Member Information

COBA Board Information

April 12, 2011 Meeting Minutes

Present: John George, Joy Voorhees, Terry Eddy, Dana Stahlman, Gail Walter, Jody Croley Jones, Mike Hatter, Barry Conrad, Sue Valentine-Cooper, Bill Valentine-Cooper, Ron Pritchard, John Gessner, Bill Tolliver, Dennis Lamb, Nina Bagley, Dan Wampler, Gail Walter, Pat Chambers, Barb Bloetscher.
Absent: Sue Daly

Presidents Report

• Brochure tabled until next meeting since Sue Daly not in attendance at meeting to present this information
• Dana has received notification of the offer of a contribution to the club by S & Bee Honey Containers, LLC (for bee dollar auction). Information forwarded to Terry for response.
• Report submitted from Sharron Ferrell from the Wooster Bee Lab on the Basic Beekeeping classes presented by our COBA members; feedback was very positive
• Thanks to Bill Valentine-Cooper for collecting e-mail lists for both the Master Beekeeper certification class and the “Masters in the Bee yard class.” These are two different lists.
• Committee chairperson are requested to submit budget requests for their committees for Board consideration, if they have not already done so
• To obtain bee dollars for committee work, chairmen of the committee need to provide documentation of hours to Bill Valentine-Cooper. Bill will log in these hours and then bee dollars will be issued by Dana.
• President recommends setting up a committee to generate a Policy Manual for COBA. Written proposal presented.
  
  Ad Hoc Committees and chair-people proposed for the club as follows:
  • Rod Pritchard : EAS Master Beekeeper Study Group (co-chair with Dana)
  • Mark Knight has volunteered to be the chairperson for the Bee Library.
  • Joy Voorhees: Masters in the Beeyard Nuc Project
  • Dana Stahlman Presidential Advisory committee
  • Dana Stahlman Queen Rearing Class
  • John George: Bee Garden
  • Bill Valentine Cooper: Volunteer mentoring committee
  • Nina Bagley: Franklin Park Bee Yard
  • Mike Hatter and Carmen Conrad: Honey Festival
  • Sue Valentine-Cooper: Wooster Bus Trip
  • Bill Tolliver and Lou Linzell: Helping Hands
  • Jody Croley Jones: Web Site
  The Board discussed and approved these ad hoc committees. Chairmen of these committees asked to submit budgets, if this has not already been done..

Committee Reports

• Bee School: Barry Conrad.
  • Third school added
  • 150 people total
  • Stayed within budget at $2300
  • $6428 revenue , spent $2305—so this was profitable
  • Dana added a 4th Saturday bee school with 14 people
  • Bee school is now completed
  The Board recommends a letter of commendation, drafted by the secretary, to go to Barry for the job which was done with the Bee School.
  The Board recommends a letter to go to Glenn Mills thanking him for the use of the facility to teach the class.
  
  
• Helping Hands: Bill Tolliver .
  Bill Tolliver presented minutes of the Helping Hand committee which are entered into the record.
  
  
• Bee Yard: John George.
  • A couple of preliminary meetings have been held to build equipment, both in the Bee Lab and the Bee Yard..
  • Packages have been installed in the bee yard by Barry Conrad on 4-9 and 4-10.
    
    Fun in the bee yard classes will start on 4-13, and will meet every Wednesday except on dates that we have an all member’s meeting.
  • Two picnic tables have been brought in. Painting needs to be done for picnic tables, shed, and hives. A possible Saturday clean up day may be scheduled. Thanks to Lou Linzell for help with the picnic tables.
  • Bee yard has spent about $1970 of its $4000 budget.
  Discussion regarding selling of hives from Bee Yard

  Discussion re: the plan to sell extra hives (above 12 hives) from the bee yard vs. retaining the hives, honey, and bees for the Queen Project. No decision after discussion.
  
  
• Bus Trip to Wooster Report: Sue Valentine-Cooper.
  Sue Valentine-Cooper clarified financial records/expenses. Expenses $2229, and income $2270, with expenses for food not yet submitted. The bus trip stayed within budget and was a success.
  
  
• Web Site Committee Report: Jody Croley Jones.
  1. Jody requests a change to a different ISP and programming language.
  2. Jody asked for permission to re-design the Web Site, for a new look and a better organization, starting fresh. (content will be retained)
  3. Jody discussed ethics/legality of putting other people’s content on Web Site (copyright issues, when one person’s work is submitted by another person).—someone submitting another person’s work must get written permission (form to be generated). Jody is not able to put other people’s work on the Web Site without written consent.
  4. Issue of how forms are presented on the Web Site was discussed
  5. The Board approved a redesign of the Web Site. Jody will present a couple of “look and feels” for the Board to look at before redesign.
  6. The Board will consider a new ISP provider at a future meeting. No decision taken on this issue.
  7. The newsletter is getting approximately 500 “hits” monthly.
  
  
• Scholarship: Mike Hatterer.
  $50 for the school, $300 for the equipment has been spent. Scholarship winners have been in the bee yard with their hives
  
  
• Bee Dollars.
  Have been ordered and received, and will be distributed for the meeting on the 20th.
  
  
• Policy Manual
  Board approved a motion to have Dana put together a policy manual, based on contributions sought from each committee chair , with yearly written updates provided by each committee chair. Advantages of and need for policy manual recognized, but need to update periodically. Suggest that the Board review all policies yearly.
  
  
• Bee Yard Garden
  Table the issue for further discussion (John had left the meeting by this time). Information provided about a possible affiliation with Franklin County Master Gardeners, which can be pursued if John approves. Suggestion made regarding soliciting donations of plants at the pancake breakfast. John will provide a list.
  
  

New Business

Issue of 501 C3

This is a proposal for consideration. After discussion, no action was taken. Rather, financial consultant Allen Proctor will provide information to the Board at a future Board meeting, so that the Board may obtain more information prior to any decisions or actions.

Advertisement/Sponsorship

After discussion, the Board approved that our donors/sponsors and members in good standing will be permitted to advertise on the Web Site. Donors to the bee dollar auction will receive recognition. COBA membership needs to be verified prior to advertisement being submitted. Any information about donations to COBA should be given to Terry, who can then verify status of donation .. Secretary will verify membership status.

Membership/Newsletter mailings

Barry has a list of members who do not have any computer access and who will be mailed the newsletter, as designated previously by the Board. Barry volunteered to do this. The need to maintain current email addresses for members was discussed but no plan of action was proposed at this time.

Format and Name of Newsletters

Board voted to reestablish name of newsletter as “Smoker’s Signals.” Board and all other interested members are requested to write articles , with due date 10 days prior to end of the month.

Youth group

No proposal on table yet. Still in process. Mike Hatter has volunteered to work with the Youth Group.

Rod Pritchard

Reported on activities of West Virginia Beekeepers Association. Mike Palmer could be a great guest speaker and Ron suggested that the Board consider an invitation. Fee approximately $800. No action.

Meeting adjourned

Record of Board actions since the last Board meeting are entered into the minutes as follows:

1. Immediately after the February 16, 2011 all-members meeting, the COBA Board convened to consider a proposal for insurance for COBA. The proposal was for a $1,000,000 policy from Cincinnati Insurance for one year at a cost of $542.00. The proposal was approved by Board vote. The Board adjourned after this vote.
2. On March 3, the Board was asked by President Dana Stahlman to vote via email on the following motion (Barry Conrad, seconded by Pat Chambers): “COBA will send to members (without email access)as wanting meeting notices and newsletters by mail this calendar year 2011 and notify the secretary or treasurer for mail to be sent.” The vote was taken via email and approved, with two negative votes.

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