Mosaic Teams

Mosaic Teams admin Fri, 03/02/2012 - 15:06

Accessibility

Accessibility

1. The accessibility team is responsible for educating, discussing, researching, and improving accessibility in our community at present and in the future. Our goal is to propose ideas for residents and guests to be fully integrated into community life, and to have safe access to the public areas of Mosaic Commons Cohousing and, if possible, access to homes.

2. Members are chosen by self-selection. They need to let the team know if they want to be part of the decision making process. New members and lurkers are welcome.

3. Team decisions are made by a process noted in the addendum.

4. This team may request its own budget at regular budgeting time, or may ask for money from the appropriate team for the relevant changes proposed.

5. The team will report to the plenary when we are working on significant projects and when projects are completed.

6. The Team will work in conjunction with all relevant teams such as Common House room teams, and trustees as needed.

7. The Accessibility Team has power level 3 to ensure that Mosaic will always have a number of designated accessible parking spaces equal to the number of residents who have a handicapped placard, or otherwise need an accessible space, plus one space near the common house.  (See Addendum A)

8. The team has Power Level 4 to make changes that improve accessibility without significantly altering community space. For projects where another team has authority over the space, the two teams will work together and have power level 4.

9. If a proposed change requires more money than our budget, the budget of the connected team, or the discretionary fund allows, the team has power level 2.  We will work with related teams, develop a proposal, and get plenary approval.

10. The accessibility team will accept input from people not on the team by email, personal contact, filling out an appropriate form, survey, etc. The Team can establish a date by which input into a decision is closed. Email is accessibility@mosaic-commons.org.

APPENDIX:

A. If a person needs an accessible space the team will temporarily mark a spot that person can use right away. The team will notify the community to determine if there is any disagreements with that choice.

B. Team decisions are made by at least half of the team saying yes and no one saying no.

catya Tue, 07/12/2016 - 19:38

Bookkeeper

Bookkeeper

Bookkeeper: Diana

The Bookkeeper is the day-to-day financial caretaker for the group:

  • Maintain the general accounts and financial records
  • Provide members with monthly household statements
  • Collect condo fees and keep track of and pay bills and other obligations

Reimbursement Form

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:28

Buildings and Grounds (BnG)

Buildings and Grounds (BnG)

BnG is: Dave, Perley, Rich K, John B, Ken, Bob, Buzz

Email the team

Mandate:

The Building and Grounds team is a standing team, whose members will be self-selected. The team will make regular reports to the Mosaic Commons Trustees. The purpose of the Team is to:

1 - Coordinate maintenance of Mosaic Commons infrastructure, which includes most aspects of common areas. See the Buildings and Grounds wiki for a more detailed breakdown. http://wiki.mosaic-commons.org/Teams/TeamResponsibilities

2 - Be the first point of contact for buildings and grounds questions and concerns, per our Operating Procedures. Resources - Supplies and repair bills will be expensed against pre-existing budget line items for maintenance, in the HOA or Cohousing budgets as appropriate. Purchases over $250 will need to be reviewed by the Mosaic Commons Trustees.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:29

Common Resources

Common Resources

Mandate for the Common Resources Team

  1. The Common Resources team is a standing team with the general responsibility of overseeing the acquisition and replacement of durable goods that are located in the common spaces of the community. The team has 4 specific roles as defined here:

    Purchasing Process Observer - Common Resources is to ensure community funds spent match our spending values. To that end Common Resources needs to be informed in advance when teams doing their own purchases of durable goods are spending more than $250 on a single item. Once informed (via e-mail to the team list), the Common Resources Team has 72 hours to respond. If the team has an objection, Common Resources will work with the requesting team to overcome the objection. If there are no objections, the purchase is approved.

    Opportunistic Shopper - Common Resources Members will watch freecycle, craigslist, and any other shopping store or site for deals for items which might be of value to the community and might need quick responses to obtain, whether or not a specific request has been made by an individual or team for the items. If consensed upon by the Common Resources team, these items will be purchased out of the Commons Resources budget. Additionally, Common Resources members are a resource for any community teams wishing assistance with purchasing items.

    Cohousing Equipment Reserve Keeper - Common Resources will maintain a list of equipment owned by Mosaic Commons Cohousing, including: last purchase date, estimated replacement price and expected replacement year. To ensure we can replace these items as they wear out, Common Resources will also manage a "reserve" fund, which includes suggesting during the annual budget process what the annual contribution amount should be to fund the reserves.

    Small Team Fiscal Agent - Common Resources Team will hold the budget for common house room teams (and the workshop team) under it’s own budget if those teams do not have a separate line in the annual budget. Those team with budgets under Common Resources can make their own spending decisions up to the amount earmarked for them, but must keep Common Resources informed in advance of any purchase. The Common Resources team will remain in contact with these room teams periodically throughout the year, and if those teams inform Common Resources that they will not be spending their entire earmark, the Common Resources team can chose to spend the remaining amount on other purchases without going to the plenary.

  2. Members are chosen by self-selection, and serve as long as they are willing.
  3. Team decisions are made by consensus of the members of the team.
  4. This team has a line in the annual budget for current year purchases, the amount determined during the cohousing budget setting process each year. In addition, the team oversees the setting of the cohousing reserves budget but not the spending from it.
  5. Reports to the plenary about purchases from this teams budget, or purchases the team was involved with, will be issued no less than quarterly, and also when any item costing over $250 is purchased.
  6. The Common Resources team will work in conjunction with the common house room teams or any other team that would be acquiring a durable good for a common space.
  7. The Common Resources team has the following power levels:
    • Power Level 4 (may make making binding decisions on their own) regarding decisions about spending money out of the annual budget for current year purchases.
    • Power Level 2 (may bring a proposal to plenary) regarding spending from the cohousing reserves.
    • Power Level 4 (may make making binding decisions on their own) regarding choosing of items to purchase once tasked with purchasing something (if there is a team that oversees the space the item is for, must get agreement of that team).
    • The Common Resources team will accept input from people not on the team via email. The Common Resources team can establish a date by which input into a decision is closed.
admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:04

Community Support

Community Support

Steph, Judy, Ken P, Liz, Matt
Sophie (just for kids)
(email team)

Serves as contact for conflict within the group; develops processes for conflict resolution.

