| The Board of Directors of the
New York State Ornithological Association, Inc. met at Nuthatch Hollow
Nature Preserve in Vestal on November 13, 2004. The meeting was called
to order at 9:35 a.m.
Present were Tim Baird, Brenda Best, Berna Lincoln, Andy
Mason, Kevin McGowan, and Bill Reeves. These six members of
the Board represented a quorum as required by the By-laws.
Summary of Action Items:
1. Approved minutes of previous board meeting. (Item 1)
2. Declined purchase of Volunteer Accident Insurance. (Item 3)
3. Approved 2005 Operating Budget. (Item 5f)
4. Approved accepting advertisements for New York Birders (Item
5i)
1. Minutes of Previous Board Meeting – Brenda
Best – Andy Mason made a motion to approve the draft minutes from
the July 31, 2004 Board Meeting. Bill Reeves seconded. Approved unanimously.
2. President’s Report – Kevin McGowan
– Kevin reports the last Important Bird Area meeting has been held
and decisions made. Bill Reeves has not yet purchased a new seal, and
will submit to the Archivist the official letter from the Internal Revenue
Service that acknowledges our name change.
3. Treasurer’s Report – Bill Reeves –
Treasurer’s Report dated September 30, 2004 was distributed. (See
Attachment A.) The promissory note for the loan to Hudson-Mohawk Bird
Club was never signed and returned. Bill will follow up on this. Bill
has received a notice of our insurance policy renewal. We discussed a
new coverage being offered, Volunteer Accident Insurance, which would
cover board members and other volunteers for a cost of $189 at maximum
coverage. Berna Lincoln made a motion that we not purchase this coverage.
Brenda Best seconded. Approved unanimously.
4. DEC Report – Kevin McGowan – Bryan
Swift is now the head of the Game Bird Unit, and John Ozard is the new
head of the Nongame and Habitat Unit. John will be attending our meetings
as the new DEC liaison.
5. Committee Reports
a. Archives – Phyllis Jones – No report.
b. Atlas – Berna for Valerie Freer – John Ozard will
be replacing Bryan Swift on the Steering Committee. The search for the
second editor has begun and interviews will be held next week. Artists’
contracts have been signed. Records Review Committee has met twice and
should finish in March. No decision yet on sixth year.
c. Awards – Andy Mason – Stan Lincoln
provided an update to the history that was published in Vol. 48, Supplement
1. Two Certificates of Appreciation are pending.
d. Conservation – Andy Mason – No news
on feral cats. The Bird Conservation Area Committee is ready to designate
4 sites in 2005 with 15 or so being worked on.
e. Field Trips – A note will be placed in
New York Birders asking for a new chair for this committee.
f. Finance Committee – Berna Lincoln –
The proposed Operating Budget for 2005 was presented and discussed.
After deleting $75 for dues to other organizations and restoring $1,000
in income from Individual Member Dues, the 2005 budget shows a deficit
of $2,420. A dues increase will be considered in July 2005 for enactment
in 2006. Andy Mason made a motion to approve the budget as amended and
Tim Baird seconded. Motion was approved unanimously. Approved budget
is attached (Attachment B).
g. Nominating Committee – Tim Baird –
No action.
h. NYSARC – Kevin McGowan – Annual
fall meeting was held at Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Online report form
is active. 2002 reports are complete and will most likely be published
in the December Kingbird.
i. Publications – Tim Baird –The County
Records report form and the Speakers Bureau will be in the January issue
of New York Birders. Tim asked if we are allowed to accept some
advertising without paying excise tax on that income. Bill Reeves will
check and advise. After some discussion, Andy Mason made a motion to
let the New York Birders editor accept advertisements, which
are appropriate in the editor’s judgment, for publication. Seconded
by Bill Reeves. Motion was approved unanimously. Tim will advise sizes
and fees at the February board meeting. The order of publishing The
Kingbird and New York Birders was discussed. Because The
Kingbird is historical and New York Birders contains time-sensitive
material, delayed publication of The Kingbird will not delay
publishing New York Birders in the future.
j. Membership – Brenda Best – We received
an inquiry from BIOSIS, an abstract service in the United Kingdom, regarding
re-instating sending free issues of The Kingbird to them. The
Board has agreed to this and all missing back issues will be sent. Andy
Mason will investigate submission of articles to them electronically.
The October issue of New York Birders was the last to have 10
copies sent to each member club. A press release about joining NYSOA
was sent to editors of member club newsletters.
k. Web site – Brenda for Carena Pooth –
Carena provided a list of updates made to the web site and the major
changes are the CBC calendar and the online NYSARC report form. Carena
reported an unbudgeted expense of $29.95 for software to accomplish
the NYSARC online report form.
6. Old Business
Change in Governance – Kevin advised that
Bob Mauceli reports there has been no meeting of the Ad Hoc committee
yet, but they hope to finish early next year.
New York eBird – Kevin advised he could not
arrange a presentation at this meeting and will try for February. We
need to know what eBird is, what it costs to implement, and what maintenance
will be required.
7. New Business
2005 Meeting Dates – Following is the schedule
for board meetings for 2005.
February 19, 2005 – at Cornell Lab of Ornithology
– for ease of the eBird presentation (Kevin to confirm)
April 16, 2005 – at Nuthatch Hollow, Vestal
July 16, 2005 – at Nuthatch Hollow, Vestal
November 12, 2005 – at Nuthatch Hollow,
Vestal
Bill Reeves made a motion to adjourn, which was seconded
by Andy Mason. Approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 2:07 p.m. |
