November 2018 minutes

Owned by Jenny Millman (Deactivated)
Last updated: Jun 26, 2021 by Tara Morelos
4 min read



Date 

Time

6.30pm
LocationP&V Wines (upstairs)
Meeting opened at6.44pm
Meeting closed at8.49pm
FacilitatorKelly Dent (Unlicensed)
Minute takerJenny Millman (Deactivated)
Timekeepern/a
Next meeting date 


Acknowledgement of Country: Before we begin the meeting, I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners, both past and present, of the land we occupy and upon which we meet — the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. It is also upon their ancestral lands that Alfalfa House is built.


1. Attendance and Apologies

Attendance (MC): Tom Bartels, Cameron Burgess, Kelly Dent (Unlicensed), Caroline Brakewell, Bruce Diekman, Stephen Catt

Attendance (Members): Jenny Millman (Deactivated), Catherine O'Keefe, Maurice Cabrera, Marnie Harris

Apologies: Stevie Bee

Cameron and Tom were welcomed to the meeting and the MC

2. Approval of Agenda

That the agenda be approved.

Moved: Bruce Diekman

Seconded: Caroline Brakewell

Carried by consensus


3. Consent Agenda


That the consent agenda be approved.

Moved: Stephen Catt

Seconded: Bruce Diekman

Carried by consensus


 Full consent agenda

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:

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3.3. Out-of-session Decisions/Proposals

n/a

3.4. Reports from Working Groups

Marketing Working Group

Technology Working Group

Shop Execution Working Group

Staff Liaison Working Group

Volunteer Working Group

Governance Working Group

3.5. Staffing (appointments and resignations)

  • Janne's resignation - her last date will be December 7th. We would like to thank Janne for her dedication over the past years, and for being such a hugely valued member of staff and member of the wider Alfalfa House community.

3.6. Members' Council (appointments and resignations)

n/a


4. Finance report

The below reports have been restricted due to containing sensitive information. If you are unable to view and would like access, please contact the MC: alfalfamc@googlegroups.com

That the Treasurer's report be approved.

Moved: Bruce Diekman

Seconded: Kelly Dent (Unlicensed)

Carried by consensus

  • Ran de Silva to pass around the directors' report from the AGM to all staff

5. Manager's report

The below reports have been restricted due to containing sensitive information. If you are unable to view and would like access, please contact the MC: alfalfamc@googlegroups.com

Note - the September Manager's report was not approved as part of the October meeting. This needs doing retrospectively.

That the September Manager's report be approved.

Moved: Kelly Dent (Unlicensed)

Seconded: Bruce Diekman

Carried by consensus


That the October Manager's report be approved.

Moved: Cameron Burgess

Seconded: Bruce Diekman

Carried by consensus

6. Appointment of MC members to positions

Kelly Dent (Unlicensed) acknowledged the work of Catherine O'Keefe over the past few years with her retail insights and Jenny Millman (Deactivated) on the MC for the past year being the secretary.

Moved: Stephen Catt

Seconded: Caroline Brakewell

Carried by consensus


Positions to fill:

7. Employment of Co-op Manager

Ran de Silva is looking to finish his employment no later than early March. We want to start advertising in the second week of Jan, with a view to employing in the start of Feb, to give a month of overlap between Maurice and the new manager.

Bruce Diekman suggested that it's worth putting a notification in the members' newsletter of the job opening. Also Ethical Jobs is worth looking at for free advertising of the role. We will be putting up paid advertising, but not until a couple of weeks before the closing date.

Discussion on whether we want to employ one Co-op Manager or split the role into a 3 day per week retail and a two day financial and admin role. Open to being flexible as to how the hours would be split across the week.

  • Catherine O'Keefe to circulate the two proposed new job descriptions, and Maurice's current job description.


Propose recruiting for two separate roles, with the retail role first, and then the finance role.

Kelly Dent (Unlicensed) is happy to drive the process:

  • Complete job descriptions
  • Aim to advertise internally within the next week, and then externally after Christmas to close applications around the 3rd week in Jan

Caroline Brakewell and Catherine O'Keefe are happy to support with interviews if available

Moved: Kelly Dent (Unlicensed)

Seconded: Stephen Catt

Carried by consensus


8. Policy on provision of used jars

Proposal:

Alfalfa House will accept the used containers of products that we have sold. That way we would take responsibility for what we generate. It would be something approaching a closed loop.

The new policy is to be advertised through the newsletter, via social media and website and using shop signage in the sink and other areas.

Implementation of this policy will be the responsibility of staff although we provide the following as a guide.

Shoppers wishing to donate containers (generally glass only) would hand them over to shop staff who would check them to make sure they met policy and they would be then placed in the storeroom for any processing.

Containers would need to be cleaned and dried, preferably by dishwasher.

Volunteers could undertake any cleaning and drying that may be required, preferably on days when the storeroom isn't busy taking deliveries or prepping for veggie box deliveries.

As examples of appropriate re-uses, the KUBU coconut yogurt glass jars with metal lids would make an ideal addition to the zero waste kits or as standalones in the zero waste section of the shop. We should definitely focus on locating pre-loved and guaranteed clean glass containers in the zero waste section. They could be sold for a nominal price or free, if we wish to encourage bulk shopping.

However, this would not cover us from a legal aspect. Stephen Catt to rework the proposal to ensure cleaning happens by a named volunteer, possibly outside of the shop.


9. Retail stimulus actions

10. Review outstanding tasks

11. Project review 

12. AOB

  • Next MC meeting date - December 19th proposed
  • Kelly Dent (Unlicensed) proposes that the MC will review the existing policies and procedures  relating to grievances and bullying covering staff and volunteers. Further the MC will check these with relevant external organisations.

Moved: Kelly Dent (Unlicensed)

Seconded: Caroline Brakewell

Carried by consensus


  • Proposal from Ran de Silva to reduce produce mark-up from 85% back to 75%. We will reduce where we can on the popular items in December, with the remainder of the produce to be reduced in January. Supporting documentation: Produce Mark-up discussion.docx

Moved: Bruce Diekman

Seconded: Cameron Burgess

Carried by consensus