Present:
Trustees: Brian Drayton, Naomi Schoenfeld, Lincoln Geiger, Alice Groh, Ashley Renwick, Anthony Graham.
Alice opened the meeting with a passage from Farms of Tomorrow Revisited. At our next meeting our study will be based on Chapter 5 of this book.
Elad
We discussed Elad’s request for pay for November and December. It was noted that he is a member of the community and that we would like to support him. However, the board is also aware that it has a fiscal responsibility to the farm. We will look at the figures and relate his request to the needs of the farm in order to find a response that is fair to both parties.
The board decided that his employment should end on October 31st 2021.
Anthony’s Compensation
Anthony will be paid $1,500 per month while carrying the vegetable side of the farm during the winter.
Next Year
- We might be able to use up to two acres of the farm fields for next year. The rest of the vegetable land should be put under cover crops.
- Who will grow the vegetables?
- How can we reset? The fields need a break and we need a fresh start.
- We need to provide the members with a narrative concerning the future of the farm.
- We need to address issues within the various areas of the farm, such as admin, vegetables, dairy and the creamery. It was suggested that we set up a task force for each area (each led by a board member) to address the issues.
- We will have to decide what are the questions that need to be answered.
- Once the answers in each area have become clear the task force can be dropped.
Next Meeting
This will be an open meeting with time for input from visitors and time for deliberation between board members. Zoom will be available.
Ashley thought that we need to look at possible issues next year in terms of having a changed board with a new board president and at the same time potentially having a new vegetable farmer.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 31st August at 7pm in the Garden Room.