Mandate

1. The Community Support (CS) Team is a standing team and our primary mandate is to support the community and relationships in the community. Most of our work is one-on-one but the foundation is really the health of our entire Mosaic community.

CS is responsible for helping individuals to find strategies to resolve the conflicts they have with others. For individual conflicts we use the conflict resolution process described here: link. We also will provide individual emotional support and help people find outside support when requested.

We will help any individual who lives in Mosaic, and any individual who is a member or associate member of mosaic. We will cooperate with the Camelot CS team for issues between people who live in Camelot and people who live in Mosaic or are Mosaic Members or Associate Members.

In conflicts between two individuals CS Members will keep the issue in confidence. If an issue between two people becomes a community wide issue then our primary mandate is the health of the community and we may need to open broader discussion. If we must share with the community the names of individuals involved will not be used and we won't share information without letting individuals involved know what we are going to say.

2. Members of the CS team are chosen by self-selection and are approved by existing members of the team. The CS team may solicit appropriate individuals to join. Email cs@mosaic-commons.org if you are interested in joining the team. The CS email list is confidential and only CS team members may be on the list.

3. Decisions about CS process are made when the members present at a team meeting come to consensus. Community and individual issues are handled by a subgroup of the team; the sub-group informs the rest of the team when they have consensus about how to proceed on an issue, and proceeds if there are no objections from the rest of the team.

4. The CS team may ask for a budget for training and for hiring outside facilitators in case of conflicts that require that.

5. CS will determine when we need to report to the community. Members may ask us at any time if they are concerned about whether we are addressing an issue. Speak directly to a member of the team or send an email to cs@mosaic-commons.org.

6. CS works with any mosaic team or with the Camelot CS team when asked for help.

7, 8, 9. Community support can make their own decisions about how to help people, about whether the issues is a group or individual issue, and whether outside mediation is needed for an issue. If we feel it is necessary we can recommend actions to other teams or to the plenary.

If an individual or team asks us for help someone from community support will get back to them within two days to see if there is an immediate need, and will within two weeks let them know an expected timeline and the names of the community support people working on the issue.

Non-team members are encouraged to ask the CS team questions at any time. We will also solicit input from community members as needed.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:27

Facilitation

Facilitation

San, Sandy, Betsy, Mary
(email this team)

1. The Facilitation and Process Team plans and facilitates plenary General Meetings and attends to process matters in the community. Facilitation and Process are interrelated functions and the sub-teams will sometimes meet separately and sometimes together and may split at a later date if that seems appropriate.

The Facilitation sub-team's primary function is running meetings in ways that make conversations more effective.

Facilitation Tasks:
* plan how to organize and carry-out plenary agenda, based on items provided from Steering
* facilitate plenary meetings
* evaluate plenary meetings
* implement group process within plenary meetings
* be available to facilitate team meetings and discussion circles
* train new facilitators
* manage minute-taking tasks:
** recruit minute-takers
** recommend format for minutes
** distribute minutes
** get approval of minutes at plenary meetings
* ensure there is a child care coordinator for plenary meetings
* set plenary meeting schedule
* arrange facilitation workshops

The Process sub-team's primary function is to define, refine, support, and evaluate community decision-making and discussion processes.

Process Tasks:
* define Color Cards
** make sure there are enough, and correct, cards for plenary gatherings
* document our community decision-making and discussion processes
* define the Process Observer role for plenary meetings
* be available to serve as Process Observers at plenary meetings, in conjunction with CS
* coordinate with Member Integration to introduce new people to our processes
* support team processes:
** be available to help with process-related issues within a team
** be proactive in helping teams learn about group process and decision-making
** be available to assist teams in developing processes that reflect the core values of the community
* be available to help teams or individual presenters get items ready for plenary discussion
* arrange process workshops

2. Members are chosen by self-selection and are re-affirmed yearly. People may choose to be members of only one of the two sub-teams.

3. Team decisions are made by consensus or by another method consensed on within the team. The team may delegate some Process questions to ad hoc teams, with at least one member of Facilitation/Process on the ad hoc team.

4. The Facilitation and Process Team has an annual budget, determined as part of the MC budget process.

5. The team will issue reports to the plenary when the team is developing changes to the community's decision-making process or to the way we handle plenary meetings.

6. The Facilitation and Process Team works in conjunction with other teams:
* Steering to plan plenary agenda items and to facilitate community decisions
* Community Support to handle conflict that arises in General Meetings and to coordinate Process Observers.
* Member Integration to bring new people up to speed with community processes.
* Any team or presenter to help them to be ready for plenary meetings.

7. Power Levels
* The team has power level 2 (may bring a proposal to plenary) for defining and refining plenary decision making processes.
* The team has power level 3 for setting the plenary meeting schedule; arranging workshops; and defining Color Cards.
* The team can make independent decisions (power level 4) about all other team-related tasks.

8. The Facilitation and Process team accepts input from people not on the team by email, personal contact, filling out posted surveys, etc. The team can establish a deadline for input on an issue.

9. The Facilitation email list is a private list, open only to those who are active members of this sub-team and to those who were active and have stepped back for a temporary time (6-9 months).

Any community member can be on the Process sub-team email list, but only those self-declared Process sub-team members can participate in Process sub-team decisions.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:29

Indoors: Common House Cleaning

Indoors: Common House Cleaning

Mary, Sandy, Steph, Sophie, Matt H.

