I. AURA-O HOUSING A. POLICY 1. 2. AURA-O has determined that it is in the best economical interest of the Organization to construct, maintain and furnish living quarters within the La Serena Recinto for its regular, full-time AURA-O Expatriates. No housing will be provided to AURA-O Expatriates who may chose to become permanent residents of Chile. AURA-O currently maintains in the La Serena Recinto a 9-unit dormitory, 28 houses, and two bachelor apartments (Casa #15A-15B). Most houses are conveniently equipped with basic furniture, home appliances, curtains and carpeting. The apartments do not have freezers, washers or driers, but their occupants share the facilities of a common Laundry Building. B. PROCEDURES 1. Assignment of Housing: The assignment of housing shall be the sole prerogative of the Director/AURA-O. In general, available housing shall be assigned in the following order of priorities, top priority first: regular, full-time, resident AURA-O Expatriates (excluding permanent residents of Chile); visiting astronomers, physicists or engineers on medium-term research/consulting agreements of (1) to (12) months; non-chilean members of the staffs of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Las Campanas Observatory (CARSO) in need of temporary housing for (1) to (12) months; short-term visitors (family members and friends) of resident AURA-O Expatriates for periods of (1) to (6) weeks. In line with the above priorities, it shall be the policy of AURA-O to keep its housing as fully occupied as possible, not only to ensure rental income on its investment in the housing, but because occupied housing is usually better maintained and offers less threat of vandalism and insect/rodent infestation than does unoccupied housing.
2. Rents: 1. all categories of occupants mentioned in par B (1) above shall pay rent for the housing occupied, either on a personal expense or under the special sponsorship of the correspondingly hosting AURA-O Projects or Programs. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Director/AURA-O shall publish a list of monthly rents to be paid for each housing unit on the Compoun Two rental rates shall be assigned to each housing unit: The lower rate shall apply for: regular, full-time, resident, AURA-O Expatriates; visiting astronomers, physicists, engineers and consultants; short-term visitors of resident AURA-O Expatriates. 2. No rental contract or lease is required in these cases. The higher rate, based on rentals charged to its employees by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), shall apply for short-term renters from either ESO or CARSO. A formal rental contract or lease is required in these cases. e. Rental rates may be revised in mid-year on account of budgeting or financial needs. Utilities (heating, gas, cooking gas and water) shall NOT be included in these monthly rates. Charges for utilities will be based upon exact, monthly metering readings, and the resulting charges thereof will be added monthly to the account of the residents. While each house and apartment is equipped with a telephone tied to the Observatory's switchboard and dial system (and thereby to the local commercial system), AURA-O will assume the cost of only local service and any official long-distance phone calls. Residents shall be personally responsible for reporting to the switchboard operator any personal longdistance calls made or to be made. Private telephone lines other than those just described are not included in the house rents except where the Director /AURA-O has authorized their installation in the homes of key executives; here again, AURA-O will assume the cost of only local service and any official long-distance phone calls.
f. g. Residents will assume a designated proportion of the cost of security services according to a pre-determined agreed for annual tariff. Payment of Rents: Regular, full-time, resident AURA-O Expatriates or Chilean Hires shall have the monthly rent for their houses withheld from their paychecks. In case of the AURA-O Expatriates, it shall be the responsibility of the Manager or Financial Services AOSS, to notify NOAO Accounting no later than the 15th of each month of the amounts to be withhel All other renters shall make advance payments for their quarters within the first five days of each month in the case of protracted occupancies, or within the first two days of occupancies of less than a month's duration. In the case of renters from ESO or CARSO, it will be necessary for the renter to pay two months' advance rent before occupying an AURA-O house. One month's advance rent will be refundable when said renter vacates the house provided he/she has cleared all debts to AURA as of the date he/she vacates. 3. 4. Remodeling of Existing Housing: No occupant of AURA-O housing may undertake major modifications of his/her presently occupied or assigned future housing without the prior written approval of the Director/AURA-O. Proposed modifications must be fully detailed and presented to the Director of AOSS for costing. The fully costed list of proposed modifications must then be forwarded to the Director/AURA-O for his/her approval. Once work has commenced on the approved list of modifications, no additional modifications may be added thereto except by the process defined above. In all cases, and depending upon the budget of AOSS at the time, the Director/AURA-O may direct that the occupant assume part or all of the cost of the proposed modifications. Maintenance of Housing and Grounds: AURA-O shall assume the responsibility for repairing and maintaining in good condition the housing, utilities, and company-furnished major appliances in company quarters. No changes in the basic structure or painting of the housing units shall be undertaken by the occupants
