans: We should think about extraordinary storms and their damage.
Jon: We are past time for this topic. Should we continue and push the discussion about HOA fees to the next meeting?
Heather: Can we push this discussion to at least agree on the five goals?
Lydia: We also need to hear Mike A.'s position and concerns.
Linda R.: We are really talking about two things. By our bylaws, we have to set aside a reserve fund every time someone pays HOA fees. First question: Where do we put the money we have saved? Second question: Should we continue with collecting a reserve fund in some other way for the future?
Vaughn: Some possibilities would include investing directly in this community to help us raise our own food or
Lydia: or generate our own electricity.
Kay: There are different discussions going on. (1) How risk averse are we? (2) Do we pay any attention to the conventional economic rules about which investment is least risky? This discussion needs to be separated out because it is getting in the way of the other discussions.
Naomi: It would be easier if we diversified to at least two pots of money.
Bea: Where is our money right now and what restrictions are on it?
Hob: Since 2004, Mgmt put money into Oppenheimer SIF. In March 2009 Mgmt decided to put the brakes on that because we had lost so much of the fund. We lost all of the interest we had earned the entire time, plus $7000 of the principal. We opted to transfer that money to a less risky Cash Reserve account that is kind of a mutual fund account that is not guaranteed to go away. Since then, Mgmt has been in a discussion about what to do with the monthly checks. A few weeks ago, when we tried to put money into the account, Oppenheimer rejected it. So we now have $8000 in our checking account set aside for that reserve. If we took all the Cash Reserve account funds out there would be a $1500 penalty.
Lydia: One of the roles of Mgmt Cmte is to help manage our funds. Do you want to delegate this back to Mgmt to deal with it? Do we really want to have this level of detailed discussion in ACM?
Mike A.: The values have to be accepted, and I can respond positively to those values. I want to hear whether the community adopts those values.
Heather: It's not just about Mike's objections. This issue has been coming up repeatedly among all of us. The decision has not been taken away from Mgmt Cmte. It became obvious that we needed to have a community-wide discussion. This has been clarifying. Thank you to Mgmt Cmte for all your work.
Jon: Can we consense on these values? [All were thumbs up.]
Jon: Part of what is making this so difficult is the issue of expertise. Does the community trust Mgmt Cmte to have the expertise? Or do you need information from an outside person?
Kevin: Mike, would you talk about your interpretation of the values?
Mike A.: We want to be able to pay for our roofs when they need to be fixed. We need to manage the reserve fund in a way that we'll be able to make capital expenditures as needed. We need to put money away. One of the way we can do this is to create two accounts, one for long-term and one for short-term focus. We would start each year with an idea of what we plan to spend that year. Then take the funds from the long-term fund and put that amount into the short-term fund, where there would be no risk. If we put our current amount set-aside (about $12,000 per year) into the short-term fund if we planned to spend it that year, we could reduce the transaction fees on the long-term fund. We could put the long-term fund into a vehicle with a better return. Some of the options could be socially responsible funds, some of which have reasonable returns for the last ten years.
Lydia: We have a delicate dance to do in Mgmt. We could hope we could pick the right fund that will not lose principal, but we judged that the chance that we could lose significantly trumped the possibility of getting any significant return.
Mike A.: We took our money out of the Oppenheimer SIF perhaps when we shouldn't have. It's probably at its all-time high.
Hob: Yes, we should have taken it out a year earlier than we did.
Rebecca: We need to come back to what's the level of risk we're willing to accept, and how do we gauge that risk. They are two different paradigms about the second part. Mike [A.] is presenting one paradigm, and Lydia and others are presenting another. We don't have a crystal ball. Even the experts are confused.
Jon: You've consensed on the five principles. There is still a lot of muddiness about how to make the assessment as a community as to where the money is going. One thing that is apparent tonight is that you are not current enough with each other as a community. When the connections are too loose, these sorts of decisions get paralyzed.
Hans: Clarification about how penalties work: We chose an investment account when you don't pay fees up front, only when you withdraw. We expect we will draw out infrequently. When we moved the funds in March, we were told we could move the money to another Oppenheimer fund without paying the penalty. Now we are in a situation where we could withdraw only up to about $20,000 without penalty, and the rest has to stay there longer to be able to use it without penalty. So Mgmt thought we might want to start a credit union fund with new monies.
Jon: I suggest we start an email thread where people put out information that they want us to know.
Mary: We need to decide how risk averse we are as a community.
Jon: Can we agree on putting things on email?
Sandra: It's too much information, with too many links and long treatises.
Jon: Then let's structure it through a questionnaire.
Hans: Risk averseness for each individual may depend on how much other investment you have diversified in other places.
Jon: There are other questions besides risk aversion. For example, what role do you want to give to Mgmt? How do you want to have input as a community?
Decision: In three weeks, on Sunday, December 6, 2009, we will meet again, at 3:00-5:00 in the Common House. If at that time we feel we need another meeting in December, we will decide then when it will be.
Respectfully submitted, Sandra McIntyre
Hi All-
Below is our agenda for the upcoming ACM which will be taking place from 3:00-5:00pm on Sun. Oct. 11th at the Urban Treehouse on the Jordan River. The space has been reserved from 2:00-5:30pm, so feel free to come early and have a picnic or stroll. Please make yourself comfortable by bringing pillows, cushions, chairs, blankets and other comforts. Nancy is coordinating snacks and refreshments, please contact her if you can help.
