Minutes:20070303

From EcoReality

Saturday, 3 March 2007: Membership Meeting

Meeting brought to order: 10:10
- Present: James Cowan, Shannon Cowan, Jan Steinman, Carol Wagner.
- Facilitator:James
- Recorder: Carol
Check in:
- James - 9 - lack of sleep; he & Shannon have obseerved Jan & Carol in their loving attitude and their happy experiences working with WWOOFers.
- Shannon - 10 - Grateful for yoga, time to review agenda, to her Dad for support & interest in what we are doing, James for scheduling & communication; is present & aware to listening & judgements in her head.
- Jan - 9 - grateful for James & Shannon, inspired by the WWOOFers-gotten outside, pack agenda to track items
- Carol - 9 - grateful for Jan & our life together and for the upcoming work party
Old business
- Approve agenda - Approved
- February 3rd minutes approved
- Finance Report:
  - Balance $1250.96
  - Water tax bill due $195.50
  - Carol & Jan have bills in the amount of $655.50 not including $272.31 for biodiesel materials
- action checklist for welcoming WWOOFers to be put on wiki (Shannon Cowan)
- action will make template for tracking costs & meals (Shannon Cowan)
- action will make timesheet for WWOOFers, maps & welcome letter done (Shannon Cowan)
- Review to do list:
  - rock path - in process
  - watt hour meter - Jan is researching prior to putting on cottage
  - master bath - tile removed to access valves, valves opened, tile replaced; grouting and sealer to be done.
  - rotted base plate - leak in water main pipe needs to be repaired first
  - vapor barrier under cottage - Not done
  - grant for wiki - contact Jan Taylor (Jan Steinman)
  - logo - will ask new cottage tenant, Natasha, to do in exchange for rent trade
  - Jan to update task list and delete deplicate items
- Review membership application - on hold
Wellness break
New business
- Operational assessments - Jan - there is a need for more money & labour in the co-op
  - Shannon - thought that the proposal was equitable, math was OK, and showed fairness. She proposed that members pay for meals & track hours worked for approved projects with the intent to make all members feel included.
  - James - treat all work as WWOOFers
  - Jan - to make the percentage based on a month to month basis, yet hours worked continue to accrue.
  - should there be incentives or not
  - Look to others for input
  - Carol - Proposed that we adopt Shannon's proposal that members pay for meals and track hours worked and use toward assessment. To be finalized within context of original proposal.
  - Jan - explicit that hours are monthly and accumulate.
- Carol & James to talk about budget
1200 Lunch Break
- Jan presents alternatives to the operational assessment, which we are going to think about and will revisit on Monday, 5 February, at 8 PM
- Ratify standing proposals
  - Pet Policy - Ratified
  - Population Policy - Ratified
  - Finance - Ratified
  - Governance - Ratified
  - Meeting structure - moved off to discussion page
  - Observer definition - Ratified
  - Privacy policy - Ratified
  - Recreational intoxicants - Ratified
  - Resident definition - Ratified
  - Steward definition - Ratified
- 2007 Programs - James
  - what happened to the brainstorming session for programs that was written on the white board?
  - Carol suggested that maybe a picture was taken
  - James - Diana workshop - needs to clarify - share her plane fare with Yarrow & Langera?
  - Carol - idea for Brandon to come give a workshop on berm building
  - James will come forward with a list
  - Sunday, 15 April - Biodiesel workshop - brewing a batch
  - Sunday, 4 March - wiring the processor
  - Carol will move peach tree to make way for one of the tanks
  - Jan propossed that the garden fencing down by the creek be moved to the west edge of the lavender to start enclosing the house & garden area to keep out deer. A financial budget needs to be setup for this. This will be a capital improvement.
  - Breached Dam - proposed reconstruction - Jan will cost out expenses
- Newsletter reminder
  - Jan - suggests a monthly theme
  - Shannon - newsletter article on food security (Shannon Cowan)
  - James - newsletter article on Diana's workshop (James Cowan)
  - Carol - newsletter article on garden ideas - planting plans, cold frames, care of seeds (Carol Wagner)
- Advisory council meeting planning
  - Shannon - brainstorm about themes, include WWOOFers
  - Work party planning
    - Carol move peach tree
    - wiring biodiesel
    - site survey
    - garden beds
    - move old garden bed frames to use as cold frames
- Green Seed Fund
  - Carol to call and get clarification on the application & Jan to help with technical details
  - Discussion about water bill when water is used for the garden. Average the winter months and use that for basis.
- Community Ed classes - Carol & Jan would like to teach classes here and will charge Comm. Ed a fee for the space. Jan will look into riders on the insurance policy
- Jan - grape arbor west of kitchen - $200 for materials, 20 huors design, 20 hours building. Will get class A shares for materials.
Wrapup at 3:43
- Carol facilitator for next members meeting
- Shannon recorder for next members meeting
Check out
- Shannon - 8.5 - feeling enthusiastic, present, a bit overwhelmed, grateful for stamina, for focus & awareness of more people potentially being in the group; from time to time we need to reread our vision; excited about themes and programs
- James - 10 - awake, things to do, read, plan; appreciate ideas & willingness to work with them
- Jan - 9 - grateful for ability to discuss contencious issues; feels tension and wish James & Shannon were here full time
- Carol - 9 - grateful for being able to work with James & Shannon