Board of Directors Meeting Notes June 4

Greene Hill Board of Directors Meeting Notes (Revised) 06.04.13

Attending: Aaron (remote) April Christina DK Lawrence Nick Pablo Shawn Recording: M. Randazzo

1) May BOD Notes

• Notes from last meeting approved. 

2) Review BOD Responsibilities

• Nick responsible for meeting dates to website

• Events committee will prepare GM agenda for June/July

• Dates for June and July GM are on the website; Shawn will double check dates for other meetings

• Matias IT, set up a forward to Board for steering committees items – get out info to various concerned parties. <who will follow up with Matias?>

• April – DK help to get the newsletter out on time

• GM – Pablo needs help to makes GMs more lively; April will help out in the fall. Need liaison – Christina? -  with events committee for June to create a compelling agenda.

• GM notes from May need to be posted; webmaster will post on 6/20 

3) Financial Activities

• Shawn walk through specific financial activities with Christina; use ATM deposits rather then leave cash in store (unless open hours at the bank). Deposit only Capital One ATM card for these transactions. Christina will coordinate w/Shawn as soon as possible; DK is likely other Capital One account holder (Christina will determine)

• Pablo – ISP service – favors MegaPath for a faster, more reliable service for two phone lines and Internet service; Verizon is another choice; both carry no installation fee; replace TieWarner (TW) service due to recent rate hike. MegaPath will provide 20 MPS 3x as fast as current TW rate. Slow Internet service hinders shift planning

• Board is in favor of MegaPath for a 3-year contract; board will review contract and then Pablo will ask MegaPath to execute the service change.

• April, recommends a fax machine service; Pablo will research install of fax line

• Refunds to members:

  • Nick question of transparency; review of refund policy in light of pending renovations. Members likely unclear about refund policy; former members expressed frustrations with inconsistent policy.

  • April, need a realistic timeline for processing said requests. Who is administering this practice and what are the clear guidelines for generating refunds?

  • Christina: clear practice is ideal but not always feasible given responsibilities.

  • April – concerned that this issue is creating a poor impression in the larger community.

  • Shawn – ideal is a speedy transaction;

  • Christina/Lawrence 60 - 90 days for refunds is reasonable

  • Lawrence  - leave refunds to the discretion of the board.

  • Christina – have been over and above stated $150 amount; unclear what is considered a deposit and what might be construed as a donation to GHFC

  • Nick – need language for the membership application

  • April – membership language needs to be amended immediately to say that any amount over and above the $150 fee is considered a donation to the GHFC

  • Pablo – “avocado” $$ is not refundable

  • April – board decide the language; need to be done immediately <who will confirm this?>

4) Our Guiding Principles (DK)

• Tabled until next meeting. Looking at how we communicate GHFC principles.

• Language to best describe our mission.

• Marketing will meet to describe the message <who will arrange with Marketing/DK?>

 5) Committees

• Lawrence – Membership and Finance are required to report at GM; others can report as needed

• April – committees feel disconnected; need someone to tie their activities together. Reinstitute having a member for every committee to be present at the GM

• Lawrence – too much to request committee attendances; they are currently stretched – no time to be present. Make it voluntary

• April – set up a calendar for attendance at GM; board has a regular update of what are key concerns for committee membership.

• Christina – look for something of substance from committees

• Nick – ask a committee to present a specific concern; ask the website committee to present to create an engaging presentation

• April – have merchandise bring in a vendor to; Christina, have a discussion about how the merch committee works. April will ask John Wepking <sp?> to present at a future GM

Liaison Concept:

• Committees@email - Nick’s concern is that there’s little communication between the board and committees. Liaison concept is ideal; but GHFC is not recruiting enough new members. Outreach may not be communicating effectively with other groups.

  • Nick  - how do we find time to digest all this information? How do we future think with this information?

  • April – look to distribute the responsibility; not the same 10 people doing all the work; Giselle’s ideas of parking lots; need to keep moving forward. Board need to think how we revamp these meeting sessions and divide the tasks.

  • Lawrence – liaison is responsible for being a resource for his/her committee. A general idea of what their committee’s concerns/key stats are – top 3 items. Board responsible for communicating down to co-chairs.

  • April – will draft the form for the liaison concept – send to board to review

• April – generic format for a monthly dialogue/update – allows committees to expand on key issues/concerns. Way to focus priorities

• Christina – Need a form that address committee concerns in a timely fashion.

