2015 AGM

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These minutes were approved at the 2016 AGM.

EBC Meeting Minutes for Annual General Meeting 2015

Board meetings are open to the EBC members and the public.

  • Location: Norwood School gymnasium, 9520 111 ave, Edmonto
  • Start Time: 1:00 pm

Attendance

  • Members: Adrian Pearce, Alex Hindle, Anna Vesala, Brian Dupuis, Chris Chan, Chris Corrigan, Coreen S., Dan Thompson, Derek Pluim, Dion Brocks, Doug Bezovie, Elena Rozhenko, Garry Burt, Geoff Hansen, Jan Przysiezniak, Janine Halayko, Jeff Davis, Jonathan Woelber, Karl Tracksdorf, Kathy Turnock, Keith McIsaac, Liam Kavanagh-Bradette, Michael Vester, Mike Young, Nancy Milakovic, Peter Verboom, Robert Clinton, Ron Cherlet, Ron Gable, Ruth Merriott, Steve Andersen, Tim Fitzpatrick
  • Guests: Dave Holm, Thomas McCallum
  • Meeting Chair: Nancy Minutes: Anna Food by: Dan, Geoff, Alex

Call to Order

  • Meeting called to order by Nancy at 1:09pm.
  • Welcome and review of logistics (food, refreshments, toilets, emergency exits, etc.).
  • Quorum established (greater than or equal to 20 members).
  • Describe member package documents and voting slip.

Approval of Agenda

  • Motion: To approve agenda as presented. Moved by Chris Corrigan, seconded by Derek. Motion Carried.

Approval of 2014 AGM Minutes

Reports

See 2015 Annual Report: http://edmontonbikes.ca/w/Annual_Reports

President's Annual Report (15 min)

  • Jon W addressed the members
  • EBC board is accountable for 3 main things: what we do is relevant to the public; we deliver to our mandate; what we do is sustainable for the long term.
  • Thank to outgoing board members, continuing board members, all our volunteers, and our members.

Executive Director's Annual Report (15 min)

  • Chris Chan addressed the members.
  • Thank you to the board. My role is to enact the vision of the board and it has been a pleasure to work with them this year.
  • Tremendous growth in our membership over past decade.
  • Over 150 volunteers at BikeWorks who contributed 6,200 hours and over 2,200 hours of programs (courses, public hours, programs). The dedication and skill of our volunteers is really remarkable.
  • Many high profile and well attended bike events this year. Completed a number of free presentations to workplaces about cycling.
  • Advocacy has been very active in the city. Lots of public support for capital funding for infrastructure at City Hall.
  • The Spoke ran a few sessions thanks to the volunteer coordinator, Tara S. She has been fantastic! However, she has had to step back so a new coordinator, Nathan, is taking the lead.
  • You Can Ride Two has two aspects - learn to bike and adapted bike loan pool. Huge thanks to coordinator Janine H. Lent out over 100 adapted bikes with special needs this year.

Treasurer's Annual Report (15 min)

  • Jon is the temporary Treasurer and addressed the members.
  • 2014-5 Fiscal Year end report was presented.
  • No surprises to the results of this fiscal year - less than 1% variance from our budget. We budgeted a $13,000 deficit and this was fulfilled.
  • Questions from members:
    • How will losing experienced bookkeeper affect ability to take on charitable designation? Jon: We are hiring a professional accountant to do our bookkeeping and have allocated a slightly higher budget for this. Board members and ED are familiar with financial responsibilities.
    • How will charitable status affect EBC's ability to have surplus budgets. Jon: As long as we meet the requirements of charities, we will have no problem managing a surplus.
    • How will charitable status affect EBC's ability to do advocacy. Jon: No more than 10% of EBC's resources would be able to be allocated to advocacy. In our research, EBC has previously spent approx 3% of our budget on advocacy. Also definition of advocacy does not include working with City on issues. Eg. EBC asks members to write to Councillors = advocacy and any resources used to organize this is less than 10%. Member: If EBC's budget increases as a charity, the 10% for advocacy would also increase. Janine: A sister oganization in Calgary has charitable status and has a $300k budget.

Motion: To approve the annual report and financial statements as presented. Moved by Robert who notes they were great reports, seconded by Liam. Motion Carried.

Volunteer Awards (20 min)

