BOD 5.25.16 Meeting Notes

Board of Directors ~ May. Mtg Wed., May 25, 7.30 - 9.30 pm The Co-op: 18 Putnam Ave, Brooklyn

Facilitator: Christina Note-taker: Shaina Timekeeper: Jeannie

Directors Present: Keith, Jeannie, Christina Directors Absent: Renee Others in attendance: DK Holland, Shaina Garfield, Pierre Andre, Tanya Dwyer (TED), Albert Speranza (Park Slope)

Approve Minutes (1 min.) from previous GM (please read beforehand on the Website)

Consent Agenda (2 min) A collective vote on decisions that have already been made or that don’t generally require/solicit discussion. Attendees can pull out any item they would like more discussion on, and this item will be moved to discussion at the end of the meeting. Information on all consent agenda item votes will be circulated in advance of the meeting.

Finance & Membership Reports - pls include comparison from previous month (5 min)

$1,059,201.84 SALES TO DATE 265.3636364 shoppers $44.50 average per week

  • May’s weekly sales avg is: $12,158.95, down from $500 from previous month
  • Our 2016 weekly sales avg is: $11,717.00
  • April Active membership is: 368, up 16 from March due to letter sent to deactivated members, asking them to come back, no make up necessary!
  • Analysis: we capped at $12,500 weekly last month. Probably won’t go over this until we have more members. Still need ppl to spend $5 more/mo. Heading into summer lull. How can we avoid last year’s financial scare?
  • Follow up on Financial documents (Jeannie 5 min) Wrote to Renee
    • Renee: did not receive anything from Jeannie??

Coordinator check-in (Lauryl, 15 min) -No Lauryl (out sick)

  • Re: Permanent Store Coordinator hires. Timeline for this has been extended a month due to committee capacity-I hope to be sending out times for Board members to interview/confirm Sylvianne, Shannon & Angelica as additional coordinators in late June/early July. Checked in briefly with Bianca about Finances & got an OK on this spending.
  • New coordinators have been doing great so far & operations continue to get smoother/member training & support stronger.
  • Recruited more committee members for critical gaps including Revel Inventory Management Team (Susan has trained a couple more who are now getting started on receiving in Revel), Merchandising (Bulk category buyer + milk buyer have been trained and are currently ordering).

Space (Keith, 30 min)

  • Discuss issues : use of our space/Developer/possible relocation
  • Renee Collymore-use of other half of space for her campaign thru September
  • Tax Arrears/Developer-Air rights, tax arrears, options (including relocation)
  • Tanya Dwyer-TED resident working on community intiatives in Crown Heights
  • Need to look at documents (Surrogate Court- go to clerk and request case file for the estate of our Landlord) to determine options such as long term lease or co-partners
    • Go to HUD- lobby that we are a “community benefit”
    • *find out if it is HUD or HBD
    • Speak to Paula Seagal with 596 Acres (expert at protecting and lobbying)
    • PR- NPR, newspaper, letters, emails, etc
    • Block 1991, Lot 3
    • Keith and Christina will be taking lead with this

Alcohol License (Jeannie, 10min)

  • Status with application
  • In process, Jeannie has reached out to Alex
  • Renee (not present): FWIW, I reached out to Alex a month ago and here’s what he said: “I passed off the application Jeannie Lee about a month ago. I'm not really actively involved in it anymore, but last I heard there were some financial documents that needed to be found in order to complete the filing.” I did reach out to Jeannie at that time to get an update on the status but Jeannie wanted to take it to the Board first

Investment Refund (All, 20min) - Spent 40 min on this topic

  • Below are the current comments...
  • “We request $450 to redeem 3 members investments who are in dire need. This includes, for instance, a member who has become legally blind who had to move away to save money and can no longer shop.” - DK (Relief Council committee)
  • “It was a ...mistake to make what is an equity investment returnable because this is NOT the case unless a business is making $$$ and we are not, but if these people are in such dire need then the board should do a resolution to pay them do pay them and that be it....” - Bianca (Finance Committee)
    • Questions to resolve / vote on…
    • Do we give the redemption to the three with our current financial situation? Motion- $450 cap amount for the Membership Relief Council Committee to give these 3 members in dire need
    • Vote was passed unanimously

[if Renee present] Board Check in (Renee/All, 20 min) No Renee

  • A discussion to see what directors feel most passionate about at GHFC. Where do they currently focus their energies, where or what would they like to or think we should focus on?

Review and approve votes (notetaker, 3 min)

Bike Rack (extra topics discussed)

  • Humans of NY - look for financial assistance, advertising
  • Pierre will email Kelsey (PR)
  • Shaina presented her “Backyard Revival” project- will direct her the “Design Build Committee”
  • “The Ideal Kickstarter Project” - Internal fundraising→ IOBY→ Humans of NY
  • Wayfinder signs, Green Maps, etc
    • Mail Server-
      • Marketing research- Mailchimp is the best option for the Co-op
      • Renee (not present at mtg): Send Grid is another alternative option that only costs $10/mo. Renee had asked Marketing and Sonia from IT to check it out...Sonia did and supports it...didn’t get a solid reason from Marketing why they don’t support Send Grid.
      • Motion- 3 Month MailChimp Trial at $195 cap then re-assess
      • Vote was passed 3 yes and 1 no (renee) and finance does not support.

Next General Meeting is Wed., June 22 - 7:30-9:30pm at The Co-op. Next Board Mtg is Wed, July 27, 7:30-9:30pm at the Co-op.

All are welcome. Please email board@greenehillfood.coop if you have suggestions for the agenda (work credit applies!)

Meeting NotesdevlukeComment