Subud Pacific NorthWest Conference Call, Regional Committee November 9, 2016
Members Present: Aaron Mann, Chairman PNW; Paul Nelson, Vice Chairman; Sherwin O’Bar, Treasurer; Lydia Tedrow, Secretary; Isadora Roth, Regional Helper; Michael DuBois, Chairperson Skagit Valley; Ramon, Chairperson Seattle; Camille Hofvendahl, Chairperson Subud Portland; Oswald Norton, Regional Helper.
Approval of Minutes of the Last Meeting:
Aaron asked for approval of the minutes from the last two meetings. There were no comments or questions about those minutes. Michael made a motion to approve the minutes and Camille seconded. All were in favor; no opposition or abstentions.
Treasurer’s Report:
Sherwin stated he didn’t have an update to the quarter ending September 30th that the Board looked at last meeting. The fourth quarter report would be ready by the January meeting. The first infusion of funds from the Menucha registration of $20,000 was transferred to the Subud Pacific SPNW Event Account from the folks at Subud USA, additional transfer to take place a week or so after Menucha ends. 107 people were registered.
Center Reports:
Portland: Camille reported that the Portland house has gotten its porch rebuilt. Portland was focused on raising money for SD at Menucha with the Snack Bar and Juliette’s Balcony. A Christmas party that the young families had agreed to come to was being planned.
Seattle: Ramon reported that Seattle is having a really good B&B. However, a big plumbing repair is coming up and they would probably want to talk about that at some point in the meeting. The initial estimates are around the $10,000 mark so they feel the Regional Committee should be involved on this one because the amount is so high. When Aaron asked what that would entail, Ramon stated they were considering relining the sewer pipe so they don’t have to completely dig it out. It is over 100 years old and infested with roots. The plumbers will open up the line downstairs and push a liner through it so the roots can’t compromise it.
Bellingham/Skagit Valley: Michael reported a kejiwaan day is coming up in December and their last mini meeting in January, before the Bird Walk. It looks like the group will have to get an attorney to deal with the implied easement, to make it a written easement for the sewer line that goes through the neighbor’s property. Julia will set up a meeting with his attorney in the next couple of days and find out what kind of cost might be involved in hiring him to straighten it out with the City of Mount Vernon.
The group got one good estimate on repairs of the back porch. There’s a water problem back there outside the building itself on the walkway leading into the back door. The door leading into the garage door also needs to be fixed so they are trying to get estimates on those projects as well as the windows on the south side.
The date for the Skagit Valley Bird Tour has been decided on, it’s going to start on Saturday, February 18th, 2017, a three day weekend. It’s $45 a person with a $25 nonrefundable deposit. A poster will be coming out soon and will be emailed to different centers around the Region. Basic details: people will take off from Mount Vernon, the Subud Hall at 1521 La Venture, at 10 o’clock in the morning. They would love to get a van. There is a limit of 15 people that they can take now, without a van. It will cost $45 with a $20 nonrefundable deposit. February is chilly so people are advised to dress for that weather. RSVPs need to be sent to Roosmiwati Reynolds as soon as possible. She can be emailed at roosmiwati@gmail.com. People will probably be back at 3:30 or 4:00 o’clock in the afternoon.
There is limited space for overnighters. Several couples can be put up. There are three double beds and some singles or some can camp out in the Subud house.
Menucha:
Aaron reported one quick update on the Menucha gathering. 107 people were registered. Twenty three people were already there. The open workshop had gone on all day – ideas were written down and then they divided into two groups and every hour they worked on another subject, spending an hour discussing the ideas presented. He reported all would be put into a folder form and distributed to everyone. They will test late tonight, after latihan, about what each person’s involvement on the Board should be.
New Business:
Michael is he was putting out feelers towards having an Art Camp maybe somewhere in the Cascades, either looking at the national park itself or a resort type place at Rockport, right down the mountain from the Cascade National Park which has accommodations and can take any number of people. The only drawback is that Rockport is up in the mountains on Highway 20, two hours away from Bellingham so it may be a farther drive for some folks. Michael will find out if people are really interested. Aaron stated he would speak about it in his workshop and report back to the Board on feedback.
