November Board Minutes

in

Regular Board Meeting Minutes

18 November 2025

 

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

Staff Present: Sean Silverson (Finance Director, IGM), Amanda Verigin (Marketing Director)

Regrets: Ashley Elliott (HR Director, IGM)

Chair: Kay Coburn

Recorder: Sadie Yancey (Board Administrative Assistant)

 

Meeting brought to order at 5:03 in the Teaching Kitchen

The chair congratulated Sadie on 11 years at the Co-op

Adoption of November Meeting Agenda:  M/Cathy-Ann S/Kendal,  one amendment. All in favour.

Declaration of Interests: none

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

Approval of consent agenda, including: 

  • Governance Committee minutes 
  • Board Development Committee minutes
  • Finance Committee minutes
  • HR Committee minutes
  • Member Engagement Committee minutes

M/Cathy-Ann S/Leannah

There was a discussion of appropriate storage of board files.  Committee chairs were invited to organize committee files. 

CARRIED. All in favour.

 

Business Arising

  1. Approve Committee Chairs
    1. At the first meeting, each committee elected a chair, as follows: Board Development – Kate, Finance -James, HR- Paul, Member Engagement -Cathy-Ann, Governance – Kay. 

MOTION To accept the committee chairs, as presented

M/James S/Kendal

CARRIED All in favour

  1. Approve TOR+WorkPlans
    1. At the first meeting, the committees reviewed their Terms of Reference, Work Plan, and Calendar and noted changes in the shared document.

MOTION To adopt the TOR and WorkPlans, as circulated. 

Amend Finance ToR so that policies are reviewed every 4 years, in line with Governance. 

M/Cathy-Ann S/Leannah

CARRIED All in favour

 

  1. Approve Board Calendar

MOTION To adopt the Board Calendar, as circulated.

M/Kendal S/Leannah

Adjusted timing of review of Risk Register. HR committee will consider timing of BAA evaluation. 

CARRIED All in favour

 

  1. Review member feedback – There was one message of thanks.
    1. A director asked about other sources of feedback.  While the board tries to document feedback to the board on this spreadsheet, off-hand feedback to staff and directors is harder to track.
  2. Spending limits – The Treasurer reviewed the spending limits for board expenses and for operational expenses, and the body that approves spending beyond these limits, as detailed in policy. 
  3. Linking documents – The Chair reminded chairs to add links to their minutes by 5pm on Thursday. 
  4. Strategic Plan Update – The Chair shared that the strategic planning session will be on Saturday January 24th. The location is TBD. 

 

IGM Report – Presented by Sean Silverson 

  1. Sean shared the highlights from the fall caselot sale. Sales were up 8% over fall 2025, consistent with recent months. Discussed the continued decline of sales in bulk/repack department. 
  2. Sean shared the highlights from the October financials, as circulated.  As with the last number of months, sales and net income continue to be strong, with October sales approximately 8.5% above the same month last year. It was also noted that:
    1. The updated CPI – food prices up 3.4% over October 2024.  
    2. The estimated cash flow was strong with a lower margin – the debt repayment has allowed us to reduce prices for members.
  1. Questions from member attendees – There are no non-board members in attendance.

 

Next Meetings:

Dec 16 – 4:30pm on Zoom.

Jan 20 – 4:30pm on Zoom 

Jan 24th – morning – in-person strategic planning

 

The meeting adjourned to in camera session at 5:36pm