November 2000 Meeting Minutes

PACD Executive Council
Annual Meeting
Wednesday November 1, 2000

Welcome (Long)
President Frank Long (Blair) welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Roll Call (Rohall)
First Vice President Ron Rohall (Westmoreland) conducted the roll call. There were 32 counties present which constituted a quorum.

Minutes of March 15, 2000 Meeting (Rohall)
Ron Rohall asked if there were any corrections to the minutes of the last meeting.

Motion to approve the minutes of March 15, 2000 by Gingrich (Juniata) and seconded by Mankamyer (Somerset). Motion approved.

President's Report (Long)
President Frank Long (Blair) thanked districts for allowing him to be president. He reported that the Region meeting attendance has been good. Executive Director has been able to attend meetings so that one voice, on a state level, is delivered. The President thanked everyone for supporting the Building Fund. Communication is critical between state association and activities of the conservation districts. District Chairs and Managers are encouraged to share their ideas and activities.

Executive Director's Report (Fox)
(See written Executive Director's Report)
Susan Fox, PACD Executive Director gave special thanks to the host districts for a great annual conference. She also thanked the PACD staff for their help. Special thanks were given to Bruce Holbrook for helping to keep everything together.

She also stated that we were milestones to be recognized today: Chuck Rohrer's birthday (PACD Information Specialist); and four years ago today the Executive Director started working for the PACD.

The Executive Director highlighted the written report and indicated that it contained a listing of where she represented districts.

She also stated that PACD is restructuring its meeting schedule. The year 2001 will be a transition year. The annual business meeting which involves activities such as adopting the annual budget, Bylaw changes, and Policy updates will be held in July 2001. The PACD Annual Awards Program will also be scheduled in July 2001. Beginning in July 2002, the traditional Joint Annual Conference Meeting activities will occur in July.

PACD welcomes and encourages district directors to let us know what type of workshops or other activities are needed at PACD annual and other meetings. The PACD awards program expenses are high. Executive Director invites ideas for corporate sponsors.

After she completed highlights of her written report, the Executive Director reviewed the PACD funding proposals. She reminded everyone that Secretary Seif announced yesterday that districts will receive an additional $150,000 for the 105 Program.

The Executive Director gave a detailed report on the PACD Funding Requests. Funding request numbers were updated. A new report was distributed during this meeting. Please throw away all previous documents.

DEP Funding needed for Core Conservation Programs:

Additional Delegated Programs:

Strategy suggestions to modify request for Chapter 105 funding from the floor:

• Modify request for Chapter 105 as presented making it similar to
• NPDES permitting rather than seeking a flat $10,000 per district
  
• Provide funding at two levels based on the specific workload of the district
  
• PACD should propose an "average payment" of $10,000
  
• Consider doubling the "average" payment to $20,000

Question from the floor: What is the strategy for funding requests? Response: Legislators want to know how this budget request impacts the local conservation district. Districts should pass out this information and present the "big concept." Executive Director can provide budget details, should legislators have questions.

The Executive Director will meet with Budget Secretary Bittenbender in December and will present the requests. Capitol Day will happen in March 2001.

PDA Funding needed for Core Conservation Programs

Additional Request:

Motion to approve the PACD Budget Requests with the change that PACD proposes an average payment of $20,000 for Chapter 105 by Sueck (York) and seconded by Clark (Montgomery). Motion approved.

NACD Report (Sueck)
Patricia Sueck, NACD Director stated that districts did get a slight budget increase, but it wasn't what we lobbied for. Sueck attended NACD region meeting in Portland, Maine and the NACD Leadership Conference in Tucson, Ariz. Sueck attended the PACD Strategic Planning in State College. A facilitator from NACD did a great job! NACD is currently doing a thorough examination of its operations in order to improve efficiency. Sueck is collecting dollars in the name of Bill Lang. New Jersey will match our dollars. Please contribute.

PACD Audit (Specht)
The PACD Executive Director introduced the PACD auditor, Tammy Specht and explained why they invited the auditor. The PACD has an annual audit. Because this year's annual audit was completed in time for the annual business meeting, the Executive Director has invited the auditor to attend the meeting. In previous years the audit has been presented to the PACD Executive Board. (Note: Because the fiscal year ends on June 30, 2001, it is unlikely that next year's audit will be competed within two weeks for presentation at the July, 2001 annual meeting).

The auditor stated that she been working with PACD for years, under the direction of John Benner. Mr. Benner has retired and Tammy has taken over the business. Tammy is happy to have the opportunity to meet with the Executive Council. She feels it is important that members have the opportunities to ask questions related to the report.

Tammy feels one of the main reasons we were able to complete the report is that PACD has a full-time bookkeeper. Susan and Kathleen have been working with him. Everyone is working well together.

Tammy presented her letter stating that there were no major problems. There were just a couple coding problems that were corrected. She recommends that staff keep up the good work.

She went through the Independent Auditor's Report and stated that the internal mechanism used is good, it allows for administration to catch errors right away. In the Statement of Financial Position the Deferred Revenue is due to be paid out, it can't be used for PACD operations. She also explained the Statement of Activity.

Questions from the floor related to Endowments:
1)Do Endowments need a separate Federal ID number? Response: Auditor said she would check this out to be certain that they do not.
2) Even though the PACD Endowments have not been touched (principal and interest) should the interest portion of the endowments be categorized as non-restrictive? Response: It appears that interest probably should be labeled non-restrictive. Executive Board and Endowment Committee need to be consulted.

