Cayuga Lake Watershed Network
Doc. #2008-
Program Committee (formerly Outreach Committee) Telecon
November 14, 2008

Present: Ed Harwood, chair; Rebecca Ruggles; Roxy Johnson; Judy Pipher

Ed confirmed there will be a retreat Dec 5, starting 2pm, for 3 hours, at the Network office. He announced two new members of this cte. – Joe Cambridge, and Rebecca Ruggles. We all introduced ourselves. Welcome Rebecca.

Judy conferred with committee concerning Website. She gave Sharon access, so that she could copy documents and remove those no longer germane. In the absence of a steward, Judy asked Sharon to confer with John concerning any removals, and to inform Judy (in case links become broken).

Judy also described the situation concerning the Board’s desire to have Paypal up and running immediately. Some aspects are beyond Judy’s current knowledge and there are unanswered questions concerning implementation. Ed volunteered to coordinate with John, and to give him guidelines, and to suggest that Bryan Bates (our original web designer, and owner of our server) be paid to help. Non-profits can be designated to receive a small percentage from their sales on E-Bay to their favorite charity.

Ed reported on the Board meeting. It was passed that the Outreach Cte become the Program Cte. The Charge to the new committee was circulated by e-mail, and all agreed pending resolution of details at the Retreat.

The new philosophy of the Board is that the Network will provide Education PLUS advocacy.

Lakefest is an activity that for the moment has been eliminated. There was discussion concerning the change in attitude toward the function of Lakefest, changing from the original of celebrating the watershed, and providing the Network with visibility. Educational events – a spring and fall forum – plus a publication are currently planned. In response to comments that this was ambitious, Ed stated that we were responsible for the plan of work, but may not have to do all the work. Judy was skeptical that this would work very well based on past experience with Network Ctes. Ed indicated that at the board meeting the position description for the watershed steward and the program commmitte had some contradictions; these need to be resolved in the next week. Network visibility needs to focus more on the issues.

The new steward will do the majority of the grant writing and write or arrange for publications. He or she would be responsible for soliciting volunteers to help. Our newly constituted cte, needs a plan of work in concert with the issues cte. and the comm. relations cte. Rebecca asked whether we could revisit past decisions (e.g. ending Lakefest and the Essay Contest as activities). Ed indicated that value of past programs needed to be discussed at the retreat. Judy and Roxy shared the Lakefest and student essay histories.

Several felt that we could look to the future if we could grasp the philosophy and priorities behind new directions. Fortunately both Ruth (Issues) and Ronda (Community Relations) will attend the retreat.

Judy asked whether the Board had addressed a forum on weeds for early winter: they were focused on more global concerns. Judy expressed urgency for moving this forward. Roxy distributed contact information for several scientists involved in north and south end aquatic plant studies.

Ed asked for input into a retreat agenda:

• Introductions
• Divergence including past activities
• Convergence – categorizing and setting priorities
• Budget considerations
• Plan of work
• Commitments

Ed was advised to provide timing benchmarks and to add a section on the board’s intent.