10 min Announcements 30 min Check in 10 min Committee Reports 5 min Accountabilities/Commitments for fall projects 30 min Your Own Backyard What are our ideas about the areas immediately adjacent to our units? What agreements do we have/want? What is our process for change? 30 min Enviro Studies Students Questions/
Most of the activities we are talking about seem really doable, but they all seem to get MUCH harder when dealing with 30-40 students at a time. Would Natasha consider doing this instead in two groups of 20, over a couple of different weekends?
5 min Checkout
Here is a map to the Urban Treehouse. [link deleted]
And here are directions.
Location:
Driving directions:
Laraine has a loaded plum tree, please help harvest and eat.
Plum-picking party in front Laraine's place: 9:00 am Saturday and Sunday morning
Linda Reed: Arts and Crafts Sale, Vicky proposes Sunday after Thanksgiving
Sandra: Planning committee meeting for the Harvest Moon Party, Sunday, 9/13, during potluck
Harvest Moon Party will be Saturday, October 3.
Laraine: Community Dance, Friday, October 23, 7:30 p.m.
Hans: Doctors Mad as Hell will be here this weekend, see poster in mailroom. Some will stay in the CH and in Hans? house.
Amy H. is available for inside work like phone calls, e-mails, etc.
Introduction of Jonathon, Hob's new roommate.
Dana Bassett, trying to buy Anne's place (#7), is now renting from her.
Hob: Adrienne is behind in rent, utilities have been shut off. Significant partial payment made, but problem continues. This problem affects all CROWN members. Second letter written with deadline dates for catching up and turning on utilities.
Lydia: We met with Adrienne in April, contract signed. Other agreements not kept. Just so people know that there have been several steps before approaching eviction. Personal responsibility is important. It was difficult. We did our best.
Linda: When a CROWN member is late in rent, it doesn?'t affect everyone in the community, only CROWN members.
That being said, we want people to know that someone in the community is struggling and if you are so inclined.
Heather stepping down as chair. Others who have expressed interest are Bea, Amy H., Amy D., and Laraine.
Bea: Parents meeting next month.
Nancy: Garden Proposal postponed until the discussion can be facilitated because of conflict within the committee, particularly with Anne.
Bea: There's a need to have a mediator there, last meeting was really difficult.
Club will announce next step.
CH west, weeded and wood bark spread. Some budget left, let?'s prioritize tasks for Fall.
Would like help with organizing meetings, facilitation and notetaking. Energy welcome.
Linda Reed: I keep thinking about what Vicky says, that we don't select people, people select us
Heather: It might be useful to have an internal list with everyone's emergency and other information, such as car make and license, emergency contacts, etc., that would not be broadcasted via email. I really value knowing who lives here so would like to ask owners who rent and people who have boarders to announce them.
Jonathon: I picked this place and want to be here. I'm excited to know how things work. If there are expectations that I don't know, I would like to learn them.
Amy D.: I discussed this with Vicky, recognizing that there is concern when someone moves in and people don't know who they are. What are ideas that people have about how to welcome people more effectively? We would like a more integrated approach that offers information before and after people move in.
Amy H.: I remember a full package with information from Vicky and Vivienne, which was very helpful.
Bea: Would like more communication. There should be a package that can be given to people immediately.
Sandra: Received a helpful orientation from Lydia, Joanne, and Vicky. We need to help 'absentee' landlords. Welcoming should facilitate that. The gap can happen between owners who aren't here.
Nancy: I'm thinking about people who live here whom we close our eyes to, like the people living with Linda Parsons and the person who is living with Jen and Tyler. These people use resources but have no accountability to the community. The process needs to be formalized.
Laraine: This process seems counter to what our purpose is in terms of knowing people. I think the people who take people in as boarders are responsible to introduce them to the community and to help them integrate.
Kevin: It's odd to me not to know people who I see here.
Bea: Maybe we can help with welcoming by talking to Jen and other people and asking people who live with them to come out and participate.
Mike P.: There are specific guidelines in CC&R's and by-laws. Management might want to revisit that and work with Welcoming. It all comes down to personal responsibility. Coming to meetings is part of integrating. Not coming to ACM's is a huge part of it, communication is lost without attendance at meetings. Those who don't attend put a huge pressure on those who do attend.
From: Kay Argyle\Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 2:05 PM
To: 'Wasatch Commons Cohousing Members'
Subject: RE: [WaCoHo] ACM notes
The bulletin board by the office might be a good place to post a list of resident cars -- it would be easy to check, there, if someone wondered about a particular vehicle. Alternately, the board inside the office, if someone feels the info is too sensitive -- IMO, it isn't.
Kay
From: WaCoHo On Behalf Of Mary English \Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 4:05 PM
To: Wasatch Commons Cohousing Members
Subject: Re: [WaCoHo] ACM notes
Two weeks ago I started a car list in the parking areas by parking space number. A few cars are not yet identified. I can type up the list and give it to Hans to put on our server and you can give me any that are not on it to be added. Mary
From: Kay Argyle\Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 2:38 PM
To: 'Wasatch Commons Cohousing Members'Subject: RE: [WaCoHo] ACM notes
Minor correction to phrasing -- Dana lives "in Anne's unit" not "with Anne."
Kay
From: Kay Argyle\Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009 3:46 PM
To: 'Wasatch Commons Cohousing Members'Subject: RE: [WaCoHo] ACM notes
"Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I'd prefer that we not put personal information online to the degree possible."
Even in the password-protected areas (which is to say, most of the website)?
