Victoria IMS Council Meeting Minutes (approved)

Thursday, April 23rd, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.

Online Meeting 

(Facilitated by Brock Brown)

Present:          

Brock Brown, Rhonda Duncan, Bruce MacRae, Brian Chapel, June Fukushima, Sandra Joy

Absent with Regrets: 

None

Agenda Items:

1. Review and Approve Council Meeting Agenda:  One new item concerning scholarships was added to the agenda in Business arising from the Minutes and Updates (point #3 below). 

Motion from Sandra to approve the amended agenda. Carried.

1. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting (March 19^th, 2020): 

There were no changes to the draft minutes from the March council meeting.  Motion from Brock to approve the minutes. Carried.

1. Business arising from the Minutes and Updates: 
2. Donation: as agreed at the previous Victoria IMS meeting, a donation of $300 Australian has been made to Wat Buddha Dhamma to help with their rebuilding efforts following the damage to the monastery from wildfires. Brock has let Ajahn Tiradhammo know about the donation.

• Scholarships: 
  • At the previous Victoria IMS Council meeting the decision was made to offer scholarships to the People of Colour (POC) group organizing a one day retreat with Anushka Fernandopulle. This daylong was cancelled due to the pandemic and as a result the scholarship has also been cancelled
  • There were two other scholarships that were offered to applicants for retreats that have been cancelled. These will be refunded to Victoria IMS. 

• Pascal Auclair’s retreat scheduled for April 11/12 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goward House has reimbursed Victoria IMS for the rental costs of the weekend.

• The May 23/24 weekend retreat that was to be led by Ajaan Geoff, co-sponsored with Aranya Refuge has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goward House has reimbursed Victoria IMS for the rental costs of the weekend. Brock is looking into Victoria IMS obtaining a refund for the monks’ flights that were cancelled.

• No payment was made to Helga Beer Yoga for the month of April 2020 as the Sunday Night sits have also been cancelled due to the pandemic. We will wait to hear from Helga about the coming months.

1. Finances
2. The March financial report from Wei Wu was circulated to all council members by email prior to the meeting.

• Account Balance since the March 19^th, 2020 council meeting:

Account Balance as of April 1^st, 2020: 

Chequing:      $1,430.17

Savings:      $6,819.55

TOTAL:      $8,249.72

The amount shown above does not include a deposit made to the Victoria IMS Coast Capital Chequing account on April 21^st for the two refunds from Goward House (for the April and May cancelled retreats) and a refund for a cancelled flight. In addition there is a further deposit to be made from the scholarships returned due to cancelled retreats.

June motioned to receive the March financial report. Carried.

• June will speak to our insurance company to see whether we might be able to get a reduction of our insurance premiums or perhaps another type of temporary ’break’ as there may be no further retreats this year at Goward House or Sunday Night Sits at the yoga studio.

• Sunday Night Community Sit:
• As the regular Sunday Night in-person sits are currently suspended due to the pandemic, it was suggested by some of the facilitators that we move to an online format. After some discussion, Council agreed that we should wait until August and see what the COVID-19 situation looks like then.  At that time if possible, we can start up the in-person sits at the yoga studio with a new set of parameters (social distancing, sanitizing, etc.) or we can consider a commitment to the virtual format.  Sandra will get in touch with Metta and Kevin.

NOTE: Launching a virtual sit model would require a fair amount of facilitator coordination, implementation of appropriate software and operational expertise across all facilitators. 

• Communications:   
• The newsletter went out to our mailing list on March 27^th with information about cancelled programing and another communique went out on April 17^th with information about various online offerings from other organizations. 
• There will be no newsletter in April but we will send one out in May.  

1. 2020 Programs:

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to cancel Howie Cohn’s retreat in July. There is uncertainty as to whether it will be possible to hold in-person retreats in September, October and November so we will wait to see how renewed social engagement plays out once provincial restrictions are lifted. In the meantime Sandra will look into the feasibility of conducting these retreats in a virtual model. 

• Upcoming retreats/events:
  • July 18 – Howie Cohn – CANCELLED
  • September 19 – Brock Brown 
  • October 17/18 – Christina Feldman.
  • November 14/15 – Carol Wilson.
  • Completed retreats/events:
  • January 18/19 – Heather Martin.
  • February 29 / March 1 – Margo McLoughlin.
  • April 11/12 – Pascal Auclair – CANCELLED
  • May 23/24 – Ajaan Geoff – CANCELLED

1. 2021 Programs:

The teachers and dates listed below are confirmed for the Victoria IMS 2021 retreat schedule.  All retreats will take place at Goward House unless otherwise indicated and we will continue to monitor the potential impact of the pandemic on social gatherings and consequently on the 2021 retreat schedule.                          .

• January 23/24 – Heather Martin.
• February 27/28 – Margo McLoughlin. 
• April 17/18 – Tuere Sala.
• May 22/23 – Adrianne Ross.
• August 13/14 – Ajaan Geoff.  (at Sidney Shoal Centre)
• September 18 – Brock Brown.
• October 16/17 – Howie Cohn.
• November 13/14 – Ajahn Candasiri. 

1. Other:
2. This year the Victoria IMS Annual General Meeting (AGM) will likely be held as an online/virtual meeting due to COVID-19. Council proposed having the AGM on June 11^th, 2020.  Brock will contact the non-Council members to see if that date works for them.
3. Annual reports are to be ready for review by May 18^th so feedback can be provided at the next council meeting on May 21^st.  
4. Reports are assigned as follows:
   1. Report from the Chair – Brock
   1. Finance – June
   1. Retreat Statistics – and Volunteers – Rhonda
   1. Communications – Bruce, June and Brian
   1. Sunday Night Sit – Sandra
   1. Special Events – Brock

Sandra will consolidate the reports into a single document before distributing them to the invitees for the AGM.

1. Meeting adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Next Council Meeting 

May 21^st, 2020 – 7:00-8:00p.m. 

Online meeting.