SPBC Annual Meeting Minutes – May 4, 2013
Attendees: Apffel, Kathleen; Apffel, Pete; Aruscavage, Jan; Aruscavage, Phil; Ballenger, Michael; Boyce, Ker; Cavedo, Richard; Garrett, Jim; Jackson Susan; McAteer, Karolynne ; McSwain, Karen; McSwain, Jim; Osborne Ozzie; Osborne, Cindy; Robinson, John; Tallant, John Allan; Tallant, Lan Chien; Torka, Robert; Tuttle, Charles; Tuttle, Melanie; Watson, Holly; Watson, James; Worst, George; Yannone, Mick.
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 AM at the Inn at Eagle Springs
Minutes from the March Board meeting were approved as written. (emailed to members)
President’s Report:
Ozzie welcomed the members and new applicants, Mark and Candy Fishero and thanked the Board for their service to the Club. The current Board has agreed to stay on for the 2013-2014 Season. The Election of Officers and Board Members will take place later in the meeting.
Ozzie then presented a summary of this years’ progress toward achieving the goals set in the Strategic Plan. The presentation is attached and summarized here:
1. Expand Training:
All new members are required to participate in an orientation of the Club and facilities.
We held a shooting clinic in September.
One of our members, Tim McNaughton presented a clinic “Force Fetch (incentivized behavior)” in April. Tim works with K-2 Solutions as a trainer. There were 13 participants. ($500 profit)
Nick Mellon, who works with Rick Smith in the Del Mar Group will present a seminar on May 18th
2. Youth Program: Not yet off the ground, but still a goal.
3. Support of SALT: John & Lan Chien Tallant coordinated our participation in SALT Day held on our grounds.
4. Continue to Improve Club Training Grounds: Details to follow in minutes
5. Club Infrastructure:
Pole barn 99% complete with lots of work by members, Jim McSwain and Jim Watson
New Pigeon Coup 99% complete and old coup burned with the help of the new tractor pushing it to the burn pile from its previous location. Pigeons adapted quickly to their new home. Smart birds!! 13 are available for use by members. Some others are in their love nest (locked section) raising new ones.
6. Raise Club Profile in Community:
Karolynne wrote an excellent article that was in The Pilot and other Dog-related publications about the Club’s Wounded Warrior Hunt. The Vets who participated enjoyed themselves and the members had fun guiding them.
We participated in the Annie Oakley Boom Days in October at the Pinehurst Harness Track
7. Improve Club Communication:
We established a Gmail account for Club business.
John Allan created and continues to maintain a Club Website. Please support the website by sending interesting articles to John Allan for inclusion.
We have a Facebook page where members can post their dog news and pictures.
The website, Club calendar and Facebook page are accessible from the signature line of all Gmails sent to Club members. Just click
8. Increase Club Profits: Treasurer’s report later
9. Tweak By-Laws to improve chances of having a quorum at meetings so we can have official votes on new members, elections of officers and By-Law issues. Accomplished by having voting members category of members who come to the meetings. Change to By-Laws was approved at the annual meeting last May (2012).
EVENTS:
Shooting Clinic (Sep 22): (Ker Boyce POC for this year) The shooting clinic was well attended and participants were very pleased with the instruction the received.
Annie Oakley Boom Days (Oct.6): We will take a break from our participation next year.
SALT Day (Oct. 27): (Lan Chien & John Allan Tallant POC for this year)
Fun Hunt (Nov. 4): (Mike Ballenger POC for this year)
Hunt Test (Nov. 10-11): (Beth Sweeney & Peggy Schmidt POCs this year) Note: We will be able to use the George Worst Field for the Junior Braces this year. We could accommodate 20 Junior Braces. That frees the other fields for the Senior and Master Braces.
Field Trial (Dec.14-16): (Chris & Allysa Carnahan POC for this year) We held a successful Field Trial at Cooper Black in Cheraw, SC. There was a problem for some members who like to participate in the Ukanuba Event which is always scheduled for the second week in December. This year the only week available for Cooper Black is the second week in December. We decided that there are enough people not involved in Ukanuyba to make having the Field Trial again worthwhile. The Carnahans need more help for the event and we are asking that the advanced planning be more structured to avoid having too many unexpected costs. This may also allow some division of labor to relieve some of the work for Chris and Alyssa. Ozzie called several of the professional handlers after the first Cooper Black event to ask their impression of our Field Trial. He received very positive comments. We decided that the cost for using Cooper Black was reasonable considering their excellent facilities. Pete Apffel suggested that we ask SALT if they have any suitable properties closer to our Club where we could hold a second all-walking field trial.
Wounded Warrior Hunt (Jan.12): (Valerie Sails POC for this year)
Fun Hunt (Feb.24): (Mike Ballenger POC for this year)
Hunt Test (March 9-10): (Beth Sweeney & Peggy Schmidt POCs this year)
LAND: – Ozzie will remain the Land Chair with the help of Greg Power.
