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Yard waste pick up Saturday

Submitted by Yvonne Sabraw

Saturday morning May 9th will be our next run to the city landfill to bring our yard waste to their composting pile. We are aiming to leave by 10:00. Please let Yvonne and Agniezska know that you have yard waste to send, either by responding to the Facebook post, or calling Yvonne at 403- 283–3361.

Leaves and grass clippings must be in brown  compostable bags.  Branches must be cut small enough that they will fit in our van. They can also be in the brown compostable bags to make them easier to manage, however thy can also be lightly bundled.

If you have driveway access, please leave the bags under your carport and we will pick up there, or phone / Facebook-message to arrange another spot.

Planning to do one run, with 2 vans. If there is too much for those two vans, will do another one later in the day.  Depending on need we can do another run  next week as well.  The City is not charging for land waste through the month of May.

The City does not accept sod or household waste in its outdoor composting pile.

See you Saturday morning!

Sunnyhill Yard Waste pickup

Submitted by Yvonne Sabraw

Members will be driving Sunnyhill yard waste (branches, leaves, grass clippings) to the City Landfill compost collection several times over the next few weeks. The city is not charging for drop offs until May 30th.


Please collect your yards waste in compostable bags, or bundle up branches, and stay tuned on the Facebook Page for the next pickup. If you don’t access the SHC  Facebook page, call Yvonne or Phil directly at 403-283-3361 to arrange pick up.

Please DO NOT fill our green bins with yard waste!!!


Thanks!!!!

May Recycling Tip

Submitted by Peter Clyne on behalf of the Education Committee

As we emerge from winter and begin cleaning our yards, this is a reminder that pretty much all of that yard waste goes into the green bin! That includes:

    Leaves, cones, needles and berries

    Plants, tree fruits and flowers

    Branches, twigs and hedge prunings

    Grass clippings, sod and weeds

    Garden soil and untreated mulch

    Hay, straw and coconut planter liners

If you are wondering about disposable gloves and face masks, they all go into the dumpster as garbage!

This includes:

-          All types of mask

-          Rubber gloves

-          Latex gloves

-          Plastic gloves

-          Nitrile gloves

-          Dishwashing gloves

The city’s landfills are still open, but are not accepting cash payments. Additionally, the City of Calgary's Green Cart compost giveaway for 2020 has been indefinitely postponed.

-The Education Committee

Zoom Meeting Preparations

Submitted by Mia Rushton on behalf of Communications Committee

Our first virtual co-op meeting is fast approaching. The meeting will be hosted on Zoom- an online video conferencing service. Zoom also supports phone-in participation for anyone who doesn’t have access to the internet. If you’d prefer to call in to the meeting, contact Andrea for the phone number. 

If you haven’t used Zoom before, there are a few steps to take in order to join a meeting for the first time. We recommend getting set up a few days before the meeting to make sure that everything works. 

To join a meeting for the first time, open the meeting link. Zoom will open in a new browser window and you’ll be prompted to download Zoom. The meeting link is in the Budget Vote Meeting Package email sent by the office on April 16th. You can click on this link at any time before the meeting to get set up. 

There are lots of tutorials on YouTube with instructions for using Zoom for the first time. Search for ‘Zoom tutorial for beginners’. I found one called ‘Joining a Zoom Call for the First Time; Fun and Easy Online Connection’ that is short, clear and concise. See it here: https://youtu.be/9isp3qPeQ0E

On the day of the meeting, we suggest joining the meeting 15 minutes early to avoid/mitigate any technical problems.

Board Bytes April 14 & 15, 2020

Submitted by Sarah Reimer on behalf of the Board

Still no joke!  We’ve held board meetings on 2 back-to-back evenings in an effort to do justice to the major issue of the current global and local climate.     

  Here is a synopsis of the work undertaken at our meeting on April 14 & 15, 2020 via Zoom.

  • We met with Anda for a thorough reading of our audit report.  The short version is that she feels it is a good report and that Sunnyhill has good internal financial management.   

  • The Board met with a member to discuss a further re-working of the budget and will be recommending an 8% decrease to our operating costs/ housing charges for 2020.   We accept that this is unprecedented and presents its own challenges.  

    • This will relieve pressure on all members, as Covid affects us all.  We are still discussing implications for those on subsidy.  

    • We continue to look for ways in which we can reduce our operating costs while still maintaining co-op standards.

    • We will still be holding a virtual budget meeting via ZOOM to allow members an opportunity to voice concerns, dialogue and to vote on this recommendation.  

