Executive Board Meeting Minutes

President, Richard Boland called the meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. In attendance: Richard Boland, Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Linda Lemieux, Al Smith, Joe Loughlin, Hilton Holcomb and Cathie Rod.

Information and General discussion:
- With David Barkley's approval, Shirley will speak with Sarah McCullough regarding request to sit on panel reviewing landscaping plans for new businesses in the Shallotte area.
- Guest speaker for February 22 meeting is speaking on graphing. There will be 10 MG visitors from Bladen County at this meeting.
- Forms for Pest Management training course are in MG office.
- New signs for the Botanical Garden are coming in the week of January 22 honoring donors and in memoriam to past BCMGVA members.
- Many e-mails are being blocked when sent form the Extension center. All members will be asked to check and unblock their PC's so messages can be received.
- It was suggested that all hand outs have dates of creation.
- It was suggested that members print a copy of the by-laws to read and have as reference.
- Regarding the purchase of a power point unit, it was decided to use the unit already owned by the Extension center. Barbara McCoy will be asked if a computer disk has been made of pictures of BCMGVA events.
- Concerns and thoughts were offered for Charlie Spencer, Maggie Hoon and John Kellett because of recent illness or operation.
- Name Tags: Richard will address, with David Barkley, time frame for new MG to receive plastic name badges. If these name badges are given at the end of the MG class, the individual has not fulfilled their requirement of volunteering 40 hours to the Hot Line and should not be consider a master gardener. Update to follow.
- Upcoming dates and events: Recognition banquet, Holiday social and 1st plant sale need to have dates set. At February executive meeting, there will be a discussion on the recognition banquet with the possibility of holding in September as a luncheon after the monthly meeting. Leland Business Expo. is January 27 from 10-4. Volunteers are needed to man the BCMGVA booth. Many new comer packets are given out at this event. Richard and Shirley will look into securing volunteers. The date of West Brunswick Home and Garden show will be obtained to supply ample volunteers for this event.
State conference in Raleigh October 8-10, 2007. Hotel has been chosen, tours to be announced and meetings will be held on NC St. campus. There will be a spotlight on specific MG county programs. Shirley has offered thoughts of Life on the Farm or the Restitution program for Brunswick County. Any other thoughts are to be given to Shirley. Shirley also mentioned the International conference in Little Rock, AR in April.
- Greenhouse/ garden: It is important that all tools are cleaned and properly stored after use. Many new plants are being received at the greenhouse which will require care. Many man hours have been given to complete hard and landscape in front of building F and Botanical garden plus night lighting in all areas. More plants and trees will be added behind building F. Screening will be planted around new area of gas pumps. There is a need for on going maintenance of the water feature in the Botanical garden. A question was raised on the level of responsibility for the BCMGVA for all the planted areas around the Extension center including the Botanical garden. Al Height will be invited to address the board at a future meeting to discuss this issue.
- Newsletter: A NL will be made available for all new class participants at their 3rd class. Richard will also address the class regarding the monthly meetings, inviting all to attend. The NL will also mention the tracking of mileage for BCMGVA events to deduct from federal income tax. The amount is believed to be .14 cents per mile. Al Smith will verify. The chairs of standing and event committees will be listed in the NL. The time period for publication of the NL will be addressed. Is the current time frame best? Joe will respond to this when a determination is made. The NL may also include an up coming event calendar for better volunteer response from all members.
- Budget/ Treasury: Copy attached of the final accounting for 2006. There was $5,304.89 remaining in the treasury with $1,000 of that amount ear marked for Memorials. Richard is finding a person to audit the BCMGVA accounts.
There will be a change made for the current line item of Plant ID garden to Plant ID/ Botanical garden. There is also clarification needed on the line item of greenhouse/hoop house, gardens specifying use of these funds.
Hand outs were given of the 07 budget and Al questioned the frequency of supplying such information. It was decided to do this on a monthly basis for board meetings and quarterly for committee chairs.
- Membership: A list showing dues paid will be distributed at January general meeting by Membership committee. This will include the name and address of the new treasurer for receipt of dues. The creation of a membership card was discussed and prototype was offered by Richard. He will print these and have these ready for distribution by the Membership committee at the general meetings. The card contains the name of the member, signature of current president of the association and the expiration date. It was decided to create a new card for each calendar year even though some members may pay dues for multiple years. This will ensure that the member has also completed the required volunteer hours to be part of the BCMGVA as well as having paid dues. A MOTION was made by Hilton Holcomb to reimburse Richard Boland for printing membership cards which was seconded by Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman and carried. Richard may elect to accept or reject this reimbursement.
- Computerized information: Creation of a calendar of events was discussed for placement on the web or in the NL. Al had a hand out listing the categories/functions that could be listed on the web for all members to access. This was considered to be a great tool for organizational purposes and especially to inform all members for volunteer opportunities, trips, training, etc. An exploratory committee will be created seeking information from other county MG associations, working with Charlie Spencer, David Barkley, Richard Boland, Shirley Waggoner-Eisenman, Al Smith and Joe Loughlin. Other BCMGVA members will be asked if they have expertise in this type of endeavor who might want to help.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:00

Respectfully submitted,
Cathie Rod, Recording Secretary