Each adult resident will do a minimum of two hours of community work per month, or will pay $20 an hour for any time not worked.

“Adult” is defined as a person age eighteen or older, in residence at Wasatch Commons more than half the time for more than a month. The obligation of work or payment is based on the number of adult residents in the household, and the ultimate responsibility to work or pay is upon the owner of the unit. If a unit has no residents meeting this definition of adult, the owner is nonetheless responsible each month for work hours or payment for one adult. Hours worked by a resident may be credited to another member of the same household. The money paid is used to hire out physically the labor of landscaping, maintenance and upkeep of property, to be controlled and managed by the Management team.

Work credit is recorded publicly on a task board on the honor system and reported publicly by a tabulator monthly. Hours worked in excess of the monthly requirements and reported as cumulative may be used for work credit in future months. Reporting hours as cumulative is at the discretion of the person reporting the hours based on his/her conscientious evaluation of the task as seasonal and necessary. For now, each adult resident decides for themselves what is community work. There will be a one-month grace period to accrue hours before the first month in which payment is required.

Payments can be made with a separate check payable to “Wasatch Commons Cohousing Association” or “WCCA” and marked “pay or play” “power plan” or “maintenance fee.” The method of handling payments will be determined by the management committee or by an individual or group designated by and reporting to management.

The Power plan starts August 1, 2011. The grace period to earn work credits is August with the first monthly maintenance payments from those who have not earned work credits during the previous month due September 1, 2011. Each adult resident and owner will be notified in writing prior to August 1, 2011 by the management committee or its agents. This start date applies to the already consensed provisions of the POWer plan. New provisions will be effective at the beginning of the month following their consensus. Crown resident fees will increase when leases are renewed. Until the lease is renewed, Crown members are requested to voluntarily participate or pay.

There will be an evaluation of the work-or-pay system in six months.

Quiet hours are from 9:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. during the school year and 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. during the summer months.

We want:

• To assure our community members that their emotional safety is important.

• To remind members of the importance of positive communication.

• To provide an agreed-upon reference that we can each use to evaluate our emails.

• To help make our email communications something that people want to read, and will welcome.

As a community, we encourage direct, face-to-face communication whenever possible, based on the belief that this builds and enlivens the community. Email also is a wonderful tool for communication within the community when our busy lives limit the amount of face-to-face communication that we can have. It enables us to reach out to everyone at once. When we read it, we can be kept aware of what is happening.

However, poor or careless use of email can create negative feelings and mistaken interpretation of the sender’s intent, and even cause people to withdraw. It can be too easy to circumvent respect by lashing out through email. Face-to-face conversation should be used if at all possible when issues or emotions are tense. If this is difficult, the Process Committee and other community members are willing to help.

Email should be used for community building, such as:

• Thank you and acknowledgement of service to the community.

• Sharing: borrowing items, ride sharing, etc.

• Meetings: announcement of time and place, agendas, minutes.

• Announcements pertaining to community events or members.

• Logistics: driving directions, carpooling, meeting places.

• Invitations.

• Drafts of proposals.

• Factual information about community issues under discussion, background or research.

• Ideas for community building.

• Promoting cohousing.

Email should not be used for:

• • Trying to resolve conflicts.

  • Interpersonal relationships or issues, sharing upset feelings.

  • Complaints, either general, personal or anonymous (“Someone did . . . .” )

  • Giving personal feedback about each other’s behaviors.

  • Making disrespectful references to individuals or groups.

  • Discussions that have emotional charge.

  • Sarcasm.

Tips to make email effective:

• Be brief. If it contains reference material, make an attachment, or put it in a separate section. For those who have trouble opening attachments, print a few copies and note where they can be found.

• Make sure the subject line clearly states the purpose of the email.

• Always identify the author of the email.

• Forwarding outside emails that do not relate directly to the community or community building may not be welcome by some community members.

Smoking is prohibited in common facilities and public areas of Wasatch Commons, specifically the common house, the common house east patio and lawn, the workshop, the central path, the gathering nodes, the garden, and other areas as may be designated. The parking lots and the southwest patio behind the common house are designated as smoking areas.

Be courteous of neighbors when engaging in activities that adversely impact air quality, such as the use of charcoal grills or solvents. This rule can be lifted for special occasions.

Law enforcement or police personnel will be admitted to the Common House under the following circumstances:

• Upon presentation of a valid warrant,

• When reporting to an emergency or other urgent situation notified by a Wasatch Co-Housing resident,

• When performing a routine health or safety inspection, or

• When invited by a duly recognized Wasatch Co-Housing committee to an event or meeting.

Such law enforcement or police personnel should be accompanied by a Wasatch Co-Housing resident for the duration of their visit in the Common House. Every effort should be made during these visits to protect the privacy rights of residents and guests. For the purposes of this policy, a resident who is also a law enforcement employee will be considered as a resident with full and equal access to the Common House.

The limited common area (LCA) for each unit is the area as shown on the plat, consisting of the front porch, back patio areas, and the assigned parking area and storage space. The LCA is reserved for the unit's use. For details on the LCA, see the plat and the Declaration and Bylaws.

Residents may plant in the unit's yard, defined as the area in front of a unit up to the edge of the central path, approximately half the area to the side where the unit does not adjoin another unit directly (divided with the next-door neighbor, exact boundaries to be negotiated), and the area behind for a distance depending on the unit, to be negotiated with group. A resident may with the consent of the group design and plant an area not adjoining the resident's unit, referred to as a sponsored area.

No permanent or semipermanent structures are to be placed either inside or outside the unit's LCA without the prior written consent of the group. Plants and structures must be selected and positioned to be unlikely to cause damage to Wasatch Commons property. Consult landscape committee members regarding this. Soil levels along building foundations must be maintained well below the stucco to avoid damage to building from moisture or insects. (Salt Lake City building code is six inches.)

Residents are personally responsible for purchase (in the case of owner residents) and care including watering (owners and renters) of plants in a yard. The resident is responsible for control of weeds in accordance with local ordinances.