Butler Committee Meeting Minutes 11.5.07

Submitted by Jane Phillips, Recording Secretary

Committee members present: Shannon Hughes (Chair), Juan Melli (Webmaster), Jane Phillips (Recording Secretary), Dante Ricci (GSG Rep), Brownwyn Smith (Community Room Coordinator), Jeff Dwoskin (Housing Rep), Nicole Jui (Garden Co-coordinator).

Community members present: Andrew Owen, Chris Mayo, Chin Jou, Tara Mccartney, plus four others.

Meeting called to order at 9:03 pm.

Shannon: We are having elections tonight. Shannon explained the duties of the positions in particular and general duties of all committee members. There were three residents present who wished to run for webmaster. Andrew Owen was voted in by show of hands of Committee members as webmaster after it was determined that he was interested in the position and he had attended three previous meetings. Chin Jou was voted in as Social chair by show of hands of Committee members (the social chair position was uncontested.). Chin was informed that previous social chair Laura Soltesz might be able to give her advice.

Shannon has spoken to Home Depot about a winterization clinic. It would be easier for them if residents went to Home Depot, but it would be easier for us if they came here with supplies. Shannon asked whether Housing was planning to tell Butler residents about how to use their storm windows, and Tara will follow up. Tara was asked to ensure that Housing gives people directions on both types of Butler storm windows (pull down or install seperately). Some tips for keeping rooms warmer: use area rugs, put plastic over windows, put blankets or insulated curtains over windows. It was asked whether there was a University or Township group that would have tips on winterization - Shannon will follow up. Jeff will also email the sustainability manager for the University on this issue. The clinic will probably be moved to around the first week in December.

Shannon was contacted by a Public Safety officer, James Lanzi, who wants to hold a public forum on safety concerns in Butler. Public Safety has received complaints on speeding, driving the wrong way, burglary issues, etc., in Butler. Tara suggested that he meet with the Committee rather than trying to gather community members who might not show up. Shannon says that she could invite the officer to the December meeting and advertize that he will be there in the email to the community.

Juan: Got the pet co-op list running. Juan spoke with the person who used to organize the co-op, and it looks like the list was not in use because the email address was not working.

Dante: The GSG has given us $300 for the wine and cheese event. Dante spoke with Arun at Varsity Liquors, who gave him a list of the purchases from last year's wine and cheese. Nicole and Juan say that last year we had too much white and too little red wine, so Dante will buy wine accordingly. Dante will send out an email to get volunteers from the Committee to set up and clean up at the event (on November 15th at 8pm). Dante will send a blurb to Lisa Schreyer so that the wine and cheese will be in the weekly events bulletin. Dante will also send out an email to the Butler community. The Butler Committee will need to contribute $500-600 to the event to get to the projected $800-900 cost. Shannon suggested that the Committee contribute $500, for a total budget of $800. Jeff says that Sam's Club is a good place to buy cheese.

Bronwyn: There was a large event in the Community room the Friday around Halloween with liquor and a DJ. There were complaints to public safety and to Bronwyn on the night of the party (because of noise) and the next day (because the room was trashed). Bronwyn came over and tried to clean up, and she also called the on-call superintendent on the Saturday, but there is an issue with who should clean up the room when people who use it do not clean up. At the last Committee meeting, the Committee decided that we would not collect checks from people, but instead if there is a problem with cleanliness in the Community room, their student accounts would be charged. Facilities should clean up the Community Room if the room is a mess (after first checking with the people who held the event and asking them to clean the room). Facilities is also willing to leave out mops and buckets to encourage people to clean up after themselves. Shannon suggested that people who reserve the Community Room be sent a reminder checklist of things to clean. Tara will ban the students who held the event from using University space for several months, and their student accounts will be charged $100 to cover cleaning costs. Tara will speak with Lisa Schreyer to see what sort of events are approved for the Community Room.

Chris Mayo suggested that we put up instructions for laundry machines. Jeff noted that we have already asked Facilities to put up signs in the laundry room (through Patti Smith).

Jeff: There was a Housing meeting last week - draw statistics will be posted soon. There were suggestions for improving the room draw at the meeting. There was a shuttle committee meeting today. The University will try to adjust how often the shuttle stops at lot 21. There have been some overcrowding issues, so there will be buses added in the morning and the afternoon. They are also going to try to get signs improved in the buses.

Tara: Tara is moving out of her present job to another University job - she will be in her present job until mid-December, by which point there will hopefully be another person for her to train. Shannon asked whether there will be a change in pet policy (i.e., whether pets will continue to be allowed in Butler after the problem with a dog over the summer), and Tara says that there has been no talk about it in any meetings of which she is aware.

Nicole: Nicole is working on moving the composter to the garden.

It was noted that the computer cluster door is broken and does not close, and the back laundry room door is also broken. Tara will follow up.

Meeting adjourned at 10:17 pm.