NORTH CAROLINA MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
WAKE COUNTY OFFICE PARK, RALEIGH, NC
NOVEMBER 10, 2009
ATTENDANCE
OFFICERS: Bob Kellam, President; Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Past President;
Barbara Walters, Treasurer; Carroll Gaissert, Recording Secretary
DELEGATES/ALTERNATES: John Caldwell (Catawba), Sarah Caldwell (Catawba), Wayne Carlson (Wake), Sandy Goetz (Wilson), Phil Griffin (Lee), Connie Kammler (Wayne), Paulette Kenley (Iredell), Anita Lawson (Guilford), Sheilah Lombardo (Forsyth), Dauphne Long (Craven), Len Long (Craven), Anne Pierce (Nash), Betsy Spencer (Moore), Janie Taylor (Carteret), Brian Wheat (Onslow), Marv Yokum (Catawba). Via Elluminate: Jim Haywood (Nash), Randy Lane (Burke)
GUESTS: Lucy Bradley, NCSU; Brent Henry, Wake County Extension Director; Angelo Randaci, Wake County Horticulture Agent; Marilyn Grolitzer, Wake County MG, Kenny Walters
ABSENT: Aloma LeMasters, President-Elect; George Quigley, Vice-President; Carmen San Juan, Corresponding Secretary; Elizabeth Allen (Haywood), Elda Brown (Transylvania), Holly Cook-Wood (Pasquotank), Jim Coughlin (Durham), Mary Laura Dorman (Robeson), Mary Hugenschmidt (Buncombe), Nola Pritchett (Martin), Lynn Roll (Macon), Dorothy Schnabel (Cabarrus), Judith Thomas (Pender)
CALL TO ORDER: Bob Kellam
The meeting was called to order at 10:01AM by President, Bob Kellam. He welcomed guests, expressed appreciation to Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman for the clear goals initiated during her presidency, and thanked Lucy Bradley for her expertise with Elluminate which enabled two of the meeting’s attendees to participate in the meeting from a distance.
Bob stated that Board of Directors meetings will be conducted according to Roberts Rules of order, which he has recently read. He would like to have a Parliamentarian, if anyone is familiar with Roberts Rules and is willing to volunteer. He reminded the group that, according to the Association’s by-laws, officers, delegates, or alternates who are substituting for delegates constitute the voting membership of the Board of Directors.
MINUTES: Minutes of the August 11, 2009 Board of Directors meeting and the October 6, 2009 annual business meeting were approved.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
BUDGET/FINANCE: Barbara Walters
The current account balance is $10,644.90. All line items with the exception of the newsletter are either at or under the amounts budgeted for the year. The newsletter is over budget due to increased printing costs and having to pay for the domain name, which was not in the budget.
MEMBERSHIP: Barbara Walters
The current membership stands at 488. Seventy-eight people joined with their conference registration and ninty-three renewed with conference registration. However, income from memberships is still below what was projected for the year by $390.
COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM: Carroll Gaissert
Carroll gave an overview of the two applications for this year’s grant. She reminded the group that the grant was approved as a one-year pilot program and made a motion that it be continued. The motion was seconded by Barbara Walters. This was followed by discussion of budget issues and an amendment to the motion by Sheilah Lombardo to continue the program if funds are available. Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman seconded the amended motion. The motion was then carried as amended.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN COMPETITION: Bob Kellam
Bob talked about the entries in this year’s competition and announced that Brunswick County was the winner in the large program category, Wilson County in the small program category. Barbara Walters made a motion to continue the Madeline Collier Landscape Design Competition at the same funding level as this year: $250 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place for the winners in each category. The discussion of the motion related to the benefits of having continuity in the awards programs. Hearing no objections, the motion was adopted and the committee was directed to establish a deadline for entries and to begin advertising the 2010 award.
MEMBERSHIP SURVEY: Carroll Gaissert
Forty-six people completed the membership survey at the annual conference. Carroll handed out copies of the survey results and talked about the information compiled. Bob explained that normally a committee would sunset at the end of a president’s term, so we would have to decide whether or not to continue this committee. There was discussion of the fact that we continue to look for ways to increase membership and that to do so requires that we find out what the needs of the members are and how to meet them, as well as making more people aware of the association. Anne Pierce made a motion to continue the committee for this term of office for the purpose of continuing to gather information for the furtherance of membership goals. The motion was adopted with no objections.
NEWSLETTER: Bob Kellam
Bob continues to serve as the interim editor, but would like to have someone else take over. He stated that he hopes to have the Winter edition available on the website by mid-November. This edition will contain a retrospective on the 2009 conference, as well as information about the 2010 conference to be held in April.
