Skip sidebar and go to page body
Present:
Board Members (with representation): David Bauermeister (NABC), Jane Burton-Bell (ARC), Bruce Gregory (CD), Greg Hertel (Port of FH), Candace Jagel (WSU Ext.), Megan Jones (at large), Elaine Kendall (FMA), Cloud Oakes (at large), Suzy Pingree (at large), Madden Surbaugh (restaurants), Bill Watson (EDC), Peggy Weir (FMA)
Absent: Rick Hughes (Orcas Farmers Market), Rebecca Moore (FMA), Rob Waldron (IGFC)
Project Director: Lovel Pratt
Observer and subcommittee member: Hawk Pingree
The meeting convened at 1:30 p.m. with a round of introductions since David Bauermeister was attending in person for the first time.
1. MINUTES
Motion (by Bill, seconded by Bruce): We approve the minutes of the May 6 board meeting as written with one change: Jane's representation should be ARC, not FMA. The motion was passed unanimously.
2. TREASURER'S REPORT
Bill reviewed the current finances and the draft budget dated 5.15.08, which he had previously distributed. He explained that he did not include a line item in the budget for fundraising or project activities. He assumed that the cost of the fundraising events would be covered by the events themselves and not from the operating budget. He also assumed that the costs of project activities are too difficult to estimate this early.
Lovel explained that the cost of brochures distributed at the farmers market so far have been covered by board members individually, as needed. The CD has pledged $1500 towards printing costs, though this money is considered “matching funds” to be made available when a grant comes through.
David offered the services of the NABC to make color copies as long as they are not in great quantities. We gratefully accepted this offer.
Action Item: For budgeting purposes, Lovel will provide Bill with an estimate of the cost of an outreach brochure.
Bill requested a formal motion to pay Vance Corum’s speaker's fee.
Motion (by Jane, seconded by Elaine): We will pay Vance's invoice of $1000 for speaking at the fundraising dinner. The motion passed unanimously.
The fundraising dinner covered Vance's fee and also the $750 fee for filing as a non-profit with the IRS.
Action item: Bill will check to see whether Cathy Cavenaugh has paid the $750 filing fee and to whom we owe this money. He will look into when we might expect the letter of designation from the IRS, which we need for fundraising.
3. PROJECT MANAGER'S REPORT
Farm-to-school project. Lovel had previously submitted her report by e-mail (attached below). Lovel recommends that the Ag Guild take a lead role in the farm-to-school program recently proposed to the school district by Chef Tom French. This collaboration would involve the guild hiring a project manager to work with Tom as a point person/coordinator/facilitator/liaison between the farm-to-school program and local farmers. This would essentially be a second project for the Ag Guild. We agreed that this is part of our mandate.
Motion (by Bill, seconded by Megan): Whereas participation in a farm-to-school program is consistent with our mission and vision, we express interest in participating in the farm-to-school program currently under development by Chef Tom French for the San Juan Island School District, on the condition that funding is provided for the coordinator’s position and that we approve of the job description and project timeline. The motion passed unanimously with one abstention (Jane, who may be interested in the job).
Action item: Lovel will continue to interface with Tom on this as the idea develops. She will get back to Tom and communicate the message above.
Madden added that, assuming that all comes to pass, Tom will be looking to hire a cook to prepare school food.
Rapid Market Assessment (RMA). The RMA on May 17 yielded some useful information. Lovel remarked that even though the survey was taken on May 17, which is not in tourist season, we still had 28% tourists. Peggy reported that, on the basis of the success of this RMA, the FMA would like to do ongoing RMAs throughout the summer. Peggy received two complaints that the survey display blocked the gazebo. We will remedy this next time.
Site selection. Lovel asked whether we should pursue a PFM site that may not be large enough to accommodate all of the activities that we would like to see included in the PFM facility. Discussion followed of the pros and cons.
We paused in the discussion to watch the Site Selection Committee Report, a PowerPoint prepared by Lovel and the committee. We agreed to treat the discussion of specific properties as confidential, since some of the negotiations are sensitive and not yet public knowledge.
Action item: The committee will research health department requirements for building renovation for the purpose of a farmers market. We will ask Mark Thompkins for help in this.
David Waldron has kindly offered to help with renderings.
We agreed on a priority site from among the options presented. We noted further limitations with this site, particularly that it is too small to accommodate all of the uses originally envisioned for the PFM facility.
We agreed that we will keep multiple sites in mind while exploring the potential of any specific site. We will do feasibility studies and site location analyses of all of the preferred sites, for purposes of comparison.
David mentioned that NABC is currently undertaking feasibility studies and site location analyses for other farmers markets. He generously offered us the use of the protocols and budget tools that they develop for those projects.
We noted that properties owned by the SJC Lank Bank do not pay property taxes.
We agreed that the first step is to approach the current renter of the property for permission to explore the option with the FMA and then other stakeholders.
Action item: Lovel will talk with Sandy Strehlou and Boyd Pratt before approaching the property’s current lessee and then the FMA, possibly on June 14.
4. FUNDRAISING
David reported that the federal farm bill passed, so the Farmer's Market Promotion Program will be funded. Our FMPP grant proposal has been short listed and we have been asked to prepare a full proposal, to be submitted by 5 p.m. on July 2. Noted: Money from this grant would not be available until 2009.
Lovel reported that we have not yet heard back about the lodging tax grant application or the date of the council meeting to review short-listed applications. We noted that money from this source could not be used to pay for the project manager.
We also noted that Community Foundation grants do not cover operational costs.
Our conclusion was that we need to find sponsors or donors.
Action item: The Fundraising Committee will meet to put together a fundraising plan with the immediate goal of raising $20,000 for operations.
5. LOVEL'S CONTRACTWe reviewed the draft contract previously sent out by Elaine. Lovel is asking for a six-month contract at 80 hours per month at $35 per hour, which comes to $16,800 every six months).
We agreed that we need to make better use of Lovel's time and save her for the things that count, such as site selection, grant writing, and fundraising. The board members can handle things such as writing thank you notes and creating brochures and fundraising material.
Motion (by Madden, seconded by Megan): We will hire Lovel as an independent contractor on a six-month basis. The motion passed unanimously.
6. FUNDRAISING DINNER AT STEPS
We gave Madden a round of applause for the wonderful job that he did on the dinner.
Debriefing: We should have had an Ag Guild representative approaching people for donations during and at the end of the dinner. Jane remarked that only 7 of the 50 people on the list of invitees came, so there is still some depth to the list of potential donors.
7. AG TENT AT THE FAIR
Elaine will represent the Ag Guild and work with Eliza Buck on the ag tent.