Garden Meeting Minutes
June 11th
May minutes approved
President’s Report – Cyndi Line
General reminder: lock the shed and gates. They’ve all been found unlocked recently.
The cherry tree has been picked.
This weekend’s clean-up will be lead by Lisa Z. and will start at 9am. Please keep adding “to do” items to the task list in the shed.
Fundraising – Kristy Littman has prepared an activities grant to fund summer camp programs an community outreach and education.
Greg Line will run a 50/50 raffle at clean-ups starting in June.
The Bee Guild will hold a BBQ at the garden patio for a fee of $100.
We are entered in the annual PHS garden contest.
BBQ – Elizabeth Coleman
The date is September 15th. Brian Ricci has agreed to assist with the menu and food again this year. Thank you Brian! Volunteer sign up sheets and potluck donation sheets were circulated.
This year the ticket sales must be primarily done ahead of time so that the proceeds can be used to purchase food etc the week before the BBQ. Tickets will be available starting in July. Any questions please contact: Elizabeth Coleman (267) 304-8430 or elizanncole@gmail.com.
Vice-President’s Report – John V.
Clean-up is at 9am.
Treasurer’s Report – Deirdre
$1,431.29 is the May meeting balance. There was income of $75 in dues.
May expenses are $196.42 which includes: $25 for garbage bags, $23.92 for the electric bill, and $147.50 for the bees. This leaves a current balance of $1,309.87.
The water bill is expected this month for $1,200. We don’t have enough money to cover that anticipated bill so expect we’ll need to impose a surcharge per plot for water.
It was discovered that the general funds included $520 which is grant money earmarked for the water barrels. This amount has been removed from the general funds ledger.
The rainy day fund has $2,000.
Committee Reports
City Harvest – 479 lbs of food have been donated to date. The garden received a commendation from City harvest for support of the program.
Bees – The bees are doing well. Extraction is scheduled for June 21st. Barbara Seiple will take honey orders.
Watering – the trash and recycling MUST go out on Thursdays. This includes the bags that are waiting by the west gate AND the bags in the trash cans that are next to the compost bins. It was suggested that the barrels not be filled every day but be maintained at 50% capacity. This will be referred to the Committee. Bottom line is that water use must be curtailed. There is no need to water when we have been getting plenty of rain. The more the plants are watered, the shallower the roots grow leading to weaker and more water dependant plants. This will be a topic for a future educational presentation.
Thom noted that he checked the water meter on June 2nd and it showed that the garden has consumed exactly the same amount of water as the prior month. This means, that based on the 2010 rates (which is all we have to go on at this time) we have used $520 of water this year through June 2, 2012.
By-law proposed amendment – Deirdre
The proposed changes to the by-laws regarding dues have been circulated by e-mail. The proposed changes incorporate feedback and suggestions from the Garden Council. After reading the proposed language aloud questions and comments were taken from the membership.
It was suggested that a “garden” collection can be passed at meetings.
There will not be a senior citizen discount.
It was suggested that the rainy day fund be split over two years – instead of keeping the $2,000 which is currently set aside it was suggested that half that amount be transferred to the general fund for 2012 to help meet basic costs.
It was suggested that the proposed by-laws language include a provision stating that any fundraising proceeds designated for “general funds” will be subtracted from the year’s basic costs, before the annual basic costs are divided by the number of voting plots. This suggestion was approved and the language incorporated to the proposed by-laws.
With a quorum present, the proposed by-laws were adopted by a vote of 38 members.