ARBA Board Conference Call 4-9-2011

On April 9, 2011 the ARBA Board of Directors met for a biannual conference call. On the call were Cindy Cieciwa, Margaret Walters, Ron Andress, Chris Bazant, Scott Culver, Anne McIntyre Lahner, Carol Pasheilich, Dan Pence, Becky Petrick, Michelle Reilly, Randy Thompson and secretary/treasurer Christiane Payton. President C. Cieciwa called the meeting to order at 11:08 EST.

Treasurers Report: Secretary/Treasurer C. Payton reported that the association’s finances are in good order. There are funds in place to pay for an upgrade of the website. C. Payton asked the Board for a one-time payment of $100 to Ramblings editor JoAnn Mast for extra time spent preparing the 2011 directory and Ramblings – the money had been allocated to the secretary’s phone line and had not been used. S. Culver moved that the $100 for the secretary’s phone line be paid to JoAnn Mast for her extra work. A.McIntyre-Lahner seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Committee Reports

Advertising Committee: C. Pasheilich told the Board that the committee members were in the process of gathering information. The next step in the process is for the committee to reach out to membership for ideas regarding venues for joint advertising.

Youth Committee: R. Andress reported that the Youth Committee had drafted a letter to junior members which highlights upcoming events. He also told the Board that fundraising efforts in the form of a quilt raffle for the ARBA sponsored portion of the All American Junior Show was in full swing.

Website Committee: C. Cieciwa sent a link to all Board members with the demo site prepared by Doug Meyer, the current ARBA webmaster. She reported that the Website Committee will be working with Doug to modernize the site. Additionally the committee will seek to modernize the banner at the top of the website. D. Pence moved that the website committee proceed with updating the website. S. culver seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

By Law Committee: R. Andress reported that the By Law Committee met in March to review a proposed Code of Conduct as well as to discuss possible changes to the by laws regarding membership types and age requirements. Four motions were put forth.

1. R. Andress moved that Article III, Section 4 have the words “eighteen (18) years of age or older” added to the definition of active membership. C. Bazant seconded the motion. A discussion ensued. The Board vote was 8 in favor (M. Walters, C. Bazant, B. Petrick, R. Thompson, R. Andress, M. Reilly, C. Pasheilich, A. McIntyre Lahner) and 2 against (S. Culver, D. Pence) and the motion was carried.
2. R. Andress moved that Article III Section 4 have the words “to individuals” added to the definition of lifetime members. A. McIntyre Lahner seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
3. R. Andress moved that the following words be added to the end of Article III section 4: “Members eighteen (18) through twenty (20) years of age who lose to be active members will lose their junior status in the association. C. Bazant seconded the motion. A discussion ensued. A. McIntyre Lahner proposed an amendment to R. Andress’ motion : “Members eighteen (18) through twenty (20) years of age who choose to become active members will retain their junior status for the purpose of showing. B. Petrick seconded the amendment. After another discussion, C. Bazant moved that the Board accept the amended motion and S. Culver seconded the motion. The Board vote was 9 in favor (M. Walters, C. Bazant, B. Petrick, S. Culver, R. Thompson, R. Andress, M. Reilly, C. Pasheilich and A. Mcintyre Lahner) and 1 opposed (D. Pence) and the motion was amended. The Board then voted 9 in favor of the amended motion (M. Walters, C. Bazant, B. Petrick, S. Culver, R. Thompson, R. Andress, M. Reilly, C. Pasheilich and A. McIntyre Lahner) and 1 against (D. Pence) and the amended motion was carried.
4. R. Andress moved that Article III section 5 have the following words added to the first sentence: eighteen (18) years of age and older. C. Bazant seconded the motion. The Board vote was 8 in favor (M. Walters, C. Bazant, B. Petrick, R. Thompson, R. Andress, M. Reilly, C. Pasheilich, A. McIntyre Lahner) and 2 against (S. Culver and D.Pence) and the motion carried.

Following a discussion, the Board agreed that a short paragraph explaining the changes would be included in the junior letter.

Policy & Procedure Committee: S. Culver made the following 3 motions:

1. S. Culver moved that a District Director may use District Junior Funds or Discretionary Funds from that district’s budget or Junior Funds raised and designated for use in that district, pursuant to the submission of an itemized bill being presented to the ARBA Treasurer. D. Pence seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
2. S. Culver moved that any Junior funds that are not specifically designated for any district junior activity may be used by any Board member for Junior activities, subject to approval by the ARBA Board. D. Pence seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
3. S. Culver moved that Directors At Large who raise Junior funds for a specific Junior activity may use said funds for that specific activity, pursuant to the submission of an itemized bill being presented to the ARBA Treasurer. D. Pence seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

National Show & Sale: A. McIntyre Lahner reported to the Board that the plans for the ARBA National Show & Sale at the Big E in September of 2011 were moving forward. The Old Board Meeting was scheduled for 9/23 with the Annual Dinner taking place that evening. The National Show and Sale are on Saturday the 24th and the New Board Meeting is on the morning of 9/25. Sheep come in on 9/21 and 9/22 and leave on 9/28. Sheep sold at the National Sale could leave at the end of the sale. R. Andress reported that G. Deakin of Banner Sales Management (managing the 2011 ARBA National Sale) proposed requiring (1) all National Sale rams older than 6 months have evidence of a negative brucellosis test within 30 days of the sale date and (2) all National Sale animals have paperwork showing codon 171 results. R. Andress moved that the ARBA Board and Banner Sales Management not require the codon 171 test for animals in the 2011 ARBA National Sale. A. McIntyre Lahner seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Code of Conduct: At their March meeting, the By Law Committee came to the conclusion that a Code of Conduct was not enforceable and therefore had not reviewed it further. It was proposed that the topic be reviewed by the Policy & Procedures Committee.

New Business

Nominating Committee: A. McIntyre Lahner reported that the Nominating Committee was creating a draft of recommendations to be reviewed by the Policy & Procedure Committee.

C. Cieciwa presented the preliminary 2011-2012 budget to the Board. There were no big changes to announce and the 2010-2011 was going according to plan. C. Pasheilich moved that C. Cieciwa be reimbursed for any legal fees that she incurred while trying to secure ARBA property in 2009 as evidenced by receipts provided. A. McIntyre Lahner seconded the motion. C. Bazant asked that the motion be amended to state that the amount should not exceed $1,000 as evidenced by the receipts provided. C. Pasheilich moved that the motion be amended to read that Cindy Cieciwa be reimbursed for legal fees that she incurred while trying to secure ARBA property in the fall of 2009, the amount of which will not exceed $1,000 as evidenced by receipts provided. A. McIntyre Lahner seconded the motion to amend. It passed unanimously. C. Pasheilich then moved that the amended motion be accepted by the Board. A. McIntyre Lahner seconded the amended motion and it passed unanimously.

C. Cieciwa moved that the Board accept the 2011-2012 budget. S. Culver seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

C. Bazant and C. Payton presented the costs of transcription of recorded Board Meeting minutes versus purchasing the equipment to create a recording. The Board asked C. Payton to approach Premier Teleconferencing regarding the possibility of downloading a hard copy of recorded Board Minutes prior to making a decision about purchasing recording equipment.

R. Andress and C. Bazant volunteered to audit ARBA’s books in advance of the Annual Meeting in September of 2011.

C. Pasheilich moved to adjourn the Baord meeting; S. Culver seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned at 1:40 EST.

Submitted by C. Payton on 4/14/2011