Board Minutes November 2012

Attendance

Meeting Chair: Adam Burgess
Minute-taker: Micah Cooper
Board attendance: Brett, James, Duncan, Chris Corrigan, Neil, Lee, Micah, Paul
Staff attendance:
Regrets: Steph, Bern
Absent: Alex Choby
Guests: Sarah H, Justin, Leila, Adam, Anna, Alex Hindle

Call to Order

Time: 6.34

Approval of Agenda

Motion: Duncan: I move to approve the agenda; seconded: Chris Corrigan; carried.

Approval of Last Month's Minutes

Motion: Duncan: I move to approve; seconded: Lee; carried.

Date, Location & Food for Next Meeting

12 December, 6.30, Ed-south 277
Sunday January 6, 2013 Board Retreat (time, location TBA)

Reports

President's Report

Most of my volunteer time as president has been focused on the Complete Streets Strathcona project. We've had a meeting, done some strategic planning, held an open house and synthesized the data into a map. You can see a recap of what we've done so far here - [1]

CSS is advocating for safe and comfortable bicycling infrastructure in Old Strathcona. We're focusing on 83rd ave and the 104th street counterflow bus lane.

The next steps happen after the summary of findings from our open house is done. We're going to open up the map that is on that page to anyone who has an idea for infrastructure in that area. We're going to have a general meeting and set some goals for the subgroups we've created.

I've set up a meeting with Bob Boutillier, the general manager of transportation in December. He's aware of our project. We're going to let him know what our objectives and processes are and what we're looking for.

I've contacted the city's open data catalogue to follow up on a request I made for the city to open up the data it collects already for cycling. No movement so far on that.

Duncan gives brief résumé; good feelings about it all.

Treasurer's Report

Has only finished September so far; lost a bit more than expected i.e. declined. Higher loss than expected, but Babac order can throw things off. Revenue not great, in particular BWS year-over-year. Made up in donations (Isaak Kornelson). Casino money: no confirmation but suspect is there. Trying to hand things off to Paul, unless someone else wants to run for treasurer.

BikeWorks Report

Coreen not here so we are skimming through the document.

Storing bikes?

Discussion: Should we be selling more expensive bikes on kijiji? Most of the bikes we sell are below market value, so this could be useful. Is there any reason why we'd have to go through the internet- do we ever have a problem selling valuable bikes? Storing is also a cost to us. Other community bike shops have pages dedicated to bikes for sale, maybe we could unload some bikes that way. What about a fundraising event using bikes as centrepiece e.g. as a prize? Expense. Winter clunker sale did not sell that many bikes. Prices may have inched up but in the summer we do sell bikes constantly. MIght be worth considering to have a policy that we get as much revenue from this as we can. Should we give more of an inspection before selling them if we are charging more? Well no, we are talking about the market value of used bikes. Goals: affordable transpo, keep ourselves operating. We should be trying to get as much $ for them as possible. Hesitation at raising all prices across all bikes; would exclude a high proportion of people especially at north shop. But specific bikes that are worth more, for sure, some ppl try to exploit our cheap prices on sweet bikes. If it isn't too much of a burden on Coreen, could have a policy where she picks out sweet bikes and prices accordingly. This is kind of micro-mgmt; mgmt has already kind of moved beyond this. Moving towards training ppl doing repairs to sign off as well as fair prices. But so, market high-end bikes more, OK. Maybe make some kijiji ads for the tandem, etc.

Should we send feedback to Coreen to say good report? Yes. Also check in to see if this is a sustainable way for her to write/compile them? Might add specific things she wants from the board, things we could help her with. Opinion: Coreen really would benefit from hearing feedback from the board, support, etc. Morale-boosting. Helpful to hear from more than just Chris. To hear directly from the board. Being careful to remember that she is reporting to Chris and not directly to us. Duncan willing to write note to Coreen. Maybe table this issue. Idea: Maybe have a staff liaison. Part of HR committee?

