In attendance- Rose, Tom, Brandon, John, Catherine, Ruairi, Paul
Agenda:
New Board Members
OA Residents
Rabbits
Upcoming Festivals
Motion moved to invite Ed Rupkey (Orpon) and Kristy Rupkey (Sorsha) to serve as Board members.
Motion passed by consensus.
Motion moved to appoint Orpon as Site Facilites Director.
Motion passed by consensus.
Motion moved to appoint Sorsha as Secretary
Motion passed by consensus.
At this time there are no full time residents staying in the Retreat.
Danny is presently on emergency housing plan and due to begin paying rent in 2 weeks.
It was noted that the Housing Policy must be reviewed, signed and kept on file for all residents. Since Mac is the Housing Coordinator and is not available at this time, Rose has agreed to be responsible for making sure all OA residents review and sign the Housing Policy.
It was noted that OA really needs to have another full time resident, either an individual or a couple, physically capable of helping to keep up with the day-to-day chores at the retreat, grass cutting, maintenance, animal care, etc. on a regular 5-day per week basis.
Discussed the need to sell the rabbits due to the fact that there is no one around to take care of them on a regular basis and also to reduce the expenses associated with their upkeep. Brandon will post ads to sell. Price agreed upon by Board was $200 - $250 if possible.
Rose asked the Board members to assist her with the upcoming festivals for the reason that she alone cannot do all of the planning and preparation with no OA residents to help. If the Board members cannot help out then some of the festivals will need to be cancelled. Board members agreed to step in and help for the present time, with Rose as a back up source for information and advice, in an effort to keep the festivals running and to bring revenue into OA.
All of the Board members will need to take on a share of the responsibilities if we plan to continue with festivals. It is not feasible for Rose to do it all by herself. The following ideas were discussed briefly: Reduce the number of festivals sponsored by OA – No plan to reduce festivals at this time. Recruit more outside events such as Interfuse – Board agreed this would be a viable option. Do more advertising about camping at OA – Board agreed this would be good also.
God & Goddess Greening - Orpon volunteered to take over the preparation for God and Goddess Greening with the help of Sorsha, Cat, and John. No one objected. Ruairi agreed to design and post a flyer to the various websites advertising the event. Rose indicated that she already has one paid pre-registration and a couple of additional pre-registrations not paid yet.
Harvest Festival - Rose stated she has several possibilities for Workshops in the planning stages; we have several talented Oak Spirits that could help with entertainment and additional workshops. The idea of a Yard Sale was discussed as a way to raise funds and clear out lots of unused items. It was suggested that possibly OA could include items from individuals with the agreement that OA would keep maybe 25% of the proceeds, however any unsold personal items would still be the responsibility of the owner to remove from OA after the yard sale was concluded. The Yard Sale would have to be scheduled for certain hours and work shifts to cover it.
All of the following items were discussed but due to the short time between now and the God & Goddess Greening event it will be impossible to implement any of them for God & Goddess Greening with the exception of dividing up the Registration process between the attending Board members. The remaining issues will need to be discussed in more detail by the Board before implementing such changes.
Registration and Work Exchange Issues - After the most recent issues arising at Midsummer, the Registration procedures need to be addressed immediately. The suggestion was brought up that the Registration function should be divided up between the Board members attending a given event instead of having one person being essentially “stuck” at the Registration table for the entire time. The fees paid and work exchanges need to be more tightly monitored. There have been some persons getting into festivals at reduced rates with the promise of work exchange, and then not fulfilling that obligation. It was also discussed that there should be a minimum number of pre-registrations by a specific cut off date or the festival should be canceled and money refunded. All work exchange arrangements need to be made at time of pre-registration, not at the gate. Most people know ahead of time if they need to work out a fee arrangement.
Meal Plan - The possibility of a Meal Plan was also discussed to help determine the amount of food to be prepared and thereby avoid shortage or waste. That Meal Plan should also be only available as a Pre-Registration Option, not at the gate.
There being no further business at this time, the meeting was concluded.