Clock ticking on new roof
Non-profit greenhouse organization needs $70,000 for essential infrastructure
Shawn Giilck
Northern News Services
Thursday, May 14, 2015
INUVIK
Members of the Inuvik Greenhouse will need to get their hands dirty to raise enough money to install its badly-needed new roof this summer.
Kristen Callaghan, the outgoing chairperson of the Inuvik Greenhouse board of directors, said during its May 9 annual general meeting the organization needs to raise at least another $70,000 this summer to pay for a new roof to be installed on the facility. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo
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The organization needs to raise a minimum of $70,000 by August for the roof to be replaced, outgoing chairperson Kristen Callaghan told the members at the organization's annual general meeting May 9 at the Aurora Campus.
More than 30 people attended the meeting, which is unusually high.
The roof has needed to be replaced for at least the least three summers.
It's well past its expected useful lifespan of 10 years, and is starting to deteriorate more rapidly.
Over the winter, more sections of the Plexiglas roof have broken, allowing snow in, especially in the upstairs commercial section.
The roof sustained some serious damage in the summer of 2013 after a strong windstorm, making it even more important to hurry the replacement project.
The large Plexiglas panels were purchased that same year, but have been in storage since while the organization tries to raise the money to carry out the work.
Including the materials, that figure could push upwards of $200,000, a daunting number for the volunteer-based group.
Callaghan and outgoing treasurer Judith Venaas said various funding opportunities and agreements with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment (ITI) are helping mitigate some of those costs for the organization, and in fact are helping to keep the greenhouse open as a viable operation.
"Without the ITI agreements, we wouldn't have a greenhouse this year," Venaas told the members.
The greenhouse introduced a budget showing that if all of its targets are reached and it receives the full funding from ITI, it will still need to raise another $70,000 if the roof work is to be done.
That's an ambitious goal, Callaghan and Venaas acknowledged.
If their projections are off, or all of the funding doesn't come through, that number could as much as double to $140,000.
That could mean postponing the installation of the roof yet again, they said.
The organization, which already leans heavily on volunteer hours from its members, will need even more assistance.
Venaas said, only half-jokingly, if every member could raise a $1,000 each, the greenhouse would be in great shape.
As part of joining the greenhouse and renting a plot for a growing season, gardeners are expected to provide 15 hours of volunteer labour per plot.
That's on top of the $25 rental fee and $50 membership fee.
If those hours aren't fulfilled, members can be billed the remaining time at a rate of $12.50 an hour, which is an increase from the $10 an hour previously charged. That charge is based on the NWT minimum wage.
Even with that provison, the members provided only about half those hours last year, according to a board report.
The subject of fees and volunteer hours is a somewhat contentious amongst greenhouse members.
A recent Facebook post sparked a lively debate over the need for a members to fill a quota, and that continued briefly at the meeting.
Fraser Pearce asked the board if it needs to consider whether it actually needs members to commit to so many volunteer hours.
Most of the members work during the day, he said, and also have families, and the commitment to fulfilling those hours eats significantly into that time, he told the board.
Pearce said he is a former chairperson of the board of directors for the Children First Society, which had a similar requirement. It was revised after it became clear there wasn't enough volunteer activities for people to easily meet their quotas, and it became a source of frustration for members.
That's something the board has looked at, Callaghan said, but it's possible the new board could re-examine the issue.
There are still a few plots available at the greenhouse for prospective gardeners.