The common house cleaning team is responsible for coordinating the rotations for the common house cleaning.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:25

Indoors: Common House Room Teams

Indoors: Common House Room Teams

Send to [room]@mosaic-commons.org to get in touch with the team for a specific common house room.

Here are the lists as of October 2010 and who is on them:

bathrooms: Sophie, Ellen
fitness: Sophie, Ellen, Ed, John B., John R., Mariama, Sandy
great-room: Beezy, Sophie, Cat, Mary (2014)
hallways-downstairs: Rich
hallways-upstairs: Sophie, Dave, Ellen, Mary, Noel
hobby-rooms: Sophie, Diana
kids-room: Ellen, Karen, Rich
kitchen: Cat, Noel, Jesse, Dot, Pat (2014)
living-room: Sophie, Dave, Ellen, Noel, Perley
laundry-room: Sophie, Cat, San, Sarah (2014)
multipurpose-room: Sophie, Dave, Bob
music-room: Sophie, Kim, Dave, John R., Karen, Ken, Sandy


People who want to volunteer to take on projects to make permanent or hard-to-remove changes in common spaces, such as drilling holes or mounting shelves, should:

(a) consult with the Common Resources Team and the room team for that space (if one exists), to make sure that project is consistent with plans for that space

(b) present a plan for funding

(c) post a drawing or other visual aid for the project in the space and send a note about it to the list. Give the community a week to react, then either post a revised proposal or proceed.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:59

Indoors: Fitness

Indoors: Fitness

The fitness team is John B, Sophie, Sandy, Ed, Mariama, John R

Mandate:
Fitness Team Mandate:

1) Create a Fitness Room that is both useful and pleasant.
2) Acquire and maintain equipment and fitness room, including reviewing and approving offered equipment
3) Encourage use of equipment
4) Work with the Common Resources team for budgeting and finances
5) Make recommendations to plenary regarding usage restrictions, training, and safety.
6) Make recommendations to plenary regarding structural and other major changes to the space.

catya Mon, 07/02/2012 - 07:06

Indoors: Laundry

Indoors: Laundry

Team: Jonathan (Coordinator), San, Sarah, Sophie, Catya
Email: laundry-room@mosaic-commons.org

Mandate for the Laundry Room Team

1. The common house Laundry Room Team is a standing team responsible for equipping the laundry room, organizing it, and keeping it stocked. The team is responsible for setting policy on care of the machines and the space, and making sure that maintenance and repairs are taken care of.

2. Members are chosen by self-selection.

3. Team decisions are made by agreement/lack of dissent, typically over email. Repair decisions are made within the team and then approved by BNG. Purchase decisions are made within the team and then approved by Common Resources.

4. This team does not currently have an annual budget.

5. Reports to the plenary are issued as needed, including machine status and reminder of the rules.

6. The Laundry Room Team works with the teams named above, plus the Hobby Room Team and hosts about guest linens and Great Room and Meals Teams about meal-related laundry.

7. The Laundry Room Team can make decisions at power level 4 (may decide on its own) about policies for the room and supplies to be provided, and works with BNG and Common Resources at a joint level 4 about machine repairs and purchases.

(Power Levels: http://wiki.mosaic-commons.org/Facilitation/PowerLevels)

8. Community members can email the team at laundry@mosaic-commons.org.

Appendix:

Note re budget:
Detergent, bleach, vinegar and other supplies are covered through the Common House Supplies line, repairs through the Maintenance line, and purchases through Cohousing Reserves.

Other team documents:
2016 Laundry Room Guidelines: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BKXreNeRPxlDijdfI1hTq9GXpm8gSb5vfr9…

catya Tue, 03/20/2018 - 14:48

Meals & Kitchen

Meals & Kitchen

Ross (coordinator)
Cat (informal point person for kitchen), Noel, San, Sandy, Liz, Pat, Perley, Judy
email the team

  1. The Meals & Kitchen team is a standing team responsible for:

    1. Scheduling meals

    2. Scheduling people to do the work of meals and meal clean-up, and addressing the needs of cooks and clean-up people.

    3. Determining charges for meals and reimbursement rates for cooks

    4. Meals accounting, including tracking & billing

    5. Setting standards for meals

    6. Maintaining our ServSafe certification

    7. Ensuring that people who do the work of meals and meal clean-up are trained to follow ServSafe guidelines.

    8. Equipping the kitchen (including place settings) through purchases and acceptance of donations of items

    9. Organizing the kitchen, including the Kitchen Overflow closet

    10. Keeping the kitchen (pantry) stocked

    11. Coordinating work in the Kitchen on work weekends

    12. Set policy & educate the community about dishes between meals

  1. Members are chosen by self-selection and self-identify.  The team email list includes both active team members and other people who do the work of meals.  Kitchen & pantry responsibilities are handled by a subset of the team.

  2. Team decisions are made by agreement/lack of dissent, over email or at meetings.  Only active members participate in decision-making.

  1. This team separately manages meals accounting and an annual budget from cohousing funds for the Kitchen.

    1. Money for and from meals is in an account separate from cohousing funds.  These funds also cover food stocks and other consumables in the kitchen.

    2. The annual cohousing budget covers new equipment, replacement equipment (including place settings), knife sharpening, and any fees associated with the ServSafe requirements.  

    3. Large appliance replacements are funded through the capital reserves, but will be driven by this team.  Repairs are funded through the maintenance line, and will also be driven by this team.

  1. Meals schedules are published regularly. Statistics on meal attendance, how well meal charges line up with meal costs, etc., are sent to the plenary periodically. Reports to the plenary will be issued when new equipment is acquired or ServSafe conditions change.  

  1. When notified before scheduling deadlines, the Meals & Kitchen team will help other teams and individuals by scheduling support for food prep and clean-up at community events.

