25 November, 2021: Minutes
| Date | 25 November, 2021 |
|---|---|
Time | 6.30 PM |
| Location | via ZOOM Meeting ID: 816 8608 3368 Password: 085562 |
| Meeting opened at | 6.50 |
| Meeting closed at | 8.30 |
| Facilitator | Bruce Diekman |
|---|---|
| Minute taker | Cyrus Irani |
| Timekeeper | |
| Next meeting date | TBC |
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.
We welcome all participants to this Alfalfa House gathering and acknowledge our aim to build a community based on mutual respect and support for each other through acts of active listening, thoughtful and clear communication, sharing of knowledge and experience, and the creation of safe spaces where each of us can participate in achieving the aims of our co-op.
1. Attendance and Apologies
Attendance (MC): Bruce Diekman, Tara Morelos, Janet Loughman, Cyrus Irani, Jenny Kent
Attendance (Members): Ran De Silva
Apologies: Andrew Whittingham
2. Approval of Agenda
That the agenda be approved.
Moved: Bruce
Seconded: Janet
Carried by consensus
3. Consent Agenda
That the consent agenda be approved.
Moved: Bruce
Seconded: Cyrus
Carried by consensus
3.1. Adoption of Previous Minutes
That the minutes of the 28 October, 2021 meeting be adopted.
3.2. New Members and Cancellations
That the 18 new members listed below who joined in October 2021 (memb. numbers 15636 to15662) be officially accepted as new members. N.B. no. 15648 was not issued.
3.3. Staffing (appointments and resignations)
Eleanor Zurowski appointed to higher duties in her job share role as Acting Stock Co-ordinator.
4. Business Arising from the last meeting
- ACTION: Bruce Diekman will check with Lisa for the Policy on Polices which be believes has already been started
A groceries plan/budget spreadsheet has been created and is being used by Eleanor.
- Ran de Silva advised us that more volunteers are assisting with Instagram. Freya is working on it but more assistance is needed
- Ran de Silva advised that the Plant and Bake sales has been scheduled for the 11th December. There has been a slow response for help and sale items. ACTION: Ran de Silva will follow up and make sure someone is managing it. Eleanor is not available on the 11th Dec
Cyrus advised that the SSC decided to start workshops early next year.
Bruce advised that the Financial Report for FY 2020/21 has been completed and signed-off, inserted into the AGM Agenda, and that Andrew will lodged it with the Fair Trading Registry.
The decision was made at the last Staff Meeting, not to open the shop until 7pm during the week, as currently there was not sufficient customer demand.
Ran advised that the plan for seasonal gifts has been approved and implementation is underway.
Bruce advised that MC members can be counted towards the quorum of 10 for the AGM.
- Cyrus Irani will contact Elliott to check his interest in joining the MC and becoming our new treasurer. This is back up in case Andrew hasn't been able to do so. ACTION: Cyrus Irani will also contact John G. who expressed interest in the treasurer role, earlier in the year.
We have started opening an hour later i.e. 10am on Saturdays.
- ACTION: Ran de Silva will contact Togi Pi for assistance with setting up the second hand printer.
Eamonn O'Flaherty has agreed to coordinate Zoom for our AGM.
- ACTION: Tara Morelos will send our the invite for our End of Year Party.
- ACTION: Ran de Silva asked Yue for assistance with generating a list of items with high impact packaging for Jennifer Kent's work with Honest to Goodness. Ran de Silva will check with Yue.
- ACTION: Ran de Silva advised that our old POS machine cannot be repaired. She will look into alternatives for a back up as the non-replaced terminal may now be on the blink.
Ran de Silva advised that our POS system will be able to handle half yearly payments of member fees.
| Description | Due date | Assignee | Task appears on |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Feb 2022 | 27 January, 2022 – Minutes | |
| 24 Feb 2022 | Tara Morelos | 27 January, 2022 – Minutes |
| 04 Mar 2022 | Bruce Diekman | February 24, 2022 – Draft Minutes |
| 24 Mar 2022 | Andrew Whittingham | February 24, 2022 – Draft Minutes |
| 24 Mar 2022 | Jennifer Kent | 27 January, 2022 – Minutes |
| Tara Morelos | February 24, 2022 – Draft Minutes | |
| 27 January, 2022 – Minutes | ||
| Tara Morelos | 27 January, 2022 – Minutes |
5. Finance Report
Andrew was on holidays and couldn't attend the meeting, but provided his monthly report in advance:
- Net profit last month was approx $2k.
