Community Village Meeting Notes 1-11-2024
Council present: Tim, Omo, Diane, Sam, David (onsite in red), Kelsey, Nathan, Karla, Sara, Banjo Mike,
Not:
Shadows:
18 via Zoom, about 12 onsite
Agenda:
Set intention
Agenda Review
Fair Announcements
Site Report, David
Confirm Additional Council and/or Shadows
Late night amplified music: discussion
Tree hazard update
Added Items?
Non-Fair announcements
Strokes n Pokes
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Zoom only (waiting for Growers Market connection):
Could use OCF Owl gear for hybrid meetings going forward. John Alexander could facilitate.
To Do in RED
Set intention
Agenda Review
Fair Announcements
What is the status of the dying tree over Little People? Not known by David. Will the tree be dealt with during the off season? Diane will reach out to our BUM.
Site Report, David
Water onsite is at 8’, may come up this weekend for canoeing? Be safe, wear a life vest, stay away from the main river. Bring a cell phone in a waterproof bag, also safer in the parking lots….
Emerald ash borer beetle kills trees, so far not in Oregon but likely on its way. Would be very difficult to make new plantings to replace them, with all the planting and watering, etc. A committee is working on it, as well as assessing future damage and how to respond. Downed wood may need to be double chipped and composted. Monday the OCF Board passed a motion asking the employees to begin a process to help the community to engage when dealing with this threat. The borer is near Clackamas, and hitchhikes on cars, so we should all learn more… Look at trees where you live and, in the Village… the borer likes bottom land. Maybe create a plan – map of Ashs to help create a plan. It takes 2-3 years of infection to really affect the trees.
Consider planting dawn redwoods soon to replace future damage.
Confirm Additional Council and/or Shadows
No additional applicants. Mike will shadow this season.
Late night amplified music: discussion
Jain: Long ago… there was a long discussion concluding no loud music after hours. Party Booby Trap played 8-10pm one year to break that policy. Other events at night were not too loud at all. But the last 2 years a loud band setup and played 10-midnight. The band stated they had to be loud last summer so the rest of the Fair could here them. Was so loud. Let’s re-consent to not have loud music after hours at Fair.
Was there not consensus in Fall meetings? No. We did conclude then that the Fair could not send someone to play unless we gave permission and to deal with it thru consensus ourselves now.
Too loud music can disrupt during Fair interactions, but can be fun at night. We are urged to go look at proposed OCF guideline #9 change, about music permitting provisions and appropriate choices. We should not have a bright line rule for this, rather have a case-by-case decision. Sam: The “café” we did a few years ago was an individual decision, so was Party Booby Trap, so let’s consent on an act each time as a village or Council.
Diane: Another did not like the band’s music last 2 years. Supports Sam’s idea. The new guidelines should reflect the OCF community input goal. Do we all agree that night music will be discussed and consented next summer, focusing on loudness dampened? The village is a family place with kids and big sound late at night is too loud, and bringing in a non-Village audience could be risky in our little village. Don’t start so late. The band is for us, not the whole Fair.
Tim’s Proposal:
We will consider entertainment after hours Friday only if it ends by 10pm, sound level
does not exceed our village area, and is approved by Village though consensus or
consented by Council if Village is not available.
We still do the campfire singalong on Saturday nights! People can always find a party somewhere at Fair, we don’t need to supply one. Where we sleep should be peaceful, not a party. Yet still open for a special event, just not a challenge to survive.
The band last summer offered to play for Village. They used their own sound system.
One issue is the fact that the band would not turn down. Council has authority to make them turn down. Some disagree that “10pm” is not needed. Maybe just delegate somebody authorized to say yes to entertainment as it might be too last minute for Council, but Council does that kinda thing routinely.
There is sound creep. We always have authority to turn music down.
No need to complicate things, we can always make changes in the future. Let’s separate issues, and say there’s no amplified music after closing. In a separate decision, we can discuss whether and how to delegate authority to council to make exceptions.
Paxton reads from proposed OCF guideline 50. (paraphrased) “Consider others before you turn it up, some are exhausted. Please negotiate agreements ahead of time, amplified events need a permit with a community agreement. Etc….” See above for the link where it is online.
Path forward: a group get together to create a proposal, starting with Tim’s. Compromises may be needed, and is better than no rules. Find language that captures sensibility aesthetic. Some like no amplification at night. We do hire bands for the Fair, not just for us in Village. It builds interest in the Fair public.
No consensus yet.
Committee members to work on this: Karla, Tim, Chaone, Plaedo, Adrian, Sara. All interested are invited to come to Council meeting next week via Zoom. Tim will convene it, get a recommendation by next month.
I think there are big points that everyone agrees on: the village is a place we want to be chill and not host lively parties. All of these proposals are getting at those conclusions/guidelines, I think any of them are fine and would be effective in getting what we want so long as things like “loud” music are defined in a useable way as pointed out and that if anyone flagging that music is “loud” or arbitrarily too late at night could allow anyone to shut down music not to their tastes
Tree hazard update
See above.
Added Items?
Non-Fair announcements
A list of which meetings we are having where/when is needed for OCF calendar. Tim will do this.
Gwenyth passed 2+ years ago and had a celebration of life onsite. This event was recorded by Adrian and is now on the Village YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUltaezAgHM
Eugene Weekly is having benefit 6pm-late at Old Nicks this weekend.
It’s cold out, donate stuff to WhiteBird!!
KindTree has 2 art shows going on now. At Valley River near the arcade, and now at the Eugene Library on the 2nd floor. Awesome. KT is needing board members and volunteers for events. tim@kindtree.org
Another event happening from Plato, at Big Dirty next weekend.
Cat says Hi. We turned down the Village last summer after 2 years in Little Village to do Fair childcare, and Cat wants to be part of the village doing something in 2024. Keep coming to meetings and connect with Tim to share more info and get on the DRUM. ocfcvcc@gmail.com
Cecelia is still an active Scout and will have cookies next month! Can you taste the thin mint right now??
Dragon Rose band is benefiting White Bird Jan 19 at Whirled Pies.
Saturday 13th March Sat 1:00 near Whole Foods to support Palestinians.
Strokes n Pokes
Sound Guideline Committee members:
Chaone chaonemallory@gmail.com
Plaedo: mcplaedo@gmail.com
Adrian: toomanyfun@gmail.com
Sara: saralynnsweatt@gmail.com
Karla: kjcaudell@gmail.com
Tim: TGM@peak.org
Community Village 