  1. The Meals & Kitchen team can make decisions at power level 4 (may decide on its own) about:

    1. Meal scheduling

    2. Meals finances

    3. Kitchen budget spend

    4. Accepting kitchen items as donations

    5. Kitchen & overflow organization.

    6. How the kitchen is used at mealtimes

    7. How the kitchen is used between meals, including dishes, leftovers, and events

    8. Issues pertaining to ServSafe

    It may make decisions at power level 3 (may post a tentative decision) about setting standards for meals.
    (Power Levels: http://wiki.mosaic-commons.org/Facilitation/PowerLevels)

  2. Community members can email the team at meals@mosaic-commons.org.
    Donations of kitchen items should be made through communication with this team and not by leaving items in the kitchen.  
    If the kitchen is out of an item that is usually stocked, email pantry@mosaic-commons.org

APPENDIX

We invite anyone who has opinions about how meals are scheduled or billed to be on the Meals email list. It is helpful to have active members who can respond quickly to a needed change and are active on email.

Members are encouraged to participate in meals scheduling times, which happen every two months.  Meals schedules are published via email and a Google calendar.

This team does not meet regularly.   Most discussion and decisions happen on email.

The Meals & Kitchen team can make decisions via email by presenting an idea to the meals email list, waiting at least a week to see if there are any blocks, and responding to discussion by adjusting the proposal.

For changes to our standard practices the team will either have an online discussion or an in-person meeting with the topic announced, followed by a proposal sent to the email list. If there are no blocks in 72 hours after the proposal is sent, the proposal is approved and sent to the community for information.

For items that change significant details of meals we will try to give the community 30 days notice of changes.

Active members of the team are people who come to meals scheduling, come to meals meetings, and/or participate on email. People who do not respond in the set email times are presumed to be inactive for that item, or to be consenting to the decisions.

Any Meals & Kitchen team member may, shortly after a decision is made, request more discussion if they have some reason they could not participate in the decision when it was active.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:31

Member Integration

Member Integration

Members: Mariama, Annamarie, Scott, Judy (mentorship), Cat (Tech/Website only)
Email: integration@mosaic-commons.org

Mandate

  1. The Member Integration Team is a standing team responsible for:

    • providing residents with key information such as policies; agreements; where to find things both electronically and physically; and whom to ask for help
    • coordinating mentorship
    • bringing associate household invitation decisions to the plenary, and follow through on the plenary's decisions
    • new member orientation (for both adults and children)
    • social events
  2. Members are chosen by self-selection and include individuals with ownership of specific tasks.
  3. The team will let the group know how it makes decisions and the timeframes to expect.
  4. This team has an annual budget to be determined in 2012 budget planning, to be used for printing welcome kits and holding events. In 2011 the annual budget for social events was $240.
  5. Reports will be issued quarterly (or more often if warranted) of scheduled events, new materials available, introductions of new members, and budget status.
  6. The Member Integration Team will work with the Tech/Website team to ensure member integration content is available on the website and that new people have access to the website, email lists, and calendaring.
  7. The Member Integration Team can make independent decisions about all areas it is responsible for, as per #1 & #3 above.
  8. The Member Integration Team is required to get approval from the plenary for budget and changing the scope of its responsibilities.
  9. The Member Integration Team will accept input from people not on the team by email, and personal contact. The Member Integration Team can establish dates by which input into decisions are closed.
admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:25

Neighboring Fund

Neighboring Fund

Ross, Judy, Sandy

Mandate for the Neighboring Fund

1. The Neighboring Fund team is a standing team responsible for

A - Soliciting money for a Neighboring Fund as needed.
- Notifying the community about how to apply for funds.
- Reserving the right to offer funds without an application.
- Receiving requests and managing the distribution of the funds.

B. The Neighboring Fund will be used to support members of Mosaic in paying for meals, hobby room stays and other community activities as deemed relevant by this team.

C. The collection of the Neighboring Fund will be included in the Meals accounting. Distributing funds to other programs, once the distribution is decided, will be arranged between the bookkeepers.

D. There will be no public notice of who receives funds, although the amount of money distributed will be made public.

E. Distribution of money will be decided by the team and given as grants to recipients. The team will be given discretion about whether more than one grant can be offered in any given year.

2. There will be three or four members who will administrate the fund. At least one will be a bookkeeper and at least one will be an at large member of the community. Team members will be chosen by the Team, with announcement of membership or changes in it to be announced to Plenary.

3. Team decisions are made by consensus of the team. Most work of the team will be done by email.

4. Monies for this fund will be collected by free will donation. No additional funds will be used from the budget.

5. They will communicate with the community by email and/or by announcement at General Meeting. There will be a yearly statement of funds collected and distributed.

6. The team will work in conjunction with the bookkeepers from meals and the community.

7. The team will make independent decisions on who receives funds, timing of solicitations for funds and application forms (if relevant).

catya Mon, 08/17/2015 - 11:38

New Building / Workshop Team

New Building / Workshop Team

New Building / Workshop Team Mandate

The workshop ad-hoc team will be managing the process leading to a new workshop building. It's job will be to organize information and feedback from the community, present proposals for decision, and manage execution of those decisions. Approval of this mandate does not automatically assume construction of the building is approved, this mandate is merely documenting how to proceed in the design and speccing off the building.

Selection

Team membership will be via self-selection. Whomever wishes to be on the team may join.

Notes

This team is being established to monitor, manage, and execute a long term complex project. Because of this, several processes must be laid out explicitly.

Due to the length and complexity of the project, it’s been suggested that this team be considered a ‘standing team’, with it’s own mailing list and team members. The minimum number of members on the team will be 3. The name is to be decided.

