ECOV Board Meeting Minutes 7-14-2013
ECOV Board Meeting Minutes 7-14-2013
Mission Statement: ECOV (Earth, Cows, Opportunities & Vrindaban Villages) is dedicated to cow protection, sustainable agriculture, self-sufficiency and simple living — all centered around loving service to Sri Krishna, as envisioned by the ISKCON New Vrindaban Founder-Acharya, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Participating Board Members: Chaitanya Mangala, Krpamaya, Madhava Gosh, Navin Shyam, and Ranaka.
Participating Project Managers: Rafael
1. Project Manager’s Report
Deity Flower garden / Trees & berries
Projects are going smoothly from Rafael’s perspective. He is working on creating quick-compost piles. He also has an idea to start a permaculture bed in the Garden of Seven Gates as a new project (companion plants, cardboard pieces rather than plastic to prevent weed growth, etc.), for which he will request additional funding. (The project will likely involve planting taro and, upon suggestion from Gosh, asparagus.)
Rafael informed everyone that he will be out of New Vrindaban from October through April, so we will need to address this management gap.
G7G prototype cabin
The unit still needs insulation, a sink and flooring. A grand opening is scheduled for the fall. Krpamaya suggested we invite a local eco-friendly dignitary and Gosh suggested that Tapahpunja knows such folks and may be able to help in this regard.
2. Water bottles
The ECOV-produced stainless steel water bottles are available at the temple gift shop, the palace gift shop, and Blue Home gifts. Krishna’s Attic is willing to carry them, and we have yet to investigate if the lassi barn/new snack bar will carry them as well.
Krpamaya spoke with the various retailers, and they are willing to post small wall-mounted signs advertising the bottles. Padmavati, the designer of the bottle logos, is working on the poster.
Krpamaya will also place informational posters about the virtues of reusable bottles at the various filling stations.
The filling stations outside Govinda’s Restaurant and at Srila Prabhupada’s Palace are still planned but not in the immediate future.
3. Monitoring progress of approved projects
We went through the list of all approved projects, assigning a reporting frequency to each. For future meetings, Navin Shyam will review the list and place any projects that are due for a report on the agenda. The purpose of the updates is three-fold:
a) Keep the Board Members informed of what ECOV is involved with.
b) Trigger final project reports and financial audits for completed projects.
c) Trigger review and possible cancellation of projects not making reasonable progress.
Here are selected updates on projects that were discussed:
• Brickyard building: Only painting the exterior remains
• Promotion: We may have Laxmi Honest work a table at Sunday Feasts.
• Microloans: Chaits is working on a checklist for documents we would need to collect from applicants.
• Sustainability posters: Krpamaya is trying for a permanent display of these in the back lobby of the palace.
• Temple foundation garden beds: Gosh has taken charge of this project.
• Farm vehicle: A hitch still needs to be installed.
4. Second cabin at the Garden of the Seven Gates
Gosh proposed that we purchase a pre-fabricated Amish cabin for $5K for this season’s volunteers. After discussion, the motion was withdrawn and it was decided that a second cabin similar to the first could be built in time for next season. (Specific voting on this was moved to the next meeting.)