True, it isn't hacker-proof; neither are bank, government, and insurance websites containing far more sensitive information than anything we are likely to post -- or, for that matter, than anything we haven't already posted, given that the email archive, if hacked, could be mined for 'useful' (to crooks or perverts) stuff like kids' names, phone numbers of women living alone, or when people won't be home.
In any case, most identity thieves (from what I understand) use low-tech collecting methods like dumpster diving. Or, in the case of license plate numbers, wandering through the parking lot ... although I'm not sure what an identity thief could do with license plate numbers anyway.
Something I've thought DOES need to be on the public side of the website is our orientation materials.
If the welcoming committee will be updating our packet, I can help with editing or rewriting or tracking down old proposals to figure out, 'What IS our agreement about that, anyway?' -- or for that matter, html coding (simple stuff anyway) for online posting.
Kay
Hi WaCoHos,
Here are the ACM Meeting Notes. Please let me know if there are any detals you feel I've missed. Also, if for some reason your PC cannot open the attachment, let me know and I'll send you an email with the notes pasted in.
Thanks.
Peace and Love, Lydia
From: WaCoHo on behalf of Heather Hirschi\Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 8:50 AM To:
Subject: Re: [WaCoHo] ACM Meeting Notes
Lydia and All,
Thanks for the detailed notes, very helpful. Below are a few minor corrections/suggestions.
1. My name is spelled Hirschi 2. The Harvest Moon Dinner on October 3rd is no longer a proposed, but a confirmed date. 3. Just to clarify, the list of tasks was originated and prioritized in yesterday's meeting with the entire meeting involved in the process.
Finally, if anyone not in attendance would like to volunteer for the tasks that were not assigned, I will put a sign-up sheet in the common house (by Tuesday morning). You also can let folks know via email.
Thanks for a great meeting yesterday!
Heather
Thanks to all who participated in tonight's ACM. Thanks to Kevin for taking notes. which are attached and pasted below.
Heather
Peace garden peoples market this Sunday, Vicky wants help
Ice cream social coming, Vicky won it again!
Hans can get 14-watt (75 watt equivalent) compact fluorescent lights for the track systems for $10 each that fit properly in fixtures. Please email or contact Hans by Sun. 7/12, if you want them.
Saturday Aug. 8th, Liberty Park walk/run for Ching animal rescue farm and sanctuary. Contact Michelle to assist.
Wasatch Commons mentioned in Gardening in Glendale article in Des. News.
Petition circulated by Michael Ferguson for 8th south rail line bike/ped corridor.
Victor moving out on Saturday, please help if possible.
Lynne P. has her "No Plain Jane" line for sale at the farmer's market Sat. a.m.'s
Water audit-Mike P. referred Jim Lewis who will go out with students and measure water by zones in common areas. Kevin will meet with on Wed. 7/15/09. May result in lower billing.
Mngmt.- Water has been an issue. Also, energy audit by Questar $25, please call to arrange. First audit visit scheduled 7/14/09, 3 units will audited per visit.
Process-Needs energy, commitment contact Heather, Kevin, or Nanacy. Nancy will be coordinating calendar
Welcoming/Orientation: Need orientation for Eric, Rachel, and Dana. Amy, Vicky, and Lydia are members.
Perhaps ice cream social/anniversary party is
Garden Proposal Discussion
Last discussion moved through most of garden proposal read and individual clauses agreed upon.
Nancy - passing on of plots and "resident" definition/ policy.
Larraine- feels bad for Eric, not welcoming, slap in face, no policy was in place.
Mike P. - thought meeting went well, couple of points remain.
Nancy-Larraine's concerns acknowledged, Eric relinquished claim voluntarily.
Heather- Topic: How Plots are Transferred.
Hob-Nancy is accurate; also, decided for this year only: one plot for Collective; one plot for Eric.
Heather- We can't address Eric's feelings in meeetings.
Hob-no consensus on overall garden policy.
Anne-Eric felt railroaded in the process.
Heather-We agreed last ACM on the assignment of beds for 2009.
Anne-I feel ambushed/pressed by this process as someone who still pays fees, owns a residence.
Heather- 2009 done, what is policy going forward.
Kay- not sure whether policy is applicable to reassigning the 2 beds after 2009.
Hans-decision for 2009 only, people with those 2 beds would go to waiting list
Anne- Why are my beds being taken away?
Heather-I want to move this from clarification to discussion . Discussion of the proposal at hand. Kay has mentioned.
Vaughn-I'm feeling that we're ignoring Anne's feelings and acting like a**holes.
Kay- Does our past practice set a precedence? Binding?
Nancy-Kay's idea good, there are other informal agreements that need discussing.
Hans- We should move forward on proposal, Anne's action/situation separate issue.
Heather- Let's move to the revised proposal sections.
Kay- (reads proposal sections)
Anne-Why if you don't use bed for two years?
Nancy-Keep WACHO priorities in mind when formulating policy, big picture considerations.
Vicky-Putting myself in shoes of absentee owner, contributor I'd want to appeal resident qualification.
Naomi- I still think that we ought to build more beds if this an issue.
George- First priority should be to residents where we are up against the limit. Participation and work count.
Kay- There is still room for at least 3 beds.
Anne-Beds can be created quickly. Garden club members should contribute work to be part of group. Gardeners have been inconsistent in their representations and commitments. Landscaping and gardening has been frustrating. Would like to gift this to new members.
Heather- 5min. left
Hob-We need to have a place for non-resident community members
Kevin- there is a resident/non-resident distinction: access, regularity. We should build more plots.