without the prior written approval of the Director/AURA-O. AURA-O shall also assume the responsibility of maintaining the grounds of unoccupied housing. All requests for repairs or maintenance of either buildings or grounds in either the compounds in La Serena, Cerro Tololo or Cerro Pachon shall be submitted by the appropriate Program to AOSS on a maintenance request, copy attache Such requests must be signed by the employeeresident, not one of his/her dependents. Telephoned emergency requests must be confirmed in writing on said form. In the event of the absence of the employee-resident, emergency requests from spouses or housekeepers shall be honore Occupants shall be responsible for the maintenance of lawns, gardens and plantings immediately surrounding their residences. In this regard, grounds maintenance responsibilities shall be shared by AOSS and the occupants as follows: 1. AURA-O shall supply power lawn mowers for common use by the occupants or their private gardeners who will observe the following rules in making use of the mowers: To ensure the availability of the mowers to the families in the compound, AOSS Operations in La Serena will establish a usage calendar. The mowers shall be stored in the La Serena Garage or Compound tools-shed and shall be returned there immediately after each scheduled use. Persons who are scheduled to use the mowers on Saturday or Sunday shall sign out the machines on Friday afternoon; they will be responsible for the mowers until they can be returned on Monday morning. Malfunctioning or damaged mowers shall be reported upon returning the machines to the Garage. If a user maltreats a mower or fails to comply with the preceding rules, he/she will be reported to his/her employer. After three such reports, the user shall be deprived of the use of Observatory mowers. 2. All other garden tools and supplies shall be the responsibility of the occupants. Top soil and grass seed shall be the responsibility of AURA-O only under the following circumstances: When construction work, such as the digging of utility trenches, has ruined the lawns or gardens of a renter;
When a rare, but heavy, rainfall may have caused severe erosion on a property due to inadequate storm drains within the compoun In all other cases, occupants shall be expected to procure their own grass seed from local vendors. 3. No trees shall be removed without the prior approval of the Director of AOSS. Removal of diseased, dead or threatening trees shall be performed by Maintenance personnel or outside contractors, depending upon the size of the trees. Those residents who wish to plant trees or hedges shall so inform AOSS Operations in La Serena in order to preclude possible damage to roadways, water lines, sewer lines, and so on. Budget permitting, the AURA-O corporate gardeners will provide seedlings for such purposes. 4. When not reserved to make mulch, the debris resulting from the maintenance of gardens and trees shall be gathered, preferably in plastic bags available in the Bodega, in a place easily accessible by garbage trucks; in no case shall such refuse be left on the Recinto's roads or other places where it might obstruct traffic or prove offensive to neighbors. Refuse created on weekends after the Saturday morning garbage pick-up should be deposited in the cans in the garbage collection bin located between the Garage and the Instrument Shop. Because the eucalyptus trees currently prevalent on the Compound have proved to be extremely dirty and dangerous, no more trees of this species shall be plante The corporate gardener can recommend a wide variety of cleaner and equally or more beautiful trees as substitutes. When stumps of felled eucalyptuses develop new spouts, the sprouts shall be pruned to bush height to prevent further trouble with the trees. 5. Privacy: Occupied AURA-O housing shall be given every consideration due private homes. Except in cases of emergency (fire, gas leaks, water leaks, et), it shall be unlawful for anyone except the renter, his/her dependents, and his/her authorized family members/friends to enter his/her dwelling without his/her prior approval. In cases of actual or expected emergency the Director/AURA-O or the AOSS Director may enter and inspect a dwelling, observing all the normal courtesies practicable. 6. Termination of Occupancy: In the case of renters from ESO and CARSO, tenants shall vacate housing in accordance with the terms of their individual leases.
7. In the case of AURA-O visitors/consultants, tenants shall vacate housing in accordance with their agreements with the Director/AURA-O. In the case of regular, full-time employees of AURA-O who have been terminated because of the expiration of their contracts or because of financially dictated reductions-in-force, the employee shall normally have the right to remain in his/her house for up to 45 days following his/her date of termination, the needs of the Observatory permitting. This period can be extended by the written authority of the Director/AURA-O. The exemployee shall pay the normal rent for the house during the period he/she has been authorized to occupy it after his/her detachment. Medium and Long-term Absences: Regular, full-time, resident employees who absent themselves from AURA-O for periods of from (2) to (12) months on sabbaticals, leaves without pay, special assignments at other observatories, et, may continue to rent their homes and keep them otherwise unoccupied during their absences. If, on the other hand, they choose not to pay rent for the housing during their absence, they must collect their personal belongings into a single bedroom of the house where the goods will be stored during their absence. AURA-O then reserves the right to rent the remainder of the house to authorized renters. AURA-O assumes no financial responsibility for the goods left stored in the house. Subject to the written approval of the Director/AURA-O, house-sitters may be brought in to occupy and guard a house during the extended absence of a staff member who continues to pay rent on the house.