There being
a quorum present, Vice President Jim Cruser called the April 27, 2006, TVMA
Board Meeting to order at 9:00 am. The
following members were present: Jim
Cruser, Myron Rabalais, David Wall, Paul Northcutt, Rob Brooks, Robert Lane,
Richard Karber, Steve Prather, Scott Dunham, Rick Bennett, Don Telge and Matt Churches.
Paul Northcutt read the minutes of the January 11,
2006 Board
Meeting. A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the minutes as
read.
Officer
Reports were received as follows:
President: No presidents report was received.
Vice-President: Jim Cruser passed
out the 2006 conference update. An
estimate for meals and costs plus anticipated AV extras has been prepared for
the conference. Most speakers have
already committed to making presentations.
The Keynote speaker issue was discussed and it was reported that many comments
indicated that it might be appropriate to drop a “keynote” speaker in order to
insure that the luncheon/business meeting did not run too long and most invited
speakers have had other commitments. Jim
is leaning toward not having a keynote speaker to insure that everyone had time
to vote and attend the business meeting.
Jim and Stan will visit Kerrville
on or about the 2nd week of May and visit with the Hotel and try to
finalize the golf tournament. Craig Johnson is handling details on the skeet
shooting event. We have two bids for a
gaming company to host the “Texas Hold-Em” social on
Tuesday night. A MOTION WAS MADE,
SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD THAT THE INITIAL PLANNING BUDGET FOR THE
2006 ANNUAL CONFERENCE IS TO BE $26,000. Sponsorship opportunities were
discussed by the Board. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE
BOARD TO ADD FULL SPONSORSHIP AT $3,000 AND CO-SPONSORSHIP LEVELS OF $250 AND
$500 TO BOTH THE EXHIBITOR AND THE ATTENDEE REGISTRATION FORMS. Paul
Northcutt was directed to add sponsorship activities to exhibitor and attendee
registration forms and include this information in upcoming issue of the CLIP
and the TVMA web page. Sponsors will
be provided suitable recognition within the conference, program, CLIP and/or
web page. Full sponsors should be
highlighted and co-sponsors recognized.
Treasurer: Myron Rabalais handed out and discussed the
current Treasurer’s report. The current
total net worth of TVMA is $26,780.67. A discussion was held on an appropriate
level of funds which should be maintained within the TVMA bank account to cover
programs and expenses, but maintain an appropriate level befitting our
non-profit status. A MOTION WAS
MADE, SECONDED, AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD TO ACCEPT THE TREASURER’S REPORT AS
READ.
Secretary-Editor: Paul reported that
the revised sponsorships and minutes should be posted to the web within the
next few days. The next issue of the
CLIP will be during June 2006. Paul
asked for suggestions for articles for the next CLIP issue, but received none. Paul advised the Board to advise him if anyone
saw improvements needed to the web page.
Past-President: David Wall advised
he is still evaluating potential conferences to attend during this year. David advised that if any by-law changes were
needed, to review the by-laws and bring up any needed by-law revision to the
Board so that we can have a minimum of 30-day notice to the Membership. David also recommended that the Association
evaluate a general liability insurance policy to cover an unexpected event or
claim against the Association. A
MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED TO HAVE RICHARD KARBER INQUIRE INTO THE
FEASIBILITY AND COSTS OF A GENERAL LIABILITY POLICY AND REPORT BACK AT THE NEXT
BOARD MEETING.
Committee
Reports were given as follows:
Research: No report was received.
Membership: Scott Dunham recommends that the invasive species group
appears to be a good group for new membership. F&WS and maybe TFS, Trinity University were discussed. Scott will discuss with Michelle to continue
to discuss potential member groups and CEU needs. Scott
will get with Ray Erwin to see about placing an ad in the landowners
newsletter. Paul will contact Wildseed, Native American
Seed, for sponsorship opportunities.
Scott desires to follow up with past members and remind them of
membership opportunities. Scott wants to
send a “call-for-papers” (posters) to universities to encourage student
membership. A session has been reserved during
the conference for students to present updates on their research. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED
BY THE BOARD TO ADD A STUDENT CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OF $75 EARLY BIRD AND
$100 REGULAR REGISTRATION TO THE 2006 CONFERENCE. Scott will send a letter to university advisors advising of poster
sessions and registration opportunities.
It was discussed that a “TVMA” presentation could be presented to
universities and groups. A
MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD THAT PAUL NORTHCUTT WOULD
COORDINATE PREPARING AN APPROPRIATE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ON TVMA THAT COULD
BE PRESENTED TO UNIVERSITIES, CIVIC AND INTERESTED GROUPS. Board
members will provide Paul suggestions and photographs that could be used in the
presentation. Rob Brooks recommended that in future
years we issue a “call for papers” through which students could present current
and ongoing research in a VM field.
Scholarship: Rob Brooks indicated
that all scholarship updates were made in March 2006 and issued to the
Universities by April 2006. He has
already had contacts from students/professors from Texas Tech and considerable
interest from Sul Ross which is gratifying at this
early date. Rob is encouraged by the early response. Rob
will send Scott a copy of the scholarship letter for his use.
Training: Rick Bennett provided the Training Committee report. The joint CEU meeting at Baytown and Hockley was discussed and
attendance was good. Rick suggested that
TVMA evaluate asking the membership which additional CEU use categories might
be needed for CEU training. It was
discussed that perhaps a note to this effect could be placed into the
CLIP. Rick recommends that for the
present, we “stay the course” and concentrate on the right-of-way category
examination and structure our training around that use category. Promoting training among the County employees
was discussed. Rick will evaluate ways to notify cities/counties about training / CEU
opportunities. Rick expects to host
the CEU school in Lubbock during October of this year as
well.
Legislative: No report was
received.
Nominating: No report was
received.
Internal Audit: No report was
received. Myron will follow up with Ron Held
to initiate an internal audit at the first available opportunity.
Advisory: David Wall provided the
advisory report. David asked if there
were any pending issues that TVMA needs to address with TDA. The Board was not aware of any issues which
needed addressing.
Awards: David Wall indicated that the
Lifetime Achievement Award nominees are due to Ray Erwin; we need a letter with
a bio of the nominee. David also reminded
the board that we can vote in Honorary Members one time a year during the
conference. David reminded Board members
to ask for nominations and to reduce the registration fee for those Honorary
Members.
Unfinished
Business
No unfinished business was discussed at this meeting.
New
Business:
Michelle McAfee indicates that the Wildflower Center
could add our web link to their “Invasive Species” web page. The
Board directed Paul to discuss this issue with Michelle and report back at the
next Board meeting.
The next Board Meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, August 15,
2006 at the YO Ranch Resort and Hotel in Kerrville,
TX
There being
no further new business, A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE
BOARD TO ADJOURN AT 11:00 pm, 4/27/06.
Respectfully
submitted:
Paul Northcutt, TVMA Secretary-Editor