• April - Board need a calendar year map to understand peaks and valleys of GHFC business model

• State of play of committees (Aaron)

  • Board members are handing off co-chair committee responsibilities; question of transition – Allison promotion, take on lead in operational matters. All board members removed as co-chairs on the website; transition is slated to happen by July 4. Need to communicate to members/recruit new individuals to step into these responsibilities. This is a one-to-one process conducted by board members recruiting select individuals

  • DK – marketing is a challenge; need new person to step up to this responsibility

  • Nick - membership a focus of the board in July; needs assistance to focus the board on this issue; hand things off as well as strategize.

• April- board needs to prioritize for the near future; what are achievable goals; entice people in committees to be more engaged/energized; taking steps forward to a larger goal rather than a maintenance situations.

• Christina – have committed new members to assume committee responsibilities.

August GM situation – DK – leaning to no GM

• Use August as month for reflection/considering concerns regarding future responsibilities. A slow month without onsite meetings; communicate by e-mail.

• Governance issue; is the GHFC required to have an August meeting? No board meeting as well;

• Board maintenance meeting <when is this date?>

• Board Working meeting Tuesday in August 6

Question from member, Sarah Hughes:

• “Can we determine if we have too much labor on committees v. in the Store? Are there some committees who have too many members and others with too few?”

• Board believes that given current committee membership this is not an issue

Governance Proposal; bylaws predate the GM;

• Silas’ document; look at wording; update to website

• MR will post comments from Amanda on the bylaws on the website – to be posted on 6/20

• Question of how the board works with committees;

• Pablo – some e-mails go into Governance and don’t come out; how to streamline? Board would like consistency; Lawrence reach out to Governance to determine what need to happen with bylaws

 6) Update on rodent proofing process – also discuss renovation project

• April – five quotes about renovation. Has a solid contractor for this work. Mohammad/MK Contracting bid $20,500 for the renovation; local contractor, has a clear scope with an accurate budget. Project priority is to rodent proof the facility, a bear-bones estimate to make the building secure from rodents. Streamlined the scope to support an essentials list, electrical work is off the scope. All in the service of lowest price quote possible. Will get one final quote; in favor of the $20,500 price point – may rise to $22,500 (max)

• Looking for an immediate response from BOD; Mohammad can begin work immediately.

• Project management position for renovation;

• April – need to find person responsible for project management (paid position). Needs higher profile/recruitment as reporting is essential; April has limited time for this responsibility.

• April – continuity is important, a person who is familiar with project and personnel. Flat rate for this position; April will forward Mohammad’s price quote for the project.

• Pablo – ask design/build to find a person for PM

• Nick – need to move a quickly as possible to deal with the rodent problem – need to work towards a deadline; clean out the space by a designated date <confirm that this is 6/17/13>

• Nick –if June 17 with Mohammad is date – need to organize work labor to prep for construction. Pablo designate what should be removed

• Lawrence – need a firmer scope of work for this project; Pablo step up with project management. Need a proper scope of work. Asking April for a clearer scope based on working notes from the contractor interviews. What are we doing for $20,000?

• April – nature of the contractor means that the scope can be simplified. Handed notes to Lawrence for his review.

• DK – April has continuity with the project; needs to meet with Lawrence’s suggested contractor.

• Action step – April will meet with Lawrence’s contractor ASAP based on Lawrence’s revised scope.

• Need to mobilize members to prepare for scope of work; who will generate member-initiated workload, also timeline of specific tasks.

• April – use social media to spread the word about specific tasks; sequence will be dictated by the scope and by a shared commitment to clear out room by June 15.

• Ordering the “pod” (?) – April will place the order. Have permission to place in the backyard. Dropped off, fill, and then be stored. Pablo  - get the pod and have members see this as a destination. The sooner the pod arrives the sooner it will get filled.

• Nick will order the pod.

7) Membership Work Requirement

• Pablo, the membership letter “doesn’t have any bite” – to mobilize membership.

• Nick – no subject and no call to action; needs a sense of urgency.

• Shawn – call to action is to mobilize, select members are not working; not volunteer hours but treat this as a responsibility.

• Nick – after last work cycle 100 people did not work.

• Pablo – need to kick people in the pants about work but not penalize them. People are dropping shift 10 minutes before it’s to start and may be “gaming” the system.

• April – Shawn do a one-over to edit the letter to make it impactful. Have four key points that come across clearly in the letter. April will have the final edit in this document.

• Shawn - Will read and relay what is/is not clear.

• Nick – letter go out by next Tuesday – a week ahead of the newsletter