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Monday, March 22, 2004 (7pm) MINUTES APPROVED

Board
Present: Graeme Hussey (President/Board Chair, Human Resources Committee Liaison), Andy Summers (Vice President, Promotions Committee Liaison), Geoff Webb (Treasurer, Finance Committee Liaison), Christie Stephenson (Secretary, Annual General Meeting Committee Liaison), Anil Reddi (Chronicle Committee Liaison), Justin McNabb (Food Issues Committee Liaison), Lachlan Story (Member Labour Committee Co-Liaison), Ed Fielding (Orientation Committee Liaison), and Aysa September (Web Committee Liaison, Member Labour Committee Co-Liaison).
Regrets: Grif Cunningham (Maintenance Committee Liaison)
Staff
Present: Sarah Fairley (General Manager)

1. Approval of Agenda
Agreement by consensus to approve the agenda.

2. Correspondence and Announcements
Graeme indicated he had not received any correspondence from members. Christie noted there had been no email messages sent to the board.

3. Minutes
Agreement by consensus to approve the minutes.

4. In-Camera Session
Discussion under this item remains confidential. Sarah agreed to file the minutes of this session.

5. Committee Reports

5A. Member Labour Committee (Aysa & Lachlan)

Report submitted:

NOTE (from chair): there are three outstanding member labour changes from the previous meeting that will dealt with at this meeting.

Date of last meeting: March 10th, 2004
Date of next meeting: March 26th, 2004

Action Items Completed:

Action Items Not Completed:

Announcements to Board and Committees:

Questions for the Board:

Discussion

It was agreed that to notify members notice of the Member Labour changes, everything but a mail out would be pursued (posters, notices at cash, website, Chronicle, and stapling little notices to cards). Lachlan said the committee would proceed in conjunction with Sarah.

There was discussion about three outstanding issues: giving non-working members the options of a general surcharge or a flat monthly fee equivalent to the Work Shift Cash Equivalent (of $ 9.00 per hour); the proposal to have membership options to join as a single member (2 hours a month and $70 loan) or as unit of two adult members (3 hours a month and $100 loan); surcharge increase.

There was discussion on the proposal to giving non-working members option of a general surcharge or a flat monthly fee. Geoff indicated there was concern by some finance committee members that who felt the $9 rate was so low as to possible discourage working members. Justin said he was concerned that a flat fee would devalue member labour. Geoff said the amount of generated from surcharge was low relative to other revenue, and that he was more concerned about the impact of changes on general revenue than the amount collected through surcharge. Aysa said she was conflicted about the issue of surcharge vs. flat fee, as ideally she would like to see just giving one option (ie. flat fee), but for financial reasons she would caution against abandoning the surcharge.

There was agreement by consensus to adopt the recommendation.

There was discussion on the proposal to have two membership options such that an individual could join who does 2 hours a month and pays one $70 loan or two adult members joining who do 3 hours of work a month between them and pay a $100 loan. Anil said he was not in support of the proposal, as he felt individuals should individually join and each owe hours. Lachlan said he had some concerns about approving only half the proposal if the other part can't be approved by the board under Karma bylaws.

There was agreement by consensus to defer the issue.

There was a discussion about the idea of increasing the surcharge from 8% to either 10% or 12%. Directors who had attended the members' meeting on the subject (Lachlan, Graeme, Geoff, Christie, Justin and Ed) overviewed the discussion and noted that when there was a vote at that meeting, one person had supported maintaining the surcharge at 8%, one person voted to increase to 12% and the remaining 10 or so people voted to increase to 10%.

There was agreement to accept the recommendation to increase the surcharge to 10%. Anil’s preference of an increase to 12% was noted.

5B. Chronicle Committee (Anil)

No report submitted

5C. Finance Committee (Geoff)

Report submitted

Date of Last Meeting: February 21, 2004
Date of Next meeting: March 27, 2004

Action Items Completed:

Action Items Not Completed:

Announcements to the board and committees:

Questions for the board:

Other Notes:

Financial Statement for March 2004

5D. Food Issues Committee (Justin)

Report submitted:

Date of Last Meeting: March 8, 2004
Date of Next meeting: April 12, 2004

Action Items Completed:

Action Items Not Completed:

Other Notes:

5E. Maintenance Committee (Grif)

Report submitted:

Sarah and Grif met last week and agreed on the following ways we might/should organize our committee in order to rationalize its behaviour.

