TVMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

FEBRUARY 8, 2005

TDA PESTICIDES CONFERENCE ROOM, AUSTIN, TX

There being a quorum present, President David Wall called the February 8, 2005 TVMA Board Meeting to order at 9:00 am on February 8, 2005. The following members were present: George Pylant, Howard Pierson, Ron Held, Myron Rabalais, Stan Jones, Ray Erwin, Rick Bennett, David Wall, Paul Northcutt, Rich Hendler and Steve White.

Paul Northcutt read the minutes of the December 7, 2004 TVMA Board of Directors meeting. A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the minutes as read.

Officer Reports were received as follows:

President: David Wall thanked everyone for attending the meeting and for all the efforts on the legislative dinner tonight. David is looking forward to the Advisory Committee meeting this afternoon. David feels it will be productive for discussions with the TDA.

Vice-President: Ray Erwin discussed our trip to South Padre. We visited several hotels. Ray indicated that the Radisson Hotel met out needs best and discussed the particulars in the proposed contract provided by the Radisson. 1/3 of the room block will be at the state government per diem rate of $80, and the remain 2/3 of the room block will be at $90 rate, so our guest room expenses will be the same or a little lower than last year. Ray will sign the contract and return to the Radisson by the end of February, 2005. Ray is currently working on speakers and will send out reminders to exhibitors for our 2005 conference. By next meeting we should have a list of speakers and a draft budget for review.

Treasurer: Myron Rabalais distributed the Treasurer’s report. Myron indicated that the CEU meetings in Houston made approximately $2,500. Our report does not indicate any expenses for this meeting because Harris County Extension Service collected all funds and paid all bills including meals, then sent TVMA a check for the balance of the funds. We have approximately $25,800 in the checking account, and approximately $6,300 in the scholarship account, but $4,000 expenses for our 2005 scholarships have not been debited from the scholarship account. Myron made a recommendation that we consider combining both of these separate accounts into a single account, hopefully interest-bearing, and continue to track for funds separately so an accounting balance for the scholarship fund could be easily determined and tracked. The Board questioned if keeping the accounts separate had something to do with our tax-exempt status, but it was the consensus that there was no legal reason for this to be required. Current accounting software can fully track funds in separate sub-accounts. A quick review of the TVMA By-Laws did not reveal any prohibitions against combining these funds. The Board discussed the feasibility of purchasing appropriate CD’s with some of the surplus funds in the account. Myron and Ron Held were directed to explore what the requirements are and get back with Paul who could send an email to the Board about tax filing requirements and CD possibilities. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD TO ACCEPT THE TREASURER’S REPORT.

Secretary-Editor: Paul Northcutt reported the next issue of the CLIP will be released in March, and asked for any article suggestions for the CLIP.

Past-President: Steve White provided the past-president report. Bruce Moore will be mailing the past historical data, but they have not arrived. When they do, Steve will call Paul and we will discuss what to place on the web. These items will be stored at the Secretary-Editor. Ray Erwin wants to review this information to create a “Past President / past topics” session for the Conference; perhaps to be shown prior to the luncheon on a video with music, etc. Steve will attend the Urban Forestry workshop on February 17, to see if there are any opportunities for TVMA with this organization. Ray Erwin indicated that the ISAT is interested in discussing the possibilities of a joint conference in 2006. The Board discussed the ramifications of holding joint conferences and indicated that while this might be an appropriate opportunity for TVMA, the accounting functions to keep all funds and responsibilities separate was challenging. We should have a lead organization (preferably TVMA) collecting money and handing all disbursements. Networking opportunities with other organizations would probably override the accounting drawbacks. It was discussed to possibly explore a joint session during our 2005 conference with the ISA to initiate the networking possibilities. Steve White was directed to work with the ISA and explore possibilities of a joint conference in 2006.

Committee Reports were given as follows:

Nominating: David Wall indicated that no nominations have been received for open positions for this year, but solicited nominations for those. We have a vice-president to nominate from the Board, and three Board positions, one supplier position, and two, at-large positions.

Internal Audit: Ron Held advised that he and A.J. Thibodeaux met on February 1, 2005, and conducted a complete audit of the books. There were only 6 items which were “undefined”, but were all resolved by discussions with the Treasurer. There is an item of $300 which is apparently a scholarship transfer still not documented, but he expects this to be resolved shortly. Ron will provide the detailed report to the Secretary-Editor for safe keeping and filing with the TVMA permanent records. Per the internal audit, the financial transactions of the Association are in order. Ron and Myron discussed the need to do this audit on an annual basis even if the By-Laws permit a bi-annual basis.

Membership: no report was received. Dues notices will be sent by Paul to those who attended 2003, but not 2004. The official membership list is maintained by the Secretary-Editor.

2005 Program – Ray Erwin discussed ways to encourage vendors for the 2005 conference. Exhibitor recognition was discussed as a needed item again this year. Sponsorship levels will remain the same for 2005.

Scholarship: no report was received.