Mike-initially only agreement would be that community would pay for water. The rest was left to garden club. Conflicts are arising as resources are limited. I would like if garden club could solve these issues. Can Garden Club come up with win/win? Build more beds? Garden club should physically meet.
Hans-Would like community to contribute to the construction of beds.
Nancy-Discussion/actions shouldn't be so manipulative. This discussion overlays other issues.
From: WaCoHo on behalf of Vaughn Lovejoy\Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 2:51 PM
To: Wasatch Commons Cohousing MembersSubject: [WaCoHo] ACM notes Clarification
Seeing how eloquent I was last night, I thought I might clarify what I was/am feeling.
Vaughn-"I'm feeling that we're ignoring Anne's feelings and acting like a-holes."
A better way of stating what I meant is that we as a community acted capriciously or impulsively when we took Ann's gardens away from her. Perhaps more clearly put we were reacting to Ann's/your position that they were simply yours and we had no right to question you.
Ann/you asked why we took your gardens a way from you at the last ACM. I think that deserves an answer. I do not know if this is all of the answer but I think that this is part of it. When you when you dug your heals in and demanded that you had a right to them you alienated/angered enough community members that you did not have any effective empathetic voices to speak up for you at the last ACM. I think that we as a community simply reacted to your stubbornness and we simply acted in a way to show you.
Did we as a community act from our highest values? Each one of us will have to answer that for themselves.
I personally would have liked to reach a compromise position and let you have one and given one to the garden collective. When Ann/you and I went to the garden some time ago and I suggested that you refused. Perhaps all of us could have acted more graciously.
My thoughts about how this came to be and my apologies that this has unfolded the way that it has.
Vaughn Lovejoy
Wasatch Co-Housing Community members,
Here are the minutes from the 14 June 2009 meeting.
Sandra
No one was taking minutes during the Announcements. Those with Announcements, please repeat the announcement via email.
Parents (Bea) nothing to report
Landscaping (Mary)
Most of Landscaping Committee's activities have been pre-empted by other people, and therefore the Committee has not been meeting.
Management (Vaughn)
Committee brought Warren in to talk about managing the investment fund. Committee has been dealing with personal financial questions in the last few meetings. Continuing to look at the questions around the capital reserve fund, and questions related to sustainability issues.
Process (Nancy)
Committee is suffering from a lack of leadership. There is no one on the Committee willing to assume that responsibility. Kevin has been acting as convener but not meeting all the responsibilities needed to be assumed by convener. Laraine and Michele have said they are willing to participate. The Committee needs to re-invent itself.
Welcoming (Lydia) no report.
Crown (Myste) hasn't met recently.
Ad Hoc [Weeding] Committee (Vaughn for Joanne)
List of accomplishments (distributed via email). We received a notice from Glendale City re our parking strip on Cheyenne Street not meeting requirements re minimum of 33% vegetation, not more than 18 inches high. Need Angel to clean a drain on Utah Street towards the north end of the property with a shovel to get elm seeds, etc. Naomi pointed out that long-term maintenance of that drain is the city's responsibility.
Kay has assembled a proposal, which was distributed prior to the ACM. Lydia took the group through the document, section by section, with discussion.
Qualifying for a Bed minor questions clarified.
Gardeners' Responsibilities Discussion about changes to wording about what the gardeners will provide: "Supply and maintain plants, seeds, tools, and supplies themselves, except for major equipment and other items that the Community may decide to provide."
Nancy: need greater enforcement of preventing weeds in the bed from going to seed.
Naomi: need to define "organic." Vaughn: recommend we use the Wasatch Community Gardens guidelines, which prohibit the use of any pesticide or herbicide or artificial fertilizer. Discussion of merits of various definitions. Mary: opposed to most sprays but can allow people to use whatever fertilizer they choose on their own soil. Lydia: add W.C.G. standards and hold off on consensing on this document until we review what those are. Vaughn will share the W.C.G. standards with the group.
Isabella: suggests a warning system for enforcement and clarification of garden manager's duties with respect to enforcement. Suggests a three-strikes-and-you're-out system. Kay: need a shared responsibility for enforcement. Mary: there is a gardening club that meets at the beginning of the season. Laraine: If a gardening club could meet periodically, we would have a way to manage enforcement. Vaughn: The garden club has been too informal. Could the group take on the responsibility for enforcement? Bea: There needs to be one or two people in the garden club who will be responsible to reinforce the guidelines. Hans passing on LindaR's comments about transferring ownership of a plot.
Mary: How much will be charged to gardeners failing to meet these responsibilities? Need to clarify this.
Authority Nancy: People should not grow illegal crops. Lydia: How do we feel about someone growing something and selling it? Discussion. "Commercial ventures with community gardens are subject to community approval."
Community Responsibilities Discussion. Decide to remove final sentence from this section. Will add something to appeals process about an option for the community to ask for the individual to pay for water.
Construction of New Beds Discussion about new beds. Bea: Where can new beds be built? Myste: Can we post the current garden map showing were new beds may be built?
Assignment of Existing Garden Beds
Discussion of differing expectations among residents about how to get a bed when moving to the community. Bea/Rebecca were told they would have to build a bed. Hob has never had it clarified how he could get a bed. Eric got the impression from Anne that he would inherit a bed. Lydia proposed that one of Anne's two beds (the Cousins' bed) be given to Eric right away, before this proposal can be approved, since that approval can't happen today. Mary: You need to build a bed if you want a bed. Now is the time to start building and creating the soil. Let Kay know and she will stake a spot for you. There is a roto-tiller available or a broad fork to use to start working the plot. Bea: The Cousins' bed should not be given to Eric, but rather the bed that Anne created herself. Lydia: Should we group-garden the available beds? Eric: How many households have multiple beds? That doesn't seem fair. I would agree to gardening the available beds in a group this year with the others who have been waiting for beds and re-assess next year who will get them. Lydia: The two beds will go to Eric, Lydia, Bea, Hob, and Sandra for this season only. They will meet and talk about how they want to garden the beds. Two suggestions: (1) all gardened by the garden collective, and (2) some gardened by collective, and some divvied up.