Executive Director's Report

Should we be making these documents public? Yes, and if there's something super-private we can maybe take it off the report. When Chris gets here we can ask him what kind of materials he envisions to be categorised thus. Ah there he is!

Chris gives rundown.

CoE focus groups: do you understand what this bike sign means? Are you SURE you don't feel safe with sharrows? Re: LRT feedback: Can you make specific requests: Have you considered x or y? Duncan will see. Apparently Traffic Ops thinks that bike lanes are a good place to store their snow. Audra meeting with them next week. re: auto debit membership; Neil: we don't have the resources to automate this unless we have accurate records. Chris: it's indefinite and then we can manually cancel it when ppl stop. As long as stop notice, then OK. We could write in a x-term reminder, Hey, still want to keep contributing? No obligation to. Alternatives to PayPal? Also, on shop floor using PayPal is awkward. Getting credit card info etc. Something to keep in mind. New bike shop opening. Wants to sell our memberships etc. Corporate sponsorship of a sort. Big LONG discussion. Table? Alex Hindle: what about like at grocery store, write your name on a paper balloon on the wall. Someone to write a draft ethical funding policy? Take it away and think about it until a later meeting. Micah: I move that we discuss this more at the next meeting, like Anna said take this away, think of more things, maybe have an action item after that. Seconded: Duncan. Carried.

Committee 1 Report

Committee 2 Report

Current & Completed Business

Approval of BikeWorks Manager contract

Contract

Switching to Spark for our electricity bill

Deferred from Last meeting

New Business

Board Elect

Vote whether Sarah's "conflict of interest" prevents her from becoming a board member

Election of New Board Executive

We were supposed to elect new exec within 1 month of our AGM, i.e. Oct 30 2012: "The Board is required to hold a meeting... within one calendar month of the AGM. The date for this meeting must be set at the AGM. At this meeting, the Board shall elect a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer" (quoted from 2011 Bylaws under [Duties of the Board of Directors point a])
Review draft job descriptions for President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary
Nominations and elections

Spark

Vote on whether to switch to Spark as our electricity retailers
Vote on whether to become members.

Approval of Coreen Shewfelt's contract

Should this be handled in camera?

Sidewalk riding position statement

Statement as drafted

The Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society believes that cycling on the sidewalk is unsafe. It causes bikes to enter intersections unexpectedly and can be unpleasant for pedestrians. We encourage everyone to follow the city of Edmonton bylaw: if your wheels are over 50 centimeters (20” and over) in diameter, please ride on the road or on an appropriate piece of bike infrastructure such as a multi-use trail. We also recognize that some areas of our city are not yet safely navigable by bikes except by using the sidewalk. In such cases, we recommend that you: - reduce speed - cede right of way to pedestrians - warn approaching pedestrians with a bell or other audible signal - pass pedestrians and others with the greatest of care and respect - dismount and walk their bike when conditions warrant it - return to the road at the earliest safe opportunity to do so

Document Storage Policy

Document Storage Policy
Section 1a appears to have a typo: "There must be a reasonable assumption that the service provider will not be lose the documents or discontinue service in the foreseeable future."
Google does not guarantee compliance with section 1c: "Documents should be accessible by each of the board members." Since the software is stored server side, and is often changed without notice. Even if notice is given, it is often impossible to opt out or roll back from the change.
Section 3 is not clear if a physical location must be known, or it a Uniform Resource Indicator is sufficient to disclose the location.
James Phillips is uneasy with our apparent new reliance on Google. In particular, it appears that the Corporate Google accounts are being used as a form of Information Rights Management, which can never work since that would violate the law of cause and effect.

Sub Committee to Organize January 6th Retreat

temporary sub committee needed to draft retreat agenda, organize logistics, gather required materials for orientation, plan activities for "working together"/group dynamics, food, etc.
can we please establish desired time, location so that Micah can book the room?