Good Morning Omni Commons Building Users!

See urgent updates and the August newsletter below:

Access Control Alert: 

The day has come for the front door access control change. 

The old access control system: card reader, webpage log in, doorbell, and screening camera have been removed as of Wednesday at 2 pm. 

Today! Thursday, August 21st beginning at 8:30 am a technician will be on site installing the Brivo access control system. All organizations should have sent me their organizational copy of their directory sheets (3 tabs) if you wanted to be included in the initial upload. 

If you receive a Brivo email that means you were designated as a front door access control user and will be prompted to download the free Brivo phone app for automatic door access. If you think that you should have been granted access control but are not seeing an invitation from Brivo by the end of the day tomorrow, please notify me and your organization's point of contact as soon as possible.  

I will be available in person today (August 21st, Monday, August 25th and Tuesday, August 26th afternoon (3-6 pm) if individuals would like help installing or using the app. Although there are only a handful of front door access holders per organization, I would still like to make as many Brivo profiles for your members as possible. That way if future front door access control is needed on a temporary or ongoing basis it can easily be adjusted because folks will already be in Brivo. 

If you believe you should have been given front door access you can reach out to me via email, but please include your organization's point of contact so that we can determine next steps. 

Doorbell Change: CALLI is installing a new battery operated TAPO camera doorbell by the end of the day Thursday, August 21st which will enable me and future designated individuals to verify who is at the door before enabling remote access inside the building.  

Directory: Please continue to add information to the additional two tabs in the directory link above to provide CALLI with the information necessary to track groups points of contact, program activity/hours of operation, as well as general membership. This information is not only vital for the access control but is supporting the development of a building-wide Google calendar, building rules enforcement, and other compliance requests.

ADA Controller: The same company that is installing the access control is working on installing an ADA installer on the front door. The layout of the space will be changing to ensure we can prioritize accessibility into the building. Stay tuned for the upgrade! CALLI has also been talking with Jake from Sudoroom about installing a homegrown alternative for the side door with the orange handle. The timeline for this may take 2-3 additional weeks. If you are requiring ADA compliant access to the building please notify me as soon as possible. You do not need to be one of the designated front door access users for your organization to be given this allowance.

Siding Project: After many months, a false start, and a permit transfer later we are finally scheduled for Monday, August 25th to start on the South wall siding replacement project. The hospital administrative building is really pressuring us to speed the project up to limit the inconvenience on their parking space so please note there may be impacts with noise, and additional people moving through common areas of the building for approximately two weeks. They will be trying to work through Labor Day weekend to finish around September 5th. 

Interior Door: We have nearly received all the necessary approvals from the City of Oakland to move forward with the interior door project we have been discussing for months. Prior to starting the project we will have to make some improvements to the floor. In the coming weeks we will remove the black epoxy on the cement edges of the entrance hall and level the floor with a concrete grinding machine. Please expect to see work notice on lime green paper at least 24 hours ahead of these major projects. For messy projects such as concrete grinding we may be using thin plastic sheeting to section off areas of the building or temporarily turning off access control from the front door to deter people from passing through and tracking dust. If you see these repair obstructions or signage please honor it, and encourage others to do the same. 

Books Moved: Preparation for improvements to the epoxy floor is why bookshelves have been removed from the entrance hall. We will continue to move items out of the area in preparation for the project and phase stored books back into the area at a reasonable pace to integrate better with Free Store. 

PG&E Gas Meter Upgrade: A couple of weeks ago we were engaged by PG&E regarding their ongoing work along Shattuck. They notified us that in the next couple of weeks they would be required to transition our current underground gas meter to one that is affixed to the wall (similar to how most residential properties have their meter.)  The meter will be located close to the CALLI office door/mail slot where the Town Fridge used to be. PG&E is working within their departments to get exemptions to modify their design, since the current outlet poses a clearance issue. We may have to consider relocating the outlet close to the ground but are waiting to hear back from PG&E. No date has been scheduled for the work, and we will be monitoring the situation for any updates. 

 

Display Case: Our first step to improving visibility of information and creating a signage process will go into effect next week. CALLI has purchased 2 display cases to add flyers of events, outreach material, and building information. The first 3 ft x 2ft case will be inside near the entrance. I want to encourage folks to reach out if they want to have materials added. We will also be installing one to the right of the side entrance so that it is more visible as a primary entrance. I would like to limit taped signs on doors to only  notices moving forward. 

Welfare Tax Exemption Requests: CALLI has been scrambling to collect a large amount of detailed information (photos, past event flyers, etc) from each group to highlight "charitable uses" in the building for our tax exemption requests for 2024 & 2025. Our application was deemed incomplete and we have until September 1st to make our claim as first time filers for this exemption. Please be on the lookout for urgent and time sensitive communication from us to get this application through to the finish line. I appreciate everyone who has been responsive and supportive up to this point. As a reminder this will include minor amendments to the leases to make sure that they are more in line with what the County Assessor needs to see.  

On the Horizon:

CALLI-versery: We are approaching 1 year of CALLI Ownership & EBPREC Stewardship! Woo-hoo hopefully yall are not too tired of me yet ;)

Fall Gathering: We are long overdue for another get-together. If anyone is interested in helping plan another building-wide get-together let me know!

Slack Channel: I have gotten a lot of feedback about my building wide communication and it's evident that I need an additional method for sharing real time updates and information. I would like to implement and manage a Slack channel for the building. I will continue to post in other venues, but I would like to invite all the contacts from the membership directory to join Slack in addition to future users. It will be optional, but I think it would be a beneficial addition to notices (required) and my less regular newsletters.

Lastly, I will be OOO (Out Of Omni) from August 27th-September 1st going to ZIon National Park. If you need to get a hold of me, let's try to chat before I leave for my roadtrip or you can reach me via email or the existing methods (Slack channels, signal, etc).

Thanks for reading!!