February Board Minutes 2018

Mountain Community Co-op Board of Directors Meeting February 7, 2018 Note: Items in bold are approved motions. Items underlined require action. Call to Order, 5:55 PM Roll Call: Elizabeth Neuhalfen, Lori Markeson, Laura Morehouse, Linda Ropozo, Kevin Dorsey, Clare Duncan McCahill, Linda Cox, Rick Brown Absent: Kay Kadoun, Naomi Lindsey Guests: Tod Morrish, Sean Fountain Approval of Agenda: Clare motioned to approve agenda. Lori seconds. All in favor. Approval of Annual Meeting Minutes: Clare motioned to approve the amended minutes. Linda seconds. All in favor. Special Guest: Tod Morrish from the Eatonville School District Farm gave the Board a presentation about the Burwash-Kjelstad Farm the school district recently acquired from the Nisqually Land Trust. Tod asked MCC to provide guidance and wisdom in various projects, such as growing produce using organic methods, help with composting methods, advice in running a vegetable stand, and providing experts to help teach the students. MCC is providing 2 liaisons from our Board for Tod to contact with directly, Rick Brown and Clare McCahill. This is an exciting opportunity to join forces with the Eatonville School District and to make an impact directly with the students in our community. Financial Report (Laura): The 2007 books have been closed and all Tax info has been submitted to the CPA. The Community Garden Set-aside was reviewed by Tanya and Barbara and has been reconciled and now is $1606.92. The Finance Team met 4 times, spending hours pouring over individual line items in the Budget. Budget Report and Overview (Kevin): This budget was built using the following philosophy 1) To meet the future state of the coop, we will need a significant increase in the overall income. 2) The store, community garden and any future organizations must be able to sustain their own operating budgets and may not plan to use donations for that role. Checking: $218 Accounts Receivable: $249 Savings: $8494 Accounts Payable: $3718 Donations: $0 Memberships: 2 Memberships, 0 Renewals 3) Donations will be placed into the future funds set aside. These funds will be used for purchasing property, construction of buildings, major building improvements or major maintenance. It is permissible to direct the future project funds to operational accounts should those organizations fail to meet performance targets with Board approval. MCC Store The proposed budget for the MMC Store is very aggressive due to three main factors: 1) The inclusion of a full-time store manager has increased the store expense $15k 2) The loss of rental income from Washington street has reduce available cash by $9k 3) The creation of an Advertising committee increased expense $1k This will require MCC to meet the following objectives: 1) Increase Store sales 30% 2) Keep COGs increase to 15% 3) Produce $9k from the Washington location in 2018 Proposed Initiatives 1) Conduct a market analysis of our goods to determine where we might be able to mark up the prices while remaining competitive. This should also include the Buyers club rates. 2) Improve buying process to gain increased rebates and discounts in the purchase of our goods. 3) Engage with our membership to increase WMO engagements and collection of renewal fees. 4) Create an ad campaign to: Re-engage the WMO’s, Increase the attendance of fund raising events, Increase both in-store sales and buyers club sales. Community Garden Budget The proposed budget is modest and does not require any major initiatives to meet their goals. Two recommendations are suggested: The community garden committee should create a strategic plan with future development included. This could then be compared to the expected donations/fundraising to ensure growth. Kevin motions to approve the MCC 2018 Budget. Clare 2nds. All approved. Store Report (Laura & Sean): • Raw milk sales are currently limited to Active Members. There are several reasons Laura would like the Board to reconsider and remove this policy: ⚬ We are the only co-op who has this restriction on raw milk sales. ⚬ WA State Department of Agriculture has strictly enforced regulations on Raw milk production. ⚬ Bottles are labeled with a raw milk warning label, we will make sure to put a sign on the cooler door as well. ⚬ Limiting to Members only does not provide any extra legal protection. ⚬ Limiting to Members causes us to lose sales and drive our customers to our competition. ⚬ Limiting to Members makes it harder for us to meet our distributor’s minimum order