The Gateway Co-op held its annual information meetings in Preeceville at the Ukrainian Catholic Hall on April 19 and in Canora at the Rainbow Hall on April 18.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The supper portion in Preeceville was catered by the Preeceville Ukrainian Catholic women.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Reports were delivered by Lyle Olson, president; Heather Prestie, financial office manager; Dana Antonovitch, general manager, and Herb Carlson, on behalf of Federated Co-op Ltd.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Olson introduced everyone, explained the board鈥檚 roles and gave an overview on the financial situation.
Financially, sales were reported at $30.68 million, which is down by about $54,000 from last year, he said. 鈥淎fter Federated Gateway Co-op patronage, we achieved a net savings of $1.2 million.
聽鈥淪ubsequently to year-end we approved an allocation to the membership of $574,134,鈥� Olson said. 鈥淭his is based on a five per cent fuel purchases, 1.5 per cent on food and two per cent on hardware. Thirty per cent of this allocation will be paid back in cash with the reminder going into equity reserve.
鈥淭his reserve allows us to continue building and renovating facilities," he said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Preeceville saw its first full year of sales at the cardlock, he said. Sales continued to exceed the original projections. Sales at the Canora cardlock and the Preeceville home centre pumps were reported lower due to the new cardlock.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Canora endured a wet fall that hindered the ground work and construction of the new convenience store. The delay and being awarded the Canora liquor franchise, allowed the Co-op to incorporate the liquor store as part of the new construction.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 At Buchanan, the work to change the key lock to a cardlock and the addition of clear diesel to the configuration will take place this spring.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 At Preeceville there will be additional ground work at the cardlock site, Olson said. "It is our intention to proceed with the cold storage building for lumber.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The board continues to seek new opportunities and efficiencies, he said. 鈥淚n February 2016, we met with neighbouring co-operatives at Yorkton, Melville, Churchbridge and Norquay to discuss opportunities and services that could be shared.
"We now have a contract with Yorkton for a part-time human resource person," he concluded.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽Heather Prestie reported on the financial situation.
"Investments in FCL increased approximately $137,000,鈥� she said. Fixed assets increased by $1.74 million, total current liabilities equal $3 million, the long term liabilities increased slightly by $25,000, and members鈥� share capital increased by $105,000 thousand which is due to patronage allocation of $574,000.
Membership sales were strong with 255 new memberships sold in 2016, she said.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In Sturgis, sales decreased by 3.6 per cent to $1,477,424. Preeceville home centre sales decrease by 5.4 per cent and the bulk petroleum sales increased by 8.2 per cent.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Dana Antonovitch presented the general manager report.
鈥淩enovations to the Sturgis grocery store continue with a new till system, new belt counter and reconstruction of the ramp," he said. "Construction of the dry storage building that will house lumber for the Preeceville store is underway with hopes of competition in 2018.
鈥淲e are also looking into full service pumps at the same location behind the cardlock,鈥� he concluded.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Herb Carlson, vice-president, gave the FCL report and acknowledged past and present members.
鈥淭his past year has been a good year for the Co-op but not a record year due to the snowstorm in October,鈥� he said. The Co-op continues to make process with opportunities in developing fertilizer.
鈥淲e have made waves in using new technology in cleaning up water at the refinery in Regina,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have attracted interest from other refineries that are interested in our technology.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Lyle Olson acknowledged Carlson in his retirement after 42 years with the Federated Co-op.
Carlson was elected as a delegate for Buchanan in 1975, Olson said. In 1976 he was elected as a director to the Gateway Co-op and has served as both, chair and vice-chair, while a director. In 1980 he served two terms as a director for the Canora district seed cleaning co-operative.
In 1990 Carlson was elected as a director for Federated Co-operatives Ltd. and as a director he filled numerous roles. He served on every committee in the board; was elected vice-chair for five years; was a director of the Canadian Co-operative Association in Ottawa for five years; served as director of the Co-operative Superannuation Society and as director and vice-chair of the advisory board for the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan.
For several years he served as a delegate to the Co-operators Insurance Company, Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Co-operative Association. He retired from the Federated Co-op in 2014 and official from Gateway Co-operative in 2017.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Elections were necessary to fill delegate seats in Preeceville and Sturgis.
Wayne Barsby nominated Jamie Lario and Greg Olson for Sturgis. Lario and Olson's terms were up for election and they were re-elected for another term. In Preeceville, there were no nominations to fill the two vacant seats.