Decisions and Suggestions

  1. We think we need two approached to maintenance management. We should delegate Sarah to spend her maintenance budget without much interference from the board. The budget is only $7000 per annum.
  2. Kay Kruger would supervise our skilled worker members who do most of this work. Sarah would be the contact person.
  3. A committee would be set up of 2 people plus Grif to handle the capital maintenance jobs that need doing and need board input. Sarah would be kept informed and would help direct us in setting our priorities. Grif would keep the board informed and take direction from the board.

Sarah and Grif think this is a sensible way to manage Karma maintenance.

Discussion

Sarah clarified that the Maintenance Committee would be responsible for large capital projects while she would supervise general maintenance and small jobs so the committee can focus on more importance projects and planning. The board agreed with the approach recommended by Grif and Sarah.

5F. Orientation Committee (Ed)

Report submitted:

Date of last meeting: Dec 15, 2003
Date of next meeting: TBD

Next meeting called by Sara Pulins to inform committee of upcoming changes.

5G. Promotions Committee (Andy)

Report submitted:

Date of last Meeting: 24 February 2004
Date of next Meeting: 27 March 2004

Action Items Not Included:

Announcements to the board and committees:

Questions for the Board:

Other Notes:

Discussion

Andy said he will need board members to attend the craft sale and will coordinate by email. Geoff noted that he and Christie would be at the Finance Committee meeting at that time.

5H. Web Committee (Aysa)

Report submitted:

Date of last meeting: 18 March 2004
Date of next meeting: 29 April 2004

Action Items Not Completed:

Announcements to the board and committees:

Questions for the board:

Other Notes:

Discussion

Aysa reported that the committee had finalized survey questions for the site. She asked whether the committee should pursue investigating options with Free Net, which the board agreed would be worth looking into.

5I. Annual General Meeting Committee (Christie)

Report Submitted

Date of last meeting: NA
Date of next meeting: NA

Action Items Completed:

Announcements to the board and committees:

Questions for the Board:

Discussion

Christie noted that Howard Kaplan has since indicated he would be willing to volunteer with the committee. Andy asked that he be cc.ed on any policy related discussions.

5J. Human Resources Committee (Graeme)

Report submitted:

Date of Last Meeting: Monday February 16
Date of Next Meeting: Monday March 29

Actions Items Completed:

Action Items Not Completed:

Announcements to the board and committees:

Questions for the board:

Discussion
Graeme noted that Sarah’s contract would come to the board for approval, and that Geoff was overseeing that process. Geoff added that the HR committee would develop an application for new members.

6. Executive Reports

6A. President (Graeme)

Report submitted:

Action Items Completed:

Action Items Not Completed:

Announcements to the board and committees:

Questions for the board:

Other Notes:

Discussion

Agreement to reschedule the next board meeting for April 19th. Agreement to defer the discussion on contract service proposals and the issue of meeting twice monthly.

There was discussion about the usefulness of holding a retreat for committees that, among other issues, would address budgeting and the impact of committee’s work on Karma’s financial health. Agreed that it would be desirable to hold the meeting. Graeme and Geoff will organize it.

The Board Retreat date was set for June 12th. The general mandate will be to revisit progress since the last retreat and to plan to move forward.

Graeme added that a non-member is working as a volunteer on a branding/marketing plan for Karma, which the development of a brochure being the top priority.

6B. Vice President (Andy)

Report submitted:

Action Items:

6C. Treasurer (Geoff)

Report submitted

See attached spreadsheet.

Discussion
Geoff noted that February had been a good month. Gross profit was on target, net income was significantly higher than budgeted, and sales were way up.

6D. Secretary (Christie)

Report submitted:

Action Items Completed:

Action Items Not Completed:

7. Manager's Report (Sarah)

Report submitted:

Payments to the receiver general are up to date.
Retail sales tax and WSIB payments are up to date.

Sales & Expenses:

Staff:

  • There are no staffing changes to report.
  • Payroll expenses remain stable.

    • Capital Changes

    Operational Changes

    Member Labour:

    Miscellaneous Items:

    Announcements and Questions to the board and committees:

    Discussion

    Andy requested that Sarah add information to her reports regarding staff sick days and absenteeism.

    Sarah noted that she is still investigating the directors insurance application.

    Lachlan asked to what extent the increased sales could be attributed to the increased mark up. Sarah said only a small amount.

    There was a discussion of the usefulness of conducting another member survey this year. Sarah said she thought there would be value in doing so and noted that last year’s results were intended to serve as a benchmark for multi-year analysis. Sarah and Aysa agreed to meet and bring a recommendation to the board on how best to proceed.

    8. Business Arising

    9. Other Business
    Agreement by consensus to adjourn.