Category: Board reports

Monthly Board Report – October 2025
These updates are intended to keep members informed about the latest developments, decisions, and upcoming events within Woodsworth. The Board is meeting monthly and these updates will be published to coincide with the monthly cadence.

Routine Matters
In its meeting Tuesday night, the Board dealt with many of the routine issues that arise in the co-op. This included: a discussion of On-Call staffing and procedures; a review of our annual planning calendar; a revisit to ongoing concerns about contractor parking; discussion of the few remaining concerns relating to the change-over in laundry payment systems; tests of midrise plumbing; and quite a bit more.

The painting of townhouse doors was a particular focus. Execution of this project has been delayed by members’ security concerns, resulting from the need for doors to remain ajar for several hours while paint dries. The Board is considering various solutions, but with autumn weather well upon us the project might have to wait for spring. We’ll provide updates on this as soon as possible.

Capital Projects
It was decided to move forward with a new technical assessment, to augment our recent BCA (Building Condition Assessment) report. This new study will focus on the efficiency of our energy infrastructure, identifying areas where improvements could be made – and which might qualify for outside funding. We’ve been working with the Toronto Atmosphere Fund (TAF) on this – their team has been extremely helpful, and TAF is offering funding assistance for the study.

Meanwhile, the Podium Deck project continues to run pretty much on-schedule. The Board has received numerous very helpful responses regarding the Tot Lot fencing issue. We are now considering various solutions that might provide reasonable security as well as pleasing aesthetics for this focal area of Woodsworth. We’ll keep the membership updated on progress. (For general background on the project, you can refer to the presentation from the Member Forum on August 28th, still available on the website.)

Replacement of our back-up generator in the midrise remains an ongoing topic of discussion. We’ve had detailed reports on the condition of the old equipment, and are now considering what’s available in the way of more modern units.

Contacting the Board
To save on paper, the Board will publish a full guide to co-op contact procedures intermittently. If you’re in doubt, check your back issues of The Weekly.

As ever, members can contact the Board via email at Board@WoodsworthCoop.ca. We check the inbox regularly through the week. However, concerns about maintenance or administration should be directed to the co-op Office (contact info in each issue of The Weekly). The Board focuses on overall co-op policy, and only gets involved in individual member cases when other channels have been tried and intervention seems necessary.

And:

Woodsworth Board and Management correspondence – procedures

These updates are intended to keep members informed about the latest developments, decisions, and upcoming events within Woodsworth. The Board is meeting monthly and these updates will be published to coincide with the monthly cadence.

Projects Update
The Podium Deck project is proceeding on schedule. We are informed that there will be no more ‘cooking’ of tar on Albert Franck. We thank members for their patience as this vital work is being completed.

Members on the ground floor of the medium rise are reminded that once their patios are rebuilt the lockstone surface should not be disturbed. Soil or plants should not be placed directly on the surface – self-contained planters must be used instead. It is important to avoid any activity that might damage layers below the lockstone – keeping this surface sealed is the whole point of the very expensive Podium Deck project.

For more information, the presentation from the Member Forum on August 28th is still available on the website.

Front-door painting in the townhouses will be taking place shortly.
Unlike last time, doors will be properly prepared and primed on a first day, and a finish coat applied on the second day. However, to get this done properly, members will need to leave their door ajar for much of two succeeding days. We apologize for the inconvenience — look for a bulletin from the Office for exact dates for your unit.

The new laundry-room card-payment system is now being implemented. Cards are being delivered to all units. Instructions will be available with the cards, and in the laundry rooms.

Other maintenance items comprised a major part of the last Board meeting. These included such topics as repair or replacement of the backup generator in the midrise, replacement of two failing sump pumps, improvements in the stairwells and numerous others.

Understanding Office Phone Hours
Recently, questions have been raised from members about the best way to reach the office by phone and what happens when utility companies need quick access to a unit. We want to take this opportunity to clarify how phone access hours work.

Our office staff answer the phone during regular business hours, except on Wednesdays when the office is closed. Even on closed days, staff monitor for emergencies. If a call is not answered immediately, it may be because staff are assisting another member in person, already on another call, or temporarily away from their desks.

In most cases, utility providers such as Enbridge will contact the unit directly when access is needed. Occasionally, they contact the office first, in which case staff will notify the member in advance. It is also worth noting that utility providers sometimes send subcontractors rather than their own employees, which can cause confusion about who is making the request.

Staff and the Board are committed to ensuring that members receive timely assistance. We appreciate your understanding of the limits of phone coverage and the value of using multiple methods (phone and email) to ensure messages get through. Working together, we can make sure important information is received and acted upon quickly.

These updates are intended to keep members informed about the latest developments, decisions, and upcoming events within Woodsworth. Note the board is now meeting Monthly and so these updates will be published to coincide with the new monthly cadence.  

PODIUM DECK 

The project is underway! Board will be providing weekly updates in The Weekly. The presentation from the Member Forum on August 28th is available on the website.  

