Phoenix Earth Food Co-op (PEFC)
Minutes, Board Meeting 05/23/2018
Location: Main branch of Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, 325 Michigan St., Toledo, OH 43604; Present: Adrienne Armstrong, Shelly Boraby, Maureen Ciesinski, Claudia Cooper, Hermann von Grafenstein, Mary Sawers, Sean Fitzgerald (General Manager). Absent: Thomas Fine, Anita Levin, Alyx Kendzierski. Resolutions are numbered R1–R2.
The meeting began at 6:50 pm.
- Approval of minutes
The minutes of the 4/25/2018 board meeting was approved (R1, 5/0/1 for/against/abstention).
Review of action items
12/20/18
- Alyx & Maureen – Maureen will get training from Kent Library on Twitter, contact Morgan – Ongoing
- Claudia – Pinterest – Ongoing
1/24/18
- Sean will identify items that could be displayed/offered at a coop booth at a farmer's market (e.g. bulk items) – Ongoing,
- Sean will send messages to
old regulars
who have not visited the coop for some time – Ongoing
2/28/18
- Outreach Committee– Organize gluten free, Paleo, raw, etc. meet ups at Coop Ongoing
- Tom – Contact appraiser Sam Zyndorf 419 249-7070 – Done
3/28/18
- Hermann – check to see if Claudia is OK; ask about status of Kahle Center visit. Done
- Sean – identify the requirements for a financial review per NCG email attachment (financial review or full audit?), forward that info to Mary – Ongoing
- Mary – Ask accountant contact about audit vs. financial review – Ongoing
- Mary – ask Mark M how to go about asking a favor of building appraiser Zyndorf – Done
- Tom – convene meeting of the building committee charged with investigating the condition of the building and price range (get city appraisal for property tax as compared to landlord's offer) and make recommendations regarding purchase of the building. – Ongoing
- Everyone – get donations for Don White fundraiser on 5/6/18 (2–4pm) to Sean – Done
- Anita – set date for quarterly potluck – Done
- All – complete general manager evaluation sheet – Ongoing
General Manager's report
- Fundraiser with Don White was underwhelming. After paying $100 for use of the venue and $400 to Don White, the co-op made $210. We may investigate using some of the local musicians who currently play at the venue.
- The 4-door freezer recently went out. Wesley used his expertise and solved most of the problems for considerably less money than the previous contractor.
- Frozen Beyond Meat Burgers are very popular (so popular that Kroger is also now carrying them).
- Financial report
Due to Tom's absence, Hermann presented the financial report. We appear to have a majority of the long-term obligations satisfied. Short term obligations are normal for a business. Accounting revealed an increase in sales by 4%. Phoenix is currently stable.
Outreach report
Adrienne presented the committee's report
Past events
- Plant swap at the library was held on 5/5
- Don White fundraiser was held on 5/6 with a profit of $210.00
- Volunteer sign-up was sent out to the Outreach-committee members for the Old West End Festival on 6/1
Planned participation at future events:
- Adrienne is still waiting for a response from a representative of Gluten-Free Toledo
- A bake sale will be scheduled in late July or early August
- Old West End festival is 6/1.
- The next Vegan meet up is June 13 with smoothies as the focus.
- Art on the Mall at the University of Toledo is approaching.
- Adrienne will ask GM Sean about plans to participate in farmer's markets
- Quarterly Potluck
The date of the Spring potluck was set at May 27 to be held at Hermann's house starting at 3pm.
New action items
All ongoing items listed above plus the following:
- Maureen – get info online about Pinterest to help Claudia
- Adrienne – organize with GM Sean to start Co-op presence at farmer's markets
- Claudia, Hermann and Maureen will have a planning meeting for their presentation at the Kahle Center
- Hermann – send invite out for potluck on Memorial Day 5/27/18
- Hermann – send out GM evaluation sheet per mail
- Mary – Clarify details of the General Manager position, providing the necessary tools to the job properly. This came about with the discussion of general manager evaluation. Mary who previously practiced employment law, will do some investigation into a number of items: An appropriate job description; Hiring responsibilities; An employee evaluation schedule and a means to establish a wage schedule cooperatively with the board,
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 7:34pm (R2, 5/0/0).
Date of next meeting: June 27, 2018, if not decided otherwise. Note: the renovation of the main library will not start before September. Board members present agreed to skip the July meeting due to numerous anticipated absences.
Minutes submitted by Maureen Ciesinski