Phoenix Earth Food Co-op (PEFC)
Minutes, Board Meeting 8/26/2015
Location: Main branch of Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, 325 Michigan St., Toledo, OH 43604; Present: Board members: Shelly Boraby, Thomas Fine, Sándor Halász, Alyx Kendzierski (arrived later), Anita Levin, Sean Nestor, Hermann von Grafenstein, Staff members: Sean Fitzgerald (General Manager), Helen Elden, Leah Foley (bookkeeper), Co-op members: Lucy Mendoza, Nick Reno, Laurie Bedford. Resolutions are numbered R1–R3
.
The meeting began at 5:40 pm.
- Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the 7/22/2015 board meeting were approved with minor amendments (R1, 6/0/0 for/against/abstention).
- Jackson Lawsuit
Sean Nestor and Helen Elden updated the Board about the status of the Jackson Lawsuit. After losing the lawsuit against the Co-op, Mr. Jackson’s heirs had not filed an appeal. The deadline for filing one had apparently passed. The Co-op’s countersuit reclaiming the amount ($42,975.–) paid since the death of Mr. Jackson was still ongoing. A trial date had yet to be set. Upon successful conclusion of the countersuit, the reclaimed amount would haveto be counted as taxable income. Leah suggested counting the amount that had been paid as a loss and balancing it with the reclaimed amount. Anita suggested that Mark Mockinsturm, an expert in tax law, should be consulted to resolve this question.
- Potluck
Shelly reported that August’s potluck had been a success. Lee Richter, a master gardener with the Ohio Sate University Extensionhad been a speaker. The next potluck would probably the Annual Meeting.
- Volunteer Program
Shelly reported on the status of the volunteer program. She had called a number of people. It had become clear that their preferences varied as to hat type of activity they were willing engage in. Tom mentioned that the building needed to be painted. Hermann added that fixing the gutters should also be high on the list of priorities, especially as rainwaterwas the cause of moisture in the basement, a long-standing problem. A motion passed to appoint Shelly Boraby as the Volunteer Committee’s liaison to the Board (R2, 6/0/0).
- General Manager’s Report
General Manager Sean Fitzgerald could not attend the meeting, but he had submitted a written report prior to the meeting. No further discussion was held on Sean’s report.
- Financial Report
Tom presented the financial report. Main points were
- Sales year-to-date were down by 8.39% ($25,000)
- A major expense in July was related to the repair of the cooler after a storm.
- The deficit ($7000) appeared worse due repairs of the cooler that had not yet been compensated for by Insurance payments.
- Anita felt that the store looked better due to better purchasing.
- Progress had been made paying the Co-op’s outstanding bills.
- Overall the financial situation looked similar to the same period last year, expect that sales had been down, a trend that was being experienced by all co-ops.
- A discussion was held about the potential value of issuing
groupons
for the Co-op.
Alyx Kendzierski arrived at 6:25 pm
- Outreach Committee Report
Hermann reported on recent activities of the Outreach Committee. The Art-On-The-Mall had been a success. Better use of coupons should be made at similar events in the future to ensure that visitors to the table also visit the store. The next outreach event was going to be the Toledo Plant Swap on Sept .3. The list of regular outreach events was being updated regularly.
- Marketing Campaign
President Sean N. reported that most contributions to the marketing campaign had been made outside Indiegogo. That meant that only $1,600 had been raised though Indiegogo, well short of the $5,500 goal that had been set. As a consequence, the fee for utilizing Indiegogo was 9% rather than 4%. However the campaign had still been very successful overall, with close to $4000 being raised. A decision would have to be made as to whether to purchase ads on National Public Radio orin City Paper. There was not enough money to do both.
- Annual Meeting
October 18 was chosen as a tentative date for the Annual Meeting, although the final date would depend on the availability of a suitable venue. Augsburg Lutheran Church was envisaged as the venue with University Church as an alternative. An important item for the meeting would be the recruitment of new Board members. Several members had expressed interest. Hermann announced that he would like to step down as Secretary. Sandor said he would advocate removing the obligatory discount from the bylaws.
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:11 pm (R3, 7/0/0).
Date of next meeting: September 23, 2015, if not decided otherwise.
_______________________________________________
Submitted by Hermann von Grafenstein, Secretary