Community meetings - frequency?
From: jsutfran (jsutfranaol.com)
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 05:51:32 -0700 (PDT)
Hello all -
I'd like to get some ideas from other communities regarding frequency of 
community meetings.   I have been polling my community members and would like 
to hear ideas from other communities.  
 
My question is: Given the following information, what, in your experience, 
would be a 'next step' in terms of meeting frequency?  
 
Right now we have 1 resident family and 5 families designing and building.  All 
total, there will be 18 households.  Each family bought a lot and is designing 
and "building" their own home.  [The kind of 'building' that means hiring a 
builder : )  ]
 
There have been monthly,3 hour meetings.  Given our legal structure, decisions 
are made by the LLC and Board of Directors.  The agenda items for the community 
meetings are individual mailboxes, party planning, trash collection, and 
scheduling tractor use.  We are to review our community mission statement and 
also discuss common land uses.  
 
We have one member who feels strongly about more frequent and longer meetings.  
 We can work on team building and trust building work and spend more time this 
summer 'Being a group'.  This will pay off in the long run when we have bigger 
decisions to make.  There is also concern that fewer meetings will mean less 
opportunity for potential members to 'sit in' on a meeting.
 
I have heard from 1 member who said there wouldn't be time to respond to my 
email until next month : )  
 
Three  members responded with feeling overwhelmed with personal 
responsibilities (moving to a rental house, building the new house) on top of 
community responsibilities (committee work, workshare, Board of Directors 
responsibilities).   This is a unique, temporary, specific time in our 
community history since 3 (out of 6) families will be moving this summer to be 
closer to the community and that 5 families are working with designs and 
builders.   One person proposed 90 days between meetings and greater 
communication on email or bulletin board.
 
There are 7 other members to hear from.   Some  members have not attended the 
community meetings for several months.   At the last meeting, I heard a side 
theme of burnout and 'full plates'.
 
The issus is framed in the context of meeting frequency but could a broader 
question could be dealing with community burnout?  OR balancing personal and 
community?
 
Your thoughts?  What has been the experience of your community?
 
Thank you for your time,
Jane

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