As many of you know, over the past year or two we have worked to reduce the administrative and financial overhead of managing the Chilbo Community as people’s priorities and interests have changed. Those changes were largely successful, but the core of the community infrastructure has still been largely supported by just a few people.
Personally, my own interests have changed quite a bit in the last few years and I am spending more of my professional and personal time with the Opensim and Unity platforms than in Second Life. Though I greatly value Chilbo and all of the terrific things we’ve done together, my passion and focus has moved on and the time has come for me to wind down my financial support of the Chilbo Community lands. Since I’m the single largest tier donor of the community, this means that we’ll need to do some further reorganizing.
I’ve discussed this with the administrative team and together we decided that the best thing to do moving forward is to transition from a mixed use land model of community land (tier donations) + private ownership to a fully private ownership model. This means when the transition is complete, no land will be owned by the group or supported by tier donations – instead each person will need to purchase land from the group individually and financially support their own use of land and prims.
We recognize that this is a big change, and want to work with each person in the community to try to accommodate everyone’s needs. The group itself will remain and as soon as the land issues are settled, several folks have volunteered to take on the group ownership role so we can continue to communicate with and support one another in our endeavors in Second Life. At that point, I will effectively resign from my post as Land Steward and Executive Director of the community.
We’ve tried to anticipate your questions and concerns about the transition, and the information below will hopefully address some of them, but we’ll also be holding a Town Hall meeting on Saturday, June 9 2012 @ 11AM SLT to address any other questions you may have. You can also feel free to contact me personally, preferably by email to fleep.tuque@gmail.com, or of course in-world (though my IMs are often capped if I am offline).
In addition, over the next few weeks as community members make their wishes known, we will have a map at the entrance of the Town Hall marking people’s intended purchases and land still available so everyone can see who is planning to purchase what. We want this process to be as transparent as possible to avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.
We hope to find a good solution for every member of the community as we make this transition to the new private ownership model.
Private Land Ownership Transition Q&A
Q: What’s the timeline for these changes to occur?
A: Community members have until June 30, 2012 to make arrangements to purchase the land they wish to use or support. On July 1, 2012, any community owned land not already purchased by a community member will be placed for public sale. By July 31, 2012, any community land not sold to a community member or the public will be abandoned to Governor Linden.
Q: What will happen with the community supported spaces like sidewalks, parks, and the Town Hall?
A: We don’t know, exactly. We are hoping that individual supporters in the community will be willing to purchase that land and continue to support some of the community infrastructure, but if not, those lands will be placed for sale to the public and/or abandoned to Governor Linden as described above. The goal is to have no land owned by the group when the transition is complete on July 31, 2012.
Q: I am already a private landowner, how does this change effect me?
A: This change should have no effect on your personal landholdings at all, however you may be impacted in the sense that the community lands and infrastructure might be changing or going away. If you might be willing to purchase some of this land, sidewalk lanes, or other infrastructure to financially support it, please let Fleep know.
Q: I am currently renting a house/apartment/land, what should I do?
A: If you wish to purchase land, please contact Fleep as soon as possible (see below) to discuss your options. If you do not wish to purchase land, the rental boxes will be shut off on July 1st and refunds given for any remaining time on the rentals. You should plan to vacate the rental space by July 1, 2012.
Q: The land I am using is currently owned by the group, what do I need to do?
A: You should decide as quickly as possible what land you may want to purchase from the group and communicate that in email tofleep.tuque@gmail.com. Be sure to look carefully at your prim use for existing builds to ensure that you are purchasing enough land (square meters) to support it. Many folks have taken advantage of the community prim pool to have builds that exceed the supported prims on a specific piece of land – after the transition that won’t be possible, so be sure to purchase enough land to support your use.
Priority will be given to existing users and builds, i.e. we will do our best to make sure you can purchase what you’re already using or enough land to support your current builds. However, if you decide NOT to purchase land, you should plan to move or dismantle your builds by July 1, 2012. On July 1st, any land not sold to a community member will be cleared and placed for public sale.
Q: How much will it cost per meter to buy the land from the group?
A: Land will be sold to existing community members at the rate of $1L/sq m. After July 1st, land will be placed for public sale at prevaling market rates.
Q: I still have questions, who do I contact?
A: Email fleep.tuque@gmail.com or plan to attend the Chilbo Town Hall on June 9th @ 11AM SLT.
As I said, I know this is a big change and I and the other community leaders will do our best to work with everyone. I am certainly grateful to so many of you who have worked to support and maintain the Chilbo Community all these years and I hope that the networking and support aspect of our community will remain regardless of the land model changes.
Thanks for your patience in advance and I look forward to discussing your plans moving forward.
Sincerely,
Fleep Tuque
Land Steward & Executive Director
Chilbo Community
