Summary of Bylaw Changes

Our Sno-Isle Food Coop is governed by bylaws and policies that the Board of Trustees regularly reviews and, if necessary, updates. We recently updated our Bylaws to reflect current practices and align with Columinate recommendations. Columinate is the consulting firm used by Sno-Isle and other cooperatives. Bylaws are organized into sections and subsections.

In this update, we titled the sections and made structural changes such as separating or combining sections where it improved clarity and consistency. We removed items that are no longer applicable or covered by other policy documents, the Articles of Incorporation, and renumbered sections. Highlights of changes to the bylaws include:

SECTION 1 - ORGANIZATION

  • Identifies our members as owners of the cooperative.

SECTION 2 - OWNERSHIP

  • Restructures and clarifies ownership responsibilities, eligibility, as well as the Co-op's non-discrimination policy.

  • Decreases the time allotted for equity return after terminating ownership to between 30 and 60 days.

SECTION 3 – OWNER MEETINGS AND DECISION MAKING

  • Increases the percentage of Ownership that is required to sign a petition to request a special meeting to 10%

  • Increases the quorum required for decision making at an Owners Meeting to 10% of active owners.

  • Increases the days needed for notice of a Special Meeting

  • Includes the owners’ right to petition.

SECTION 4 – BOARD OF TRUSTEES

  • Simplifies the description of the Board’s duties and powers.

  • Defines eligibility to run for the Board.

  • Removed reference of the Nominating Committee.

  • Updates standards for Board meetings and attendance.

  • Makes the Nominating Committee a committee of the Board, rather than a separately elected committee.

SECTION 5 – PATRONAGE DIVIDENDS

  • Gives patronage dividends its own section.

To view the previous bylaws and the newly revised ones, please see the links below. If you would like to submit feedback, please email bot@snoislefoods.coop before the August 5th board meeting when the Board will consider adopting the revised Bylaws.