MC Meeting Minutes Wednesday September 24, 2008
Meeting opened: 7.45pm

ATTENDANCE
MC: Nassim Arrage, Genevieve Derwent, Lara Daley, Linda Grkinic, Gemma Beall, Katherine Myers, Lara Daley

Others: Renata Field, Stevie Bee, Nija Dalal, David Harris, David Tilley, Julia Gray, Monika Baumann, Sarah Cook, Annie Werner

Apologies: Katherine Myers

CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
That the minutes of the previous meeting be accepted as a true and accurate record.
Geneveive/Lara CARRIED


BUSINESS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MINUTES
None

MEMBERSHIP

NEW MEMBERS
Proposal: That Alfalfa House accept applicants with membership numbers 5080–5118 as members.
Nassim/Gemma CARRIED

RESIGNATIONS
Proposal: That the Alfalfa House accepts the resignations of members 3754 and 2088.
Nassim/Linda CARRIED

FORFEITURES None

REPORTS

FINANCE

• Alfalfa House made a profit of $4,950 for the month of August
As of August 2008, there is $19,492 total equity

Proposal: That the Treasurer’s Report be accepted. Genevieve/Lara CARRIED

STAFF MEETING REPORT

• Dave H and Paul apologised for not attending the last meeting.
• The process for communication between the staff meeting and the MC meeting was discussed and confirmed at the last staff meeting.
• The staff are keen to review the Annual Leave policy. Amity is collecting the responses.
• The Filemaker timesheets are going well.
• There has been some discussion about creating a reduced rate for foods that are nearing expiry but not yet to be sold at cost price. It was felt that a mark down of 20% on the RRP would work well. This is to be at the discretion of the Stock Coordinators.
• Staff are working on developing a system of “understudies” for the Stock Coordinator roles.
• Welcome back Dave Tilley!

Proposal: That the staff delegates report be accepted. Linda/Lara CARRIED

F & V PRODUCE

• The re-design of the garden is moving ahead well. Any input is welcome.
• An extra volunteer is needed on Fridays.

Proposal: That the report be accepted. Lara/Nassim CARRIED

GROCERIES

• Considerable work is being done on updating prices as some discrepancies have been found and updates are required.
• There has been some extra expenditure this month to ensure good stock levels.
• It was agreed that a Markups sub-committee needs to be established asap. As well, further consideration should be given to the level of discount for people who volunteer.

Proposal: That the report be accepted. Gemma/Lara CARRIED

CO-OP COORDINATOR

Proposal: That all staff and contractors who have access to the database and internal information systems sign confidentiality agreements.
Nassim/Genevieve CARRIED

Proposal: That AH resolve not to allow remote access for Ken Guntar at this time.
Linda/Nassim CARRIED

• It was agreed that a back-up server is important and that it should be stored at Alfalfa House.

Proposal: That AH request that Ken Guntar create a technical manual/system architecture document of the database. That this be considered a priority and that the Co-op Coordinator be empowered to set other priorities for the DB system.
Gemma/Lara CARRIED

Proposal: That the Co-op Coordinator’s report be accepted. Linda/Nassim CARRIED

CORRESPONDENCE

Nil

FOOD GRANTS
Nil

CURRENT MATTERS

EFTPOS FEES

Proposal: That AH's EFTPOS facilities be moved to Bendigo Bank.
Nassim/Gemma CARRIED

GRAVITY BINS
Gravity bins will cost more than originally anticipated. We had expected to spend around $2,000 for 50 large bins as an initial trial to ascertain whether there was a good return on this expenditure. Dave Tilley has agreed to look into this further.

EARTH FESTIVAL, Centennial Park, November 2008
There is the possibility of having a stall. Lara undertook to speak to Katherine about looking into it.

LEAVE REQUEST

Proposal: That AH approve Nija Dalal’s request for a week's leave without pay beginning the week of October 6, 2008. Genevieve/Nassim CARRIED

POLICIES
Lara has drafted a recruitment policy, which will be emailed to staff for further discussion and input. Gemma, Lara and Genevieve will share the responsibility of re-drafting the co-op’s policies. Lara and Nija are to meet and decide on priority areas for re-drafting.

BUSINESS PLAN
• The Business Plan has been distributed to staff and MC. More people need to take on tasks from this. Lara is the contact point.
• Gareth has agreed to take on the tasks related to induction for volunteers.

Proposal: That the Business Plan as distributed be adopted. Nassim/Linda CARRIED

INTRO TO CO-OP UPDATE
• The introductory tours will soon be up and running. Annie Werner is to run the tours initially.
• Linda and Stevie are also looking to develop an online tour for those who can’t make it to a tour in the shop.

STAFF/MC ONLINE FORUM
The first meeting will be on Friday and the forum will soon be up and running.

MURAL
It was agreed the current draft design for the mural doesn’t fit with the aims and objectives of the co-op. It was felt that the mural should more directly represent wholefood and fruits and vegetables. It was acknowledged that we had taken up a lot of the artists' time by our indecision. If the artists did not want to commit any more time to designing the project then we should offer them Extra Discounts equivalent to the number of hours they have worked on the project. Or else, we would invite them to provide a new draft design based on the depiction of wholefoods, fruits and vegetables. Genevieve to provide this direction to Katherine to liaise with the artists. We should aim for a 3-month turnaround.

BLENDER
Gemma is to donate her blender to the co-op as an interim measure.

ELECTION OF MEMBER TO MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
Sarah Cook indicated that she would be interested in joining the Management Committee.

Proposal: That Sarah Cook be appointed as a member of the Management Committee
Genevieve/Nassim CARRIED

NEXT MEETING
Chair: Linda Minutetaker: Genevieve

Meeting closed at 9:35pm