Executive Council applauded Auditor's report.

Treasurer's Report (Eisenhart)
Treasurer Keith Eisenhart thanked the staff for their efforts. He feels that they have been working hard to provide useful information to the Executive Board and Council. The Treasurer encourages Council members to keep asking questions and we will work on providing information.

The Treasurer presented the quarterly budget update. Suggestion was made from the floor to provide more detail. For instance in the category of Office Overhead/Administration, subcategories include rent, phone, etc. The report gave information on the Category but not the detail on rent, etc. Staff explained that detailed information is sent to the Board on a monthly basis. Staff also mentioned having a feeling of inconsistency regarding requests from the council. Some members have expressed frustration that the reports are too detailed and become confusing. Staff requested clarification and direction. Council members present discussed format of future reports. It was decided that future budget reports should reflect subcategory detail. Staff reported this is easy to do and thanked the council for their feedback.

The Treasurer discussed fundraising activities related to the Building Fund. He thanked everyone who donated raffle and silent auction items. The Treasurer thanked the Expo sponsors and other participants. Preliminary numbers indicate that the raffle generated $350; the silent auction $1093.50; and the 2000 Expo expects to generate an additional $3500. Current Building Fund Value shows that we had received approximately $12,000 from Expo Sponsor and Supporters prior to this meeting.

Motion to move to accept the treasurer's report by Brenneman (Mercer) and seconded by Ritchey (Cambria). Motion accepted.

Motion to accept the Auditor's Report by Cappucci (Wyoming) and seconded by Baker (Mifflin). Motion accepted.

Finance Committee (Eisenhart)
There was a suggestion from the floor (Crooks) that the PACD use the interest from the Endowment Fund to support the Building Fund. The Treasurer reported that the President would be appointing two district directors to serve on the Endowment Committee. PACD is looking for potential volunteers. Gene Brenneman and Duane Clark both expressed possible interest, depending on the time and location of meetings. Treasurer is requesting that anyone with an interest in being appointed to the Endowment Committee should notify the PACD office or Board members.

The Treasurer asked Malcolm Crooks if he has an interest in serving on the Endowment Committee. Malcolm said he would be interested in serving on the Building Fund Committee.

Finance Committee recommends that "If the dues are paid in full during the previous fiscal year, the county conservation district is eligible to participate in the awards program."

Motion if the dues are paid in full during the previous fiscal year, the county conservation district is eligible to participate in the PACD awards program by Sueck (York) and seconded by Clark (Montgomery). Motion approved.

Another suggestion made in committee was to consider changes/expand in the silent auction system.

Motion to accept the report of the Finance Committee by Eisenhart (York) and seconded by Miller (Erie). Motion approved.

PACD Strategic Planning (Fox, Rohall)
The Executive Director reviewed a timeline of PACD accomplishments (see handout). The items with an "*" are directly linked to items in the PACD strategic plan.

Ron Rohall gave a presentation and reviewed the Strategic Planning goals:
Goal #1: By 2003 75% of Directors will participate in at least one PACD activity per year.
Goal #2: By 2004 have a minimum balance in the PACD Endowment Fund of $250,000
Goal #3: Improve participation by revamping PACD Executive Council Meetings and PACD Region Meetings.
Goal #4: By 2005 a strategy is implemented that efficiently engages 80% of district directors/staff and cooperating agencies/organizations in PACD activities.

PACD Bylaw Changes (Long)
President Long stated that there are several changes proposed for the PACD bylaws and that they were sent to districts in advance and are included in the handout today.

Motion to accept the changes in Bylaws by Brenneman (Mercer) and seconded by Ritchey (Cambria).

PACD Policy Positions (Long)
President Long stated that the PACD Policy Positions were sent to all districts for review and that copies are available today.

Motion to accept changes in PACD Policy Positions by Sueck (York) and seconded by Clark (Montgomery). Motion accepted.

Election of PACD Officers (Sueck, Nominating Committee Chair) Patricia Sueck presented a proposed slate of officers:
Porter Duvall, Treasurer
Phyllis Hoople, Secretary
Ron Rohall, First Vice President
Jarrett Miller, Second Vice President
Frank Long, President

Motion to close nominations by Clark (Montgomery) and seconded by Ritchey (Cambria). Motion approved.

Motion to accept the slate of officers by Kulp (Chester) and seconded by Gingrich (Juniata). Motion approved.

The new slate of officers goes into effect at the conclusion of this meeting.

NRCS (Oertly)
State Conservationist Janet Oertly thanked everyone for their efforts related to budget. There are no earmarks in budget for Pennsylvania. Nationally, RC&D received a $6 million increase. There will be at least two new congressmen this year. The 2002 Farm Bill needs to be monitored. Field operations training will be held in Jan/Feb. More information on this is coming. The National Governor's Association Conference is scheduled for March 16. The focus is conservation on private lands. There will be training on conservation planning, a certification process. NRCS will be certifying their own employees. District employees and vendors will be eligible.

PACD Auxiliary (Long)
Sarah Long stated that fundraising continues for the auxiliary scholarship. She thanked everyone for their efforts. Announcements None Adjourn

Motion to adjourn the meeting by Sueck (York) and seconded by Clark (Montgomery). Motion approved.