San Juan Island Community Food Co-op Board Meeting Minutes

Location: Whidbey Island Bank Community Meeting Room
Present:
Board Members: Elise Jensen, Shelle Cropper, Matt Marinkovich, Linda Degnan-Cobos, Cloud
Oakes
Manager: Anna Coffelt
Volunteer Coordinator: Simona Burla
Member: Pam Herber
A small presentation of thanks and gratitude was given to Anna and Elise for their commitment
and effort regarding the Point of Sale system.
Matt opens meeting @ 5:41pm
A copy of the November Board Meeting Agenda is attached.
A MOTION was made by Cloud to accept the agenda, seconded by Linda. MOTION passed
unanimously.
Shelle read Tasha’s October Meeting Minutes. She requested permission from Tasha to
transcribe her Minutes into a Word Document. October Minutes were not approved.
Volunteer Coordinator Report: (report attached)
• Simona and Anna started the Open Hours Volunteer Orientations. The Saturday
orientation was well attended by around 12 people. The Thursday orientation was
unattended. There are several more orientations in the next week.
• Simona reported a nice post by Alex Huppenthal on FaceBook about the Co-op & the
Open Hours Volunteers. She will forward his kind words to the OH team.
• The change from 2 to 4 hour volunteer requirement notification went smoothly with
very little objection from volunteers.
• Simona wants to recruit more volunteers to bulk bagging and will organize them
similarly to the Open Hours team in terms of scheduling.
• We still need more Open Hours hosts in order to accomplish our goal of opening on
Sundays.
Financial Report: (available upon request)
• The net income for October was $420.00, although that will probably change when all
the numbers are in.
• The fiscal year is finished and the gross sales for the year 10/1/2011 ~ 9/30/2012 were
$533,416.00.
• Elise was very happy with the preliminary numbers described in the first two weeks of
November, a clear result of new POS system. We now know the exact worth of the
shelf inventory.
Managers Report: (report attached)
• Through direct comment and email, the membership has made it very clear that they are
supportive of the decision to replace brands that don’t support GMO labeling.
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• Our local and regional sales are over 50%; a milestone considering most co-ops average
around 5%.
• POS is predicted to run smoothly after a few kinks have been worked out. The cashiers
are becoming more familiar with the process, as are shoppers. Credit and debit card
payment and membership renewal are next on the horizon, possibly with a few weeks.
SNAP (EBT or food stamps) has been requested and is in process.
• Is our back door really handicap accessible? It soon will be with the installation of a bell
that can be pulled from the outside and will ring on the inside of the door. The Open
Hours Host will then be able to open the door and assist the person.
• Anna will put together a list of things she does that are absolutely necessary in case of
an emergency that may call her away from the store.
Non-Agenda Issues:
• Linda will put together a policy notebook for Anna (the store manager). It will be
available at each Board meeting to update.
• Linda suggested adding a noise suppressant above the coolers, possibly shelving with
rigid foam insulation. She will research whether this is viable regarding airflow around
the coolers/freezers.
• Cloud offered to lend the co-op her True (commercial) freezer for about a year. The
board accepted her offer with gratitude. Matt will collect it and return Eleanor’s side by
side freezer/refrigerator to her house.
• Shelle will get the hand truck repaired.
Continued Agenda Items:
• Membership/Sponsorship will be discussed next month
• SNAP application will continue as Tasha receives necessary paperwork from board
members and will be discussed next month.
• Matt reported that Directors and Officers Errors and Omissions Insurance will cost
$560.00 per year.
Cloud MOTIONED that we purchase D&O insurance policy from Islanders Insurance.
MOTION seconded by Elise, approved unanimously.
• Elise will talk to the CPA about changing the fiscal year to January 1st through
December 31st. Reasoning that financial planning and budgeting will be easier if we
have a few months after our busy season of June through September in which to plan.
The board proposes to change the annual meeting date to sometime between January
and March. This proposal will be reflected by a member vote to change the co-op’s
bylaw’s. As will be any other changes that affect the by laws.
New Business:
• Hiring Committee ~ Pam Herber will replace Mikhail (who moved off island) as the coop
member on the committee which consists of store manager, Anna and board
members Shelle and Linda.
Matt MOTIONS to remove Mikhail from the Hiring Committee and add Pam. Cloud seconds
and the MOTION passes unanimously.
• Produce Management: proposes to incorporate regional produce when local produce
isn’t available. Cloud has contacted Charlie’s regarding her past account to see if we
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can carry exotic staples (bananas, avocado’s, lemons, limes). Cloud, Anna, Eleanor,
Rosa and Linda will brainstorm in an effort to find contacts which will include Viva
Farms and other regional producers to supplement our local produce. Transportation
may be necessary and Linda requests that the cost of the produce reflect it’s real cost of
transportation even if we have volunteers picking things up.
• Employee Review: this will take place sometime this winter.
• Ad Hoc By-Law Committee members: Shelle, Elise, Matt and Cloud; there will be two
meetings lasting 1 hour each.
• Meeting Minutes will be posted on the website. The corrected meeting minutes will be
sent to Anna within one week of the meeting for uploading to the website.
• Cloud will research the price of a sideband ad on SanJuanIslander.com and the board
will vote by email to proceed with the ad or not.
• Consignment commission adjustment is tabled until the December meeting.
Board Meeting dates:
December 11th 2012 @ Whidbey Island Bank meeting room
January 14th 2013 @ 5:30 Whidbey Island Bank meeting room
February 11th 2013 @ 5:30 Whidbey Island Bank meeting room
March 11th 2013 @ 5:30 Whidbey Island Bank meeting room
Annual Meeting date will be set next month.
Meeting adjourned @ 8:40 pm