board meeting minutes 

Regular Board Meeting Minutes

18 August 2026

Present:   Kay Coburn, Cathy-Ann Glockner, James Hiebert, Paul Cowan, Kate Miers, Leannah Fidler, Kendal Benesh, Mike Morrison

Regrets:  Sean Silverson (Finance Director, IGM), 

Members Present:

Staff Present:Amanda Verigin (Operations Director, IGM), Lucas Mjolsness (Deli Manager)

Chair: Kay Coburn

Recorder: Sadie Yancey (Board Administrative Assistant)

Meeting brought to order at 4:31pm in the Teaching Kitchen

Adoption of August Meeting Agenda:  M/Paul S/Cathy-Ann,  no amendments. All in favour.

Declaration of Interests: none

Approval of June Meeting Minutes:  M/Kendal S/Leannah, no amendments. All in favour.

Approval of consent agenda, including: 

  • HR Committee (1 meeting)
  • Governance Committee minutes 
  • Board Development Committee minutes (2 meetings)
  • Finance Committee minutes (2 meetings)
  • Member Engagement Committee minutes

M/Cathy-Ann S/Kendal

Participants asked questions about several items to be addressed in Business Arising. A director confirmed that Governance is not pursuing a transition to Policy Governance at this time.

CARRIED. All in favour.

Business Arising

  1. Manager of the Month – Lucas Mjolsness
    1. Lucas shared with the board information about the Deli Department – an overview of the first year of the full-service case, changes to leadership, and improvements in the bread supply.
    2. Lucas responded to questions from directors. Directors celebrated the growth and quality of the department. 

5:03pm Lucas left

  1. Review member feedback. There was no feedback to the board this month.
  2. AGM update. The chair of the Member Engagement shared with directors reminders about the timing and content of the AGM.
    1. It was noted that there will not be a childcare area at the 2026 AGM, but that this will be reconsidered next year. 
    2. It was agreed that it would be appropriate for Sean and Ashley to present the GM report for FY2026, and for Amanda to say a few words following this presentation.  It was noted that this moment of transition is important and should be acknowledged, along with acknowledging the staff who’ve acted as IGM for nearly four years. 
  3. Election update.  The chair of Board Development Committee updated the board on the timing and content of the upcoming election.
    1. There was general agreement that ballot reminders will not be sent by text message. These reminders can increase voter turnout but several directors expressed concern that it would upset members, due to the more personal nature of text. 
    2. There was one candidate for Employee Director –  Leannah Fidler. Leannah will be acclaimed and the membership will appoint her to the board at the AGM.
  4. Columinate training.  The chair of HR shared reminders about the upcoming board training on September 2nd. 
  5. Discussed the option to add another seat in 2027.  The chair of Board Development solicited input from directors on the option to add an additional seat to the board in 2027, as is allowed by the Rules. 
  6. Discussed combining Board Development and Member Engagement Committees, next term
    1. After discussion, there was general agreement to consider combining the committees. ACTION Governance to consider further and detail the anticipated benefits and risks.
    2. Discussed the balance of having a fully-developed recommendation come to the board for more efficient meetings vs having initial discussions happen at the full board level for greater participation by all directors. ACTION Governance to consider further. 
  7. Discuss sending someone to Further Together.  The BC Co-op Association is hosting a 2-day conference in September 2026.  Several directors expressed support for sending someone from the board to the conference.  One director expressed interest and availability to attend.  ACTION Sadie to send more information to interested directors.
  8. Share insights from CCMA videos.  The Co-op purchased recordings of a selection of talks from the annual CCMA conference.  Directors shared insights from videos, including:
    1. The videos are valuable for reflection, validation, and new ideas. They also provide starting points for board discussions.
    2. Recommended talks for directors: “Who holds the holder”, “Value with Values”, “Perils, Pitfalls, and Positives of Political Positions”
    3. It is imperative to have risk tolerance codified, as the Finance Committee is currently working on, so that the board can empower the GM to act in response to emergency.
  9. Reviewing Committee Calendars.  The Chair reminded committees to review their annual calendars + workplan to support the incoming committees this fall. 

IGM Report – Presented by Amanda Verigin

  1. Amanda shared updates on summer sales trends, hiring, and progress on renting retail Vernon Street rental units.
  2. Sean was unable to attend the meeting and detailed financial highlights were not shared.  James presented several graphs of total sales, payroll and net income over FY 2026.
    1. A director made suggestions to improve financial reporting to the board.  The IGM agreed and would like reporting to be more ‘narrative’ – to feature trends and broader perspective. 
  3. Questions from member attendees – There were no non-board members in attendance.
    Next Meetings:

    Sept 2 – 4:30-6pm Columinate training

    September 15th – 5pm in person, Mike will be remote

    September 24th (Thursday) – AGM! – 5:30pm

    October 20th – 5pm in person, Kendal will be remote (pending availability of elected directors)

    The meeting adjourned to in camera session at 6:35pm

Baked Elk Gnocchi