requirements. Laura motions to remove the policy on Raw milk that has restricted sales to Members only and to immediately allow all customers to be allowed to purchase Raw milk at MCC A sign with a Warning label will be put on the cooler door. An ad campaign will inform our customers that the policy has been changed. Linda C. 2nds. All in favor. • Sales have greatly increased this week after a slump. This is an exciting time in the store as sunshine will bring more in and this Spring we have beer and wine and other products to offer to our customers. Committee Reports: • Raise the Roof (Elizabeth): There is a balance of $182 in the Set-aside. Kevin to get a quote on installing a gutter on the back wall to prevent further water damage. Kevin motions that all future donations are to be put into a Future Project Setaside. Funds from that Set-aside can be used for store operations at the discretion of the board. Clare 2nds. All in favor. • Facilities (Kevin): Member Ryan Hendricks installed a new exterior light—thank you Ryan! The Wireless Router admin password was changed and is now secure. The generator has been run to test it and use up the old gas. The Washington property has a few issues, a cracked sink and some tiles that need to be replaced. The costs will be invoiced and taken out of Black Star Feed’s $300 security deposit. The other problems in the building are expected wear and tear and won’t be billed. Outreach and Education (Lori and Elizabeth): • The next Eatonville Family Agency class is Feb 15th, featuring how to make homemade soap and laundry detergent. • The problem with holding educational classes has been location. The Store is just too small. The library is free but we are limited to 2 reservations a month. Other locations charge a fee. Sometimes we need a kitchen to prepare or clean up. The availability of the Washington Ave building opens up new possibilities in holding educational classes that can help fund MCC and reach out to the community. • Family Fun night is coming soon, March 16th. MCC has a booth and gives out samples. Chocolate milk samples have proved to be very popular! Old Business: • Community Garden (Elizabeth): It’s our goal to embrace the Community Garden as an important part of MCC. The Garden has been too long ignored, not promoted and left to it’s own too long and now it’s time to transition it to it’s proper place in MCC’s structure. One of those steps is bringing the Garden under Standard Accounting procedures for the best support. Beth and Rick to talk to Barbara about the steps to start the process. • Mortgage Finance Options (Rick): Recommended that we do not seek to refinance the loan, since we are so close to paying off the mortgage. Refinance fees are likely to be $6,000 in order to refinance an approximate $28,000 loan, which is not worth the short and long term risk. • Washington Building Structural Review (Linda): The plan is to utilize the building to it’s maximum potential. A few work parties and an estimate of $3000 to touch up the floor, paint, pressure wash and clean up the landscaping will improve it’s earning potential. Lori motions to seek out a professional inspection to find out the integrity of the building structure. Clare 2nds. All approved. Rick to investigate cost and recommend an inspector. • Washington Building Future Plans: Having the Washington building available opens up many exciting possibilities, some ideas include the following: ⚬ Commercial kitchen (already approached by 2 interested venders) ⚬ MCC office/accounting space and records storage ⚬ Conference meeting space and office rentals ⚬ Educational classes and groups ⚬ Residential teaching kitchen ⚬ Pop-up shop and home business parties ⚬ Demonstration Garden ⚬ MCC Events: Wine Tasting, Tea, Rummage sales, Bake sales, etc ⚬ Produce Share expansion/ Buying Club expansion • Event Planning: Bakes Sales every Saturday this month, from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Washington location. Need more people to donate baked goods and help run the sale if we are to continue these successful sales. Rummage Sale March 23rd, 24th, and 25th (Friday through Sunday). Donations to be accepted Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before the sale. Linda C. and Laura to head the sale. To be held at the Washington location. Kay to call for volunteers and submissions to both the Bake Sale and Rummage Sale through a Monthly Minute email to the members. Lori to start on promoting the events through Facebook and fliers. Adjournment: 8:41 PM