At various points in this process, decisions will be brought to the plenary for approval before continuing. The team will need in essence 2 power levels. One to bring choices to the plenary for decision, and another to execute on those decisions (this may be implicit in the plenary decision process.)

Membership

Following people have requested to be on the team.
* Ken Porter
* Rich Smith
* John Barrett
* Rich Kramer
* Dave Shevett
* Ben?

Decision process

Team decisions are made primarily via discussion in email. Due to the possibility of people missing meetings, if decisions are discussed during in-person meetings, the decision must be posted to the list for consensus by the rest of the team before being considered accepted, unless the entire team is present at the meeting, or has given a proxy.

When a decision is requested, the requestor will post to the list with the subject line “CONSENSUS:” with a summary in the subject, and then detail within the body of the message. The team may reply “green” to move the process quickly (if the entire team replies, the decision is accepted immediately). If a team member does not reply to the CONSENSUS posting within 96 hours, it’s taken as an accepted request.

For discussion of upcoming requests or decisions, a requestor should open the discussion on the list and allow members to chime in before pushing a CONSENSUS: message out. This allows the CONSENSUS: header to be used discreetly, and those filtering mail based on that header will not necessarily be bombarded with messages.

Before the plenary is presented with information, or before a Decision is brought for consensus, all the team members will, beforehand, agree that the decision and information being presented represents the team's consensus position.

Steps

During each stage of the process, the workshop team will present state of the project information to the community via mailings and updates given at the GM's. In addition, details on the team progress will be posted regularly on a centrally available medium (such as a wiki page or google doc) which the entire community will be able to read / review at any time.

Power Level
Because the team will be checking back in for approval to proceed on each step, the team is requesting Power Level 2 - bringing proposals to the plenary. After consensus is achieved, this team is responsible for executing on the decision (unless otherwise indicated in the proposal).

Phase 1 - Requirements and scope

This phase is purely information gathering and presentation. The team will hold several discussion circles, as well as gather personal input via mailing lists and private conversations to establish the scope and use case
for the building, ranging from "absolute requirements" up to "if I had a million dollars". This will include special purposes (must have a wood shop, etc) and extending to infrastructure requirements (must have heat,
must have running water, etc). Also included will be at least one open discussion during a GM.

The team will translate that feedback into a useful design document describing what the workshop's minimum requirements will be, what its purpose will be, what its capabilities will be, and what it will be used for. This document may also include ‘stretch goals’ for wish list items and approximations regarding priority, or those may be handled separately.

Decision: The plenary will be asked to approve that this document represents the community’s position on the scope of the workshop building, and approve moving to Phase 2.

Phase 2 - Design document with cost analysis

This phase will be the team taking the requirements document from Phase 1 and doing a rough cost analysis. There will be several levels presented, from the minimal needs up through all reasonable items on the wish list. This cost analysis will be relatively informal (ie, with ‘best guesses’ on professional costs, engineering costs, etc), and will be subject to revision once design is settled.

In addition, the team will work with trustees and other members of the community to present several possible financing models. Because acceptance of the design will heavily depend on cost impact, it’s important to have ‘real world’ financing details laid out.

Decision: The plenary will select which design and scope to use, and select a financing model.

Interlude...

At this point the ad-hoc team will be re-evaluated, and further mandate for architectural design, hiring contractors, and actual building the building will be determined."

catya Mon, 09/22/2014 - 10:32

Outdoors: Chickens

Outdoors: Chickens

Cat B, Beth, Buzz, Diana, Dwight, Ellen, Karen, Ken, Kim, San, Sandy, Scott, Sophie, Cat H.

chickens at mosaic commons dot org

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:18

Outdoors: Fruit Team

Outdoors: Fruit Team

1. The Fruit Team cares for the trees and plants it chooses to plant.

2. Anyone can join the Fruit Team by emailing fruit-team at mosaic-commons.org and asking geekery to add you to the mailing list. This is a work heavy team--we are looking for people interested in finding out how to take care of fruit team related plants and then to do the work.

3. Team decisions will be made by asking who wants to be in on the decision, and then settling matters by email or in in-person meetings for discussion and decision. Decisions will then be reported to the Fruit Team email list. We may develop strategies for quick decisions if necessary.

4. The Fruit Team has an annual budget, determined as part of the Mosaic Commons Cohousing budget process. The Fruit team may transfer money from its budget to that of the Landscaping team or Garden team, if members of both teams agree to the transfer.

5. The team will report to the plenary about when there are significant changes to the work of the team. It will also report when it needs help with fruit team work, or when fruit is available for harvesting, and how the fruit will be distributed.

6. The Fruit Team works closely with dirt (landscaping and garden) around budget, buying supplies, hiring outside help, using tools, etc.

7. The Fruit Team has power level 2 (asking the plenary, and Sawyer Hill Trustees if necessary, for approval) in determining the location of the orchard, the broad category of plants (for example, apples vs. blueberries), and any changes to the on-going landscaping of the community. We have power level 4 (make our own decisions) with regard to determining the varieties of fruits, planting other supportive plants, for all issues around managing the orchard, and to spend our allocated budget.

8. The Fruit Team will follow the pesticide and herbicide policies in the declaration of trust.

catya Wed, 12/18/2013 - 12:05

Outdoors: Garden

Outdoors: Garden

Members:

1. The Garden team is a standing team responsible for the community vegetable and herb gardens. This team is under the "Dirt" umbrella along with the Landscaping Team and Fruit Team and coordinates with those teams around land-use at Mosaic Commons.

