| The Board of Directors of the New York State Ornithological
Association, Inc. met at Nuthatch Hollow in Vestal on June 2, 2007. The
meeting was called to order at 9:53 a.m.
Present were Brenda Best, Valerie Freer, Phyllis
Jones, Gail Kirch, Andy Mason, Bob Mauceli, Carena
Pooth, and Kathy Schneider.
Summary of Action Items:
- Approved November 2006 and March 2007 Meeting minutes. (Item
1)
- Approved purchase of 1,000 checklists and increased selling price
for checklists (Item 4d)
- Approved appointment of Willie D’Anna to NYSARC (Item 4c)
1. Minutes – Brenda Best
Motion to accept the minutes from the November 18, 2006 meeting was
made by Bob Mauceli and seconded by Phyllis Jones. Approved unanimously.
Carena Pooth made a motion to accept the minutes of the March 3, 2007
meeting; seconded by Kathy Schneider. Approved unanimously.
2. President’s Report – Andy Mason
Andy has written to John Gregoire regarding his letter of resignation
from NYSOA.
3. Treasurer’s Report – Bill
Reeves – No report.
4. Committee Reports
a. Nominating – Gail Kirch – Report must
be published in the July New York Birders.
b. Membership – Brenda Best – Three clubs have
not yet paid their 2007 dues (Staten Island Institute, T. Roosevelt Sanctuary,
and Rainbow Country Birders). We have 589 Annual members and 54
Life members. We discussed ways to promote membership, such as
a link to NYSOA’s website on each member club’s website,
conservation articles in The Kingbird, providing articles for
clubs’ newsletters, posts to listservs, and an email group for
member clubs. Valerie and Carena will work up a resolution to emphasize
our commitment to conservation.
c. NYSARC – Berna was to correct
the typos and numbering in the Guidelines, which would be issued to all
NYSARC members. Jeanne Skelly advises archiving is almost complete
and will be under budget. CD’s will not be supplied to all
NYSARC members; rather, Jeanne will supply data as needed. With
the resignation of Steve Kelling, Andy has appointed Willie D’Anna
to NYSARC with a term ending December 31, 2008. Brenda Best made
a motion to approve the appointment, which was seconded by Carena Pooth. Approved
unanimously.
d. Publications – Tim needs
material for New York Birders. We need to find new storage
space for the back copies of The Kingbird. Shai is working
on the December issue of The Kingbird, has content for March
and June issues, and all of these will be produced and printed on Long
Island. The new printer has advised cost could be reduced by changing
size to 8 ½ x 11 folded in half, but the amount of savings was
not stated. Andy will discuss with Kevin McGowan the possibility
of an electronic, searchable, online version of The Kingbird.
Carena presented an update regarding checklists and required changes. Kathy
Schneider made a motion to purchase 1,000 checklists at a cost of $995
plus postage. This was seconded by Bob Mauceli, and approved unanimously. We
then discussed the pricing of checklists including the increase in postal
rates. Brenda Best made a motion to increase the price of Checklist
of the Birds of New York State to $2 per copy for quantities of
1-10, and $1.50 per copy for quantities of 11 or more. Carena Pooth
seconded and this was approved unanimously.
e. Website – Carena Pooth – Checklist
changes and two articles from The Kingbird are up.
f. Atlas – Valerie Freer – Contract
with DEC and Cornell University has been approved. Expected completion
is July 31, 2007, with book available one year later. Price will probably be
in the $50-60 range.
g. Finance – Berna Lincoln – No
report.
h. Archives –Phyllis Jones – Phyllis
continues to collect papers.
i. Awards – Andy for Bill Ostrander – Certificates
of Appreciation are ready to be signed by Andy. Stoner letters
were sent out to member clubs requesting nominees.
j. Bylaws – Term limits as they
regard a partial term followed by election to a full term will be addressed
at a future board meeting.
k. Conservation – Gail Kirch – We
have sent four letters in support of grant requests for State Wildlife
Grant funds. Awards of SWGs have not yet been announced. The
wind power committee will meet next Saturday at Montezuma NWR. This
committee consists of Andy Mason, John Confer, Bill Evans, Gerry Smith,
Bill Reeves, and Len DeFrancisco. Andy has asked DEC for their
post-studies regarding Double-crested Cormorants to assess the need for
a new resolution.
5. DEC – Andy for John Ozard – A new web site for
DEC is in place, along with redeveloped Atlas pages. There are
still several key vacancies at DEC.
OLD BUSINESS
New York eBird – Bob Spahn continues to work with Cornell
Lab of Ornithology to get data the way we want it. Their staff
is busy and some technical problems exist. Our regional editors
are not reviewing flagged reports which means CLO staff perform this
duty. We need timely items to be written for the front page of
NY eBird.
Whip-poor-will Monitoring – Matt Medler advises there are
35 routes with 30 teams in 21 counties. As of today, 15 routes
have been completed. He will be looking for volunteers to check
known hot spots.
Annual Meetings – This year’s Annual Meeting will
be held October 5-7 in Batavia. Gail Seamans reports they are on
schedule. Registration form will be in the July New York Birders. Bob
Mauceli, on behalf of the Rochester Birding Association, is requesting
an advance loan of $1,000 for the 2008 annual meeting. Andy will
contact Bill Reeves regarding this. Bob is hoping the Atlas will
be available at that time, along with Kim and Kevin to sign copies. We
still have no host for 2009.
NEW BUSINESS
None.
Future board meetings will be held on August 4 and November 3 at Nuthatch
Hollow.
Motion to adjourn was made by Bob Mauceli, and was seconded by Kathy
Schneider. Approved unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 1:26
p.m. |
