Source attachment: 2008 MSBA EB 20080919 Minutes.doc

Minutes of the Executive Board Meeting
September 19,2008
At the University of Maryland 4-H Building
8020 Greenmead Drive, College Park, MD 20740
Recorded by Stephen McDaniel, President

Call to order: Steve McDaniel, President, called the meeting to order at 7 :00 pm.
Officers Present:

Steve McDaniel, President
Jon Bealer, Treasurer
Jody King, 2nd VP
Wayne Esaias, 2nd VP
Jerry Fischer, 2nd VP/Inspector
John Knapstein, 2nd VP
Toni Burnham, 2nd VP
John Moyer, Director/Editor
Carol Johnson, Past President
Bob Crouse, 2nd VP
By proxy: David Morris, Secretary, Given to Steve McDaniel

A quorum was in attendance.

Steve welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending the meeting and especially Toni Burnham, who came early to let the rest of us into the building.
Reports of the Officers
Secretary's Report: David Morris distributed the minutes of the April 4, 2008 board meeting in advance by email. Jon Bealer corrected the number of life members, which stood at 202 on the date of the meeting. With no other corrections noted, Wayne Esaias moved to accept the minutes as printed, and Jerry Fischer seconded the motion, which passed on a voice vote.

Treasurer's Report: Jon Bealer distributed his report, which stated the following as of 9/18/08:
Net Assets: $22,849.59
Revenues from January 1: $7,108.86
Expenditures from January 1: ($4,430.02)
Net from January 1: $2678.84

Lifetime Memberships: 207
Annual Memberships: 378
Complimentary Members: 6
Total Memberships: 591
Jon noted that this total is the highest number of members in the last four years. Steve expressed pleasure with the success of the membership drive and noted the need to continue to sign up new members.
Jon noted that one speaker from the June meeting has not yet been reimbursed for his travel expenses, as he just recently submitted his voucher.
Jon also noted that the $1000 grant to Wayne Esaias has not yet been paid, as he was uncertain how the Board wanted to handle it.
Discussion of the scale hive project ensued. Should MSBA maintain ownership of the scales, should the participants pay part of the cost and own them, should Wayne own them, or should the grant go to NASA, which would own them? After many comments, Jerry Fischer moved, and Toni Burnham seconded, a motion to pay the grant directly to Wayne, who would own and control the scales and keep track of who has them. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.
Jon pointed out that the Maryland Farm Bureau has raised its dues from $75 to $150 and asked if he should pay them anyway. After discussion of the benefits of membership, including a centrally located meeting place and influence with the state legislature, John Moyer proposed and Carol Johnson seconded a motion to pay the dues. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.
Labels: Jon has finally sold all the labels and asked if we should print more. Discussion ensued, and considering Jon's time and effort in hauling them around for two years trying to sell them, the sense of the meeting was that it was not worthwhile to do it again.
Pins: Carol Johnson asked about the status of the MSBA pins that were discussed last year but not acted on. Some members would probably like to have a centennial pin, but there is some risk involved in getting a number of them made and then trying to sell them. Jon Bealer suggested that he could look into Cafepress.com, an online service which sells materials such as logo-printed coffee mugs and shirts without charge to us. We would get a percentage, which we would set, of each item sold. Steve asked for a motion to get the pins made, but no motion was proposed. The sense of the meeting was that Café Press sounded like a better idea.
MDA Annual Registration Mailing
Dick Bean, of the Maryland Department of Agriculture has written to Steve, informing him that the department would no longer include our newsletter and membership card as part of the December mailing of apiary registration forms. Recent budget cuts have required the department to cut costs, which are estimated at nearly $1000. Jerry Fischer asked that Steve continue to provide a letter asking beekeepers to contribute to the Apiary Enhancement Fund. Discussion ensued, with the suggestion that we send the newsletter via e-mail to save on printing and postage. Jerry Fischer said that he could provide names and addresses, but that no one transcribes the e-mail addresses from the application forms, so he could not provide them. Bob Crouse offered to transcribe the e-mail addresses for us. Jon Bealer has e-mail addresses for approximately half of our current members, but not for other registered beekeepers.
Membership: New members joining after Labor Day are considered paid up for the next year. 2009 membership cards will be green.
Program
Next meeting Nov. 1 at MDA
Main speaker is Dr. William Towne. An auction of bee-related items will be part of the program. Winter meeting Feb. 21: Proposed location Howard County Fairgrounds Motion to accept made by Carole Johnson, seconded by Jon Bealer. The motion passed unanimously.
Sumer Meeting: Carole Johnson proposed a two-day "mini-EAS" with workshops. Jon Bealer suggested preparing a curriculum for an intermediate-level course and having the meeting on Father's Day weekend, as we did in past years with good attendance. No motion was proposed.

Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 9:38 PM

Maryland State Beekeepers Assoc, Inc.
Dedicated to beekeeping in Maryland since 1908

Maryland State Beekeepers Assoc, Inc.
Dedicated to beekeeping in Maryland since 1908

EMBED Word.Picture.8

EMBED Word.Picture.8