Board Minutes February 2024

These minutes are not yet approved. They are scheduled for review and approval at the upcoming board meeting.

Bike Edmonton Board Meeting Minutes for February 2024

Board meetings are open to Bike Edmonton members and the public.

• Google Meet
• Start Time: 7:00 pm

Please RSVP to board@bikeedmonton.ca if you plan on attending. Please include a brief summary of any agenda item you would like to table. Thank you!

Attendance

• Meeting Chair: Stephen
• Minute-taker: Alexandra
• Board attendance: Marcel, Daniel, Matt, Nazz, Sarah, Keith
• Staff attendance: Alex, Vaughan, Coreen
• Regrets:
• Absent:
• Guests: Derek Kramar, Devin Clark, Colin Margetts, Adam Burgess

Call to Order

• Meeting called to order by Stephen at 7:02 pm.

Logistics for Next Meeting

• Date:
• Location:
• Chair:
• Minute-taker:
• Food by:

President's Report

• Verbal report
• Still waiting to hear if conditions will clear for South Shop lease option
• Continued discussion around pop-up shops. Nothing finalized.
• Several media appearances by Keith.
• Fair bit of success with fundraising.
• Lots of interest in fulfilling our remaining board seats.

Treasurer's Report

• [Treasurer's Report February 2024]
• Need link
• CIOG: working on reporting for 2022. Then can apply for 2023.
• Keith: There are about 50 bikes that are greentags and 20 bikes that are yellowtags at the downtown shop. 70 bikes ready to sell at the south shop.
• Coreen: There are 0 bikes ready to go at downtown shop. They need to be built or checked by the mechanic again, including greentag. Bikes sales have been good at the shops. We check all bikes twice and double-check pricing and our records. 90% of the bikes require additional adjustment after the first mechanic works on them.
• Marcel: I noticed more revenue from the shops.
• Coreen: Our bike sales have basically doubled from this time last year.
• Marcel: Why?
• Coreen: We have sold some high-end bikes. We have more selection. Weather is better. Donation drive has put us on people's radar. We had a discount-the-temp. promotion.
• Nazz: How is our cash flow and what does the next three months look like?
• Marcel: In my mind, the donation drive carries us through to the summer. The condition is what happens to the south side shop. What I'm scared of is next winter and if we can get through NEXT winter.
• Alex: I want to note with CIOG that it's definitely worth applying for, but that we do less outreach programming than we used to. This month, revenue from bike sales for downtown shop was 8k.
• Stephen: We should include a shop managers report in the next board meeting.
• Stephen: Do we have a comparative statement?
• Marcel: Yes. [NEED LINK.]
• Alexandra: As of Feb 8th, the donation drive has raised $34,704.10, not including the 5k matching.

Finance Committee Report

• [Strategic Planning Committee Report (Month) (Year)]

Approval of Agenda, Minutes, Reports (5 min)

MOTION

To approve this February agenda, the January 2024 minutes, and reports as presented
Moved:	Keith
Seconded:	Devin

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

Current & Completed Business

Updates on Action Items From Previous Meeting, Reminders (5 min)

• Everyone log your volunteer hours for the past month.
• Committee Chairpersons to post all committee meetings to Bike Edmonton Events calendar (unless the event must explicitly be private: then use "Bike Edmonton Internal" calendar)
• Committee Chairpersons to ensure wiki is up-to-date with committee TOR.
• Reminder of our Code of Conduct
• Reminder of conflict of interest policy

Transfer of signing authority

• No update

Crowdfunding Campaign

• See Treasurer's Report discussion for update
• Crowdfunding campaign shoud be considered as "finished" as we have met our goal.
• Donor thank-you email to go out.

South Shop

• Deadline for conditions clear later this week

Social Enterprise Fund

• Marcel: We are not going to pursue this funding option at this time because of other things on the front burner. South shop, CIOG, etc. We are free to apply to the SEF at any time. We would need to present a business case.

Finance Audit

COMPLETED

• Nazz: I am finishing writing/creating the audit. We have considered opening it up to the membership to sit-in.
• Sarah: Yes, I wrote an email to that effect to invite members. Ready to send whenever.

CEBA Loan

• Funding was secured and load was paid off

Casino Audit Report

• Marcel: Looks like it went through.

New Business

Bargaining Committee

• Need more members, can't be president or vice. Right now it's only Matt and Denise (negotiator).
• See if Jonathan Wilbur would be interested.
• New board members may be interested.
• Sarah will join

Resignation Notice

• Alexandra resigning from Board at end of the month.
• Will need secretary.

Media Appearances

• Keith did great! Probably had a significant impact on donation drive and visits to the shops.
• Stephen: We should develop centralized talking points for future media appearances by the board.
• Keith: CBC has reached out to Bike Edmonton to do a longer spot when we want.
• Coreen: Staff are also interested in doing media apperances.
• Stephen: Yes, Alex is doing some as well at the library.
• Stephen & Sarah: We should also be making commentary on the new bylaw.
• Coreen: I'd like to raise awareness against this thing on social media, if the board is okay.
• Keith: I was going to say that before we make an official BE stance, we need to vote on what our stance is.
• Nazz: I know little about the bylaw issue so I am going to need background to make a decision.
• Alex: Is there precedent for us offering our opinion on things not directly related to cycling?
• Stephen: Yes, because there are aspects of it related to cycling, such as fines or cycling in groups.
• Matt: Yeah, fines for cycling on the sidewalk would be more than driving on the sidewalk.
• Coreen: I think we should follow Paths for People's lead: https://pathsforpeople.org/2024/02/paths-for-people-urgently-calls-on-city-council-to-rethink-bylaw-20700-public-spaces-bylaw/
• Sarah; We should come up with a small group, 2 or 3 people including Coreen, to come up with a position and share it and then the whole board can approve it.
• Stephen: You can also register to speak at council about this.
• Keith: I was planning on putting my name forward personally. I could represent BE instead.
• Coreen: Because of deadlines, I think we should just amplify PfP's messaging.
• DECISION: Keith and Alex to write email to council about BE's stance on bylaw by wednesday and have Matt edit/review it, and then have Stephen approve. Coreen should amplify PfP's messaging using BE's channels.
• Sarah: You can describe the email as coming on behalf of BE, from the vice-pres.

Donor Appreciation

• Email copy written, needs to be sent before 18th to give members enough time to register for the Winter Cycling Congress with their membership promo code being included in the email.

Winter Cycling Congress

• Shop manager attendance
• Congress Promotion
• Marcel: The cost will be about $600 to send all three shop managers. I don't have a problem financially taking on that expenditure.
• Sarah: I have no qualms, but do we have a spot in our budget for "professional development" or something like that?
• Coreen: In previous years, we have always had a "staff training" budget.
• See motion

Bike Builder Hours

• One of our other bike builders likely to be available for less time in the near future
• Recommendation from Coreen to offer Jesse Cunningham some building hours
• Marcel: Will we exceed the number of budgeted hours?
• Adam: Does anyone have any sense of what the appropriate number of bike builders/bike builder hours is? And how only having one shop in the future will effect bike builders/hours?
• Coreen: I don't think we will exceed hours. It helps us get more stuff ready to go out the door, and also engage volunteers. Bike builders make us money. Bike builder hours are cash flow positive for us because when spring hits, we can sell all of the bikes that are built up. Refurbished bikes are easier to sell. Going forward, with a smaller space, if we can't store as much stock, my first goal is to maximize the amount of money we can make right now. We need some projections to know what that looks like going forward into the next year.
• Alex: I know Chris has done a lot of work and has provided a very detailed spreadsheet about bike builder investment. I am not concered about having all the builders at one shop. It wouldn't happen immediately, and we need to arrange for it not to hinder public hours. With the space Matt found, we could store parts and bikes. Our challenge has always been having enough space to store decent bikes.
• Matt: I am bit concerned about how we hire and manage people and staff now that we don't have an ED. I am not comfortable having this discussion in an open forum. We should have a side discussion in lieu of an HR committee.
• Stephen: Let's talk about this offline and then arrange to meet tomorrow. We should get a procedure in place.

OSBA Window Repair Grant

• We could get reimbursed through the Old Strathcona Business Association.
• Coreen: We just need someone to say "I'll tie up loose ends and submit it". We need some documentation from the landlord. Someone needs to grab this.
• Stephen: I'll grab this and get up to speed and move this along.

CIOG Grant

• Could be up to $15,000.
• See Treasurer's Report for discussion.

Property Tax Exemption

• Stephen: We have everything we need for the South Shop, but not the MacEwan shop (because ownership changed of the building and the lease doesn't reflect the current owner). The suggestion is that we look at renting some other space and use that draft lease agreement.
• Marcel: I just sent an email to the city rep handling our case asking if they have everything we need. It applies to the agreement we have right now so I sent them our current agreement. I made the application on the last day of January, and was told we would be exempt in February.
• In progess.