      • New budget meeting scheduled for April 26 from 2-4

      • A Zoom link will be emailed to you prior to the meeting; you can choose to join with or without video.  There is also a phone-in option for those wanting to use a landline. If you need support with this meeting forum, please contact the office.  

    •  We request that questions, concerns and general feedback be provided to the office email prior to the meeting to allow for clear presentation of issues and speakers.

  • The board received and accepted the resignation of members of the grounds committee.

  • In addressing member concerns re household items left outside garbage enclosures, please be reminded that this is not in keeping with our co-op ethos.  We are looking into possibilities that this problem is sometimes caused by non-members, but request that members not participate. 

    • When the snow clears, a large dumpster will be provided in the parking lot for your convenience. 

    • Please store items intended for kijiji/ community collection by your unit.

    • Please inform the board if the issue persists.  

Reminders from last month- 

  • Normally, we would need to hold an AGM by June, but the Office of Co-ops has informed us that AGM deadlines have been extended.   

    • Previously scheduled AGM (April 18) has been cancelled.

    • The Board will look into setting a new AGM date at a later time.  

  • SACHA’s AGM (April 25) has been cancelled. 

  • CHF AGM (June 11-13) has been cancelled.  We thank all members who expressed interest in attending. 

  • We still have one Board vacancy which we are currently seeking to fill.  Please communicate your interest in serving on the board to the office. 

  • Our next scheduled Board meeting is May 13, but we anticipate meeting before that.  

We appreciate the outpouring of concern for individual members and for our community; the creative and varied means of maintaining socially distant contact is what we are all about!  Thank you, Sunnyhill, for showing up in caring ways for your neighbours across the co-op!    

Cooperatively yours,


Sarah Reimer

On behalf of the Board of Directors

How to Post Comments on the Sunnyhill Voice

Submitted by Mia Rushton on behalf of Communications Committee

Now that we’re using the comments functionality on the website, we wanted to give a quick tutorial on how to use this feature.

Click the speech bubble button at the end of a post to open the comments box.

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After you click the Post Comment button, you’ll be prompted to add your name. There is also the option to add an email address and or website, but these are not required.

Choose Comment as Guest to finalize the post.

Unfortunately the member login service we use doesn’t integrate with Squarespace comments. The second option to ‘Log in to Comment’ refers to Squarespace account logins- feel free to log in this way if you happen to have an account but it’s not necessary.

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 6.32.44 PM.png

Voila! You’ve just posted a comment.

To respond to an existing comment, click the arrow icon on the right of the post.

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 6.37.05 PM.png

This may not be the perfect solution, but we’ll try it for now and see how it works.

Please send your feedback to sunnyhill.communications@gmail.com

April 9 Grounds Memo to Board and Members

Submitted by Bob, Cindy, David B, David S, Don, Helen, Janice,  Kris, Pam on behalf of Grounds Committee

Dear Sunnyhill Membership,

With heavy hearts all of the current members on the Grounds Committee resign ourpositions effective immediately. We have enjoyed caring for the grounds at SHC, building long term relationships with our landscaping company, and envisioning a future that dovetails with the co-op's sustainability goals. 

Some of us have been on the committee for nearly two decades and others have joinedmore recently. But the consensus is that we do not have a working relationship with theBoard. The past year has been extremely difficult. Our experience has been contrary to the principles of cooperation that SHC was founded upon and we think that revisiting the difference between governance and management is a topic that requires urgent review at Sunnyhill.

We have loved working on behalf of the membership, but our stress levels require mitigation.

Sincerely,

Bob, Cindy, David B, David S, Don, Helen, Janice,  Kris, Pam

A Note Regarding Facebook

Submitted by Mia Rushton on behalf of Communications Committee

The Sunnyhill Facebook group is a social resource- a place for informal conversations between neighbours. Especially at this time when our lives have been changed so dramatically, many of us may be experiencing stress, anxiety and uncertainty. Having strong community connections helps- but only if we treat each other well. 

We can all do our part in making this a respectful, productive and enjoyable place to connect by practicing the 3 Re’s: re-thinking our reactions, re-reading our responses and re-directing our questions. 

The Sunnyhill Facebook group is not a place to discuss or debate the workings of the co-op. Please direct any questions, concerns or comments to committees or the board. The phone list includes contact information for committee members if you’re unsure of who to speak to. All posts related to co-op policy will be removed by the group admins. 

Members of the Communications Committee do their best to moderate and administer this group. If you have questions or comments for the admins, please contact us via the committee email address, not Facebook tags or direct message. 

