Phoenix Earth Food Co-op
Minutes, Board Meeting 9/4/2012

Resolutions are numbered R1–R5.

1. Meeting began @ 6:42pm. Location: Story room of West Toledo Library Branch. Present: Pete DeWood, Sandor Halasz, Steve Steel, Steven Vines, Hermann von Grafenstein, Lisa Blake (General Manager, GM). Absent: Shelly Boraby.
2. Minutes of 8/21/2012 meeting were approved (5/0/0) (for/against/abstentions)) (R1).
3. Annual meeting
   • This year's annual meeting will be held at Pilgrim Church on October 21 from 6pm to 9pm. Board members are expected to be present at 5:30pm. A potluck will be held from 6pm to 9pm. Barbara Merzke graciously paid the registration fee.
   • The agenda for the meeting will be
     1. General Manager's Report including a fiscal report
     2. Board report
     3. Elections
     4. Update of the bylaws. The bylaws still stipulate that recurring (yearly) dues be paid and do not reflect the current equity model (a one-time payment of equity is sufficient to become a member).
   • Two motions regarding the annual meeting were passed:
     1. Sandor Halasz was empowered to convene a group to propose changes to the bylaws for a vote at the membership meeting (5/0/0) (R2).
     2. The deadline to register for Board candidacy was extended to Oct. 20 (5/0/0)(R3).

4. Current Building

   A discussion that began at the previous Board meeting was continued. If relocation is not imminent, it would be cheaper to purchase the building and pay interest on a loan than renting the building at the current rate. To evaluate the purchase option, Seagate Inspections could be asked to inspect the buildingstructure and Adam Martinez, a colleague of Steve Steel on the City Council and a professional real estate inspector, could evaluate the market value of the building. Reservations were expressed that owning the building could be a liability rather than an asset.

5. Relocation
   • GM Lisa Blake suggested to have a project manager look at the Cooper Florist (Byrne Street) building to find out which changes/repairs need to be made before a move to this site could be considered. Several problems were mentioned: (1) The carpet cannot be left there. (2) The Ceiling is leaking. (3) The bathroom is in the basement, which apparently is not part of the lease. (4) The basement cannot be used for any commercial activity without a sprinkler system. (5) The new owner's estimate of the square footage differs from that mentioned in the offer from the previous owner.
   • A motion was passed to re-open the search for a relocation site and to engage realtor Megan Malczewski to help identify a suitable site for relocation (5/0/0)(R4).
6. General Manager's Reports and Financials
   • GM Lisa Blake reported that sales are up from the same month of last year ($36,204.33 in Aug 2012 versus 34,421.97 in Aug 2011).
   • Steven Vines reminded the Board and attending members that marketing and outreach are essential for the commercial success of the Co-op.
7. Membership / Board
   • Barbara Merzke, one of the attending members, suggested holding monthly informal membership meetings. This would be part of a more general effort to engage members and enhance outreach.
   • Rachel Merzke, another attending member, offered to make regular updates to the Co-op's Facebook page to better connect with members and the public.
   • A motion was passed to excuse Shelly Boraby for three consecutive absences from Board meetings. (5/0/0) (R5)

8. Date of next meeting:

   The date of the next meeting was set at Tuesday Sept. 25 at the West-Toledo branch library story time room. A second meeting was set at on October 9 to prepare for the annual membership meeting.

9. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12pm.

Supplementary documents

General Manager’s Financial Report

Submitted 9/25/2012 by Hermann von Grafenstein, Secretary________________________

Submitted 9/25/2012 by Hermann von Grafenstein, Secretary