Garden Tasks:
* Plan and maintain the vegetable and herb gardens
* Set best practices and rules for the vegetable and herb gardens, post them for reference, and be available to teach people about them
** Per the HOA Declaration of Trust, the gardens are managed with "biorational" methods; specifics are determined by the Garden Team
* Allocate community-tended plots and household-tended plots in the vegetable garden
* Elicit input from the community about what to plant in the vegetable and herb gardens
* Let the community know when, where, and how to harvest vegetables and herbs
* Provide soil amendments for the garden
* Manage the compost piles, determining what goes in them, and when they are ready for use
** Coordinate with the Landscaping Team about the yard-waste compost piles
* Determine where garden tools should be kept, in conjunction with the Landscaping Team
* Develop long-term plans for land-use, in conjunction with other Dirt Teams and the community as a whole

2. Members are chosen by self-selection and are re-affirmed yearly.

3. Team decisions are made by consensus or by another method consensed on within the team.

4. The Garden Team has an annual budget, determined as part of the MC budget process. The Garden team may transfer money between its budget and that of the Landscaping team or Fruit team, if members of both teams agree to the transfer.

5. The team will issue reports to the plenary at least twice a year about the tasks and projects which were accomplished over the past 6 months and about upcoming plans.

6. The Garden team works in conjunction with other teams:
* the Landscaping Team and Fruit Team re tools and equipment, land use, and other shared areas of interest.
* the Chicken Club, to coordinate use of space around the chicken coop and strategies for handling and use of chicken manure.

7. Power Levels
* The Garden Team has Power level 3 (may post a tentative decision) for:
** making significant changes to the community vegetable garden
* The team can make independent decisions (Power level 4) about:
** spending money up to the limit of the team's annual budget;
** all other team-related tasks.

8. The Garden team accepts input from people not on the team by email, personal contact, filling out posted surveys, etc. The team can establish a deadline for input on an issue.

9. Any community member can be on the Garden email list, but only those self-declared Garden members can participate in team decisions.

catya Thu, 03/12/2015 - 08:44

Outdoors: Hot Tub

Outdoors: Hot Tub

Members: Cat, Ross, Mary
Email: hottub@mosaic-commons.org

Hot tub rules ... Hot Tub Weekly Checklist
  1. The Hot Tub team is a standing team responsible for the care and feeding of the hot tub:
    1. Setting & publicizing the rules for use of the hot tub
    2. Accepting donations for usage from guests on behalf of the cohousing organization
    3. Stocking appropriate hot tub chemicals & enzymes
    4. Chemical and enzyme treatment of the water
    5. Draining and refilling the tub as needed
    6. Handling repairs as needed
    7. Maintaining the hot tub shed.
  2. Members are chosen by self-selection.
  3. Team decisions are made by consensus of the team.
  4. This team has an annual budget for electricity, chemicals, and maintenance.  Funding for hot tub replacement is handled through capital reserves.  
  5. Reports to the plenary will be issued as needed.
  6. The hot tub team will work in conjunction with the dirt team on the enclosure /grounds around the tub.
  7. The hot tub team has the following power levels:
    1. Setting the rules: Power Level 3: May post a tentative decision which will become a group agreement if no one objects within a specified amount of time; the proposal need not come to plenary if concerns can be addressed outside.
    2. Publicizing the rules, choosing water treatments, handling repairs: Power Level 4: May make binding decisions on their own; they only have to announce the decision.
  8. The hot tub team will accept input from people not on the team & reports of problems with the tub via email to hottub@mosaic-commons.org
catya Mon, 09/17/2012 - 08:24

Outdoors: Landscaping

Outdoors: Landscaping

Beezy, San, Cat H, Mariama, Judy, Sophie
Email the team

1. The Landscaping Team is a standing team responsible for common landscaping. This team is under the "Dirt" umbrella along with the Garden Team and Fruit Team and coordinates with those teams around land-use at Mosaic Commons.

Landscaping Tasks:
* Develop long-term plans for land-use, in conjunction with other Dirt Teams and the community as a whole.
* Maintain plantings in all common landscaping areas, with community help.
** Per the HOA Declaration of Trust, all plantings are managed with "biorational" methods; specifics are determined by the Landscaping Team
* Organize programs for community members to help with ongoing, regular care of plantings, such as "adopt-a-tree."
* Manage grass and meadow areas
* Determine which areas will be mowed, in conjunction with the Mowing Team (which does the mowing).
* Tools and Equipment:
** Determine where all tools and equipment for landscaping, gardening, and mowing are kept.
** Care for the tools and equipment, with the help of BnG.
** Acquire new tools and equipment, in consultation with other Dirt teams
* Purchase mulch and loam in bulk, for use on both common and household landscaping.

Areas covered by the Landscaping Team:
* All of Mosaic property except front, side or back yards planted by homeowners.

Areas NOT under the Landscaping Team's purview:
* Plantings made by individual residents in common landscaping areas; responsibility for these rests with those who planted them.
* Areas that fall under Sawyer Hill control:
** Maintenance of stormwater control features such as detention ponds, the swale and berm, and the land around them.
** Upkeep of the conservation land.
* General pest control, such as beetles in household gardens, mosquitoes, or wasps.

The Landscaping Team will create and maintain a map that shows which land areas and plantings are covered by the team and which are not.

2. Members are chosen by self-selection and are re-affirmed yearly.

3. Team decisions are made by consensus or by another method consensed on within the team.

4. The Landscaping team has an annual budget, determined as part of the MC budget process. The Landscaping team may transfer money between its budget and that of the Garden team or Fruit team, if members of both teams agree to the transfer.

5. The team will issue reports to the plenary at least twice a year about the tasks and projects which were accomplished over the past 6 months and about upcoming plans.

6. The Landscaping team works in conjunction with other teams:
* the Garden Team and Fruit Team re land use, tools and equipment, and other shared areas of interest.
* the Mowing Team about which areas to mow .
* Sawyer Hill Trustees re any planting that the Team undertakes on Sawyer Hill property:
** Such planting must be approved of by the SH Trustees.
** Maintenance of that planting needs to be mutually agreed upon, so the responsibilities are clear.

