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------- by William Gale Site search: The site search has been completed with the purchase of a 20 -acre tract in Bastrop County, Texas. It is about an hour's drive from downtown Austin at rush hour. The tract has about five clear acres on the west side and about five clear acres on the east with stream beds supporting an oak-tree woods in the middle half. There are road easements on both sides, but legal access only on the west side. There is also water available on the west side. Site Development: Contact has been made with the electric company, and an engineer has visited the location. They believe they can bring electricity to the west side from the south. Thus we plan to develop a housing cluster in the southwest of the property first. An initial contact with Southwest Bell revealed that they would not even talk to us until we have a street address, which we do not have now, since there is no name associated with the easement on the west side. Fortunately, they were able to point us to the people who assign names and addresses. Since the name was being assigned, we expressed a preference for "Millennial Way." Unofficial sources indicate that that will become the name of our road. The chief of the volunteer fire department was contacted. Discussion with him indicated that we should do as much as we can to prevent fires. Thus, we plan to have fire detectors and ABC fire extinguishers in every room. We plan to hold regular practice with the fire extinguishers, which several people have commented is always fun. These are measures to prevent the internal development of a fire. Several measures for prevention of spread of a fire from outside are also planned. While oak does not burn readily in a fire, there may be more combustible species present also, as well as underbrush. We expect to remove any particularly combustible trees and the underbrush among the oaks. We also plan to clear a thirty-foot fire break on the south and north borders. In addition, each house will have metal siding and roofing, and there will be at least 30 feet between houses. Corporation: We have located a lawyer whose practice involves mostly Texas cooperatives. He is not aware of any housing cooperatives in Texas besides the University student housing cooperatives. A HUD Rural Development Authority representative also said he was not aware of any rural housing cooperatives in Texas. Thus we will be breaking new ground in setting up our corporate structure. The principle legal documents defining a housing cooperative are the Articles of Incorporation, the Bylaws, the Policies and Procedures, and the Proprietary Lease. A draft of the Articles has been completed, posted onto fmf-lbc, and sent to the lawyer for review. The Bylaws and Lease are being drafted, while sections of the Bylaws are being posted. Conclave: The books on SEE prepared for the conclave were given to each attendee. Sam Liebowitz spoke on SEE, and the SEE planning group sponsored a hopitality suite each night. The net result was a wider understanding of the SEE project as the first FMF colony and identification of a few more potential investors and settlers. In the business meeting, a motion was passed to recognize SEE as an FMF project, while noting its legal separation from the FMF. Colonist survey: Jodi del Pozo put together a set of questions for potential settlers. Most potential settlers filled this out, and the results led to some very active discussions on fmf-lbc. Among the topics discussed were cars, roads, and internal transportation; spacing of housing; Wicca and SEE; home schooling; ownership and safe use of construction and other tools; library; ADA; conduct of small businesses.
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