Okay so it was just brought to my attention that Monday the 18th is MLK day. That means that some of you will have the day off and I don't want to make you go to a meeting on a day off, so lets change the date. (sorry, I just never get those days off so I forget when they are!). So let's do Monday the 11th. I know that brings up the meeting a week, but this will also give us more time to figure out any questions that come from this meeting.
So lets do 7pm still.
thanks,
Ashley
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Nicaragua Construction Meeting
Hi all,
I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and will be ready to gear up for the next two months of preparation for our trip to Nicaragua in the end of February/beginning of March. It is coming so quickly!!
I would like to have a meeting on Monday January 18th at 7pm at the Fremont Service Center. This meeting will cover the budget for the project as well as the construction portion of the project. If you are traveling to Nicaragua with us, have construction experience, have managerial experience, or are just interested in participating in the ongoing preparation for the trip, please try to attend this meeting! I am setting it a few weeks out so that everyone has time to think about the aspects involved in the implementation of this project. I will be addressing the team leads below depending on what part of the project we are discussing, but if you have any input on any of these topics, please feel free to contact me, the team leads, or bring your suggestions to the meeting. Please come prepared to discuss the following topics:
Budget
-we will discuss the budget that I will have created
-talk about any extra expenses that might come up
-decide on a reasonable "fluff" amount to be added in in case of emergencies, etc.
-more detailed budgeting of rain catchment materials
-discuss reasonable budgeting for irrigation side with knowledge of agronomist progress/Agros funding
Construction Safety
- We will go over the construction health and safety plan and talk about the importance of construction safety.
Availability of Construction Materials
- Rain Catchment - Kari, we already have a working list of necessary items and I think that we know that most of these are available in Nicaragua, but lets make sure by confirming with the agronomists
Constructability of project
- Irrigation - Erin, it would be good if we could coordinate another skype call with the agronomists in Nicaragua before this meeting so that we have a better idea of where they are on the pump installation/irrigation side of the project and therefore know what will be required of our time when we arrive.
- Rain Catchment - I would like to discuss the best conditions for the placement of the tanks so that we are all aware of what to look for at site. I would also like to discuss how we will be attaching the gutters to the hacienda roof and the best engineering practices associated with that work.
Construction Schedule
- Irrigation and pumping - I have a feeling that this will be a bit hard to gauge if we don't know the exact progress on this side of the project, but we need to discuss possibilities.
- Rain Catchment - I think we can put a reasonable schedule together for this portion of the project.
Troubleshooting
-It will be a good idea to put together a list of troubleshooting ideas for the pump/irrigation & the rain catchment system.
-Please come to the meeting with materials that you think we should carry with us to Nicaragua that could help us in the troubleshooting process ( i.e. pump manual, pump report for reference, rice university rain catchment report, other rain catchment documentation, possible contacts in Nicaragua that are relevant to these projects?)
Wish List
- If by chance we get ahead of schedule on the project and finish early, or if we finish within our time alotted (we will be allowing a couple of fluff days), we will have some time to do other assessment work or visit other communities in Nicaragua. We should make a list of these and prioritize so that we use our time most wisely.
Okay, so as you can see we have a few important but likely fairly straightforward topics to discuss in anticipation to our arrival in Nicaragua. Just as a note, this meeting is different from those being held by Juan Lara, which I am sure he will be sending out emails for shortly so that he can have help on the health education and o&m manuals for the project.
Hope to see you all on the 18th!!
Have a wonderful New Year!
Ashley
I hope you are all enjoying the holidays and will be ready to gear up for the next two months of preparation for our trip to Nicaragua in the end of February/beginning of March. It is coming so quickly!!
I would like to have a meeting on Monday January 18th at 7pm at the Fremont Service Center. This meeting will cover the budget for the project as well as the construction portion of the project. If you are traveling to Nicaragua with us, have construction experience, have managerial experience, or are just interested in participating in the ongoing preparation for the trip, please try to attend this meeting! I am setting it a few weeks out so that everyone has time to think about the aspects involved in the implementation of this project. I will be addressing the team leads below depending on what part of the project we are discussing, but if you have any input on any of these topics, please feel free to contact me, the team leads, or bring your suggestions to the meeting. Please come prepared to discuss the following topics:
Budget
-we will discuss the budget that I will have created
-talk about any extra expenses that might come up
-decide on a reasonable "fluff" amount to be added in in case of emergencies, etc.
-more detailed budgeting of rain catchment materials
-discuss reasonable budgeting for irrigation side with knowledge of agronomist progress/Agros funding
Construction Safety
- We will go over the construction health and safety plan and talk about the importance of construction safety.
Availability of Construction Materials
- Rain Catchment - Kari, we already have a working list of necessary items and I think that we know that most of these are available in Nicaragua, but lets make sure by confirming with the agronomists
Constructability of project
- Irrigation - Erin, it would be good if we could coordinate another skype call with the agronomists in Nicaragua before this meeting so that we have a better idea of where they are on the pump installation/irrigation side of the project and therefore know what will be required of our time when we arrive.
- Rain Catchment - I would like to discuss the best conditions for the placement of the tanks so that we are all aware of what to look for at site. I would also like to discuss how we will be attaching the gutters to the hacienda roof and the best engineering practices associated with that work.
Construction Schedule
- Irrigation and pumping - I have a feeling that this will be a bit hard to gauge if we don't know the exact progress on this side of the project, but we need to discuss possibilities.
- Rain Catchment - I think we can put a reasonable schedule together for this portion of the project.
Troubleshooting
-It will be a good idea to put together a list of troubleshooting ideas for the pump/irrigation & the rain catchment system.
-Please come to the meeting with materials that you think we should carry with us to Nicaragua that could help us in the troubleshooting process ( i.e. pump manual, pump report for reference, rice university rain catchment report, other rain catchment documentation, possible contacts in Nicaragua that are relevant to these projects?)
Wish List
- If by chance we get ahead of schedule on the project and finish early, or if we finish within our time alotted (we will be allowing a couple of fluff days), we will have some time to do other assessment work or visit other communities in Nicaragua. We should make a list of these and prioritize so that we use our time most wisely.
Okay, so as you can see we have a few important but likely fairly straightforward topics to discuss in anticipation to our arrival in Nicaragua. Just as a note, this meeting is different from those being held by Juan Lara, which I am sure he will be sending out emails for shortly so that he can have help on the health education and o&m manuals for the project.
Hope to see you all on the 18th!!
Have a wonderful New Year!
Ashley
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)