  • Coreen addressed the members.
  • This year we received more nominations than any previous year and have so many deserving volunteers.
  • Honorable Mentions:
    • Julie Kuziak, Queen Alex Cross Roads and complete streets initiative.
    • Glen Kubish, Coffee Outside organizer, YEGbike events, media.
    • Nathan Treloar, long time Spoke volunteer and new coordinator.
    • Rob Drinkwater, longtime BikeWorks volunteer and continues to be a core volunteer at North shop.
    • Nancy Milakovic, board member, BikeWorks volunteer.
    • Aristotle, BikeWorks South personality and very positive and passionate person to have around.
    • Jan P, indespensible BikeWorks South volunteer.
    • Tim Fitzpatrick, continues to be at BikeWorks almost everyday and works well with everyone who comes in the door. Helps out after hours and many thankless tasks.
    • Robert Clinton, heart and soul of BikeWorks North for the past 3 years since it opened to welcome people and make them feel like it is their space. People love to work with him!
    • Oliver Community League and Queen Alexandra Community League for their respective work on Jasper Ave complete streets and Queen Alex cross roads.
    • Melanie Harris, YCR2 volunteer and physiotherapist and excellent administrator, gracious feedback, always looking for ways to improve the process.
    • Jay Smith, columnist for Metro News on alternative transportation has written many insightful and hard-hitting pieces on cyclilng, walkability, and transportation outside of the auto-centric lens.
    • Peter Verboom, BikeWorks South and recently BikeWorks North volunteer for several years, great for answering last minute calls for help!
    • Candace Boettger, BikeWorks South volunteer on Women Trans & Gender Non Binary program for past 2 years. Very resilient, respectful, excellent organizer and great mechanic.
  • Jack Grainge advocate award goes to Conrad Norbert.
    • Conrad has been working toward complete streets for several years (Strathcona and recently Queen Alex Cross Roads). He is a core organizer of the YEGbike Coalition, was successful in getting city funding for the bike infrastructure on 102 ave and 83 ave.
  • Dale Allsop Award for significant contribution to BikeWorks awarded to (tie) Brendan Huyun and Thomas Dessein.
    • Brendan was a very keen volunteer and has been a rock holding down the volunteering at BikeWorks North on Saturdays. He has picked up a lot of skills, has contributed a ton, and is now giving back so much to the cycling community.
    • Thomas has been similarly holding down BikeWorks South on Saturdays. He is extremely friendly, welcoming, always in good humour, fantastic to work with.
  • Ian Helgesen Award for embodying the spirit of making people feel welcomed, being committed to helping others awarded to Michael O'Neill.
    • Michael is an EBC intern working toward an urban planning degree at McGill. He has been working with EBC over the summer and remotely in the autumn, particularly the bicycle bottleneck intersection. Internally, he has done great GIS work to do targeted membership promotions and BikeWorks volunteer.
  • Peter Pal Award for pivotal work "behind the scenes" especially for recycling awarded to Keith MacIsaac.
    • Keith received more nominations than anyone ever! He has been a regular volunteer at BikeWorks North since it opened. He has been at the heart of the shop, extremely knowledgeable, so good at being in 3 places at once, always polite and welcoming, enthusiastic cyclist attending group rides with his kids, living car-free, has often been there when things are tight.
  • We must acknowledge all the other volunteers who contribute to every aspect of our organization! We are so blessed to have the energy and dedication of so many skilled and amazing people in our city! Thank you, all.

New Business

Budget 2015-6 (15 min)

  • See Proposed Budget in the Financial Reports.
  • Jon addressed the members.
  • Anticipating another deficit of approx $24k; however the board is specifically seeking to apply for charitable status to access further funding opportunities - estimate of $25-30k per year.
  • Expecting an increase in sale revenue from BikeWorks and casinos, but new additional expense of staffing
  • Questions from members:
    • Why not wait until after charitable status to increase expenses? Jon: Rather than pull back on programming and lay off employees, board decided that we could tap into cash surplus. Member: Are future boards going to be addicted to tapping into cash surplus? Jon: Board has a history of being very frugal and has budgeted very well, however the cost of keeping up with demand for services and programs has outpaced current revenue. Member: Since EBC members elect the board, it is responsibility of members to elect fiscally responsible board members. Jon: One component of budget is to hire a Program Coordinator, whose job duties will be to increase funding for programs.
    • What are the chances of NOT achieving charitable status? Jon: We are almost 100% confident we will achieve it. Research in past few years has shown that EBC is well fit for complying with all CRA requirements.
    • How does being a charity affect our ability to run casinos? Jon: No, charities are eligible to run a casino.
    • Janine: Impetus for charitable status is also in demand from You Can Ride Two, which has already received significant funding which are only accessible to charities.
    • Jeff: When do you expect to achieve charitable status since this may impact when you are able to realize the expected increase in funding, especially from increase personal and corporate donations. Jon: Our budget has been created without changing our expectation of donations.
    • Ruth: In your opinion, how much cash reserve is needed for EBC at this time? Jon: Forumla is 30% of one year's revenues. Concern is that if we continue to run deficits, we are not able to deal with unexpected events. Therefore, board felt it is critical to apply for charitable status to get back into building surplus budgets.
    • Ruth: Comment that not for profits have balancing act. Cash reserve should be there so that you don't get into emergency situation, however the reserve shouldn't be too large either because money coming in isn't being spent on programs and services. Jon: When people donate to EBC, they can specify where those funds go toward. Eg. Funding for You Can Ride Two. How much reserve also depends on how much and what type of risks we are facing. Fortunately, we have a diversified program and services operations so we reduce our risk. If we save less than 30% of 1 year operating expenses, we do take on risk. We could have budgeted a greater deficit and run higher programming but we decided that it would be more prudent to apply for charitable status and take on this reasonable risk.
    • Adrian: Jon's grasp on this issue is impressive! Thank you! Robert: And your grasp on this organization, its purpose, its programs is impressive. Thank you!
  • Motion: To approve the 2015-2016 Budget as presented. Moved by Derek, seconded by Liam. Motion Carried.

Board Elections (20 min)

  • Anna addressed the members.
  • Overview of Election Process as per 2014 Bylaws.
  • Current board members serve to end of the term (Dec 1, 2015); new board members transition between now and Dec 1.
  • Candidates: Nathan, Karl, Jasmine, Kathy, Derek
  • Board members who were appointed after 2014 AGM seeking election: Alexey, Adrian, Dan, Geoff, Nancy
  • Candidates made short speeches
  • 10 positions open and 10 candidates therefore all candidates are acclaimed.
  • Motion: To recognize Adrian Pearce, Alexey Kalinin, Daniel Thompson, Derek Pluim, Geoff Hansen, Jasmine Farahbakhsh, Karl Tracksdorf, Kathy Turnock, Nancy Milakovic, Nathan Treloar as new EBC board members. Moved by Robert, seconded by Chris Corrigan. Motion Carried.
  • Motion: To accept the resignation/completed term of Alex Hindle, Chris Corrigan, Rachel Keglowitsch. Moved by Jon, seconded by Anna. Motion Carried.

Adjournment

  • Motion: To adjourn the 2015 Annual General Meeting at 3:25pm. Moved by Derek, seconded by Robert. Motion Carried.
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