Facilitator: CC
Notes: Kevin
Attending: Ru, Rowie, Miranda, Karen, Jenn, Indy, Emilie, Sasha, Noah, Jemika, Nancy, Cedryck, Linda, Liz, Kevin
ACTION ITEMS
- Miranda - send information for volunteer registration
- Jemika - communicate current incorporation rationale to the larger group
- Kevin - get list of complaints tabulated by Steve Griffiths from Communify
- Ru - invite Eloise Telford as advisor for process of incorporation
Acknowledgement of Country (Indy)
Briefing from Communify (Karen Dare [CEO] & Miranda Mallett [Community Centre Co-ordinator])
- Communify have been running for 40 years
- Started from Redcliff Community Centre
- Now manages multiple sites
- Communify provide "Cradle to Grave" services - child care, child protection, asylum seekers support income support, housing, mental health services, NDIS, drug & alcohol, etc. (not all services mentioned captured in minutes)
- Communify has had a long association with Acacia Ridge
- Belong has merged with Communify due to operational difficulties
- Communify provides support for community centres e.g. provide infrastructure for navigating regulatory environment
- Community centres need to be compliant so that Communify's charity status is not compromised
- This compliance means community centres need to be non-political and not religious
- Some changes required at TSS to be compliant:
- Food safety compliance will be required, including kitchen upgrades and food handling procedures
- Social media postings need to be regulated by Communify's marketing team
- Volunteers need to be registered for insurance, etc.
- The prior registrations with Belong are no longer applicable
- New registrations are required with Communify
- Police checks required for volunteers
- Police checks supersede blue cards
- Charges do no disqualify volunteers but may restrict their activities
- Communify will be notified immediately of any new serious charges
- Communify currently have about 250 volunteers
- Currently, TSS is under Communify insurance
- Options for ongoing relationship with volunteers:
- (1) Volunteers can be absorbed as Communify's volunteers.
- (2) If volunteers incorporate and get own insurance policy, Communify can enter a subleasing agreement. This will allow volunteers to keep an independent identity. However, this needs to be approved by council.
- Ru: need to digest content of briefing and to understand our options
- Liz: How urgent is food safety? Karen: very urgent - Communify is prepared to cover the cost of becoming compliance, including upgrades to the kitchen
- ACTION: Miranda - send information for volunteer registration
- CC: clarification on social media restrictions requested
- Karen: posting under The Social Space branding is associated with Communify and must only contain information relating to the centre's operations
- Karen: posting to Communify social media will go through marketing team.
- Cedryck: who approves the sublease? Karen: local councillor may have some influence but will primarily be handled through council departments
- TSS lease transfer from Belong is in progress - not confirmed yet
Incorporation
- CC: incorporation essential for our independence e.g. social media presence
- Ru: we are unlikely to gain Steve Griffith's approval but we have a lot of community support which he may have to yield to
- Cedryck: Steve Griffith's influence may be limited
- Indy: if we incorporate, will we have to pay for kitchen upgrade? Liz: Karen indicated that Communify will pay for the changes so perhaps a delay in incorporation may be required for this to occur.
- Indy: we will have to change regardless of incorporation but incorporation gives us the closest option to our current work. This may make the incorporation more attractive to those that have objected in the past.
- Indy: would like to know more about other options e.g. co-operative. Liz: Lochlan has studied all the options and concluded that incorporation is the best option
- Ru: someone needs to communicate how the incorporation option has changed due to the past objections
- ACTION: Jemika to communicate current incorporation rationale to the larger group
- Indy: can volunteers be be auspiced by Uncle Steve Watson? Liz: Uncle Steve was sought as a new space option but they are already committed to their own programme. There is good alignment with Uncle Steve but no direct relationship for the moment.
- Linda has started social media and traditional media campaign, and has started lobbying Steve Griffiths and other politicians for support. She is delighted to see the involvement of so many young people and believes there will be a lot of media interest.
- Linda: what is the basis for Steve Griffith's objections? Cedryck: Steve Griffiths is not active in improving his communities' welfare and is a little threated by the TSS's left-leaning politics
- Liz: a quote for public liability has been obtained through a company that specialises in community initiatives; the cost of the policy is about $1200 per year.
- ACTION: Kevin - get list of complaints tabulated by Steve Griffiths from Communify
- ACTION: Ru - invite Eloise Telford as advisor for process of incorporation
Free shop WG (Jenn)
- Going really well
- New board games loan programme has been started and the games have been actively used.
