Doc. #2007-07
CAYUGA LAKE WATERSHED NETWORK
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Wells College Library, Aurora, NY

Directors present: Brian Boerman, Doug Haith, Janet Hawkes Julie Patterson, Keith Tidball and Kevin Zippel
Excused directors: John Dentes, Ted Hullar, John Mawdsley, Ruth Richardson, Mary Seitz and Connie Tallcot
Also in attendance: Sharon Anderson

The meeting was called to order by Chair, J. Hawkes, at 7:05 p.m
The December minutes (Doc. #2007-01) were moved for approval by J. Patterson, seconded K. Zippel. Passed unanimously.

Grants and Contracts:
S. Anderson provided information on a series of funding opportunities and collaborations.

• Tompkins County Tourism Community Celebration: maximum of $2000, due Feb. 6, to support Lakefest. Letter of support from the Mayor of Ithaca is needed. Adding a presentation on history of the Cass Park area would strengthen the proposal. S. Anderson will pursue the suggestions given.
• NYS Council on the Arts, due March 3, to support Lakefest. J. Hawkes suggested the Local Community Arts Partnership should also be explored and may be less competitive.
• Seneca Meadows, proposal to fund the brochure on weeds to be mailed to a targeted group of lakeshore residents at the north end of the lake, as suggested by the Issues and Membership Committee. Budget not yet determined but anticipate the request will be for $5000 or more.
• First Niagara, maximum request $2500. S. Anderson found some good materials for rain gardens at schools, in response to M. Seitz passing on at the Dec. Board meeting a request from teachers interested in a rain garden. This effort, packaged with a groundwater model as a teaching tool could make a good package.
• The Watershed Network has been invited to collaborate with the Finger Lakes Progressives and Back to Democracy on a program on Global Warming as it affects water resources. An excellent presentation was given at a conference S. Anderson attended. K. Tidball noted that the Watershed Network should make clear to the other two groups that we are not advancing any particular political agenda.

Motion directing the Watershed Steward to continue to purse all those items discussed relating to funds and collaborations made by K. Tidball, seconded by J. Patterson and passed unanimously.

2007 Budget
Document # 2007-05 S. Anderson presented the year end finances. There may be some minor adjustments made once Diane returns but no significant changes are expected. One certificate of deposit will be used in 2006. J. Hawkes requested the Finance Committee provide a Net Worth Statement at the next Board meeting to give a fuller picture of the organization’s finances.

S. Anderson presented the draft budget for 2007, Doc. #2007-06. Special note was made of the untapped potential for larger donations from private and business sources. J. Patterson suggested that plan for how to recognize donors should be prepared. S. Anderson is available to meet, along with a Board member, with any perspective donors. After discussion, J. Hawkes referred the budget back to the Finance Committee to reconsider staff compensation.

Plan of Work 2007
Document #2007-04. The version of the Plan of Work organized by Issue areas fulfilled the request from the Dec. Board meeting. J. Hawkes requested that S. Anderson send to the Board the multi-color version that shows the duration of work by month.

BSC
Postponed to Feb.

Meeting Dates
Motion to change the night of the Board meetings to the second Tues. was made by J. Patterson. Seconded by K. Tidball. Passed unanimously. The change will take affect with the February meeting. Diane asked to confirm meeting locations and distributed an updated meeting list.

Special Board Meeting/Retreat
The evening of the regularly scheduled Board meeting, March 13, will be used for a special session on fundraising. The meeting will start at 5:00 with dinner during which time any pressing business will be conducted. Following dinner, S. Anderson will arrange for a combined information and work session on fund development. The entire event will take place March 13th, 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. in Tompkins County. Location to be determined.

Nominations/Committees
J. Patterson announced that C. Tallcot was looking for someone to replace her on the Board. It was decided that K. Zippel be moved from an At-Large to a Cayuga County Director in order to allow more flexibility in filling vacancies. As a result, there are openings for 2 Seneca County and 2 At-Large Directors. Additional members are desired for the Membership, Public Relations, Finance and Outreach Committees. Directors were requested to send suggestions for new Board and Committee members to J. Hawkes at jeh34@cornell.edu and to copy S. Anderson at steward@cayugalake.org. S. Anderson was requested to send D. Haith, J. Patterson and K. Zippel a list of members as an Excel spreadsheet.

S. Anderson was directed to request referrals for Directors from Leadership Tompkins. J. Patterson noted that students at Mynderse Academy have a mandatory community service requirement.

Watershed Steward Report
N. O’Leary, who previously served on the Outreach Committee and the Board, is expecting a baby due in June.

R. Hawkins is interested in purchasing the laptop computer she had been using. Motion made by D. Haith authorizing S. Anderson to complete the transaction. Seconded by J. Patterson. Passed unanimously.

Next Board Meeting: Tues., Feb. 13, Goulds Pumps
Meeting adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

Minutes submitted by Sharon Anderson