Dear Members and Friends of the Hyde Park Co-op,
The Chapter 7 Filing was initiated on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. David Herzog is the Bankruptcy Trustee and has begun his work. It will take him time to become familiar with the case and perform all the tasks needed.
He will contact the creditors, consider the claims of those who can substantiate them, hire an accountant to do the tax returns, and do other tasks necessary.. He will also receive the Co-op mail when the change of address is completed. When his work is done, he will make recommendations as to what documents and records need to be retained. Eventually, I plan to turn over historical files to Regenstein, where other Co-op historical items are.
Scott Clar, our lawyer, and I met briefly with Mr. Herzog and described our concerns about the background of the failure of the Co-op. We particularly mentioned the agreement between the Co-op, Certified, and the University of Chicago. We also mentioned the Minutes of Executive Board sessions of the last 2 years of the Co-op's existence. Mr. Herzog recorded the contact information for the Minutes. Mr. Herzog had never been to the Co-op, but had heard about it.
In the meantime, the business of the Board has been frozen. We do not know how long the Chapter 7 process will take. I will retain the files that I have in my home until I can legally transfer them elsewhere, and we will retain any other sources of records that might be needed for Mr. Herzog's work. Some of our records are at Iron Mountain Storage, and may be needed.
If you have questions at this time, please let me know by phone or e-mail. I will convey them to Scott to be answered by him or the trustee. In addition, the W-2's for 2008 for the employees were finally produced and sent. About 24 have been returned to the Co-op's mailing address as undeliverable. Hope Mueller is making an effort to find those folks. If you know of anyone who has not received a 2008 W-2, please ask that person to contact me.
My phone number is (773) 288-8196. My e-mail address is joan1321@yahoo.com I will be away from Chicago from July 18-Labor Day. During that time, I will probably not be able to respond to e-mails.
I also plan to scan and retain a disc of the proceedings of the Friends of the Co-op Group and related material. This material should be added to the historical files in Regenstein. If any of you have material related to the Co-op's history and activities, let me know. Regenstein's capacity and interest in certain items is limited, but one never knows for sure what may be important now or in the future.
There are other Co-ops out there, and an idea for health co-op groups to be part of the Obama Administration's Health Care Reform has recently surfaced.
Sincerely yours,
Joan Staples, President of the Board