Download 07-23-2013Boardmeeti.. - Seattle Farm Co-op

 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes Tuesday July 23, 2013 Facilitator: Christy Cusick Minutes Taker: Theresa Rooney Attendance: Christy Cusick, Maya Beal, Charmaine Slaven, Nikoel Stevens, Gretchen Siegrist, Theresa Rooney, with guests from Backyard Barter, Kellie Stickney and Joy, Worthen 1. Plant sales report for “Buy two, get one free” promotion 1.1. We sold 21 plant starts between July 19 and July 25, including 9 blueberries, 2 currants, and 10 various plants from Rents Due Ranch. Total sales were $116.40. 1.2. It was decided to immediately mark remaining plants to “Buy one get one free” through the weekend. Christy to communicate to Fynn 2. Backyard Barter (BYB) proposal for combining fall harvest celebrations made by Kellie Stickney and Joy Worthen 2.1. BYB would like to partner with us and combine their annual Urban Food Fair with our annual Harvest Festival/Membership Meeting, rather than holding two separate events. Activities traditional to the BYB event include Pie & Jam Judging, Pie Walk, Kid Zone, and educational sessions in addition to the barter. 2.2. BYB has a budget of $2500 for event space plus $3500 for marketing, food, music, etc. and has volunteered to use their paid staff to help secure a location for the event that takes into consideration weekend availability, parking, ADA compliance, accessibility via public transit, and is cider press‐friendly. The Mountaineers space has not been ruled out. Charmaine to contact The Mountaineers regarding weekend availability on Oct 20 or Oct 27. In addition to The Mountaineers location, the following spaces were mentioned: Miller Community Center, Herban Feast, Rainier Beach Urban Farm. 2.3. It was proposed that 4 hours would be a good duration for the event, with SFC membership meeting at 2:30pm, doors open to the public at 3pm, barter 3:30pm‐
5:30pm, music 5pm‐7pm, with potluck, 10‐minute demonstrations and other activities going on for the duration. Setup would need to be completed prior to the start of the SFC membership meeting. The membership meeting would not be included in advertising to the general public. 2.4. Cut‐off date for space location was agreed to be Aug 16 and BYB will attend the SFC Board Meeting scheduled for Aug 20 (7pm) to discuss results and finalize location decision. 1
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2.5. SFC budget and expenses were identified as follows: 2 kegs at approx. $300 each, printing costs for financials, banners, and other promo materials $200, compostable plates/utensils and non‐alcoholic beverages $150 for an estimated total of $1000. 2.6. After BYB left the meeting, the SFC board considered that the schedule proposed for the event day was probably too early and it was suggested that it might be shifted to 4pm‐5pm for membership meeting, 5pm‐9pm for all other event activities which means the venue should be available from 3pm‐10pm including setup and teardown. It was also realized that the venue must allow alcohol on the premises. Maya to contact BYB about time shift and alcohol requirement. Advertising of board meeting information for members 3.1. Theresa suggested that more members might attend board meetings if the meeting details were posted and that members interested in running for a board seat in the upcoming election would be interested. Maya noted that the application for the election requires attendance at one board meeting. Charmaine said that scheduled board meetings were kept off the public co‐op calendar to prevent people from confusing the meeting with retail business hours. Theresa to draft an email to be sent to the members’ mailer including the regular meeting schedule and instructions to contact the board at [email protected] before attending to make sure the meeting has not been changed. Wish list for co‐op wants and needs 4.1. Theresa volunteered to compile and publish an updated wish at the last meeting and requested that all board members think about what they would like to see on the list. (Lower priority – background task.) All board members to send their wish list items to Theresa. Theresa to go through old wish lists. 4.2. It was suggested that a separate Tool Library Wish List be created. 4.3. Charmaine has secured a rice polisher for the Tool Library. 4.4. Maya has a honey extractor that she is willing to loan to the co‐op Tool Library on a semi‐permanent basis. This opens up new possibilities for the Tool Library and will require a check‐in process particular to tools and equipment that are on loan/stored at the co‐op. Fynn’s shift (on vacation) for Tuesday, Aug 6 needs to be filled, Christy will cover from 2‐4pm and Maya will cover from 4‐7pm. Follow‐up from recent events and support needed for upcoming events 6.1. Greenlife Festival: Nikoel said the event was fun. 6.2. 500th Member Potluck: Nikoel sent an announcement to membership and added details to the web site. It was determined that it was too late to order promotional bumper stickers for this event, but will be considered for future use. Board members will be at the event 3pm – 10pm for setup and teardown. Nikoel to get banquet permit. Charmaine to get one pony keg. Maya, Charmaine and Nikoel will bring coolers to the event. Maya will get 2 cases of soda, compostable plates, plastic cups, and some food from Costco. Theresa will bring 10 bags of ice to the event. 6.3. ACGA pre‐conference event at UW Thurs, Aug 8, 11:30am‐4:30pm: Nikoel will attend and has one volunteer confirmed but may need backup. Theresa and Charmaine to provide backup for Nikoel at this event. 6.4. Delridge Day Festival, August 17, 10:30am‐4:30pm: Two volunteers so far. 2
