1. Attendance and Apologies

Attendance (MC):  Bruce Diekman, Vicki D'Adam, Jenny Kent, Tara Morelos, Andrew Whittingham

Attendance (Members): NONE

Apologies:  Cyrus Irani

2. Approval of Agenda

That the agenda be approved.

Moved: 

Seconded:

Carried by consensus

3. Consent Agenda

That the consent agenda be approved.

Moved: 

Seconded:

Carried by consensus

3.1. Adoption of Previous Minutes

That the minutes of the meeting be adopted.

3.2. New Members and Cancellations

That members (with membership numbers listed under 'new members') be accepted as new members.

That members (with the membership numbers listed under 'cancellations') be cancelled:

3.3. Out-of-session Decisions/Proposals

3.4. Reports from Working Groups

3.5. Staffing (appointments and resignations)

4. Manager’s Report

That the Manager's report be approved.

Moved: 

Seconded:

Carried by consensus

5. Finance report

That the Finance report be approved.

Moved: 

Seconded:

Carried by consensus

6. Project review

• See: Current projects

7. Review outstanding tasks

The purpose of this urgent meeting is to discuss the current situation with the landlord, who has advised they will be providing 30 days notice to vacate the shop.

3. Chair of the meeting

Jenny Kent proposed to chair the meeting, and this was accepted by all members present. 

4. Lease documents

There are certain lease documents which need to be located to review the background to the relationship with the landlord. It was revealed that copies of these documents were available on Confluence, but have since been accidently deleted. Jenny and Andrew stressed the importance of finding these documents. Bruce and Vicki undertook to provide those documents to the MC as soon as possible. 

5. Premises

Discussion around the background to the leasing arrangement with the landlord. The lease period expired in February 2020, and the MC did not decide to renew the lease under option for another 5 years. The landlord tried to increase the rent by $8,000 - $10,000 per annum following the declined option. Andrew explained the commercial perspective of the landlord and potential reasoning for their notice to vacate. Discussion moved to the communication between the MC and the landlord and it was confirmed that that communication lacked clarity and certainty – the MC had advised that one option facing us was closing the shop by the end of January or early February. The MC agreed on the following courses of action:

1. Andrew and Jenny to meet with landlord on 4 February 2021 to discuss the status of the Co-op and understand the landlord's perspective. 
2. The staff will be given a temporary restriction on grocery purchases for the time being.
3. Research NSW government temporary COVID tenant protection measures. 
4. Obtain some legal counsel, with priority of achieving pro bono status with Minter Ellison, failing which Jenny can call on a lawyer friend for help. 
5. Payment of the January rent to the landlord as soon as possible. 

The MC discussed the strategy for meeting with the leasing agent. 

6. Staff contracts and pay rates

Lisa Kwok, our HR volunteer is currently reviewing the contracts, pay rates and providing an opinion on the proposed Co-Manager arrangements for Carina and Ran. She will provide an email update to the MC. There was discussion on staff morale and organisational fatigue. 

7. Next meeting

The next MC meeting to be held on Friday, 5 February 2021 at 6:30pm, at P+V Wine Merchants.