Downtown Shop Annex and Storage

• Marcel: Page 4 of the agreement. Proposed new rent. I get a different number, 150$ less that MacEwan. I think they took our old lease and applied it to the new area, but they're different square feet.
• Keith: I noticed that operating hours are Monday-Friday. We should say we are open on the weekends. The other is that they are supplying all the HVAC equipment! I think that includes repairs.
• Alex: I thought they we were going to replace. Are they responsible for maintaining?
• Keith: Yes, I believe so.
• Marcel: We would like to, as a Board, agree to up to $3800 rent for extra 500 square feet at the Macewan shop, starting March 1st.
• Alex: This space allows us to operate much more closely as we do with two shops, while only having one shop. It expands our street presence, it's a nice bright space. We could sell refurbished bikes out of there. It seems like a fair agreement with a reasonable rate. We need to make sure the lease allows for later evening opening hours as well, for events. I am strongly in favour of this option.
• Keith: Assuming this is something we pursue, when do staff think that we would be up and running? How would we do the transition from the south shop to the north shop? Does April 1st make more sense?
• Vaughan: What's nice about getting this space sooner, is that we can use it as a staging area while we are checking bikes and setting up for big sales.
• Alex: If it's possible to get it for April 1st, that might be preferable, because we don't hard need it. Nice reason for sooner is that we can arrange interior access sooner.
• Vaughan: If we were to get it for March 1st, he said he would be happy giving us access a few weeks earlier (before our lease officially starts).
• Alex: If it's not a financial burden, the sooner the better.
• Matt: Our current lease is up July 2025, with option to renew for 5 years. This space gives us an additional chance to rent for longer. I think we should also take it now.
• Coreen: Something I wanted to put on people's radar is that one of our big funfers/grant streams required us have long-term leases (at least five years). We should make sure a three year lease doesn't disqualify us. I can check.
• Stephen: Sounds like we want to pursue this lease subject to changing the current hours and making sure it doesn't effect our funding eligibility.
• Coreen: We still don't have a budget. We need a budget. We need to understand our projected revenue with these new obligations. We need to be doing our diligence on this before we rush ahead.
• Marcel: Yes, our new budget didn't account for the south side shop changes and the new MacEwan lease. We need to revise this budget because it's no longer reflecting what we are doing.
• Adam: Do we really need to make a budget for the next 6 months? Maybe we should focus on making a budget for the next fiscal year and having it be prepared in-time and confidently for the next AGM.
• Alexandra: Chris also provided projection excel sheets that could be useful.
• Derek: You need to manage this project and have a budget. It doesn't align with just asking your members for donations. You should plan ahead.
• Nazz: I just wanted to second what Marcel and Derek had to say. We need to look at the new lease and compare it to what we have in the budget. I think on a hunch we will be okay, but we need to revise and be sure.
• Alex: My concern is that we need to get that space. I am frustrated that we don't have a functioning budget that allows us to make this decision. I want to underline the necessity of getting that space.
• Sarah: We have two issues. We need to sell this spring and have an updated budget. I am comfortable saying we should move ahead with this lease.
• Keith: I am worried we cash strapping ourselves.
• Marcel: I am not worried about that at all. The only decision we have made tonight that really effects us is the bike builder discussion. That fits into our budget. We need to redo the budget to asses this lease.
• Alexandra: What is the deadline to get back to MacEwan?
• Marcel: I think we need to enter into the MacEwan lease before rejigging our budget, but we still need to reassess the budget. I think we should act quickly to get that space.
• Adam: My suggestion to focus on the next budget is because it is difficult to predict how having a combined shop effects our revenue, even if we have a sense of the expenses.
• Matt: For the storage space, I am happy to share it ad-hoc before we formalize something.
• Marcel: Do our shop managers feel as though we need it sooner than later?
• Coreen: That depends on the update from our South Shop landlord.
• Vaughan: I agree with Coreen.
• Matt: I am happy to hear an answer about the space by March 1st offline, through whatsapp, etc.
• DECISION: Respond to Matt by March 1st about obtaining the storage space.

Board applications

• Nominations from:
• Colin Margetts
• Adam Burgess
• Heather Young-Leslie
• Derek Kramar

• Gino Akbari has texted Matt that he would like to resign.

• Adam Burgess: I like this meeting, I like this team, I like how things are shaping up, I like the communication that's happening between the board and staff, and I like that the staff are being flexible. I was a board president of EBC about 10 years ago. I learnt a lot and am looking forward to getting us through this transition.
• Colin Margetts: South Shop volunteer since about 2015. Background in engineering. Happy to help out wherever is needed.
• Derek Kramar: Thankful for everything everyone has been doing here. My background is being a member. My professional experience is engineering.
• Stephen: I am going to suggest we go in-camera and have a discussion before having a vote.

MacEwan New Space Lease

MOTION

Board moves to pursue draft lease with MacEwan, subject to operating hours change and that it doesn't effect BE's grant eligibility. Concurrently, the effects of the new lease need to be amended in the current budget.
Moved:	Keith
Seconded:	Matt

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

Winter Cycling Congress

MOTION

Board moves to cover the costs, up to $600, of shop managers Alex, Coreen, and Vaughan attending Winter Cycling Congress.
Moved:	Marcel
Seconded:	Keith

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

Bargaining Committee Motion

MOTION

Board moves to add Sarah Bisbee to Bargaining Committee and remove Keith Heslinga. Committee membership will be Matt, Sarah, and Stephen (ex oficio)
Moved:	Keith
Seconded:	Sarah

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

In Camera Session

MOTION

To move in camera.
Moved:	Stephen
Seconded:	Sarah

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

MOTION

To move out of camera] discussion.
Moved:	Matt
Seconded:	Marcel

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

Board Membership #1

MOTION

Board moves to accept Gino Akbari's resignation
Moved:	Matt
Seconded:	Keith

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

Board Membership #2

MOTION

Board moves to accept Colin Margetts, Adam Burgess, Derek Kramar, and Heather Young-Leslie to the board
Moved:	Dan
Seconded:	Keith

Aye	No	Abstain
Passed

Adjourned at 10:55pm