Two of the reporting districts have new reports for the newsletter: Alexis Pohlmeyer in the South Central District and Julie Dayvault in the North Central District..
Bob stated that he expects to mail about 362 copies of the Winter issue. This led to a discussion about the expense of mailings versus reluctance to cut off those who prefer hard copies. Suggestions were made about how to persuade more members to sign up to receive the newsletter via e-mail. Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman made a motion that as of January 1, 2010, no hard copies of the newsletter will be mailed unless a member requests hard copies. This was amended to read that beginning with the Spring, 1010, edition of the newsletter, no copies will be distributed unless a member has requested a hard copy. A question was asked about the potential for this to affect attendance at the 2010 conference. The decision was that there will be a lot of conference information in the Winter edition, as well as conference invitations which will be mailed to all members. We should emphasize the fact that the money saved on printing and mailing will save resources and free up funds for other programs. Lucy Bradley pointed out that conference information can be made available in several different formats, including text only, for those who are downloading it from the website. Bob will explore the options for various formats. Hearing no objections, the motion was adopted.
CONFERENCE REPORTS
2009 CONFERENCE: Paulette Kenley
Paulette reported that 208 people from 41 counties registered for the conference. The tours and the dinner cruise were all very well-attended. There were a total of 23 speakers and 17 vendors plus the bookstore in the exhibit hall. In addition, there were six sponsors: Black Kow, Wal-Mart, Iredell County Master Gardeners, Brenda and Mike Bernhardt, Turtle Creek Greenhouse and Brawley Greenhouse. Paulette stated that all conference expenses would be paid and the conference would actually make some money, but it is not known how much yet.
2010 CONFERENCE: Barbara Walters
Plans for the 2010 Conference, to be held in New Bern April 25-28, are being finalized. The topics for the workshops are largely related to what people said on the membership survey that they want. The hotel will offer conference rates for three days prior to and after the conference. Invitations are to be mailed in early January. There will be a limit of 350 people in the banquet space. The tours to be offered will include an all-day fishing trip which several people from the western part of the state have expressed interest in. The conference coincides with New Bern’s 300th anniversary celebration.
FUTURE CONFERENCES: Bob Kellam
Bob asked how people felt about future conferences in regard to whether we should go back to a fall schedule or continue to have them in the spring after the 2010 conference. He has initiated some contacts in the western part of the state, since the conferences have mostly been in the eastern part of the state in recent years. There was discussion of the pros and cons of conferences in both spring and fall. The feeling of the group was that the counties who are hosting the conference should decide when to hold it.
OLD BUSINESS
MASTER GARDENER LICENSE PLATES: Bob Kellam
The bill to allow a Master Gardener license plate is still awaiting approval by the N.C. House of Representatives. Once it is approved, 300 paid applications are required before the license plates can be produced. The fee of $20 above the regular license renewal will be split between the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Master Gardener Endowment Fund. Thirty-nine of the attendees at the annual conference expressed interest in obtaining license plates. An additional sixty-eight people have expressed interest through their local delegates, and Phil Griffin stated that he has thirteen names to turn in. Overall, it appears that there is good interest in the program and optimism in regard to having the required 300 interested people. Bob stated that he hopes the House will approve the bill during the Spring, 2010, legislative session.
MEMBERSHIP HANDBOOK: Bob Kellam
Bob has created a copy of the Membership Handbook which he has previously proposed printing. It contains information about the mission, vision, organization, by-laws, policies and procedures, programs, website, newsletter, MOU with NCSU, and the membership directory of the NCMGVA. He estimates that it would cost approximately $1 each to print 100 copies. A very lively discussion ensued. Several people would prefer the convenience of the small handbook which would be easy to carry around while others feel that it is unnecessary because all of the information is available on the website and that printing would be a waste of resources. One issue raised is the need to update it annually to provide continuity.
Phil Griffin made a motion to take the handbook off the table. It was pointed out that the handbook was taken off the table at the August meeting and this does not mean that it can’t be brought up again. Sheilah Lombardo asked if Phil were to withdraw his motion, how would a motion need to be phrased to kill the proposed handbook indefinitely? Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman explained that a motion to table, unless a specific time frame is attached, automatically kills the proposal at hand. Phil rescinded his motion. Sheila made a motion that we postpone indefinitely the printing of a membership handbook. Phil seconded the motion which was carried by a vote of ten to four. Sheila then made a motion that information on the NCMGVA website be organized in such a manner that anyone who wishes to do so can print it out for themselves at no cost to the organization. With no objections, the motion was adopted.