- We are still applying and receiving JobSaver.
- November trading is flat and sales have dropped off again.
- Wednesday (followed by Thursday) is our slowest trading day. There was discussion about closing the shop on Wednesdays or reducing the staff working on that day to one shop co-ordinator and the Manager or Stock co-ordinator.
- When we had produce deliveries on Wed it brought in lots of customers. They have shifted to Mon and Fri when we receive fresh produce deliveries.
That the Finance report be approved.
Moved: Janet
Seconded: Bruce
Carried by consensus
Bruce put the motion that:
Staff member, Eleanor Zurowski be added as a full Bank Australia signatory, and a debit card be requested in her name.
Moved: Bruce
Seconded: Cyrus
Carried by consensus
6. Acting Manager’s Report
Ran said we need more members to shop and suggested we set up a Sub-Committee for Member Engagement.
There was discussion on engagement activities we had organised and that COVID had prevented work in this area. The End of Year party, Plant and Bake Sales are examples of things we're currently doing.
Cyrus suggested that a priority should be for the Stock Committee (staff & MC members) to ensure we had good value, high quality items sold in a pleasant environment, before we undertake a serious drive to drum up business.
Many members didn't renew last year and have not come back.
There was discussion about how we could reduce costs and the importance of bulk buying. Janet said she was still waiting for information from other food co-ops. She also advised that Kimberly from Lyttelton Food Co-op had approached UNSW Business School to provide research on ways for the co-ops to combine their purchasing and reduce costs.
Veggie box deliveries will be paused for the holiday season for one month – from 7 December to 18 January.
Due to reduced bread sales we will stop ordering St Malo bread which is only available in larger quantities compared to other brands.
- ACTION: Ran de Silva suggested that she and the Stock Co-ordinators take the MC through their budgeting methods. She proposed a ZOOM meeting possibly on a Monday evening. Staff will be paid for their time and will distribute reading materials prior to the meeting. This meeting could be the beginning for a new collaborative Stock Committee
That the Acting Manager's report be approved.
Moved: Bruce
Seconded: Jenny
Carried by consensus
7. Reviewing 2022 subscription fee categories
The new 2022 fees will be announced at the AGM.
The standard membership will rise to $30 per annum. A new concession fee of $20 will apply to people with a Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card or Student Card.
Half yearly subscriptions can also apply, i.e. for January to June-June, and from July to December.
A one-month period of grace will apply until the end of January 2022, but won't apply for the second half of the year.
Members will be invited to make a donation when renewing their membership. Donations do not incur GST.
- ACTION; Bruce Diekman will create a flyer for membership renewals, including donation options.
- ACTION Janet Loughman will prepare a sheet for staff with images of the concession cards we accept for discount membership
- ACTION: Tara Morelos We will provide an online membership form.
8. AGM update & report
The AGM will be held on Thursday 9 December.
The first AGM notice has been sent and all reports are now online on the AGM Agenda.
Eamonn O'Flaherty has agreed to host and co-ordinate the AGM on Zoom.
Attendees need to get a free ticket from Humanitix for the event.
- ACTION: Bruce Diekman will contact Sam Byrne or Andrew Taylor to act as our Returning Officer.
9. Any other business
Our Building Better Communities grant submission for refurbishment of the shop was unsuccessful.
Brief details were passed on from member David Alonso, about potential Alfalfa House involvement in a future Inner West Housing Co-op proposal.
ACTION: Bruce will organse a presentation to MC members by David in the near future.
/wiki/spaces/MC/pages/1713700868
COVID Plan /wiki/spaces/MC/pages/1713700868
- ACTION: Cyrus Irani will send in camera Covid information to Ran
- ACTION: Tara Morelos will upload Covid policy to website
Staffing sub committee report /wiki/spaces/MC/pages/1713700868