Goldenrod Community Garden Meeting – Aug 17, 2021

Topic: Goldenrod Community Garden Interim Board meeting
Present: Dietrich, Carmel, Bryn, Al, Sara, Diane, Tanya
Regrets: Allegra

1.	CALL TO ORDER

2.	APPROVAL OF AGENDA
•	A motion was made to approve the agenda by Carmel. Motion passed.

3.	APPROVAL OF MINUTES
•	A motion was made to approve the minutes by Al. Motion passed.

4.	UNFINISHED BUSINESS
a.	Defining relationships to the garden: volunteers/members/friends of the garden
i.	See the document Al created
•	Document tries to better define different ways that you can contribute to the garden 
o	Member
•	Has plot
•	Does not have plot—called friends of the garden—can pay a membership fee or volunteer time
o	Donor
•	All volunteers must be members 
•	All members should sign our bylaws and other documents (for liability reasons and to ensure support of Goldenrod principles) 
•	All members have the right to vote and stand for election and attend events and will have first priority at plots
o	Members with plots have first priority to renewing their plot
o	Members without plots are second priority to get a plot
o	Waiting list people are third priority
•	For upcoming AGM all members (with or without plot) will be invited and can vote

Action:
•	By the end of August, Sara will 
o	Draft a message and ask Evan to send an email to everyone who has volunteered inviting them to register as a friend of the garden and telling them that if they register they will be able to attend the AGM, stand for election and attend events.  Also to all the friends asking them to sign the documents,
o	Ask the membership committee to upgrade the jot form to make explicit that they should be signed by friends and volunteers
•	In the future, volunteers will be asked to sign our documents and will become Friends of the GCG
•	By-laws will be reviewed in more detail after the AGM for consistency of how non-plot members/Friends of the garden are described

b.	Election recommendations
∙         See the discussion document Dietrich created, and the attached draft resolutions sent last week. 

The following edits were made to the bylaws

Bylaw B3, no-plot members, can say that the stipulation that they live in Kitchissippi
does not apply to them. No-plot members will also be known as friends of the garden.
Motion to approve Bryn, passed. 

Bylaw C—board configuration—describe to elect up to nine people to the board during the AGM. If nine people or less run for the board, they are acclaimed. During the first board meeting, board members pick positions (e.g. president, secretary, etc.). Positions can be co-shared 
Motion to approve Al, passed.

Bylaw description of Election officer
Motion to approve Tanya, passed.

Bylaw description of Board nomination process:
•	Nominations open 10 days before AGM and close at AGM. People who provide information 7 days before AGM will get it published for information.
Motion to approve Al, passed. 

Voting for board
•	Close nominations at AGM and allow people two days after the AGM, ballots will list all nominee and voters will choose nine candidates. The nine candidates who get the highest number of votes are elected. Should nine or fewer be nominated then an election will not be held. 
•	Secure electronic software will be used for online voting.
Motion to approve Sarah, passed

Accessible voting
•	Wording added to stipulate use secure electronic voting.
•	Other means of voting as deemed acceptable by the elections officer allowed to ensure accessibility

Quorum for the board
•	If the board falls below four then there needs to be a new election. Wording related to proxy voting taken out of section
Motion to approve accessible voting and quorum Al, passed.

Bylaw D sections 7e and f
•	Changed quorum to 10 for AGM and member meetings
•	Strike f from bylaws
Motion to approve Tanya, passed 

c.	 AGM Planning – date / location / format, and a discussion about a zoom account.
•	Wednesday October 6, 7 pm as tentative AGM date
Motion to approve Carmel, passed 

Actions:
•	Bryn will send the Somerset and Parkdale contacts to Carmel to enquire about a room for AGM6 at 7:00 pm.
•	Dietrich will ask Catherine to send out request for elections officer in next newsletter

d.	Amanda’s Resignation 
Motion to accept Tanya, passed

Action:
•	Diane to write a farewell note about Amanda

ITEMS DEFERRED TO NEXT MEETING

NEW BUSINESS
b.     Leaf Mold and disposal of contaminated plant materials
c.     Payment Approval processes

REPORTS OF OFFICERS/COMMITTEES
a.    Build
b.    Membership
c.     Finance
d.    Fundraising
e.    Communications
f.     Member engagement

Meeting adjourned