Submitted by Richard Harrison, on behalf of the Board
Hello fellow Co-oppers,
I’m writing to catch up on the week since the Board meeting, and give you a couple of pieces of information regarding Saturday’s General Meeting as well. The majority of that meeting will be taken up with discussion of Planning and Development’s presentation, as it should be, so I’ll be brief.
Celebrating the Past: the Co-op Birthday
The recent past first: Congratulations and thanks to the Social Committee for setting up one of the most fun and memorable Co-op Birthdays in the 42-year history of our great experiment in team living. I’ve known Dan the One Man Band a long time, and I’ve rarely seen him in such fine form, chasing the laughing children in the way that only someone of whom one child could ask “Are you Santa?” can do and make them laugh even more. And of course, playing the oldies for the audience who love to smile at what we remember. Then: Hire Heels YYC, a Calgary Drag Queen trio, delightful, witty and risqué in a way that only the most clever and sensitive are with grown-up humour when they have a family audience. And no one’s going to forget this improvised number from Sunnyhill’s own (co-op member-built) playground: https://www.facebook.com/HireHeelsYYC/videos/306459357102090.
Looking to the Future: General Meeting Focused on Planning and Development
The upcoming meeting will provide an update on the ongoing work of our Planning and Development Committee. In the past month or so, a lot has happened: the open sessions on MODA’s drawings for the proposed development as reported by the Communications Committee in their mid-August newsletter, negotiations with the city for purchase of our land, developments in our grant proposals. And a lot is still ongoing. This will be a good meeting to bring us all up to date, and to lay the groundwork for the decisions we will need to make in the coming months. I look forward to hearing from our Committee.
Bringing the Past into the Present 1: The Motion about the Dryer Vents
There is one other item on the agenda for this meeting. At the last Board meeting, Buildings presented us with a recommendation for work to be done based on our furnace and ductwork contractor’s assessment of our single-bedroom units. These are currently venting dryer air into the crawl space beneath them. This arrangement is not in compliance with the current buildings code, which to vent dryer air and lint out through the wall (the way it is with our two- and three-bedroom units). However, it is not compulsory that we change it to fit those codes, although rerouting the vents would be that much safer in terms of fire hazard, and less likely to lead to a build-up of mould.
Now it’s true that this situation has been in place since the Co-op was built, so it will be up to us as a whole, since the expenditure is as stated in the motion, to assess the situation, and decide if we want to go ahead or not.
Bringing the Past into the Present 2: Answers to the Questions about the TELUS Fibre Optic Plan.
Last meeting left us with several questions regarding TELUS’s proposal to update our internet access by replacing the current system with a fibre optic one. The result will be more efficient and reliable internet. Here are the questions we were left with in our deliberations, the answers we have today. Let me quote from Andrea’s summary of her discussion with TELUS:
Will it be more efficient?
Yes. There will be no issues with port capacity with the fibre upgrades.
Will it be more reliable?
yes
Is there a bulk usage bargain?
Yes, the SACHA agreement is a 40% discount on residential internet and TV services. All residents will benefit from the 40% discount with the fibre upgrades.
Could TELUS provide a Fiber optics community cable that would provide Wi-Fi access to Sunnyhill grounds as well as in the homes?
Yes, Ankit and team may look at the site and determine the best location to support this request.
I will attach the supporting documentation to this letter.
Bringing the Past into the Present 3: A Matter of Minutes
You’ll have noticed that there is no mention of the minutes question, which has been an ongoing discussion, in the agenda for this meeting. Partly, this is because of time-dependent considerations. Planning and Development is our first priority right now, and what the Committee will be talking about should get our attention in as full and complete a way as possible. Zoom meetings have many advantages, but being less tiring than in-person conversation isn’t one of them. So as much as possible, the Board will arrange meetings to be as efficient and focused as we can.
The other reason for moving the minutes discussion to our next meeting is because, as we have seen, it is a contentious one, so we are going to need some time to work it through. This week’s meeting is about coming together to make decisions to move forward as a coop as a whole. The minutes discussion is, in part, about moving on one of the recommendations from our June 7 meeting to repair past damages to our functioning as a group. These are two very different tasks, requiring different mindsets; for now, the first cannot wait, the second can.
So I need to ask for your patience while the Board prepares a presentation on this matter – including all the minutes that require the community’s approval – at the next General Meeting. And we can return to that discussion at that time.
Thanks,
See you Saturday,
for the Board, Richard Harrison, Chair