NEW BUSINESS
DISTRICT AWARDS PROPOSAL: Connie Kammler for Anne Pierce
A proposal to establish a Member of the Year Award for each District was presented. According to the proposal, nominations would be accepted from any Master Gardener in the district. Nominations would be reviewed by a committee of Master Gardeners which would be established in each district. A certificate would be awarded to the winner from each district. The discussion which followed focused on the fact that there are very few nominations for the statewide Member of the Year Award and that the organization needs to focus on publicizing and increasing awareness of the statewide award. If a district wants to establish a district award, that would be a district decision. Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman made a motion to postpone the District Awards proposal indefinitely. The motion was seconded by Brian Wheat. There were no objections and the motion was adopted.
PRESIDENT’S GOALS FOR 2010: Bob Kellam
Bob outlined the goals he has set for 2010. These include:
Increase association membership by 25%
Increase county participation by 25%
Increase delegate representation to 100%
Increase Board meeting attendance by 25%
Meet the license plate subscription minimum of 300, and
Initiate online expiration reminders and membership renewals.
Bob plans to personally visit as many counties as possible. He asked that the delegates take the responsibility of promoting the association in their districts.
2010 COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS: Bob Kellam
Current members of the committees are as follows:
Standing Committees
Executive Committee: Bob Kellam, President; Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Past President; Aloma Lemasters, President-Elect; George Quigley, Vice President; Barbara Walters, Treasurer; Carmen San Juan, Corresponding Secretary; Carroll Gaissert, Recording Secretary
Budget/Finance: BarbaraWalters, Chair; Phil Griffin. One more needed.
Membership: Barbara Walters, Chair; Anne Pierce; Paulette Kenley.
Awards: George Quigley, Chair; Anne Pierce. One more needed.
Nominations: Anne Pierce, Chair; Brian Wheat. One more needed.
Newsletter: Bob Kellam, Editor (interim)
District reporters:Betty Lockwood - West District
Reporter needed - West Central District
Julie Day vault - North Central District
Alexis Pohlmeyer - South Central District
Ruth Uecker - Northeast District
Carol Wilson - Southeast District
Special Committees
Landscape Competition: Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Chair. Two more needed.
Competitive Grants: Carroll Gaissert, Chair; Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Anita Lawson
Member survey: Carroll Gaissert, Chair; Anne Pierce. One more needed.
Master Gardener License Plate: Chair and two members needed.
Fundraising: Phil Griffin, Chair; Brian Wheat, Wayne Carlson
2010 BUDGET PROPOSALS: Barbara Walters
Standing and Special Committee Chairs and officers need to develop their budget proposals for 2010. Proposals are due to Barbara Walters by December 1st so they can be distributed with the January meeting agenda. We will be voting on the budget at this meeting so please review the proposed budget prior to the meeting.
ON-LINE DUES AND REGISTRATION: Bob Kellam
Bob has developed a proposal to set up a mechanism for paying dues, registering for conferences and paying conference fees on-line utilizing Google Checkout as the vendor. This will be discussed at the January meeting due to running out of time today.
NEXT MEETING: January 12, 2010 in New Bern
Agenda items for meeting:
2010 Budget
Proposal to set up mechanism for paying dues online; also, registering for conference and paying conference fees on line. Google Checkout suggested vendor.
2009 Conference financial results
501(c)3 status
Feedback re: Elluminate system attendance at Board meeting
Need to add a Spring Board meeting to the schedule
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Bob Kellam
Bob has a meeting scheduled with Ted Bilderback, Director of the J.C. Raulston Arboretum to discuss the possibility of discounted membership in the arboretum for NCMGVA members. Arboretum membership entitles one to attend the annual plant sale and speaking events, as well as reciprocal membership and free admission to over 200 gardens across the United States.
Bob has just recently learned that the NCMGVA actually has two funds set up through NCSU. One is the Endowment Fund where money from the sale of Master Gardener license plates will be directed. The balance of this fund must increase to $15,000 before any funds can be disbursed from it. There is also an Enhancement Fund with a balance of approximately $3,000. There are no restrictions on the use of this money. One possibility is to move it to the Endowment Fund to help increase it to the $15,000 goal.
With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 1:05PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Carroll Gaissert, Recording Secretary
Submitted: December 9, 2009
Future Board Meetings:
January 12, 2010 Riverfront Hilton, New Bern
April 27, 2010 Riverfront Hilton, New Bern
May 18, 2010 Lee County, Sanford
August 17, 2010 Burke County Center, Morganton
November 16, 2010 Brunswick County, Bolivia