[SJAAboard] Help on the Houge proposal

Sun Jul 20 21:54:52 MDT 2008

I got home a few minutes ago.  I had a quick look at them.  Tomorrow we will be
just going there to listen (and register our attendance). I will read them in
more detail after I return.

Please forward a copy to Lee and Craig if they do not already have it.

Rob Hawley 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: Rich N [mailto:rnapo at znet.com]
>Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2008 8:13 PM
>To: Business list for SJAA board of directors
>Subject: Re: [SJAAboard] Help on the Houge proposal
>
>Hi Rob,
>
>Please have a look at the notes Phil sent to the board the other day about the
>meeting tomorrow with the city.  I've forwarded you a copy.
>
>Thanks,
>Rich
>
>
>>
>> This was written rather quickly so please understand if the spell/grammar
>> checker did not catch something.
>>
>> My family appreciated my spending the evening with them instead of clock
>> watching waiting until I went to SJAA.  I got zillions of brownie points.
>>
>> I understand from Robert and Craig that you found my recording to be useful.
>I
>> am happy that Lee suggested it.  Time was short and that allowed me to bring
>you
>> all up to speed more quickly.
>>
>> You already accomplished the most important item for our successful bid. You
>> prevented the board from imploding.  You even managed to get Mark back on
>board.
>> Now we can focus on providing the city with the most compelling proposal we
>can.
>> Don't assume this is a done deal.
>>
>> We need to have a lawyer review at least Exhibit A.  Exhibit A is our formal
>> statement of what we are going to do. It is the core of our contract.   I
>have
>> included the current draft in its current state below. See if you can get a
>pro
>> bono lawyer in the next week.  The rest of the document is our sales pitch or
>> city mandated boilerplate.  I suspect we will have little ability to change
>the
>> latter, but I will ask my lawyer about that as well.
>>
>> Evan from GSSP said he would do it, but did not return my emails. If you
>don't
>> have any luck I will see if my trust attorney is willing to review it.  She
>owes
>> me a favor anyway.  If not, the two Roberts will pay her.  I expect it will
>not
>> take her that long.
>>
>> Thank you David for the speakers list.  The current draft has the last and
>next
>> six months in it. The city admonished us to hold down the length of our
>> presentation, however, selectively including some of the former speakers like
>> Alex Filippenko is more powerful than burying them in an exhaustive list.
>>
>> There are three areas that I asked Lee to highlight
>>
>> CLUB HISTORY (particularly with respect to Houge)
>> This is a black hole to me.  Someone needs to flesh this out completely.  We
>> need to track down as much of the Houge Neighborhood Association as we can.
>We
>> need to track down the maintenance guy that gave us the great recommendation
>at
>> the 2005 meetings between Mike and the city. Having members of the community
>> throw their arms around us significantly strengthens our argument.  Mike
>would
>> be a significant help in this.
>>
>> EXPERIENCE AND CAPABILITIES
>> I have a pretty good start on this section.  We should expand it and include
>> numbers where we have them.  Again we were admonished to keep the proposal
>short
>> so this needs to have high impact without being overly long.
>>
>> REFERENCES
>> We need to check with every name we offer to confirm we can use them.  So
>far,
>> the only confirmation I received was from FPOA.  I would also like to
>reference
>> PAS and their observatory. That is another volunteer operated public/private
>> program.  I was not able to contact the professor at West Valley.  We need to
>> include one or two teachers from the school program.  Ozer being the head of
>> AANC might also be interesting.  Some recognizable SETI or NASA person would
>> help.
>>
>>
>> The executive summary is basically our city letter. I have tried to highlight
>> our biggest argument that our use will likely not compete with other uses.
>>
>> When I return I am going to focus most of my efforts on Exhibit A and the
>> Public/Private partnership. These sections will contain most of the meat with
>> respect to what we are going to do contractually.
>>
>> Finally, we need someone who is a beter proophreader than I too review th
>> finally document.
>>
>> I am going to record some notes after the Monday meeting.  I hope I can make
>the
>> recording available in form that will be useful.
>>
>> ------------------------
>>
>> EXHIBIT A
>> DESCRIPTION OF SCOPE OF SERVICES, TIMES AND DATES AND LOCATION OF PROGRAM
>> PREMISES
>>
>> The San Jose Astronomical Association agrees to continue its existing
>> educational public programs at and around Houge Building One.
>>
>> SJAA operates on a lunar and not Gregorian Calendar therefore all commitments
>> are in terms of lunar months. All telescope viewing events are subject to
>> weather. "Weather" in this context means anything that obstructs a clear view
>of
>> the sky including clouds, high humidity either at the surface or aloft, or
>haze.
>> SJAA may elect to cancel these with 2 hours notice posted on our website.
>>
>> Telescope Viewing (aka Star Parties) is defined as one or more members of
>SJAA
>> or associated amateur astronomers making their scopes available for viewing
>by
>> the general public.  We use the sidewalk between the tennis courts and the
>> parking lot.  SJAA can not commit to a definite number since the participants
>> are volunteers.  If the weather is poor it may reduce participation even
>though
>> SJAA has not cancelled the event.
>>
>> a. CONTRACTOR agrees to provide the following community serving program and
>> services ("Community Services") at the Program Premises:
>>
>> 1. Provide 24 opportunities for telescope viewing (aka star parties) each
>> 12 lunar months.
>> 2. Provide additional star parties for special events such as lunar
>> eclipses, when the board feels we can do so.
>> 3. Provide 9 beginner level astronomy classes per 12 lunar months.
>> 4. Provide 10 advanced lectures per 12 lunar months.
>>
>> b. All SJAA programs will occur between 7 PM and morning twilight on
>weekdays.
>> We will generally schedule from 6 PM to midnight on the full moon Saturday.
>The
>> Star Parties and beginner classes are scheduled on Friday nights.
>>
>> c. SJAA requires no city funding or personal to run its programs.
>>
>> SJAA shall, at its own expense, make its schedule available to the local
>> community via community groups, direct mailings, or signage at Houge Park (if
>> permitted by PRN) at its discretion.
>>
>> d. We must still be able to control the parking lot and building one lights.
>>
>> e. The city shall not operate the park sprinklers between Houge building one
>and
>> the parking lot or between the parking lot and the tennis courts before 1 AM
>to
>> prevent damage to the volunteers' equipment
>>
>> f. We are granted key access to Houge Building One and the park bathrooms.
>We
>> will insure that both are locked at the end of any public program.
>>
>> g. SJAA is permitted two floating meetings per month each after 7 PM.
>>
>> h. SJAA is permitted to conduct two events whose effect will be to gather
>> donations, but also serve the astronomy community. During each of these
>events
>> SJAA will use Houge Park from 8 AM Saturday morning to 8 PM Sunday night.
>>
>> 1. Provide a rummage sale type event ("the swap") that gives the public the
>> ability to buy miscellaneous small parts and telescopes.
>> 2. Provide an auction type event that allows the public to sell larger new
>> and used equipment
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Rob Hawley
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>
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