Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Workshop Guidelines

[Kay (argyle]

Wasatch Commons has a workshop and garage (intended for car repair, but
stuffed full -- we are planning a "claim your bike" day now the carport
storage is finished, and then we need a garden shed to get everything else
out).  Upstairs has two exercise rooms.

The outside door has a single-cylinder deadbolt and a self-locking latch
(that is, you can get out but not in without a key).  A grill is bolted
inside the door-glass.  The garage side is accessed through a door from the
workshop and then the roll-up garage door unlatched to get equipment in and
out.  

The key was originally identical to the common house key.  Two incidents,
unrelated but occurring about the same time, emphasized the need for graded
levels of security.  (1) A resident handed keys to a visiting grandchild,
and he and several resident kids got out tools and proceeded to dig holes in
the wild area; and (2) a young adult & a friend were surfing porno sites on
the office computer, and the resulting cookies meant the next person to use
it got bombarded by "mature" popups.  The workshop and office were rekeyed.

Any adult can use the workshop -- but the tools are another matter!  Since
all the tools are privately owned, you need to get permission* (which is
usually simple enough we haven't felt a strong need for community-owned
tools).  Small tools are locked inside cabinets or chests, and I think maybe
the big power tools are locked down also.  *Except for garden tools; being
stored there is regarded as de facto permission for borrowing.

Children are permitted in the workshop only under direct adult supervision.
The parents committee has raised the question at what ages/levels of
maturity children should (stage 1) be allowed in the common house
unsupervised, and (stage 2) be given their own key, but I suspect the rules
for the workshop will be more stringent.

Kay