10/5/09 Meeting Minutes

Ciao Chums,

Meeting minutes from Monday are below, including important action items. As a general rule of thumb, even if you are unable to attend meetings, please feel free to engage in ways that you can. We appreciate all & any help!

1. 2 new members were at the meeting: Amanda Shirazi & Sarah Eisenstein... woohoo!

2. We gave them a brief overview of our efforts so far, explained the committees, and our current initiatives.

3. Amanda will contact the Green Business Club to find out when their meetings are, and potentially go to one to do outreach--especially for finance/business savvy people.

4. Amanda will bring us information on a "civic engagement" grant the Sociology Dept is sponsoring. It's due 10/30. We might be able to apply for it. More information on the details of the grant at the next meeting.

5. We need to be in contact with a lawyer ASAP, so that the many legal questions that we raise can be answered rather than just float around in the air. Natalia or Deirdre--will you look into information about the SGA lawyer?

6. We will have to expand our housing philosophy in the beginning, and most likely start by renting a few houses in the same neighborhood for many reasons. First, there are few viable houses in the price, size, and zoning range that we are after. Second, we have no established credit or money. In the case of renting, we will have to ensure that the landlord will allow us to rent as a Cooperative Incoporation, as opposed to individuals. This will help us establish good credit, and in turn, will later help us get the necessary loans to purchase a downpayment.

7. New ideas for finding a few houses in the same neighborhood include:
-Contacting seniors we know who live in College Park to find out the status of their house (will people be living in it next year?), the status of their landlord (cool or lame?), and the status of their neighbors (will we be able to throw parties?)
-Go to the City Council meetings and ask their advice about cool landlords who we could rent 2-3 houses from, within close proximity of one another. (The City Council knows all the landlords personally, so they'd be a good resource for this. They also meet once a week. Who knows when and where they meet????)
-Search on Craigslist
-Go to Off Campus Housing for more resources and advice

8. Dave will ask his landlord if we'd be able to rent his house as a Cooperative Incorporation

9. There are a number of specific properties that we're in the process of looking into or need to look into:
-Cash Reality: up for SALE... although we might be able to convince them to do a Rent-to-Own deal because they will have trouble selling it. there's a zoning problem, since it's zoned for business. We need to talk to a lawyer, because if we're technically a corporation, we might be able to rent as a "housing business". Their phone number is 301-345-2151
-College Perk: the new owner was not extremely receptive to renting to a group as opposed to individuals when Rachael talked to him. Dave met with him on Tuesday...more info to follow. There are a number of small houses behind the Perk that are part of the same property, owned by the same person. We might be able to rent all of those houses?
-College Park Motel: off Route 1 before Berwyn Road. Apparently many other student co-ops around the US have renovated old motels/hotels and turned them into Co-ops. Will someone (Natalia/Tanya) write or call the City and ask about this property?

10. We need a good MAP of the City of College Park!--Sarah agreed to find one for us... we will all reimburse her next week, so bring some small change.

11. New meeting structure: No more filling people in when they arrive late to the meeting. Instead, they can ask questions afterward, or just read the meeting minutes when they're sent out. It takes too much time and is inefficient to fill in late people. That said, PLEASE COME ON TIME IF YOU DO NOT HAVE OTHER ENGAGEMENTS!

12. Ways to help orient new people: Create a short written summary of how CHUM started, where we are now in the process, and our tentative timeline. Also, arrange one-on-one meetings to talk and fill people in. Direct to blog. Send informative websites.


The End.


ACTION ITEMS:
**AMANDA--1) report back with Green Business meeting time & place 2) bring information on Socy grant
**SARAH--1) bring city of CP map
**NATALIA--1) find out about SGA Lawyer 2) work with tanya to inquire about the College Park Motel property
**DEIRDRE--1) find out about SGA Lawyer... you or natalia
**TANYA--1) find out when & where weekly City Council meetings are (maybe just call) 2) work with natalia to inquire about the College Park Motel property
**DAVE--1) ask your landlord about renting as a co-op 2) bring report back from College Perk
**JOE--1) buy your ticket for NASCO 2) register online for the conference 3) ask the food co-op if they'll give a small donation 4) make party facebook event
**RACHAEL--1) begin drafting summary orientation for new member

****ALL--Reach out to your friends who are seniors living in houses in College Park...ask for the status of their house, landlord & neighbors. Bring report backs to next meeting.


Next week's meeting will be structured with report backs from Action Items!

Thanks for all your hard work.
Chumly,
Rachael