MASWCD Conference Call

January 5, 2009

8:00 p.m.

Present
Steve Radcliff, President Fred Feldmann, Past President Bruce Biermann , Area 1 Tom Lambert, Area 2 Kenny Lovelace, Area 3 Beverly Dometrorch, Area 4 George Engelbach, Area 5	Ben Gorden, Area 6 Sharon Gifford, Area 7 Steve Huber, Area 8 Peggy Lemons, Executive Director David Dix, Treasurer

President Steve Radcliff opened the meeting at 8:00 p.m. and approved a quorum by roll call.

The first item discussed was attendance at the NACD National Meeting in New Orleans. Steve Radcliff and Beverly Dometrorch as well as Peggy Lemons have already made arrangements to attend. Bruce Biermann indicated he also planned to attend, but would be driving so only needed registration and the hotel room for Sunday through Wednesday.

The next item discussed was the auction item for the NACD Legislative Auction. The clock seems to be a good item however proves a little difficult to transport. A motion was made by Bruce Biermann to have the clock but use brochures, pictures at the auction and then ship the clock to the winning bidder with MASWCD covering the shipping costs. Beverly Dometrorch seconded this motion. Motion carried by voice vote.

The next item discussed was the poster contest categories. This year there are two additional categories due to the poster contest being coordinated with the Smithsonian Soils Display. A motion was made by Bruce Biermann to include both these new categories in the state poster contest for 2009. Tom Lambert seconded the motion. Motion carried by a voice vote. The other issue with the poster contest is that NACD is requiring all posters to include the “Dig It” theme title and no other. A motion was made by Beverly Dometrorch, seconded by Tom Lambert, to have the state contest follow the guidelines of NACD and require the theme “Dig It” on the poster. Motion carried by voice vote.

Another item Steve Radcliff wanted to discuss is the idea of hosting a speech contest in conjunction with FFA. He has been discussing this with a local FFA Advisor on how this could be accomplished. The FFA area competitions would handle it at their level with the 16 area winners competing at the 6 district competitions. The 6 district winners would have a run-off at Tan-Tar-A with MASWCD helping select the judging panel and providing the prizes for the winners. Some organizations that currently do speech contests have prizes in the range of $200 for first place and $100 for second place. We would probably need to provide hotel rooms for the competing students at the Training Conference. The FFA area and district competitions are normally done by the end of November providing the timing of having district winners hold a run-off for a state winner at Tan-Tar-A. Steve Radcliff stated this is normally a 5-6 minute speech with 5 minutes of questions. The difference between this and the Envirothon is that this is an individual speech whereas the Envirothon is a team speech. This could be promoted at the 2009 FFA state meeting this April.

Next the 2009 Education Seminar was discussed. The dates are March 11 and 12, Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and the Third Floor Rotunda of the Capitol Building. The board discussed if they wished to continue with the same type of meeting as previous. They decided to continue as previously with breakfast items served in the Third Floor Rotunda and the Wednesday evening meeting from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Capitol Plaza Hotel. Suggested speakers include the new Director for Department of Natural Resources, legislation to allow the SALT practices to be used state-wide, and discussion on the budgeting changes if the legislation does pass that allows SALT practices state-wide. It was also suggested to have a part for new attendees on how and what to say to the Legislators. Registration for the Education Seminar will remain at $10 per person attending. The MASWCD Board will meet on Wednesday March 11 at the Cole County USDA Service Center starting at 11:00 a.m. Peggy will make all the room reservations for the Board at the Capitol Plaza Hotel.

Steve Radcliff asked David Dix for a report on the Training Conference income and expenses. David stated there are still a few expenses to be paid and a couple of registrations to be paid as well as the income from the Employees Association to be received yet. In his estimation we should end up with approximately $10,000 profit. This is right in line with past years with 2007 ending up with a profit of $9,700 and 2005 a profit of $14,000. David also stated that 60 Districts have paid their 2009 dues so far. When asked if they are from certain parts of the state, he answered that it is scattered all over the state, but that Area 5 did seem to have the highest percentage.

There being no further business, a motion was made by Bruce Biermann to adjourn. Motion seconded by Kenny Lovelace. Motion carried by voice vote. Conference call adjourned at 8:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy Lemons Executive Director

Steve Radcliff President