7. Power Levels

* The Landscaping Team has Power level 3 (may post a tentative decision) for:
** making a significant variation from the land-use plan;
** deciding which field areas should be lawn grass and which should be meadow or other plantings.
** For these decisions, the team will post proposed changes for community input for a minimum of two weeks.

* The team will consult with nearby unit owners for new plantings that are within 50' of the building and are not part of the land-use plan.

* The team can make independent decisions (Power level 4) about:
** changing or adapting existing community landscaping areas;
** carrying out the community land-use plan;
** spending money up to the limit of the team's annual budget;
** all other team-related tasks.

* Community members must get permission from Landscaping to:
** Place new plantings in common landscaping areas (as defined by the map referenced in #1);
*** Maintenance of such plantings need to be mutually agreed upon
** Add supplies, tools or equipment to Landscaping storage areas.

8. The Landscaping team accepts input from people not on the team by email, personal contact, filling out posted surveys, etc. The team can establish a deadline for input on an issue.

9. Any community member can be on the Landscaping email list, but only those self-declared Landscaping members can participate in team decisions.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 16:28

Snow Team

Snow Team

The Snow Team has been formed to help the community keep the pathways and parking lots clearer and safer. The snow team will ensure that the pathway across the field to the septic meter, which is read daily by a third party, is maintained, and will handle the maintenance of any community snow blowers.The snow team will also creatively troubleshoot if new issues related to snow and ice arise, and help communicate issues to Sawyer Hill Liaison to the Plowing Contractor.

What kind of team we are: Standing (seasonal)
How members are chosen: Self-selection &/or invitation
How team decisions are made: Consensus
Where we get our funding and what it covers: Normal yearly budget process.
Budget for routine maintenance and replacement of non-powered snow equipment (shovels, Ice scrapers and extended car scrapers, oil and gas for the snowblower ) from co-housing budget. Snowblower major repairs and replacement to come from HOA Maintenance Budget.
To whom we report, when, and how: Plenary via email and/or General Meeting
We work in conjunction with: Sawyer Hill Trustees.
Power Level: Power level 4 for policy decisions like creating the exact framework for volunteers to take ownership of a certain run of path, budgeting and actual work we do on a snowy day or week.
How people can reach us or give us feedback and input: By email, please, so we have a record of it.

catya Mon, 09/26/2016 - 09:58

Steering

Steering

2017: Victoria Gaisford, Scott Hawkins
2018: Mariama Congo, Perley Mears
2019: Catriona Hughes, Ed Gault

  1. Steering is a standing team responsible for coordinating, evaluating, and organizing the ongoing work of Mosaic Commons, as directed by the plenary. This team helps to guide the group, but does not make decisions for the group. This work is broken into several areas:

    1. General Meeting Agenda

      • Collect possible agenda items
      • Publish the list of upcoming agenda items and open issues.
      • Add items to that list as needed
      • Manage sunset policy reviews
      • Act as the gatekeeper for plenary-worthiness based on the guidelines in http://www.mosaic-commons.org/gatekeeping
      • Submit prioritized agenda items to Facilitation
    2. Emergencies & Decisions between meetings
    3. Action Items, Issues, and Decision Tracking
      • Find an owner for orphaned issues, or manage them directly.
      • Track action items & reminders, and monitor tasks that might be falling through the cracks.
      • Bring new issues/concerns/tasks to the attention of the appropriate team or individual
      • Track the implementation of decisions, and own the decision log
    4. Ensure that community policies are followed
      • Be aware of current policies and notice if policies are being followed.
      • Act as a contact point for people who notice that a policy is not being followed
      • Address issues with people not following the policies
        1. Bring the policy to the person’s attention
        2. Involve Community Support if needed
        3. Bring the matter to the attention of the plenary if needed
      • Bring to the attention of the plenary policies that are regularly disregarded.
    5. Teams
      • Encourage people to join teams that need more help
      • Help teams when asked, nudge them when necessary
      • Drive the process of team mandate creation
      • Ensure teams are reporting as mandated
      • Help to manage cross-team functions.
    6. Schedule and coordinate work weekends
  2. There will be 4-6 members chosen by approval of the plenary, who serve for 3 year staggered terms. Participation on this team will involve a significant commitment of time and energy. If there are more people nominated who agree to serve than there are spaces available on the team, we will use ranked voting. When replacing members of the Steering Team, the Team will inform the community of needs that should be considered in the ranked voting process
  3. Team decisions are made by the consensus of the team. (See #7)
  4. This team may have an annual budget as decided by the plenary.
  5. Reports to the plenary will be issued monthly by email and posted to the website, and will include upcoming agenda items and overviews of other work the team is doing. Team minutes will also be available on the Wiki.
  6. The Steering team will work in conjunction with:
    • Facilitation to create meeting agendas.
    • Action item recorders to ensure decisions and action items are recorded appropriately.
    • Tech/website to post policies and decisions.
    • Other teams as needed to help them get their work done.

  7. Steering is required to get approval from the plenary for its membership and changes to its mandate (power level 2). Steering can make independent decisions about all items in this mandate and changes to how the team makes decisions and does work (power level 4),
    unless otherwise noted.
  8. The Steering team will accept input from people not on the team by email to steering@mosaic-commons.org Members who have concerns about how the Steering team is working should work with CS if they are not comfortable approaching Steering directly.
catya Sun, 04/15/2012 - 20:19

Tech / Website

Tech / Website

Members: Tim, Dave, Dwight, Cat, Ellen, Noel, Perley
(email team)

Mandate:

The Tech/Website team manages the Mosaic Commons website and Common House computing resources. These include but are not limited to:

* mailing lists
* www.mosaic-commons.org and sawyerhill.org and related websites (board.sawyerhill.org, trustees.sawyerhill.org, wiki, etc.)
* common house wifi
* intro database for sales contacts
* decision log database and website
* Google calendars for Mosaic events and common house reservations

Decisions about content are often guided by Marketing, Finance and other teams.

