TVMA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

April 27, 2006
150 East Riverside Drive, Austin, TX

There being a quorum present, Vice President Jim Cruser called the April 27, 2006, TVMA Board Meeting to order at 9:00 am. The following members were present: Jim Cruser, Myron Rabalais, David Wall, Paul Northcutt, Rob Brooks, Robert Lane, Richard Karber, Steve Prather, Scott Dunham, Rick Bennett, Don Telge and Matt Churches.

Paul Northcutt read the minutes of the January 11, 2006 Board Meeting. A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the minutes as read.

Officer Reports were received as follows:

President: No presidents report was received.

Vice-President: Jim Cruser passed out the 2006 conference update. An estimate for meals and costs plus anticipated AV extras has been prepared for the conference. Most speakers have already committed to making presentations. The Keynote speaker issue was discussed and it was reported that many comments indicated that it might be appropriate to drop a “keynote” speaker in order to insure that the luncheon/business meeting did not run too long and most invited speakers have had other commitments. Jim is leaning toward not having a keynote speaker to insure that everyone had time to vote and attend the business meeting. Jim and Stan will visit Kerrville on or about the 2^nd week of May and visit with the Hotel and try to finalize the golf tournament. Craig Johnson is handling details on the skeet shooting event. We have two bids for a gaming company to host the “Texas Hold-Em” social on Tuesday night. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD THAT THE INITIAL PLANNING BUDGET FOR THE 2006 ANNUAL CONFERENCE IS TO BE $26,000. Sponsorship opportunities were discussed by the Board. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD TO ADD FULL SPONSORSHIP AT $3,000 AND CO-SPONSORSHIP LEVELS OF $250 AND $500 TO BOTH THE EXHIBITOR AND THE ATTENDEE REGISTRATION FORMS. Paul Northcutt was directed to add sponsorship activities to exhibitor and attendee registration forms and include this information in upcoming issue of the CLIP and the TVMA web page. Sponsors will be provided suitable recognition within the conference, program, CLIP and/or web page. Full sponsors should be highlighted and co-sponsors recognized.

Treasurer: Myron Rabalais handed out and discussed the current Treasurer’s report. The current total net worth of TVMA is $26,780.67. A discussion was held on an appropriate level of funds which should be maintained within the TVMA bank account to cover programs and expenses, but maintain an appropriate level befitting our non-profit status. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED, AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD TO ACCEPT THE TREASURER’S REPORT AS READ.

Secretary-Editor: Paul reported that the revised sponsorships and minutes should be posted to the web within the next few days. The next issue of the CLIP will be during June 2006. Paul asked for suggestions for articles for the next CLIP issue, but received none. Paul advised the Board to advise him if anyone saw improvements needed to the web page.

Past-President: David Wall advised he is still evaluating potential conferences to attend during this year. David advised that if any by-law changes were needed, to review the by-laws and bring up any needed by-law revision to the Board so that we can have a minimum of 30-day notice to the Membership. David also recommended that the Association evaluate a general liability insurance policy to cover an unexpected event or claim against the Association. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED TO HAVE RICHARD KARBER INQUIRE INTO THE FEASIBILITY AND COSTS OF A GENERAL LIABILITY POLICY AND REPORT BACK AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING.

Committee Reports were given as follows:

Research: No report was received.

Membership: Scott Dunham recommends that the invasive species group appears to be a good group for new membership. F&WS and maybe TFS, Trinity University were discussed. Scott will discuss with Michelle to continue to discuss potential member groups and CEU needs. Scott will get with Ray Erwin to see about placing an ad in the landowners newsletter. Paul will contact Wildseed, Native American Seed, for sponsorship opportunities. Scott desires to follow up with past members and remind them of membership opportunities. Scott wants to send a “call-for-papers” (posters) to universities to encourage student membership. A session has been reserved during the conference for students to present updates on their research. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD TO ADD A STUDENT CONFERENCE REGISTRATION OF $75 EARLY BIRD AND $100 REGULAR REGISTRATION TO THE 2006 CONFERENCE. Scott will send a letter to university advisors advising of poster sessions and registration opportunities. It was discussed that a “TVMA” presentation could be presented to universities and groups. A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD THAT PAUL NORTHCUTT WOULD COORDINATE PREPARING AN APPROPRIATE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ON TVMA THAT COULD BE PRESENTED TO UNIVERSITIES, CIVIC AND INTERESTED GROUPS. Board members will provide Paul suggestions and photographs that could be used in the presentation. Rob Brooks recommended that in future years we issue a “call for papers” through which students could present current and ongoing research in a VM field.

Scholarship: Rob Brooks indicated that all scholarship updates were made in March 2006 and issued to the Universities by April 2006. He has already had contacts from students/professors from Texas Tech and considerable interest from Sul Ross which is gratifying at this early date. Rob is encouraged by the early response. Rob will send Scott a copy of the scholarship letter for his use.

Training: Rick Bennett provided the Training Committee report. The joint CEU meeting at Baytown and Hockley was discussed and attendance was good. Rick suggested that TVMA evaluate asking the membership which additional CEU use categories might be needed for CEU training. It was discussed that perhaps a note to this effect could be placed into the CLIP. Rick recommends that for the present, we “stay the course” and concentrate on the right-of-way category examination and structure our training around that use category. Promoting training among the County employees was discussed. Rick will evaluate ways to notify cities/counties about training / CEU opportunities. Rick expects to host the CEU school in Lubbock during October of this year as well.

Legislative: No report was received.

Nominating: No report was received.

Internal Audit: No report was received. Myron will follow up with Ron Held to initiate an internal audit at the first available opportunity.

Advisory: David Wall provided the advisory report. David asked if there were any pending issues that TVMA needs to address with TDA. The Board was not aware of any issues which needed addressing.

Awards: David Wall indicated that the Lifetime Achievement Award nominees are due to Ray Erwin; we need a letter with a bio of the nominee. David also reminded the board that we can vote in Honorary Members one time a year during the conference. David reminded Board members to ask for nominations and to reduce the registration fee for those Honorary Members.

Unfinished Business

No unfinished business was discussed at this meeting.

New Business:

Michelle McAfee indicates that the Wildflower Center could add our web link to their “Invasive Species” web page. The Board directed Paul to discuss this issue with Michelle and report back at the next Board meeting.

The next Board Meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, August 15, 2006 at the YO Ranch Resort and Hotel in Kerrville, TX

There being no further new business, A MOTION WAS MADE, SECONDED AND APPROVED BY THE BOARD TO ADJOURN AT 11:00 pm, 4/27/06.

Respectfully submitted:

Paul Northcutt, TVMA Secretary-Editor