Proposal with changes will be distributed before the next ACM.
Respectfully submitted, Sandra McIntyre
Peace Corps Event (sponsored by the Wasons): Saturday, 7 pm guest speaker Nia Sherar, founder of OFDC?Opportunity Funds for Developing Countries. This is NOT a fundraiser. Nia will discuss her most recent visit to OFDC projects in Kenya. Open to the public. All cohousers welcome.
Amy has extra iris bulbs that need to go in the ground quickly, pick them up in front of her house.
Joanne has informative handout on Earthquake preparedness. Contact her if you are interested in one.
May Day Celebration on May 2, 1-6 p.m. at Pioneer Park. More info at http://utahjwj.org
Wedding Shower for Sarah, Linda Reed's daughter, has been moved from Friday, May 1, to Saturday May 2, 7-9 pm. All invited.
Anne lost glasses somewhere between Laraine's house, garden, and CH. If found, please return to Anne.
Driving on the Common Path is for EMERGENCY vehicles only. This is a consensed decision and part of Wacoho's original vision.
Past due accounts reviewed. Those in arrears met with Management Committee at the last meeting
Management is discussing capital reserve fund. They want to bring Warren in to discuss options for Oppenheimer fund. Some work has been done
According to Hob, between June and September of last year, a lot of money was lost from the fund. However, ?every dime put in is still there?, but the fund lost big returns. Process:
Kevin reports that process meetings have been happening. The committee does not have a coordinator right now. Process would like new energy and new facilitators and encourages all to volunteer for facilitation.
The committee is still looking at bigger picture issues like a retreat and suggests that anyone with ideas for the retreat or with other concerns/agenda items contact Process. Welcoming
Vicky reports that she, Joanne, Amy, and Lydia comprise Welcoming Committee.
Vicky would like volunteers to attend the luncheons for Our Community Connection networking group 11:30 to 1:30 third Wednesday (except April's meeting which took place on the second Wednesday)
Wasatch Commons will have a table at the Sunday People's Market in Pioneer Park. Vicky wants company for tabling?see her for more information. Ad Hoc Weeding
Kevin reports that the water is back on in garden area.
Joanne reports that Naomi had Jairo and Juan weed the silver garden and they also cleared the weeds in the island by #26
Joanne would like to facilitate clearing for people who are not able to do physical work and are not able to pay.
Vaughn: Ideas~greenhouse, permaculture orchard, solar power. We put $12,000 a year into the Capital Reserve Fund (the Oppenheimer Fund). Would not we be better served by putting money into sustainable practices here in the community? For example, could we decide to put $6,000 toward the fund and use $6,000 for investments around the community like the greenhouse? Michelle: The better able we are to be self-sufficient, the better off we?ll be in this economy. The thing I think about all the time: goats. More chickens
Mike A.: All of the things that you say on this make a lot of sense. However, it doesn't change the fact of why we were putting money in the fund in the first place. Those things will happen anyway, like the roof caving in. We still need shelter whether or not we know how to grow our own food. Moving funds from capital reserve fund doesn't make sense
Vaughn: We?re looking at investing 6,000 rather than 12,000 annually
Mike A.: Your proposal completely redefines the fund's purpose
Michelle: Remember, this is a brainstorm discussion?we?re not evaluating the merits of what people are suggesting. Clarification that no proposal is on the table Kevin: Challenges are energy, food, and water. Those are the things we can control. We can't control the air, except maybe individually. We can do our best by working on energy, food, and water. The greenhouse idea makes particular sense because we all shut down in winter. Solar energy needs to be considered when we all redo our roofs. That's the best time to look at solar. I'm really excited about water. Each of us has the capacity to capture up to 6,000 gallons of water. Aesthetics and legalities are problems. Could be a community-building project
Hob: Chickens. A lot of open space and weeds. Chickens eat weeds and insects. Eggs are good for you. Easy to produce. I've heard ideas about fencing off half of the orchard. We could set up a chicken tractor and we could have quite a significant egg production. We could produce organic eggs. Just a thought I've been having. My plea for more chickens
Lydia: In terms of water, I'm interested in Kevin's ideas. People have been prosecuted for harvesting water. As for plans for the orchard, remember that the area will have a garden, too. So chickens will eat the plants, too. Solar panels are good. I am planning to buy a plug-in vehicle in a few years and would like a solar panel for carport
Naomi: Solar technology is up and coming. Panels don't have to go on our roofs. They could be installed on carports and provide energy for cars and houses
Mike A.: Our cars will not be in the sun for most of the day
Lydia: The solar panels will store the energy during the day, and you plug in your car in the evening
Hob: Water is really important. Here's a crazy idea. We do the water-gathering system, we let Salt Lake City fine us and we go to court to challenge the system. I carry all my used water that I can to water our trees. I know it's expensive to treat wastewater, but I'm interested in grey water
Hans: Greywater plans. Greywater in the west is not a good idea because of our alkaline soil composition. It will destroy the soil. Even irrigation water (the canal) is bad for the soil. Use greywater for flushing toilets
Naomi: I've been trying to track our water bills and I have an impression that the bulk of our water is going to the gardens. Are they being watered too liberally?