We held a 15 – 18 acres burn. Thanks to volunteers!! The grasses are coming up already in the areas.
80% of the spraying has been completed with the new tractor and the boom-less sprayer. Some inaccessible spots will be spot sprayed. New tractor is a wonderful time and money saver. Sprayer covers a 30 foot swath when spraying. Note: Tractor is a 2011 Kabota tractor with only 45 hours use.
Two gum trees threatening to invade our new septic field were removed. Thanks volunteers!!
Some sink holes are appearing where trees were removed. The tractor will be invaluable in filling them.
Treasurer’s Report:
In summary: We had income of $46,350 and expenditures of $43,766. Our current checking account balance is $10,500.
Some Details:
We still owe SALT some money for land clearing, but have not been able to get a final accounting. We believe the debt to be between $1,000 – $ 1,800. Note: We are negotiating a change to our agreement with SALT to allow donations to SALT from our members to be used for equipment needed for maintenance of the land. Donations made by members are tax deductible as SALT is a 501 Organization. Please make donations through Charles Tuttle (our treasurer) so they can be properly traced. All of our donations are supposed to be used on our grounds (AKA The Wheeler Tract)
We have over 100 memberships resulting is income of about $3,000.
We spent about $5,000 on the Pole Barn and $2,600 on the new coup.
The tractor cost was $17,500 plus the cost of about $1,400 for the sprayer. No tax because it was a private sale. We received generous support from the membership to the tractor fund. The purchase was made possible with a $6,000 (low interest) loan from a member. We expect to repay the loan in two years. The tractor is well protected from theft with heavy chains and a concrete anchor.
The shotgun raffle made $1,400.
Events made $8,457. The Hunt Tests were by far the best income source.
The cost of the pigeons was $99 more than we collected. Please remember to put money in the tips box when you use them. A good rule of thumb is $.50 for every pigeon you use during your training for that day.
The brick walkway is now all profit. Consider commerating your dog with a brick on our walkway. The bricks cost $75.00 and the proceeds help pay off the tractor loan.
For Next year:
$300 each for the pole barn and new pigeon coup finish everything.
House projects on the list will probably be postponed until we pay off the tractor. These include the back porch, other windows and doors and taking out the unused door in the back bedroom.
Exception is the front window which is badly rotten. The cost is estimated at $1,200 because it is an old window built in-place and therefore requires custom replacement.
Herbicide (about $1,200)
Annuals ($3,000-$4,000) (soybeans that are Round-up tolerant so other weeds can still be killed)
Warm Season grasses where possible ($1,200), realizing that they take time to develop and are dependent on weather conditions
Keeping fire lanes open $500
Possibly bridge to north field ($1,800) so tractor can be used to develop the field
Burn about $900
Committees (not discussed previously):
Membership – Rock Rothrock has agreed to continue to manage membership again next year
House-Cindy Osborne will continue to manage the house next year. She asks that people cleanup after themselves in the kitchen. Please note that the house is wired for 50 amps. That runs one burner on the stove. Rewiring the house would be cost prohibited so we have to be careful when using electric items.
Election of Officers and Board Members and Voting on New Applicants:
Members voted for unopposed nominations for the Officers and Board Members by secret ballot. The secretary determined that there were 18 voting members present out of 24 attendees. The quorum was 13 with 63 voting members in the membership. The results were as follows:
o Ozzie Osborne President
o John Allan Tallant Vice-President
o Charles Tuttle Treasurer
o Jan Aruscavage Secretary
o George Worst Board Member
o Susan Jackson Board Member
o Dick Cavedo Board Member
The new applicants were unanimously approved. The new members are:
o Charles Reitz
o Mark & Candy Fishero
o BJ Parsons, DMV
o Ben & Susan Scruggs
o Jeanne & Richard Straub
o Denise Brower
Welcome!!
New Business:
The shotgun drawing was conducted. The winner was Chris Dobbs, who previously stipulated that if he won the gun should be donated to the Club for members to bid on. Ozzie chose a $ amount and Robert Torka won the gun for $400.
Drinks in the refrigerator are for sale at $1 each. A sign to that effect will be posted.
We can now train and take birds on Sunday during quail season Oct 1 – Mar 31st. Our letter of permission will be posted in the club house. Note: We are allowed to train (but not take birds) on other days of the week on our grounds year round.
We discussed having work days and requiring all members to work 5 hours during the year during any work day, event or other time. Any help or task will count toward this requirement. There were suggestions about how to set up work days to make it easier for members to participate without making a separate trip. One suggestion was to have a work day scheduled after meetings and to include a lunch. The board will consider how to implement the work requirement. Those who prefer not to work can contribute $50 in lieu of their work.
Mike Ballenger asked about the water and why it is not potable for people. Ozzie said that the inspector said it was because of the bacteria buildup in periods that the water is not used. There is water in the house in the back refrigerator that members can buy for $1.
Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 12:05 and we had lunch.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jan Aruscavage
Secretary
SPBC