Helpers Report:
Isadora gave a short Helpers’ Report. She stated the Regional Helpers have been really focused on Menucha. The schedule contained some good long latihan sessions and testing sessions. They plan to go to the Bird Walk. Marguerite Chaney has agreed to help the Regional Helpers with the regional latihans. They are still looking for an official third woman Regional Helper.
Oswald felt that they had prepared a great agenda which would respond to what members have asked for at other Menuchas, more testing and more time for personal testing. They had also asked for volunteers to do personal testing with those that attend. He thinks 10 men and women volunteered to do personal testing with people. Sherwin has poster sized schedules to put up so people can have a real visibility into what is going on. After Menucha, Beata and Michael Alexander will be leaving the Dewan because they are packing for their journey to Spain and Liza Ramey and others have put together a small event for them. That will happen Saturday afternoon at 4:30, probably during Session 2 of the different workshops – just a little celebration. People in Portland have signed Buddhist prayer flags and there is room for more people to sign those. They are having a celebration for the ter Horsts as well.
Financial Considerations, Subud House Repairs
Before the meeting ended, Sherwin said he thought they were going to talk about the Housing Committee and make some sort of recommendation or approval of spending an amount of money, $10,000 or more. He didn’t know if there was a housing committee and he also didn’t know what the document stated in terms of if the housing committee does need to weigh in when expenditures on one of the houses is $10,000 or something in that range. When asked if there was money in the Treasury to cover that right now as a loan for the sewer replacement, Sherwin stated he didn’t know if they had gone that far in Seattle in terms of payment so, even if the payment was made by the Seattle group, it might be required, recommended or advised that the Housing Committee and/or the investors, if not an active Housing Committee, then the Regional Committee assess the investment of $10,000 – if it is a wise investment, given the age of the house which is already over 100 years old.
Michael stated he thought the Housing Committee was made up of all the Center Chairs and the Regional Board Chair. Oswald responded he had been chairing that Committee before the new Regional Committee came in. It was actually a separate committee with a separate set of bylaws and those bylaws governed this kind of expense. There is no current active committee. He asked if the sewer repair was needed immediately.
Camille wanted to know if the region pays for these types of repairs as Portland is going to need a new roof in 2018? Or do they make loans to the Center to pay back for the repairs – or both?
Michael reported that Skagit Valley PNW has a new roof on their house. He thought they paid for some of it and the Region covered the rest – after all, it is a Regional house. Paul reported that Seattle’s Airb&b is having a pretty good volume of guests and some of the plumbing has to do with hygiene products that were unfortunately put in the toilet. Their slow time occurs at this time of year, November-December-January, so it would be the most hassle free month to do this work.
This was urgent – if the toilets backfired the business would be affected negatively.
When Ramon was asked if a contractor had already been lined up, he stated he thought Martin had a couple of bids.
Sherwin reported that Seattle had sufficient funds and could cover it although the latest b.i.d. was $9,000 plus taxes – $10,000 – even though it is a slow time of year, they could squeak through until business picks up in the Spring.
It was suggest the matter be approached as a matching funds project and, if Seattle wanted to do it, matching funds could probably be set up. It was suggested they should move ahead with it ASAP. A motion was made and seconded that the Seattle Subud House repair their sewer lines with existing Seattle money and the amount of the co-pay be addressed at their Regional Board Meeting in February.
It was moved and seconded.
However, Ramon suggested that, instead, they say “the Region approves that Seattle make this repair.” Because they had to run this past Seattle’s own committee too. It was agreed that the Regional Board would just approve. It was moved and seconded that the Regional Committee approve Seattle making the expenditure if they choose to go forward with it due to the high dollar amount. They voted again and all were in favor. No opposition. Paul was the one abstention; he explained he was the rental agent in Seattle and he expected he had a conflict of interest so he would not vote. Michael and Ramon made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Camille seconded. The meeting was adjourned.
Signed by the Recording Secretary, Lydia Tedrow