Wisconsin Association

of

Land Conservation Employees

WALCE BOARD MEETING MINUTES

FRIDAY,  DECEMBER 2, 2005

STEVENS POINT, WI

 Board Members Present: Greg Baneck, Greg Leonard, Perry Lindquist, Dan O’Connell, Jean Schomish, Diane Hanson, Ed Hernandez, and Paul Tollard

 Call to Order: Jean called meeting to order at 9:40am. Jean reported that Greg Leonard and Andy Johnson will be arriving late. Greg Cleereman was unable to attend.

 Approval of Minutes: Motion by Ed Hernandez second by Dan O’Connell to approve minutes of October 6th, 2005 WALCE Board Meeting. Motion carried.

 Treasurer’s Report: Ed Hernandez reviewed the treasurer’s report.  Ed discussed a lost check to a presenter at the 2005 WALCE Conference.  The presenter has requested a new check be issued.  Discussion followed.  Consensus of the Board was to issue a new check for the original amount minus any bank fees for cancelling first one.  Ed also mentioned that so far in 2005 none of the Scholarship Funds have been utilized.

 Also, the bill from WLWCA for lobbying efforts exceeds the line item amount that was budgeted.  Discussion followed on the Professional Services Contract and the status of the contract.  Currently, the agreement is still in WLWCA’s hands and has not been signed.  The Board of Directors approved the contract at the July 14th, 2005 Board Meeting.  The consensus of the Board was that in order for WALCE to pay 2005 Professional Services Contract bills, the contract needs to be signed and received by Jean Schomisch by 4:30 PM on December 16^th, 2005 or the bills will not be paid.  Jean will contact Rebecca and Hugh Mulliken to inform them of this deadline.  Once the contract is approved, the Administrative Committee will review the bills and reimburse eligible expenses up to the $4,000.00 approved in the 2005 budget.  In addition, the terms of 2006 Professional Services Contract will be reviewed at the next board meeting.  The 2006 contract will have to be finalized by March 31^st, 2006. 

 NACD Conference Request – Greg Baneck, Outagamie County requested WALCE funding to cover expenses for attending the 2006 NACD conference in Houston. Motion by Dan O’Connell, second by Ed Hernandez to approve Greg’s conference expenses not to exceed the remaining budget amount.  Motion carried.

 Ed also provided the Board with an update of the 2006 Conference.  Penny Pohle has stepped up to chair the Professional Improvement Committee since Nancy Pfaff’s position has been eliminated.

 Motion by Paul Tollard, second by Diane Hanson to approve Treasurers Report.  Motion carried

 2006 Budget Preview - Ed reviewed some goals and issues for the 2006 WALCE Budget which include:

- Conference profit of $10,000.

- Cancellation and refund policies for the 2006 Conference

- Potential increases in line items

 WALCE Email List Costs - Tom Sweeney and Chad Schultz from Premier Technologies joined the Board meeting via conference call.  Discussion occurred on how the WALCE email list serve through the WALCE website can be improved and estimated costs for the improvements. 

 Greg Leonard arrived at 11:05

 Motion by Diane Hanson, second by Ed Hernandez to approve estimated expenditures associated with the changes to WALCE email list serve.  Dan O’Connell will contact Tom Sweeney and notify him to proceed with project as well as inform him to add a technical staff list. 

 Andy Johnson arrive at 11:30

 WALCE Policy & Procedure Manual - The Board reviewed the WALCE Policy and Procedure Manual. Discussion occurred and minor modifications were made.  Motion by Dan O’Connell, second by Ed Hernandez to accept the WALCE Policy and Procedures Manual with modifications.  Motion carried.

 Jean updated Greg and Andy about the discussions earlier in the meeting and decisions that were made.

 Technical Committee Report:  Dan O’Connell updated the Board about the latest discussions of the Technical Committee including the River and Streams Committee, agroforesty, Manure Management Task Force, Transect Survey, and the development of a communication policy to keep everyone informed. 

 Jean and the Board would like to express thanks and appreciation to Technical Committee members for all their efforts and accomplishments.

 Administrative Committee: Andy Johnson updated the Board about the latest discussions of the Administrative Committee including distribution of the committee minutes, information and education efforts related to the Land and Water Resource Management Plans/implementation of the performance standards, Livestock Siting, Buffer Initiative and also an email recently distributed asking for input on issues related to program implementation that the committee should address in 2006.  Jean and the Board expressed appreciation to Andy for getting the Administrative Committee up and running. 

 The Board recessed for lunch at 12:15 p.m. and reconvened at 1:10 p.m.

 Strategic Plan: The Board reviewed the draft WALCE Strategic Plan.  Discussion followed.  Motion by Ed Hernandez, second by Greg Leonard to approve the Strategic Plan and present the Plan to the membership for approval at the annual conference in March 2006. Motion carried.

 Jean mentioned that the nomination information was emailed out to all WALCE members and that WALCE will need to elect a new President and Vice President as well as appoint a new Secretary. 

 Adjourn: Motion by Diane Hanson, second by Greg Leonard to adjourn at 2:05 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted: