Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Bob Leigh (bobleightwomeeps.com) | |
Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2018 11:55:21 -0700 (PDT) |
Hi Phil, It's ancient history now, but I remember that our playground emergency involved safety; the common area slide/swing set had been donated and had become too rickety to use. On short notice we chose to buy a new sturdier one. I seriously doubt that the cost involved was thousands, though I suspect memories of the cost have increased over the years. :) One winter, when all the downspouts behind the 195 building began draining into the basement, because the normal outlet pipe was frozen, THAT was an emergency! I think a majority of the Managing Board members gathered, decided who to call, and authorized payment in one of the shortest board meetings ever. (The plumbing in question was later redesigned, if I remember correctly.) Bob Leigh Cornerstone Village Cohousing Cambridge, MA On Tue, Sep 18, 2018 at 1:16 PM, Philip Dowds via Cohousing-L < cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote: > We have some rules about Board interventions and short-notice plenaries to > deal w/ “emergencies”, but we’ve made little use of them. Partly because > we’ve not made much effort to define “emergency”. Once long ago we had a > playground “swing set emergency”, for which a committee held an urgent > meeting to agree to spend thousands on a replacement swing set. ??? > > In the past, we’ve had mobility-impaired members living on the top floor, > and a loss of elevator would certainly have been an emergency for them. > But this is no longer the case, and everyone now living on the upper floors > can do stairs easily, or fairly easily. Would an elevator failure be an > emergency today? What about if the common air conditioning experiences a > catastrophic failure on the 4th of July? Is that an emergency? Or, should > we wait for the better replacement pricing we can get in October? > > Our common house combines with 13 apartments, and a few years back, the > building heat died at about 6pm in the evening, during an actual blizzard > at 6°F. Our regular service company was unavailable, and although a team > of volunteers was struggling with the problem, I lost confidence in their > ability to get things working again. So I called in some favors and got a > plumber to appear within 30 minutes. The heat came back on, and neither > residents nor building froze that night. It ended up costing the community > more than $2K, and several friends and neighbors were unhappy with me for > over-riding a committee and making unilateral choices. If this emergency > repeats itself, I will do exactly the same thing. > > Thanks, > Philip Dowds > Cornerstone Village Cohousing > Cambridge, MA > > mobile: 617.460.4549 > email: rpdowds [at] comcast.net > > > On Sep 18, 2018, at 11:18 AM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L < > cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote: > > > >> On Sep 17, 2018, at 5:00 PM, Sophie Glasser <sophiemosaicjoy [at] > >> gmail.com> > wrote: > > > >> Do any cohousing communities have an “emergency plan”? Specifically > what to do if there is a safety threat to everyone from weather, fire, etc > and you need to make sure everyone is alerted quickly > > > > We have a RISC pod — can’t remember what the initials mean — that is > active from time to time. We once had a designated person on each corridor > responsible for checking that everyone was out for a fire alarm. Now I > think we just check with each other. We have a checklist that a RISC member > uses to be sure everyone is present or accounted for at our offsite > assembly spot (out on the corner) after fire alarms. > > > > We had a telephone tree but it was too hard to keep up to date, or > remember. > > > > Email is incredibly effective. I’ve put out emails on 5 occasions in > which I or someone close needed immediate attention — falls, flooding > water, etc.— and had 5-7 responses within 2 minutes. (And the responses > keep coming for the afternoon with people checking in the next day.) > > > > People post an email to let everyone know that the CH door and keypad > isn’t working and to bring your key. (Some people enter their units through > the CH so this is essential.) > > > > Elevator is out. We have 3 households that can’t use the stairs. This is > serious. They can’t go home. > > > > An email to people when we are having a fairly local wind and rain storm > with lightning and tornado warnings during rush hour to tell people to stay > at the office for awhile. > > > >> Also how do you decide as to when it is truly an “emergency”? > > > > What is defined as an emergency is usually a life threatening event. In > cohousing that extends to serious property damage. We have people > designated who can make emergency decisions immediately. I think it is 2 > members of the board but in general, a lot of people emerge and take > action. What undesignated people would be hesitant to do is spend a lot of > money. Or call the police. > > > > But after all that, I do wish we had a big clanging bell in the piazza > in front of the CH to ring for even lesser and happier events. Party starts > now stuff. > > > > Sharon > > ---- > > Sharon Villines > > Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC > > http://www.takomavillage.org > > > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: > > http://l.cohousing.org/info > > > > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: > http://l.cohousing.org/info > > > >
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"emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Sophie Glasser, September 17 2018
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Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Sharon Villines, September 18 2018
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Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Philip Dowds, September 18 2018
- Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Bob Leigh, September 18 2018
- Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Muriel Kranowski, September 22 2018
- Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Sharon Villines, September 22 2018
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Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Philip Dowds, September 18 2018
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Re: "emergency plan" for a cohousing community? Sharon Villines, September 18 2018
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