Butler Committee Meeting Minutes

September 4, 2007

Submitted by Jane Phillips (Recording Secretary)

Committee members present: Dante Ricci (GSG Rep), Audra Pompeani (Bugle Editor), Agatha Lenartowicz (Garden Co-Coordinator), Juan Melli (Webmaster), Patrick Ross (Treasurer), Nicole Jui (Garden Co-Coordinator), Shannon Hughes (Chair), Jane Phillips (Secretary), Laura Soltesz (Social Chair), Jeff Dwoskin (Housing Rep).

Community members present: Kelly, Chris, Andrew, Tara McCartney.

Meeting called to order at 9:32pm.

Shannon (Chair): Email policy for butler-res listserv has been sent to Juan, will be put on the Butler website. Welcome email went out today from Shannon. We will store yard sale signs till next year. Shannon talked with Home Depot about holding a clinic about winterizing their Butler units, and Home Depot seemed interested – Shannon is thinking early to mid November would be a good time to hold it. Shannon is working on a survey results pull-out page for the Bugle that can go out in the next Bugle.

Audra (Bugle): Audra will put out a Bugle in around 2-3 weeks. Audra passed out a sign-up sheet for Committee members to hand out Bugles. Tara mentioned that she would want to put in information for an October event, and she will follow up with Audra. Patrick mentioned that he would send Audra a link to freeware that could be used for the Bugle.

Jeff has ideas for the Bugle: 1) People should submit work requests for broken things in their apartments. They can do this by either calling 8-8000 or filling out the form on the Facilities website. If the problem is not taken care of, they should call 8-8000 back, but should not usually contact Dwight. 2) Jeff suggested that we give residents a map for biking more safely from Butler to campus (going through the back streets is better). 3) People have complained about a lack of quarters for laundry – he suggests that we tell that they can get rolls of quarters from the GC or from banks. Tara suggested that the Committee send out an email to residents reminding them that they can look at the Handbook put out by the Graduate School – there is an online version. Shannon added that we should put something new about reporting broken washers. For the Bugle, Shannon suggested that the Committee remind residents to recycle and to register pets/laptops/bikes.

Dante (GSG Rep): The Graduate School has a wine and cheese social event on Thurs, Sept. 20.

Jeff (Housing Rep): Major Maintenance requests: 1) Laundry Room: asking them to replace machines and deal with slow maintenance; 2) lighting and safety concerns: parts around the complex are dark, also Butler does not have a blue light safety phone (this will be followed up with Public Safety); 3) winterization of the units: the Committee would like Housing to do more – the Committee would like them to go to currently occupied units and ensure that weather stripping and other installation is intact; 4) street signs: there are many places in the complex that are not labeled (there is no “Butler” sign, there are missing/faded one way signs); 5) recreation areas: picnic tables and grills need to be replaced, volleyball court needs more sand, asked to expand the basketball court to half-court size, playground needs more mulch – it is overgrown, toddler playset is missing swings, bike storage (covered or bike stands) was requested, reminded Patty Smith that residents need bike hooks, for the Community Room requested more space and newer furniture and newer cabinets in the kitchenette, also need better toy storage in the Community Room; 6) mentioned that many porches need replacing, some people still have wooden boards on their concrete porches.

Laura (Social Chair): Tara has planned the fall social event, so Laura will be coordinating providing desserts. Tara said that in the past, the Committee has provided about $300 for the event, but this time about $150 would be fine. Jeff asked if there is music for the event – Jeff suggested that we use the GSG speakers and hook them up to an IPod – Dante will follow up. Tara mentioned that there will be an Oktoberfest at the GC on October 7. The Committee thinks that it would be a good idea to have another beer tasting – last year it was successful and was done with the Flying Fish. It was proposed that the fall welcome event could end with a beer tasting. Tara noted that it might be better to just get a few kegs and provide beer to go better with the family-friendly party atmosphere. Keg of Yuengling is $74 from Varsity Liquors. Tara decided that the GSG would provide desserts if the Committee provides beer. Could put a notice about the Wine and Cheese event “coming in November” in the Bugle.

Tara: The new alcohol policy is that Tara needs to be present at all Butler social events that have alcohol, so the Committee needs to check with her to ensure her availability before we set dates for social events. Tara says that the new couches for the Community Room are supposed to arrive by September 10, but this date may change. Jeff had requested nesting tables, and the Community Room are getting two of them. Tara brings up lighting at meetings every month, but has no update yet. Book shelf is not bolted to the wall in the Community Room, Tara will follow up. Tara said that 3 washers and 3 dryers are up for replacement, but have not been replaced yet. Mac Gray is the confirmed new service company for the washers/dryers. Tara will talk with Public Safety about blue lights. Tara spoke with Mark Bianchi about signs, and is waiting on a response from him. Tara is doing an outdoor concert next Friday at the GC – will be done along with social hour. Tara suggested that we have meetings start earlier. Need to ask about how long the dance group goes on Mondays, see if they would be out by 9pm on Mondays for moving the Committee meeting to that day, hopefully at 9pm.

Juan (Webmaster): washing machines are being replaced/repaired because emails were sent to Facilities, and when they got emails from many residents, it was effective. Residents should be reminded about this in the Bugle. Also, traffic to the Butler website has been going up a lot. Juan mentioned that many disabled parking spots were put in around Butler, despite apartments not being handicap-accessible and the Committee would like to know if the University is expecting those spots to be used, as they have been put in very congested spots of the complex.

Patrick (Treasurer): Money from the GSG has not come through yet, so we have no money in our University account. Tara says that the Committee should get about $2400 at the start of every year. Patrick says that we could easily cover dessert and beer for the fall event with $300, the same amount that was spent on the beer tasting last year. It was agreed that one keg would be bought. Patrick said that $20 was donated by the Committee to the new chess club.

Nicole (Garden): Last garden event did not turn out well due to low attendance, so the garden coordinators will probably not plan a BBQ again. Nicole would like to move the composter from the Community Room outside space to the garden. Committee members agreed that the composter could be moved. Tara says that Nicole could call Maintenance to help move the composter.

Meeting adjourned at 10:50 pm.