Team Resources

Tech/Website is allocated a line item in the Mosaic Commons Cohousing Group 2010 budget. While this does not meet our full expenses, we will continue making up the shortfall with donations through 2010, and will submit a revised budget for the 2011 budgeting cycle.
Team Decisions

The Tech/Website team has authority to make any and all technical decisions necessary to keep Mosaic-related systems running securely and reliably. These decisions may include network access, hardware provisioning, and choosing and configuring software packages.

Members of the team have autonomy to make decisions, on their own if necessary, to resolve emergency incidents. These may include but are not limited to security issues, software vulnerabilities, network and power outages, or hardware failures. When an incident has been resolved and no longer presents an immediate emergency, the team will report back to the group and will address whether a long-term change is needed.

The team does not have authority over individual households, including Internet access choices or technical support.

The team does not have the authority to make decisions that affect the way community members communicate with one another, including choosing or changing mailing list systems or website services. An emergency incident may, however, override these concerns (requiring, e.g., moderating a mailing list in the event of spam, taking list archives offline temporarily, disabling access to some systems in the event of a security advisory). The team will report on such emergency incidents as described above.

admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:58

Trustees

Trustees

Mosaic Commons Condominium Trust is managed primarily by a board of six trustees, who are elected via consensus at an annual meeting every fall, and serve three year terms.

Team Membership: see HOA / Condo Docs

Mosaic Commons and Camelot Cohousing (our sister neighborhood) together form Sawyer Hill, which is represented by Sawyer Hill Condominium Trust. This board also consists of six trustees, three from each of the two neighborhoods. The Sawyer Hill Trustees serve 1 year terms and are elected via a consensus process within each neighborhood association.

Mandate

  • 1. The Mosaic Commons Trustees team is a standing team responsible for the governance of the Mosaic Commons HOA, in accordance with the MC condominium documents, and for the management of certain matters for the Mosaic Commons Cohousing group, as directed by the Cohousing plenary. This work is broken into several areas, all of which apply to the HOA and Cohousing group unless otherwise noted:

    • Finance

      • Run the annual budget processes
      • Manage, and have signatory authority on, all bank accounts
      • Interact with banks on finance and mortgage issues
      • Oversee the Bookkeeper
      • Collect dues
      • Pay bills and handle reimbursements
      • Propose and apply fiscal policies (e.g. Sliding Scale; Rollover budget) [http://www.mosaic-commons.org/fiscal_policies]
      • Manage Reserves
    • Legal matters for the HOA
      • Negotiate and sign contracts on behalf of the HOA
      • Engage lawyer(s) as and when needed
      • Handle lawsuits
      • File and maintain copies of legal documents
      • Handle items required by MC Master Deed and Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions
    • HOA annual meeting
      • Set date and agenda items (power level 3)
      • Keep minutes
    • Buildings
      • Manage use of common facilities (e.g. renting of Common House)
      • Track rentals of other HOA-owned spaces
      • Approve exterior changes and structural interior changes to buildings, as well as any new structures
        • Note: the condo docs and cohousing policies require neighbor approval for some changes
      • Track legally-required and licensed preventive maintenance tasks (e.g. grease traps; sprinkler testing)
        • Note: other maintenance tasks are coordinated by BnG (Buildings and Grounds team)
    • Relations
      • Be the default first point of inbound contact for the outside world (e.g. fire chief)
      • Handle political relations/negotiations, in conjunction with Steering
      • Handle public relations, in conjunction with Steering
      • Interface with Camelot and the Sawyer Hill HOA
      • Track room usage covered by the Guest Reservation Policy in conjunction with the Concierge.
      • Emergency powers as defined by the plenary.
  • 2. (per the condo docs) There are 6 Mosaic Commons Trustees, who serve staggered 3-year terms (starting/ending at HOA meetings). Trustees are chosen by approval of the Mosaic Commons HOA at the annual HOA meeting in the late Fall. Efforts must be made for 2 of the Trustees to be from 40B units.
    • Additional community members may participate on the team as Adjunct Trustees. Adjunct Trustees are chosen by the elected Trustees, and ratified by a decision of the cohousing group for one-year renewable terms. The team can decide internally how to work with such ad hoc members.
  • 3. Team decisions are made by consensus of the team, or in accordance with team-internal process for making decisions.
  • 4. This team has control over the entire MC HOA budget except the maintenance line-item, which is shared with BnG. It also manages some line-items in the Cohousing budget, including "misc.", reserves, and items not otherwise assigned to a specific team.
  • 5. Reports to the plenary are issued monthly by email and/or at General Meetings, and include an overview of the work the team is doing. Team minutes are also available on the Wiki. Separate minutes are kept for HOA items vs. Cohousing items.
  • 6. The MC Trustees work in conjunction with Sawyer Hill Trustees on HOA issues that affect both Mosaic Commons and Camelot, with BnG on maintenance-related issues, and with the Steering Team on public and political relations.
  • 7. The MC Trustees team is required to get approval from the plenary for major changes to fiscal policies and changes to its mandate (power level 2). In all other areas listed in section 1, the MC Trustees can make independent decisions (power level 4) unless otherwise noted. If, in the Trustees judgement, a decision will greatly impact the community (such as approving a significant external change to a building), the decision will be brought the plenary.
  • 8. The MC Trustees accepts input from people not on the team by email to trustees@mosaic-commons.org and by personal contact. The team will keep the community informed about how quickly to expect a response. This process is defined in the Trustees "Process for MC Trustees Proposals and Decision-making" which is available on the wiki.
admin Thu, 03/08/2012 - 15:57