Procurement WG:
- Liz has been shopping for three weeks in a row. The roster system needs to be reestablished so that the work is spread more evenly across the WG.
- Nancy and CC to shop for next week.
Gardens and Groundskeeping WG: (Cedryck)
- In process of setting up roster system.
- At the moment, activity is mainly bourne by Linda and Cedryck.
- Linda has been encouraging participation in the neighbourhood.
- Linda: garden is currently very productive but few people are taking produce - need to encourage picking before food goes to waste.
- Cedryck: garden is also intended for the kitchen so we need to set up procedures so kitchen volunteers pick from the garden daily.
Recruitment, Rostering and Procedures WG (Indy)
- Nat doing most of the rostering work.
- Last few weeks have been difficult to roster with low volunteer numbers; should consider closing Wednesday again
- Liz: suggest a week-long break to give everyone a rest
- Ru: should we be actively contacting volunteers who have dropped off? Indy: has done this intermittently
- Ru: possible to set up some contigency procedures to account for low numbers? e.g. coffee and cake only?
- DECISION: closed 5th to 9th of October to give volunteers a break
Laundry WG (Liz)
- Laundry running - big machine operational, smaller machine needs to be plugged in
- Daily procedure:
- Soak dishcloths overnight with detergent disinfectant
- Wash in the morning and hang out to dry
- Need to set up guidelines for public use as hygiene is necessary for food safety e.g. no dog blankets
- Laundry launch postponed due to lack of stakeholder availability e.g. Peter Russo, Shane
Manifesto TG:
- Nothing happening
- Kevin: will start up again with incorporation
Finance WG:
- Liz: need to empty donation box more regularly as there was $1600 in it last week.
- Liz: has done big shop for coffee, kitchen equipment, vegatables
- CC: will not start bank account until after incorporation
Jacaranda Festival (Liz)
- Date confirmed: Sunday, 30th October
- Hall has been booked. Communify have not charged fees.
- Important principle: everything is free, in the spirit of TSS
- Liz's super-quick rundown of the planned activities was not captured in the minutes; please refer to the festival meeting notes on the wiki or further notes provided by Liz.
- Liz has drafted a proposal for council approval; will be provided to Communify to inform council
- Ru: ABC Gardening Australia - Jerry not interested without payment; Costa has not responded.
- Minutes of festival meeting and other development notes are available on the wiki.
- Next festival meeting: Thursday, 29th of September at TSS Office
Council complaints from neighbours on 5 Heilly St. (Kevin)
- Council has started an investigation into the removal of trees from TSS site.
- This is a new development as of Tuesday, 13th September
- They contacted Kevin directly which indicates that they are reacting to information provided by neighbours.
- It seems likely that the neighbours have provided the council with Tom Cotter's report, which details the removal of seven trees. Four of these trees are not part of their initial complaint and are not close to their property and so, it appears that the neighbours are maliciously targeting our broader activities.
- The result of the investigation can range from a warning with an education directive to prosecution. The council investigator stressed that prosecution is extremely unlikely in these circumstances.
- Kevin and Miranda are meeting with the council's investigator on Tuesday, 20th September.
- Kevin: intending to communicate that the volunteers have been managing the gardens and site to the best of their abilities and with best intentions but have not been given any guidelines by Belong, who have been largely absent. The removal of the trees was also a lapse in co-ordination on the volunteers' part and it came as a surprise to everyone. However, the volunteers' processes have been revised with the creation of a new working group with monthly reports and Communify's new co-ordination role will include the establishment of clear guidelines for the gardens operations.
- Ru: suggested that we emphasise the development of an eco-corridor and the establishment of native habitats as this is currently being encouraged by council.
- Interim management strategy until more comprehensive solution found:
- We should not be giving any information to the neighbour regarding any of our operations as they may be looking for material for further complaints.
- If approached, direct all their questions to Kevin, who is their current contact. They have Kevin's contact details.
Other Matters:
- Community notice board: (Liz)
- Proposing to name noticeboard as "Kath's Corner" after Michael's mother, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 60? years.
- Liz has written a proposal and is inviting comments; the proposal is on the kitchen bench.
- Clothesline: (Liz)
- Proposing location near hall toilets.
- Liz has written a proposal and is inviting comments; the proposal is on the kitchen bench.