Submitted by Yvonne Sabraw on behalf of the Grounds Committee
Grounds continues to meet monthly through the winter by Zoom. Our next one is Monday February 22nd, 6:00-7:30 and any member is welcome to check it out. Just contact us for the Zoom link.
A few Highlights from what has been on our agenda:
Pest Management: We would still like to have a co-op member step forward as the official Pest Management coordinator, but in the meantime we are managing a few mouse infestation situations. Please be aware that there are mouse traps kept in the white cupboard in the co-op shed for members to use as needed.
Garbage enclosures: We have had a member complaint about items being left inside and outside our garbage enclosures. There is also a lot of grumbling about garbage bins being filled with items like furniture that are not supposed to be disposed of in that way and non-recyclables being put into the recycling bins. These are perennial concerns, and have been brought to members' attention in the past without our co-op coming to any enduring solution.The Spring dumpster foe large items appears to only be partially effective in dealing with the problem. We have done some brainstorming about how to manage the issues, but we would like this to be a discussion for the Co-op generally, and then determine if there are practices, policies or procedures that we should put in place. Once we have prepared a bit more we will bring this to a general meeting. In the meantime, please refrain from leaving things at things at the garbage enclosures!
New Member Welcome from Grounds: We have put together a Welcome letter to be given to new members at move-in, highlighting some of the grounds-related information that is not necessarily in policies and procedures, or that is but which we felt should be underlined. Our Board liaison suggested that it might be good for all members to see this letter as there may be things of which even longer-term members are not aware. You can read it here, in the SHC Newsletter, and we will distribute a hard copy to members in the Spring.
Gardening Club: The mandate of the Grounds committee is quite extensive, from vetting and managing snow removal and grass cutting contracts to organizing the Spring dumpster to overseeing pest management, to looking at permaculture projects and on and on. The basic care of our Grounds, however, is something that is shared by all members, and frequently when people move into a co-op they see the maintenance of the common areas as an obvious area that the community would be working on together. Co-op Clean-up days are an example of individual members helping to care for our common spaces, but they are limited to specific days. There are many ongoing smaller projects through the summer that need to be undertaken, such as weeding flower beds, watering our Spruce trees, keeping playground gravel within the playground. We are looking at having a repository for the list of these projects and matching them with members who have said they don't necessarily want to be on the Grounds committee (and dealing with contracts and policy, etc.) but would like to be involved in the co-op in this practical way. Please send us an email if this speaks to you, and you would like us to keep you in the loop as we plan what this might look like.