New Vrindaban Brijabasi Spirit

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ECO-Vrindaban Board Meeting Minutes 01/12/2020

Mission Statement: ECO-Vrindaban promotes cow protection, local agriculture, and above all, loving Krishna, as envisioned by Srila Prabhupada, ISKCON New Vrindaban’s Founder-Acharya.

Participating Directors: Jamuna Jivani (board secretary), Makara (chair), Ranaka, and Vraja.

Participating Advisors: Chaitanya Mangala and Ishana

1. Ranaka’s Monthly Report

Ranaka reported on the previous month’s projects:

• Lalita Gopi (Temple Barn)
  • There are eight mothers giving milk; Sita, Sriya, Parijata, Cintamani, Vamsika, Jaya Radhe, Surabhi, and Subhadra.
  • There are five calves at the barn: Dhruva, Narada, Prahlad, Yasoda, and Satyabhama.
  • The cows are producing 21 gal of milk daily.
  • Anandavidya makes butter twice a week, approximately 30 lb in total. The temple kitchen does not use much yogurt this time of year so the extra milk is made into curd.
• Ray
  • Transported hay to Temple Barn and Nandagram on a weekly basis
  • Scraped the Valley Barn pads daily and tractor-scraped the aisles weekly
  • Stocked feed aisles with hay
  • Installed the side netting on high tunnel #2 at the Valley Barn, with assistance from Analaksita and Daniel
  • Delivered 300 lb of potatoes to the temple kitchen during December
  • Installed rebuilt injection pump on 5095M JD tractor
• Caitanya Bhagavat (Nandagram)
  • Daily general cow care for Nandagram herd.
  • Monitored the herd numbers – five cows, 10 steers, and one bull
  • Performed cow checks, and arranged and facilitated veterinarian visits
  • Regularly maintained the fence lines
• Suchandra (Community & Teaching Gardens)
  • Transferred tools from the Community Garden to the Valley Barn high tunnels.
  • Worked on breaking down the Community Garden so it can be cleared out.
  • Cleared the Teaching Garden
  • Ordered tomato seeds
• Analaksita (Vidya’s and Valley Barn’s High Tunnels)
  • Harvested and delivered lettuce, kale (smooth leaf and curly), daikon radishes, red radishes, beets, carrots, and spinach to the temple kitchen. 
  • Delivered 26 gal of organic tomato puree to the temple kitchen from last year’s harvest.
  • Made the seed order for all high tunnels and gardens. 
  • Cleared rocks from Valley Barn high tunnel #2.
  • Planned for increased ventilation for Valley Barn high tunnels.
  • Made planting plans for each garden and high tunnel. 
  • Cleared out the basement leading to the greenhouse at Vidya’s. Collected all planting and seeding trays, and organized them in the basement. 
  • Started cleaning the Teaching Garden. Did weed-eating, and cleared the fence line and pavilion to set up a picnic area. 
  • Vidya’s High Tunnel harvest totals for December 2019:
    • Carnations – 22
    • Beets bunches – 15
    • Kale bunches – 16
    • Lettuce heads – 9
    • Radish bunches – 14
    • Spinach bunches – 13

• Ranaka
  • Bahulaban Barn apartment project: The last 200’ of the 600’ leach field has been finished. Effluent pump needs installation. Also, we need to test the system and get completed paperwork from the state of West Virginia.
  • Worked with ECO-V subcommittee (Makara, Jamuna Jivani, Ishana, and Ranaka) on proposed layout of Bahulaban apartment project.
  • Worked on the end of fourth quarter and 2019 payroll reporting to IRS and West Viginia state tax department.
  • Prepared for audit with Ram Associates, CPAs scheduled for January 31st
  • With no births or deaths since the last report, the herd count remains at 66.

2. External Grant Request: $18K for Gopal’s Garden 2019-20 Academic Year

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to continue its support of a school in the New Vrindaban community. 

RESOLVED: The Board approves a grant of $18K for Gopal’s Garden 2019-20 school year.

3. Spring On-site Meetings

Ishana has volunteered for the joint board subcommittee to plan the weekend. The topics for the meetings will include housing, Krishna Ika’s proposal, ongoing community meetings, and ECO-V related topics/involvement. 

4. Lalita Gopi as Advisor

WHEREAS: The ECO-V Board wishes to maintain a team of advisors.

RESOLVED: The Board appoints Lalita Gopi as an advisor for a one-year term. 

5. November On-site Meeting Review

The Board discussed a number of highlights from the weekend’s meetings:

• The focus of the weekend was on housing in New Vrindaban and Krsna Ika’s proposal for the Seven Temples project
• Much positive, forward-moving discussion was had on these topics
• The facilitators did a great job guiding the conversations
• Potential sites for a housing project were put forth by INV and ECO-V to the Land & Housing Committee. The committee was encouraged to bring a proposal for developing one of the sites to the boards. 
• The bamboo utensil gifts were appreciated by the attendees