Linda R. & Amy: Most gardens have drip systems
Vicky: Why is water collection illegal?
Amy: Water collecting goes back to water rights laws from the 1800s
Kevin: Water in Utah is controlled under the Colorado River Compact. People were allocated rights and diverting water from the Colorado River is violating other people's rights
George: Do we want to address the question of how we might pay for some of these plans?
Hob: Prioritize
Kevin: From a resources perspective, it's not like working on your own property over years and with scavenged materials. If we open up the time frame and the aesthetic, there are more resources available. If we tighten up and commercialize, we have fewer resources
Mike P.: The main way we?ve always gotten projects done is if a small group or even one person who has energy for it pursues the project. Kevin and Celia Bell are a great resource. The greenhouse would be the most doable project that you would get the most bang for the buck. Water collection?I'm on the Public Utilities board and it is a concern. Rain barrels under the gutters are happening and not being fined
Heather: While I agree with Mike about things getting done by a few interested parties, I?d like to see a community wide commitment to investing in these projects
Nancy: The greenhouse idea. There are people with energy around growing food. The greenhouse would be a resource for the whole community
George: The garden shed is a step toward sustainability, not because I want a home for wheelbarrows, but because if we cleared out the garage, we could be doing welding and other building projects that would benefit the whole community. Discussion of next steps. Many agreed a greenhouse is an immediately achievable goal. Suggestion to have a straw poll and identify interested parties. The following people made commitments to ?convene? discussions on the various prioritized suggestions.
Vaughn: Management continues to look at the financial picture and whether we don't need to put as much as money in the Capital Reserve fund
Mike P.: Each group will have to make funding a part of these projects
Amy: Can we combine the Greenhouse/Garden Shed since accomplishing tasks together would benefit each project? General agreement
Dear Neighbors,
The notes from yesterday's ACM are attached and pasted below. Since this was a discussion meeting primarily, I tried to track the conversation. I've identified individual comments as best I could. While this is something some have objected to in the past, it seemed the most effective way to represent the discussion to those who did not attend.
If I have omitted, misrepresented, or otherwise neglected something, please send a clarification to the whole list.
Hope you're enjoying this lovely Spring day.
Heather
April 13 - Thank you for getting the minutes out so promptly, Heather. I for one greatly appreciate the detail.
Correction: Those worst in arrears met with Management and arranged payment details. There's at least one household with a smaller balance we still need to talk to.
My memory is that a consensed decision at the time of move-in permitted vehicles to be on the path to be loaded when people are moving (amended to smaller vehicles only, after a moving van got its wheels off the path and mired itself).
Sorry for missing the meeting; both of us were feeling rotten. I really wanted to be present when a greenhouse was discussed.
Kay
Here are the minutes from Wed's ACM
Thanks to Kevin for such an awesome job of facilitating and for everyone for participating. I also want to thank Nancy and Mary for voicing their concerns so openly and honestly and for rhen choosing to stand aside. I believe our community will benefit from their example and decision. Michelle
Check In
Committee Reports Management: The money in capital reserve in higher risk category has been transferred to a lower risk fund. We will also meet with fund manager Warren to see possibilities of moving it into a less risky more socially responsible without any tax liabilities. We are looking to purchase a new computer for the CH. Thanks to Kevin for keeping up with the repairs that need to happen.
Lydia had joined the welcoming committee. Two homes are empty. Colby's are planning to go through a rental agency. Discussion regarding what the bylaws say regarding how we can help to influence what the renters understand about who we are and the expectations.
Parenting: Good tubing outing. Pictures posted on email. Double Didget room got put together. Parents nite out going to the comedy club.
Use the 5 (6) hat method for discussion
Ammendments to the proposal: Have a trial period and check in about how it is going at the June ACM. Disabling and providing an orientation regarding the sewing machines. Playing the air hockey is a privilege and if there is infraction that they (adults and children) lose their right to play for a period of time
Proposal Passes with two stand asides:
Nancy- feels like it is already a done deal so she will not block it. She feels like process didn't give us enough time and that her voice doesn't make a difference. Mary- Also stand aside- because she feels like we didn't followed our stated process. It is after the fact because it was purchased prior to it coming to the community
Kevin- want to honor those people who stand aside and reinforces that we will meet again in June to check in with those at that meeting.
Prarie Fire Weeds Brainstorm List of what we can do with the weeds this year:
Mike A-.using the lawnmower to keep them low rather than trying to pull them Nancy- Assign groups of us to take care of weeds in a particular area Michelle-Create a schedule for people to sign up for weeks to do some of the tasks Vaughn- West bern- if it comes back as grass, we weed wack it. Mike P- Wood chip Spread them deeper around the Wasatch Commons Sign Vicki-Invite Vicky to weed she like to do it together Kevin-Authorize the use of certain herbicide in remote areas that are particularly difficult to keep down Vicki- Paul 13, Sam 14, Caleb10- they are at the age to learn- if they are invited to pull weeds and given guidance Hobb- Accept the weeds- disobey the laws Nancy- Persue Bind Weed- flora non gratis Linda R-.Please volunteer to help Joanne manage Nancy- Find another Person to weed who knows more what they are doing Kay-Put a bounty on certain weeds Hobb- Weeding party especially in/after the rain Supply margariatas Mary- When people walk buy if theythey pick up rocks plastic bags great help.