Although it may feel like the conversations here are public and available to the membership- they’re not. Not everyone chooses to be on the Facebook group; it is a subset of the co-op membership. We want to encourage all members to be informed and engaged in respectful, civil and lively discussion. This is best done in a place where we can all contribute and benefit from each other’s contributions. 

The Communications Committee is researching the possibility of integrating a forum on the co-op website. For now, we’ll experiment with turning commenting on blog posts at the request of the writer/ submitter. Let us know what you think! Please share your thoughts with Communications about what your ideal discussion space would look like. Reach us at sunnyhill.communications@gmail.com

Gentle movement classes

Submitted by Debbie Willis

As many of us are staying home and are unable to practice our normal exercise routines, Debbie from unit 34 is offering a stretch and balance class geared towards older people, people with chronic pain, or anyone who would like a gentle movement break to help them recover from the anxiety and increased screen-time that coronavirus has inflicted. The classes will run Fridays at 2pm for 40 minutes and are open to anyone who is interested (if you have parents or friends outside of the co-op who may appreciate this type of class, please invite them to join in). Debbie is a long-time practitioner of yoga and will be focusing on alignment, safe movement, and opening the chest to give space to the lungs—since we know that lung health is highly important at this time. Please email her at debmwillis@gmail.com if you are interested in joining and she's send you the info and Zoom link.

Board Bytes- April 2, 2020

Submitted by Sarah Reimer on behalf fo the Board of Directors

No April Fool’s joke!  The Board held an emergency meeting via ZOOM to address the maelstrom that is COVID-19 and its effect on our community.  

  Here is a synopsis of the work undertaken at our meeting on April 1, 2020.

  • The Board has re-worked budget projections using 0% and 2% increase options, and will be recommending that as a community, we prioritise our social needs for the upcoming budget year.  The Board will be recommending a 0% increase to our operating costs for 2020. 

    • We will still be holding a virtual budget meeting via ZOOM to allow members an opportunity to voice concerns, and to vote on this recommendation.  

      • New budget meeting scheduled for April 26 from 2-4

    •    We request that questions, concerns and general feedback be provided to the office email prior to the meeting to allow for clear presentation of issues and speakers.

  • In regards to emergency Covid-19- related subsidy relief, the Board has moved that financial need be the only stipulation for support; best fit and non- member adult requirements will be suspended for emergency relief.  

    • All members will be provided with information on government relief and support programs, and we encourage members in need to make use of these resources.

  • We are able to schedule ad hoc garbage collections as needed through BluPlanet.

    • If the nearest dumpster is full, please attempt another one and/ or pace your large clear-out dumps

    • If overflowing garbages persist, please email the office providing the location of the problematic dumpster.  

  • The Board passed a motion to authorise grounds to utilise their remaining budget funds to ensure that communal pathways and garbage enclosures are cleared of ice and therefore safe for members to use.

    • We also requested that grit be supplied beside the 3 St N garbage enclosure; if the area is icy, please spread grit prior to using it to ensure your safety. 

  • Normally, we would need to hold an AGM by June, but the Office of Co-ops has informed us that AGM deadlines have been extended.   

    • Previously scheduled AGM (April 18) has been cancelled.

    • The Board will look into setting a new AGM date at a later time.  

  • SACHA’s AGM (April 25) has been cancelled. 

  • CHF AGM (June 11-13) has been cancelled.  We thank all members who expressed interest in attending. 

  • The Board accepted Member Selection’s recommendation for unit 762 (apologies for the previous type-o). 

  • We still have one Board vacancy which we are currently seeking to fill.  Please communicate your interest in serving on the board to the office. 

  • Our next scheduled Board meeting is April 14.  

We appreciate the outpouring of concern for individual members and for our community; the creative and varied means of maintaining socially distant contact is what we are all about!  Thank you, Sunnyhill, for showing up in caring ways for your neighbours across the co-op!    

Cooperatively yours,

Sarah Reimer

On behalf of the Board of Directors

A Note on Housing Charge Recalculations

Submitted by Brenda Willman and Mia Rushton

From the unofficial Board update, March 23: 

"If you are in need because of a change of circumstances and you need immediate support, please note that members can apply for a short-term (3- month) housing charge subsidy at any time under current policies; if it turns out that people’s needs extend beyond that time, we will revisit the our subsidy policy and procedure in response" 

In our block’s group email conversation last week, Brenda shared her knowledge of our co-op’s policies around subsidies. I thought it would be useful to share it with everyone in light of the current COVID/unemployment situation. With Brenda’s permission, this is what she shared with us:


IN FACT, the Housing Charge Calculation Collection Policy allows for recalculations - NOT at the usual annual time - in the following circumstances:

- a 3 month calculation when a member goes on Social Assistance;  and

- it allows the Board to order a Calculation when a situation occurs that was not foreseen by this policy such as is the case now. 