Training: Rick Bennett has been trying to coordinate with TAEX on a location for the May 10, 2005 Board Meeting. Mark Matocha (sic?) with TAEX would be glad to meet with us as they are re-writing the ROW exam and would welcome our input. A proposal from Telge Northcutt Training, LLC, to provide for TVMA training was distributed and discussed by the Board. David Wall reiterated previous discussions by the Board which adopted for TVMA a goal of providing training on a statewide basis. The issue is whether TVMA wants to continue providing this training on a member-volunteer basis, whether TVMA wants to secure the services of a consultant to provide this service, or a combination of both methods. Rick was directed to request a proposal, and this one from Telge Northcutt Training represents such a proposal. Rick asked for input from the Board with direction on how should we approach this effort. The Board felt there was a significant lack of Right of Way training in the State. Many Board Members indicated that they don’t have the time to provide this training; we need an outside organization traveling around on behalf of TVMA and providing this training. The Board indicated that if we did use a consultant, this would not replace the training TVMA provides in west Texas and in Houston currently. The Board discussed that the purpose of this training was “not to make money”, but to recover expenses. A discussion on the expense for a city/county to send an employee to the TVMA conference for training, would be much more expensive than sending them to a school we establish in their area. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED, AND APPROVED THAT RICK BENNETT BE AUTHORIZED TO WORK WITH TELGE NORTHCUTT TRAINING, LLC TO DEVELOP A SPECIFIC PROPOSAL FOR A SPECIFIC SITE AND DATE OF TRAINING TO BE CONDUCTED ON BEHALF OF TVMA. Rick Bennett was directed to have a proposal presented to the Board no later than the May, 2005 Board meeting.

Legislative:: Rich Hendler indicated that we should be in great shape for our Legislative Dinner tonight at 7 pm. At current count, we have approximately 9 TVMA members coming and approximately 15-18 legislators slated to attend for a total attendance of approximately 24-27.

Advisory: David wall announced that there would be an Advisory Committee meeting in this same room, this afternoon at 1:30 pm. The purpose is to work with agencies who regulate our industry and have discussions on issues of concern; e.g. definition of a right of way; category-related training requirement from TDA; unlicensed applicators working under the direct supervision of a licensed applicators – getting these individuals more training. TDA will be in attendance.

Research: Howard will be refining the recommendations of this Committee to bring a proposal to the Board in the near future. David Wall will provide a name of a contact at Texas A&M University who might be a good candidate to attend our College Station Board meeting.

Awards: David Wall provided this report and requested that any nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award should be sent to David in letter format.

Unfinished Business

Status of Non-Profit Designation: Myron indicated that we have officially received non-profit designation and are now tax-exempt.

Officer / Board Member Attendance requirements: Steve White recommends that the TVMA by-laws be revised so that during a conference year, officers and board members are required to attend at least 3 of the regularly scheduled board meetings, beginning with the initial Board meeting at the end of the annual conference. Officers or directors who do not meet the attendance requirements may, at the discretion of the Board, be removed and replaced with someone who has expressed an interest in working for the Board. Steve White will refine this recommendation and provide it to the Board. Once the Board approves this change, then the process will start for changing the By-Laws at the next annual conference and approved by the membership. The Board re-emphasized that when each of us accepted the responsibility of being an Officer of Director, we accepted the fact that we were obligated to participate and attend meetings. President Wall encouraged each member to encourage those board members or officers who might not be participating to encourage them to either participate or resign so that someone who wants to work can be appointed.

New Business:

Member Communications: Dr. Mary Ketchersid suggested that TVMA create a system through which individuals could contact TVMA for specific recommendations on specific weed problems. After discussion, the Board elected not to provide this service, other than provide names and phone numbers to manufacturers / applicators or companies, and suggest that the individual contact them to gather information on their products or programs. Paul was directed to reply to Dr. Ketchersid.

Next Board Meeting will be at 9:00 am on May 10, 2005 in College Station. Rick Bennett will work with TAEX to secure a specific location.

Myron Rabalais was authorized by the Board to consolidate TVMA checking and scholarship funds into a single account and to continue to track funds into sub-categories as appropriate.

David Wall advised that there are several other vegetation management associations, and there is an opportunity for TVMA to learn from other associations by sending a representative to their conferences. The representative could attend their conference, see how they do things, and bring back information on possible items of interest to TVMA. TVMA would provide for the expenses of attending these conferences. David recommended that the Immediate Past President would be a good candidate be assigned the responsibility to attend one conference during his year as Immediate Past President. We should probably concentrate on VMA’s which are not in adjoining states, as many of our members are members of these associations as well, and already attend. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED, AND APPROVED, THAT THE IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT TO VISIT A STATE ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND BRING BACK INFORMATION TO THE BOARD. Steve White will bring a recommendation to the Board on which state VMA conference to attend this year.

There being no further business, President David Wall adjourned the February 8, 2005 TVMA Board Meeting at 11:45 am.

Respectfully submitted:

Paul Northcutt, TVMA Secretary-Editor