Kawashaway Community Circle Notes

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Circle Date

January 23, 2005 – Braeburn Blue's loft, Minneapolis

Future Circle Dates

Present

Braeburn Blue*, Stella*, Kiva, Cicada, H*, Ehsea, Teddy Bear*, Mecca, E!ureka*, Two Bears* (six Stewards = quorum)

* indicates Steward

Agenda

• Wagon/garden cart replacement
• Treasurer replacement
• Stove update
• Spirit gathering
• List of officers filing with the Secretary of State

Old Business

• Community discussion on Duty of Care – there was no discussion this time. We will carry it over to the next meeting.

• Web hosting and name for 2 years – White Ash was going to research the cost of the web hosting and the URL name. He didn’t attend the meeting so we will have to get that info at a later time.

New Business

• Wagon/garden cart – Teddy Bear and Braeburn Blue discussed the possibility of purchasing two new heavy duty wagons to add to our collection. Mills Fleet Farm has heavy duty wagons available. The larger one has a 400 lb. load capacity and costs $152. The smaller one can hold 200 lbs and costs $110. Mills also has wheelbarrows available. The plan would be to have the wagon to carry tents and stuff but nothing too heavy. The heavy duty one (400 lb) could be used to carry wood, propane, etc. from the parking lot. As the box on these wagons is made of some kind of word, we were thinking about painting them different colors to differentiate between them. We would want to paint them with something waterproof so that the wood will not rot or apply poly-urethane right away. If it should rot, Ehsea suggested replacing the box with something more durable, such as metal mesh. Regardless, we should drill drainage holes in the box so that water doesn’t stand in it. E!ureka supports buying one of each. Braeburn will order one from Mills in April-ish as it takes 1-2 weeks for it to come in. Ehsea will check out REI for a bike pump for the wheels. H said that our current four-wheel cart has been reinforced, but needs the steering fixed.

• Treasurer Replacement – H announced via the e-list that he would like to step down as treasurer. He came to the circle prepared with a list of different commitments that the treasurer does in chronological order. When he took over the position, E! taught him how to do the spreadsheet. Basically all that needs to be done is plug in the numbers and they automatically update. It has been kept on a disk so that whoever is keeping records can have the electronic version for history. The position isn’t a real time consuming job. Currently we have three people who are signatories: H, Braeburn Blue and E!ureka. A requirement of having our account at the credit union is that one of the signatories has a personal account there. Right now, Braeburn is meeting that requirement. As he is also considering backing away from that position, the treasurer may want to be the person with the personal account. Ehsea is currently considering taking on the mantle of the KORB.

• Financial Report - For the year of 2004, we had a slight loss on our ending balance. All things considered, we did very well. The capital improvements of the pantry, extra land and driveway upgrade could have lowered our balance. E! passed on gratitude to H for doing the job for 4 years.

• Stove update – Stella has been placing calls to Jim Koski asking about the status of our stoves. Jim has not returned any of the calls so Stella doesn’t think the stoves are done yet. The agreement was that once the stoves were working, we would pay Jim. The situation on the cabin stove is that it is still being assembled but needed some parts to complete the job. Braeburn thinks we should think about the eventuality of replacing the stove in the screen house due to its age and finding replacement parts is getting harder and harder. H said that Top Soil may have contact in San Francisco (an antique stove store) for parts. Stella will continue to try and contact Jim to get the status.

• Spirit Gathering – The Spirit Gathering organizers are working on setting a date but there have been various complicated issues. June 9-12th might be the leading candidate due to the fact that the weather might be warmer than Memorial Day weekend. The location of the gathering is also under consideration. Should it be up in the woods again or perhaps at a different venue? There is a possibility of having it at a posh retreat center near Madison, WI for the 2006 gathering. The Christine Center is a fully accessible retreat center that offers a guest house (with Select Comfort mattresses), small cabins and campsites. They offer a discount if more than 15 people sign up. This is something to think about for any future Spirit Gatherings. No formal Spirit Gathering meeting has occurred yet.

• Officer list to the Secretary of State – There was a long discussion about this list as it has not been updated in quite some time. On paper, there are only two officers. The last time we registered with the State, Beebalm, Rock and H were listed. This needs to be updated.

• Stewards/Friends – To be a steward involved making a commitment to attend a certain amount of circle meetings, to help take care of the business of the group and make a commitment in some way to further the land. There is also a financial commitment/donation if you feel the need. In the past, there was an oral tradition when you decided you wanted to be a steward. You declared your intention at one meeting and then at the next, you became a steward. Between the meetings, you would need to talk to a steward to find out what it’s all about. You would be able to gather information to find out what exactly you were getting yourself into. We have started to require yearly renewals so that we don’t end up with a group of 35 stewards, most of who don’t show up at circle meeting in which we need quorums. We are planning to vote for officers in the next few months. There was also a discussion about officers/directors insurance. This insurance would cover any legal bills that result from someone getting angry with one of the stewards or the board members and suing them. It would help protect them from personal liability.

Agenda for Next Circle

• Gathering Call language to include Duty of Care
• Officer selection
• Database Status

Action Items

Submitted by Ehsea

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