Kevin- Every person who had an idea go and put it into practice
Check Out
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The money in capital reserve in higher risk category has been transferred to a lower risk fund.
We will also meet with fund manager Warren to see possibilities of moving it into a less risky more socially responsible without any tax liabilities.
We are looking to purchase a new computer for the CH.
Thanks to Kevin for keeping up with the repairs that need to happen.
Lydia joined the welcoming committee.
Two homes are empty. Colby's are planning to go through a rental agency. Discussion regarding what the bylaws say regarding how we can help to influence what the renters understand about who we are and the expectations.
Good tubing outing. Pictures posted on email.
Double Didget [sic: Digit] room got put together.
Parents nite out going to the comedy club.
Use the 5 (6) hat method for discussion
Amendments to the proposal
Have a trial period and check in about how it is going at the June ACM.
Disabling and providing an orientation regarding the sewing machines.
Playing the air hockey is a privilege and if there is infraction that they (adults and children) lose their right to play for a period of time
Proposal Passes with two stand asides
Nancy- feels like it is already a done deal so she will not block it. She feels like process didn't give us enough time and that her voice doesn't make a difference.
Mary- Also stand aside- because she feels like we didn't followed our stated process. It is after the fact because it was purchased prior to it coming to the community
Kevin- want to honor those people who stand aside and reinforces that we will meet again in June to check in with those at that meeting.
Brainstorm List of what we can do with the weeds this year
Mike A-.using the lawnmower to keep them low rather than trying to pull them
Nancy- Assign groups of us to take care of weeds in a particular area
Michelle-Create a schedule for people to sign up for weeks to do some of the tasks
Vaughn- West bern- if it comes back as grass, we weed wack it.
Mike P- Wood chip Spread them deeper around the Wasatch Commons Sign
Vicki-Invite Vicky to weed she like to do it together
Kevin-Authorize the use of certain herbicide in remote areas that are particularly difficult to keep down
Vicki- Paul 13, Sam 14, Caleb10- they are at the age to learn- if they are invited to pull weeds and given guidance
Hobb- Accept the weeds- disobey the laws
Nancy- Persue Bind Weed- flora non gratis
Linda R-.Please volunteer to help Joanne manage
Nancy- Find another person to weed who knows more what they are doing
Kay-Put a bounty on certain weeds
Hobb- Weeding party especially in/after the rain
Supply margaritas
Mary- When people walk by if theythey pick up rocks plastic bags great help.
Kevin- Every person who had an idea go and put it into practice
Work support met today and expectation will be that people come to a monthly work party and that bathrooms get done weekly. It is suggested that each month everyone on the team comes to a work party and ALSO does an individual tasks. There is just too much work for people to only do individual work.
Parent meeting Report
Ping Pong Table Guidelines:
Air hockey table has been purchased and is in storage until it is brought to an ACM for location approval. Proposal should be out soon.
Double Digit meeting Feb 21st to clean and organize the meeting.
National Unitarian Church conference will be in June the same weekend as the CoHousing national conference. Anyone interested in hosting members, should contact Vicky.
Discussion on Common Property Issues
Determine what questions need resolution Baseline agreements. Do we have common understanding to start with?
Kind of things that are creating conflict and see what agreements are already in place to address these conflict.
George led the conversation and gave some examples of confusion around what is common property and what is other.
Rebecca noticed issue of different understanding of what common property means and permeability (the ability to walk between and see behind units). Where should kids, and dogs and cats being able to roam. And this came up with the fences. Is there a common value around this?
Michelle, decision making authority over the property around their property. Not clear on what you can and cant do around your units and where the property lines are.
Joanne, renters or short term owners start redesigning and then move and then not completed. Also large areas that are common but NO one takes care of them. No one takes responsible for them.
Lidya, There is harmony in the world when there is a balance between authority and responsibility. Ex. When responsible for paying for water used, but dont have authority to plant what you wanno harmony. Also, How do we get a new garden plot?
Nancy, how do you define areas and who has authority to define areas? Example, area behind units are claimed for back yard, but some units dont have clear boundaries. No common understanding.
Hans, the confusion over the orchard. Was offered to WaCoHO for purchase, but never accepted. So Hans is happy to have people use it. But some people dont like the way it. is being used. Should there be a community decision around use of the orchard?
Nancy, Marys use to the common property in relationship to her own property including.crossing community property to access own land. Confusion around the alley and its purpose and the gate.
Kevin, besides land propertyobjects. Who is responsible for common objects and equipment. When it gets donated can it be taken back when they move out. Non real property; access, reclamation, maintenance and loaning.
Linda R. Expectation about home valuesresale value. Do we have the right or authority to enforce aesthetics/property values, common storage.
Intangible property.
Pool and Hot tub/ improvements can small groups get together and pool money to purchase items.
Linda R. Ponds in back yardsshould they first be approved.
Kevin, limited common space in our by laws. Patio, storage, the owner of the unit has special authority or these limited common space areas.
Hans was there when the limited common areas were created. They are very limited in the by laws because it was hard to defined the feet for each unit. Some wanted large spaces. Some wanted no land. Kevin, attaching things to a building is not allowed in the by laws. Any permanent structures should be consensus on before it is built. Pergolas and decks and anything that is attached to the buildingsatellite dishes, swamp coolers, etc.
Lidya, by laws should be simplified and Michelle added that welcoming should be sure the information gets to the new people.
Vicky, commented how difficult it is too get the information to all new people and especially when we have so many new people coming and going.