6.5. Tilth Harvest Fair, Sept 7, 9am‐5pm: Nikoel says half of volunteer need is filled. 7. Warehouse/Stock Discussion 7.1. Tarter Order Update: Tarter folks need new contact information. Christy to ask Fynn if he has Mike’s contact information and vice­versa. Charmaine to write check immediately after meeting. 7.2. Dookashi Sample Review: More board members to test from vendor sample and report results at the next board meeting. 7.3. Live Mealworm Markup: Co‐op purchased 10,000 worms for $80. Fluker Farms sells 5,000 worms for $39.50. Petco sells 5,000 worms for $30.39. Board to revisit pricing and marketing goals in 2 weeks. Maya to order bran from Azure Standard for the mealworms. Nikoel to recruit a volunteer for management/maintenance of the colony. 8. Uberlocal invitations for SFC members 8.1. Uberlocal would like the board to send individual initiations, via email, to all members to get the co‐op on board with beta test. It was agreed that the proposed method for adding members to Uberlocal individually is unreasonable. Nikoel to request that Uberlocal provide a link to a sign up page that we can distribute to all members. 8.2. Kamal Patel and Uberlocal engineering will be working to create a Livestock category for us and would like to meet with Nikoel and Charmaine for specs/requirements. Charmaine suggested that Nikoel provide Kamal with the WSDA Small Farm and Direct Marketing Handbook, aka “The Green Book” ‐ http://agr.wa.gov/marketing/smallfarm/directmarketinghandbook.aspx. 9. Review of financials and inventory adjustments 9.1. Maya introduced and reviewed the April through June 2013 P&L statement and stated that inventory adjustments are very high and should be addressed to minimize impact on net income and to ensure our financial statements accurately represent our financial position. The next inventory is Friday, Aug 2. Theresa to investigate notable adjustments between inventory completion and next board meeting. Review of inventory and resulting adjustments to be given time on the agenda at the next board meeting. 10. Board membership and banking changes 10.1.
We received Amy Stevenson’s resignation from the Board of Directors and agreed to complete banking paperwork removing her from the Co‐Op bank account. In addition all agreed that existing board member Christy Cusick should be added as a signer to the bank account and issued a debit card to maintain coverage and continuity. 10.2.
We reviewed and approved meeting minutes from previous meeting held on July 9, 2013. Action Items: 1. Gretchen to research birding groups and cross‐market 2. Fynn to put together a how‐to on properly using 3 gallon waterers 3. Fynn to send out request for solid plant tray donations to group 4. Charmaine to send tool library DB contact info to Melany 3
5. Charmaine to contact Mountaineers to see what weekends are available for Harvest party 6. Nikoel to get banquet permit for 500 member party 7. Amy & Charmaine to source beer donation 8. Maya, Charmaine and Nikoel to bring coolers for 500 member party 9. Amy to revise pricing spreadsheet 10. Christy to tell Fynn to markdown plant starts for “Buy one, get one free” through the weekend. 11. BYB staff to search for combined Harvest Party/Food Fair event space location until Aug 16 12. BYB representatives to attend SFC board meeting, Aug 20 13. Maya to contact BYB about time shift and alcohol requirement 14. Theresa to draft an email to be sent to the members’ mailer including the regular meeting schedule and instructions to contact the board at [email protected] before attending to make sure the meeting has not been changed. 15. All board members and Fynn to send their wish list items to Theresa. 16. Theresa to go through old wish lists. 17. Christy and Maya to take over Fynn’s shift on Tuesday, Aug 6 18. Charmaine to get one pony keg for 500 member party 19. Maya to get 2 cases of soda, compostable plates, plastic cups, and some food from Costco for the 500 member party 20. Theresa to bring 10 bags of ice to the 500 member party 21. Theresa and Charmaine to provide backup for Nikoel at the ACGA pre‐conference event 22. Christy to ask Fynn if Tarter has his contact information and if Fynn has contact information for Mike at Tarter 23. Charmaine to write check for Tarter order 24. Board members to use Dookashi sample and report results at next board meeting 25. Board to revisit pricing and marketing of live mealworms at next board meeting 26. Maya to order bran from Azure Standard for the mealworms 27. Nikoel to recruit a volunteer for management/maintenance of the mealworm colony 28. Nikoel to request that Uberlocal provide a link to a sign up page that we can distribute to all members. She will also provide WSDA Green Book as a resource for specifications and requirements in development of new Livestock category 29. Theresa to investigate notable adjustments between inventory completion on Aug 2 and the next board meeting 30. Review of inventory and resulting adjustments to be given time on agenda for next board meeting 4