A RECALCULATED HOUSING CHARGE UNDER THE SECOND RULE WOULD NOT BE RESTRICTED TO 3 MONTHS.   IT WOULD TAKE EFFECT AND HOLD EFFECT UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE BOARD SAW FIT TO CHANGE IT. NOW THAT'S GIVING THEM A LOT OF POWER, BUT THAT'S WHAT THE BOARD IS FOR. TO USE THEIR POWER FOR THE GOOD OF THE MEMBERS AND THE COOP AS A WHOLE.  The applicable sections are quoted below - unless the policy has been updated this remains the policy.

 4.6.3 (c) (The Housing Charge will be recalculated) when a MEMBER begins to receive Social Assistance. Special rules apply to these cases, as described in Section 12. [note - this should say section 13 and is a typo]

4.6.4 The Board may order a HOUSING CHARGE calculation when a situation occurs that was not foreseen by this policy.

4.13 What happens if a MEMBER is on Social assistance?

If a unit is qualified to receive a REDUCED HOUSING CHARGE as defined in Section 4.4 and is on social assistance, the HOUSING CHARGE is calculated and collected as follows:

4.13.1 When the MEMBER applies for social assistance, he or she is required to get a form filled out by the "landlord" This form will be filled out by the TREASURER or another officer of the coop, and will show the amount of the housing charge the MEMBER is paying at the time of the application as the “rent”.

4.13.2        If the MEMBER receives social assistance, he or she will take the receipt from Alberta Social Services and give it to the TREASURER

4.13.3        If the amount the MEMBER is receiving from Social Services for “rent” is less than the MEMBER's normal HOUSING CHARGE, then the TREASURER will make the MEMBER's HOUSING CHARGE equal to the greater of the amount the MEMBER is receiving from Alberta Social Services or the FULL SUBSIDY HOUSING CHARGE for the unit

4.13.4        The HOUSING CHARGE for a MEMBER receiving social assistance will be reviewed at the next quarterly housing charge calculation after he or she begins to receive social assistance, and at subsequent quarterly re-calculation dates.

Sunnyhill Community Dinner

Submitted by Yvonne Sabraw

Sunnyhill Community Dinner
Sunday March 29 5:30 pm

(Or.... “never have we been LESS in need of a gathering space!!!”)
(and.... “NEIGHBOURS IN NEED EAT FREE”)

Let’s bring our Sunnyhill neighbours together, virtually, and support a local restaurant!
We are placing a group order from the Vietnamese Restaurant “Pho HouZ” on 10th street, for delivery Sunday 5:30. ORDERS SHOULD BE IN BY 5:00pm Saturday, please!

How to proceed for ordering supper:

1.  Check out the menu online: phohouz.com

2. Phone the owner of Pho HouZ, Catherine, at 403-619-2248 (her personal line) with your order. Make sure you tell her your name and unit number. Tell her you are part of Sunnyhill Co-op’s group order.

3. If you plan to cover the cost of your own meal, find out your total. (Don’t calculate delivery or tips, we will cover that).

4. If you can’t cover the cost of your meal - it’s on us!!!  Enjoy a treat in these stressful times!! 

5. If you plan to pay for your meal, drop an envelope with cash (we’ll wear latex gloves!!) in the mailbox #22 sometime Sunday. Or, send an e-transfer to the following email address:
jman22shl@gmail.com. Security question prompt should be: “the day we are eating” and put March29 as answer.

6. Be ready to receive your dinner, delivered to your door, around 5:30 Sunday.

Then comes the community part. You can join the virtual dinner in several ways- whether or not you were part of the group order.

1.  Low-tech : it’s supposed to be a lovely day. Let’s get out on our balconies at some point, especially for the 7:00pm city-wide daily
event.

2. On computer by Zoom: Send your email address to Philip by Sunday noon:
Phil.cox@mac.com
He will send you an invitation link by email on Sunday. Click on the link at the appointed time and we’ll all connect virtually!

3. Connect with one other neighbour by phone or Skype, if it feels like too much to eat dinner with everyone on computer. The idea is for no one to eat alone. If you want to connect directly with the Cox-Sabraw family by FaceTime, Messenger, Skype, or telephone call, just let us know by Sunday noon and we’ll figure something out (home phone is on the phone list. Call us!)

Look forward to seeing you all in one way or another on Sunday!

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