Phoenix Earth Food Co-op
Minutes, Board Meeting 7/24/2012

Resolutions are numbered R1 – R5.

Meeting began @ 6:45pm—present: Sandor Halasz, Steve Steel, Steven Vines, Hermann von Grafenstein, Lisa Blake (General Manager, GM); absent: Shelly Boraby, Pete DeWood.
Minutes of 6/26/2012 meeting were approved with amendments (4/0/0 (for/against/abstentions)) (R1).
Board resignations / replacements
A motion to accept Val Leonardi's resignation was approved (4/0/0)(R2).
General Manager's (GM) reports and financials

Store operations: Two new staff members were hired. This was necessary after the resignations of Noel Habib and Sasha Hulisz. A newly created checklist for staff meetings was distributed. The GM successfully completed food safety training by the Lucas County Department of Health.
The GM continues efforts to get estimates for moving equipment and distributed a progress report.
The GM distributed the GM's report and a preliminary financial report: sales are down 10% from June of last year, but gross profit is higher. A discussion ensued as to what could be done to improve sales. Several members present at the meeting offered to help in membership outreach efforts, facilitated by a clearer communication of the Co-op's mission and vision.
Jackson Loan update: During the meeting the Board obtained legal advice per telephone (communicated via speakerphone) from Scott Ciolek,confirmingthat the loan cannot be transferred to the heirs of Mr. Jackson. Following Mr. Ciolek's advice, a motion was passed to proceed as follows:

The Co-op will draft a letter indicating that the coop intends to stop payments.
The draft letter will be sent to Mr. Ciolek by email.
Upon receiving feedback from Mr. Ciolek, the letter will be signed by the Board's president and sent to Mr. Jackson's heirs. Further action will depend on the response from heirs. (4/0/0) (R3).

Huntington credit line: At its 6/26/12 meeting a motion the Board had voted reapply for the Huntington line of credit over $17,000. At the currentmeeting signature authority of the loan application was assigned to Sandor Halasz and Lisa Blake. (4/0/0)(R4).
IOUs of staff and members: The determination of recoverable versus non-recoverable IOUs is not yet complete. Most likely, $3000 of a total of $5000 will have to be written off.

Relocation update
1. A motion was made to send a counterproposal to Maas Ketabian, the owner of the Central Ave. relocation site. The letter of the proposal should encompass the following:
  1. Tax payments must be current within thirty days of the date of the letter
  2. A rent amnesty of 8 months
  3. A reduction of the rent to $900 for the first year, $1000 for the second, and $1100 for the third.
  4. Removal of the coffee counter at the owner's expense
  5. Response within 14 days of the date of the letter
  Motion passed (4/0/0) (R5). Further negotiations will depend on Mr. Ketabian's response.
2. The GM reported that the current landlord, Royce Haddad, promised to be a "generous contributor" to renovations of the current site of the store, if the Co-op signed a lease of 1 year. The local Business Association is willing to contribute as well.
Nomination committee, director recruitment, annual meeting.
Although no formal vote was held, it was agreed to extend the deadline for candidate registration from August 1 to September 1. Candidate-registration form on the Co-op's website.
GM job description and update
The GM submitted a draft of the GM job description. The Board will edit the document by email and vote on a revised version at a subsequent meeting.
Next Board meeting
The next Board meeting will be held on August 21 at a location to be determined.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Supplementary documents

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Submitted by Hermann von Grafenstein, Secretary