2018/01/18 Council meeting minutes

VIMS Council Meeting Minutes (approved)

Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.

Brock and June’s home

Present:

Brock, June, Sandra, Brian, Rhonda, Bruce

Absent with Regrets:

None.

Agenda Items:

  1. Review and Approve Council Meeting Agenda:

Motion from Sandra to approve the agenda. Carried.

  1. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting (November 16th, 2017):

There were no changes to the distributed draft minutes from the November council meeting. Motion from June to approve the minutes. Carried.

  1. Business arising from the Minutes and Updates:
  • Joyce Elliott, filling in for Isy House who is away, sent letters with retreat documentation to the Coordinators for first three 2018 retreats. Joyce herself will be away in January and February. Support volunteer teams for Heather and Margo’s retreats are confirmed.
  • Sandra will speak to Margo about setup for the Friday night public talk before her weekend retreat.
  • The person who requested that Victoria IMS acknowledge it’s presence on First Nations’ territory at the beginning of their retreats has contacted us again regarding the earlier request and whether any action is being taken. The matter remains under discussion.
  • Victoria IMS has received acknowledgements from Dharma Seed, Wat Metta and Abhayagiri, expressing their appreciation for recent donations made to their book/audio funds.
  • 2017 year-end reports: draft reports are due for review at the next council meeting. Responsibility assigned as follows:
    • Report from the Chair – Brock
    • Finance – June
    • Retreat Statistics and Volunteers – Rhonda
    • Communications – Bruce, Rod and June (Constant Contact)
    • Sunday Night Sit – Sandra and June
    • Special Events – Brock
  • The draft of the new Victoria IMS bylaws, distributed to Council by Sandra on October 19, 2017, will be reviewed at our next council meeting.
  1. Finances:
    • June reported on the November-December financials and the 2017 year-end financials prepared by Wei (reports were distributed to council members prior to the meeting).

Account Balances as of December 1st, 2017:

Chequing: $3,005.74

Savings: $6,781.44

TOTAL: $9,787.18

Account Balances as of January 1st, 2018:

Chequing: $4,298.65

Savings: $6,780.00

TOTAL: $9,933.97

Motion from June to receive the November-December 2017 Financial Report. Carried.

    • Council reviewed the 2017 year-end report. The 2017 budget vs. actual had a $6.08 difference. Council was pleased that the retreats and Sunday night program provided sufficient net gains to afford operating costs, several special events, scholarships, donations to book/audio funds, and the purchase of a microphone head-set.

Motion from June to approve the 2017 year-end report. Carried.

    • Wei reviewed the draft 2018 budget presented at the November 2017 council meeting and some changes were made. Council reviewed the revised budget and approved it.

Motion from June to accept the 2018 budget. Carried.

    • A scholarship to support attendance at a retreat was requested from Victoria IMS for 2018 and was approved by Brock and Bruce. The scholarship has been granted and the funds remitted to the sponsor organization

  1. Communications:
    • Newsletter: Bruce continues to produce the newsletter with support from June. The newsletter looks very good a significant number of subscribers read it.
  1. 2018 Programs:

All programs will be held at Goward House with the exception of the retreat with Ajahn Viradhammo which will be held at the University of Victoria.

    • January 20/21 Heather Martin.
    • February 23 – Margo McLoughlin – evening public talk.
    • February 24/25 – Margo McLoughlin.
    • March 31/April 1 – Pascal Auclair.
    • May 25 – Susie Harrington – evening public talk.
    • May 26/27 – Susie Harrington.
    • June 23/24 – Ajahn Viradhammo.
    • September 15 – Brock Brown (changed from two days to one day).
    • October 13/14 – Christina Feldman.
    • Nov 10/11 – Carol Wilson.

The 2018 retreat teams are in place.

  1. 2019 Programs:

Planning for the 2019 retreats schedule is still in progress. However, the teachers and dates listed below are now confirmed. Goward House has been reserved for the May and October retreats and space at the University of Victoria for the August retreat is being finalized.

    • May 25/26 – Ayya Medhanandi.
    • August 17/18 – Ajaan Geoff.
    • October 12/13 – Steve Armstrong.
  1. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Next Council Meeting

March 15, 2018 7:00-9:00p.m.

Sandra’s home