This was only a discussion. Further action will be taken in the future. Making the list is only the first stage.
Finished at 5:10.
Hans, Tim De Christopher and Rocky Anderson and others "Is Civil Disobedience Moral at this Time?" Unitarian Church at 7pm on Friday.
Linda: Inaugural Ball at C House 7pm for all members and friends and it is an official Move On.Org site. Formal or Not. Kids OK. BYOB and snack foods. Dance to rock 'n roll!
Mike P.: Sunday at Common House potluck regular time and then New Eyes Presentation. Will show the movie Kolya that takes place in the Czech Republic. Steve and Heather and Mike P. are all involved in this exchange program between the U of U students and Czech students.
Linda R. Free Sundance film tickets from friend of Linda R. Talk to Linda if you want tickets. Thursday 3 pm Jan 22nd The Cove: Environmental oriented movie. Broadway downtown. With discussion afterwards.
Attendance: Vicky, Linda R, Naomi, Roman, Linda P., Lydia, Mary, Kay, Hans, Nancy, Lynda A. Mike A., George, Vaughn, Joanne, Anne, Michelle, Jen, Hob, Rebecca H., Richard, Amy D.
We started with elections. Kay explained the process. The two that are staying on the committee are Kay, Hans. We need 3 more home owners, one renter, and one CROWN rep. CROWN will make that decision at a later date. Linda A. has been the CROWN rep. Pres, Sec and Treasure are figured out after the elections between the Management committee themselves. All people in the room are welcome to vote and to participate in tonight's elections. But only 3 owners will be elected.
Nancy nominated Lydia. 2nd by Heather. Lydia accepted the nomination.
Lydia nominated Mike P., Mike P. respectfully declined
Vicky nominated Hob, and Vaughn 2nd and Hob accepted.
Heather Nominated Michelle. Michelle declined, she will stay on process
Hans nominated Naomi. After some consideration, she declined
Mike P. nominated Kevin. Kevin declined. He has an interest in process. Will continue to be a resource for management on building issues.
Hob nominated Vaughn. Vaughn accepted.
Lydia, Hob, and Vaughn all said some things about themselves and their visions.
There was some question about how to proceed. If we needed to take a paper vote or just take a consensus vote on the nominees. Nancy had some concerns. After much discussion it was decided these three nominees will serve. Thanks to them and to past management committee members.
Management will follow up with the renter rep.
Linda R. gave a presentation on the Budget.
Budget is a planning tool. Other ways to fund things are to: fundraise like we did for landscaping and weeding last year.
Amounts don't carry over.
If it is in the budget the group it is designated for can spend it as like and doesn't have to follow what was suggested in the budget proposal sent to management.
Submit receipts on time. We must submit within 30 days of spending the money to get reimbursed.
The budget was passed out which included a 10% increase in HOA fees.
Comments: Mike P. explained that if 10% wasn't proposed then there would be very little discretionary items funded (committee items)
Reserve funded has $71,000 minus what the gutter toppers cost. Started $71,000 at start of year. Earned $1,400 but then lost $1,400 with the stock market down turn. This is for our roofs and other infrastructure projects. Many members expressed an interest in funding the reserve account at a higher rate.
Hans explained that gutter toppers started in November. It was started when the committees were not spending money and management thought the money was there. This was announced at the Novembers ACM. Then a lot of receipts came in and the money was gone. The gutters will be paid out of the reserve since the committees spent the money that we thought we might have.
Assets: 6,000 in bank, plus $71,000 in reserve minus the gutter toppers.
We also have $3500 of HOA fees that were paid ahead.
Hans said lets just pass this budget with the 10% and move forward. We may come back to shift the discretionary expenses including adjusting reserve funds.
Hob said lets management come back with a new budget with more money going to reserve funds.
There was lots of back and forth and discussion mostly about wanting to put more money in reserve fund.
Time was short and we tried to come to consensus. First attempt was blocked.
Mike A. blocked and wanted the reserve fund increased by 10% if the HOA is going up. He then stood aside after it was made clear many people are concerned about the reserve fund and this will be address and his input is welcomed.
Research of the reserve fund was mentioned by more than one member.
After discussing further with Mike A. the budget was accepted and brought to consensus with the understanding the management will continue to research and look at the reserve fund closely.
Brief applause. Adjourned late!
Note taker: Vicky Wason
From:From: wacoho on behalf of Kay Argyle\Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 1:38 PM
To: 'WaCoHo'Subject: Re: [WaCoHo] ACM minutes
Correction or Clarification:
The reserve fund paid some dividends, which were reinvested by purchasing more shares. In addition, each month we purchased $1,040 worth of shares ($12,480 for the year at 26 households * $40 per household per month * 12 months) from assessments. The share price dropped during the year, counterbalancing the shares purchased, and the current account value is nearly the same as at the beginning of last year.
Additional information and commentary:
Despite twenty years of investing, I still find it confusing. I think you did well at recording the financial report, Vicky.
Since we made something like $15K in purchases (reinvested dividend plus reserve payments from assessments), yet ended with the same valuation, we "lost" about $15K, not $1,400. For tax purposes, however, the account hasn't lost money until we actually sell shares at a lower price than we paid for them. The IRS doesn't care what the share price has done in between purchase and sale.
It's coincidental that the number of shares we own now, times the current share price, so closely equals last year's smaller number of shares times last year's higher share price.
The WCCA pays taxes on the dividends and on other "outside" income like laundry fees and "donations" for using the common house (despite calling them donations).
Kay
April 25, 2020