GMM STANDARDIZATION 

We heard your feedback about the last GMM and have developed a GMM standardization document which will provide guidelines for running the GMMs more democratically within our hybrid meeting environment. Next GMM is in November.  

EMERGENCY SUBSIDY 

Reminder to members that we offer an emergency subsidy for folks experiencing difficulty paying their housing charge, if they are eligible. The emergency subsidy is 30% of their income and last for a maximum of 3 months.  

OFFICE AND BOARD CORRESPONDENCE 

It is a member’s responsibility to update the office when you have new contact information (i.e. email address/phone number). You must explicitly notify the Office that you want to update your information e.g. saying “Update my email address on file to example@example.com” vs just emailing the Office a query from a new email address. 

Messages from members will normally receive a prompt response from Woodsworth’s Office Staff, who handle virtually all administrative matters with little or no input from the Board. Staff have the skills and resources to resolve most issues. Matters that may require a Board decision are rapidly brought to the Board’s attention, along with background material that can speed the process. The Board email address is to be used only for escalations from members where the office could not adequately assist, and for correspondence from committees. 

Internal Escalations 

If you have an after-hours need, please call the on-call team. If you have issues of an administrative nature (e.g. waiting lists, pest control, priority moves, housing charge, RGI or maintenance), please contact the office. The Board does not need to be cc’d on these emails. If you have an escalation (regarding the property manager or another issue for which no resolution has been reached) contact the Board and specify that it is an escalation requiring action. 

If you are having an issue with another member, contact the Conflict Mediation Committee. If you have an idea – consider whether it could be addressed to a related committee. The list of Woodsworth Committees and their contact information is on the Woodsworth website. 

Forms If you would like to submit an accommodation request, please complete the relevant Accommodation for disabilities request forms on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office. If you would like to receive electronic communication from Woodsworth please print and fill out the Electronic communications agreement on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office.  

If you would like to submit a complaint to the co-op about a violation of the co-op’s Human Rights By-law please complete and submit the Human rights complaint form on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office.  

If you would like to report an incident, complete the Incident report form on the Woodsworth website and submit it to the office. In this case, an incident would be an accident or problem you would like the co-op to be aware of and/or take action on.  

See a complete list of Woodsworth forms on the Woodsworth website. 

The Board reads all submissions to the inbox, and endeavors to respond quickly to business correspondence and official communications from co-op committees. Response to individual co-op members is limited to cases where Board intervention seems necessary. The Board meets just once a month and typically intervenes only on matters of overall co-op policy, or in cases where it becomes convinced that all other channels have failed. The cut off for correspondence to be covered in a board meeting is 9 days before the meeting date. 

We all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. In keeping with this principle, any harassment, bigotry, or threatening behaviour in correspondence sent to the board will not be tolerated.  

LOOKING AHEAD: 

The board’s next meeting will be September 30, 2025. Cooperatively, Woodsworth Board of Directors

Published in the Weekly, June 22, 2025

The board read with interest the  article entitled “The Weekly” in the most recent edition of The Weekly. We would like to respond to the paragraph that states “issues are often stonewalled, delayed or merely ignored.” It is unclear whether this statement is related to the office or the board, or both.

As mentioned, the co-op is a democracy, and the board is made up of volunteers who are members themselves. As evidenced through our board reports in The Weekly, the board has been keenly focused on the co-op’s finances and physical infrastructure, capital projects, our safety, accessibility training, and laundry, just to name a few.

The board welcomes all feedback and communications from the membership, but we’d like to set reasonable expectations.

The Board mailbox is checked every couple of days. At least twenty emails are received per week. The autoreply from the mailbox acknowledges receipt of the email by the board. Many of the issues raised require careful investigation, involvement of various committees, discussions within the board or with members and/or the involvement of the office staff. Some items need to wait for a more robust discussion/decision making at the monthly board meeting.

We appreciate it may seem that an issue is not being addressed with the appropriate velocity or seems to be not addressed at all. The issue may be in progress, or complex enough that it requires some time to resolve. It may be advisable in some cases to send a polite follow up email asking for a status if you are concerned that an issue isn’t being addressed.

The board would like to highlight the following:

• if you have witnessed what you believe to be a crime, are a victim of a crime, or have a health emergency, please call 911.
• If you have a noise complaint, please call 311.
• If you have after hours needs, call the on-call team.
• If you have issues of an administrative nature (e.g. waiting lists, pest control, priority moves, housing charge, RGI or maintenance) please contact the office. The board doesn’t need to be cc’d on these emails.
• If you’d like to report an incident, complete the incident form on the website
• If you have an escalation (regarding the property manager or another issue for which no resolution has been reached) contact the board and specify that it is an escalation requiring action.
• If you are having an issue with another member, contact the Conflict Mediation Committee for advice.
• If you have an idea – consider whether it could be addressed to a related committee. The list of committees is on our website. You can also send ideas to the board.

Co-operatively

The Board of Directors