MINTUES FOR GFNC BOARD MEETING-JANUARY 24TH 1PM
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT-
Dan Griffin, Karen Kemp, Bonnie Searles, Rick Montgomery, Linda Landry, Andreas Moser, Randy Barrow, Shirley Skelton, Lory Hartmann, Sandy Lucas
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT-
Blanche Fedor, Wayne Lambert, Scott Hanson
GUESTS PRESENT-
John Riopko, Cathy Riopko, Debbie Hatley
ABSENT-
Bruce Lee, Alisha Navarro
WELCOME-
Introduction of Karen Kemp, new board officer serving as secretary
Dan Griffin proposed to vote in Andreas Moser as a new board member, approved by all.
LONG TERM PLANNING-
Andreas Moser will chair this new committee. He will be assisted and meeting with the kennel staff as soon as a date can be agreed on. The topics they will explore are the following
- long term thoughts on staff and possible solutions for unforeseen issues that come up regarding replacement and/or transitions
- on going relations with Karen Arnold, regarding kennel upkeep and land ownership
- solutions to any potential problems we could expect
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS-
Vet Bill- charges to vet dogs are up, males are now $197 and females $217
We can check with the tracks to see if vetting dogs before they arrive is cheaper
Kennel staff to check into what we can do ourselves to reduce the vet bill, for instance vaccinations
Andreas and Randy will start contacting vets in person, instead of sending letters, to put our vet bill out to bid
Current debt- per Sandy all bills are paid up to date and the van is paid off.
License Plates- we need 300 applications for plates to go forward; currently we have 84 per Lory. She will find out if there is a time restriction on our request with the DMV. We will revisit this again at the end of 2009 to see if we are able to proceed with the project
FOOD SUPPLY
Per Wayne our food supply is good right now. We are getting HALF the donations we were getting. We will explore Costco Brand as an option if we need to purchase supplement food. Dan will continue to contact local stores and markets for donations. It was encouraged for all of us to ask our local market or feed store because a lot of times the local manager has the right to award gift cards for donations.
ELECTRONIC DATA BASE-
We currently have the website, "triad greys yahoo group" and "watch my hound" as venues for people to contact GFNC for information. We are working to compile a list of names and email addresses from past adoption applications so that we can send broadcast emails to all past and present dog owners. Dan, Linda and Andreas are working on spreadsheets with this information going back several years. This way, we can communicate with these folks without them having to check one of our current venues, it will be much easier to spread information about fund raisers, meet and greets and other information as well as track our trends and statistics. This will be a low monthly expense for the budget but will provide endless possibilities.
WEBSITE-
Recently it has come to the board’s attention that we are not posting an "In Memoriam" section for humans involved in our group on the website. After some discussion, the board has agreed not to add this section. Our website is for the dogs primarily and we would like to keep that intact. It was suggested that notices as such could be posted with "triad greys" or released through our new data base after it is completed.
MEDICAL NEEDS POSTED AT KENNEL-
A concern has been raised by a volunteer that medicines and issues noticed at PM turn out do not have a follow up system. Per Blanche and Wayne, any PM medicines are listed on the cupboard in the old office where the meds are kept, along with instructions. There is also a dry erase board outside the kennel door so that PM turn out volunteers can post any concerns they notice about a particular dog and the AM staff can follow up. It was suggested that we cross reference these notes with a red dot or sticker on the dog’s crate sheet, so that everyone is aware that this particular dog has a current medical situation to be aware of.
The board also agreed that the dogs should be weighed monthly to make sure they are maintaining a healthy weight. Lory will look into locating a used scale to purchase and check current prices.
SATILLITE REPORTS
Rick Montgomery-
Final push for Mountain Hounds planning, they have 30-40 registrations since 1/1/09, so they are expecting a great turn out.
Charlotte raised $13,000 plus last year for the kennel, and their efforts are most appreciated!
It has been advised that they will elect a "foster lead" and will advise the board when that person is selected, this role will help with the "welcome wagon" and coordinate all communication with newbie’s and the group, they will follow up with home visits and support.
Barbara Brooks-
No formal report was presented, but we all now how much Barbara and her crew do in their area, Barbara does send out frequent emails updating everyone on their happenings, per Wayne she has reported that adoptions are slow right now.
Debbie Rater-
Debbie has approached Dan about starting up her own group in the outlying Charlotte area; she feels that she could work more effectively if she had her own group, for folks that are not a part of our current Charlotte Satellite. It was agreed upon by the board this would not be the best idea at this point, the locations are too close in proximity and could cause conflict of interest. Dan will contact Debbie and advise her of our decision.
MEETING AJOURNED AT 3:00PM
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Open house dates are set for May 2nd 2009 and October 24th, 2009
Triangle Greys would like to know if we have enough brochures to pass out to new owners that live in their area, we have a good relationship with them and would like to promote their group to new members of our group.
Storefront/Thrift shop-this idea was presented by a member of the group as a form of greyhound awareness and fund raising. It was agreed on by the board that it would be too hard to staff, manage and maintain a storefront at this time. But we are open to discussing the possibility of a yearly or quarterly yard sale to raise money
Woofstock- fundraising walk for hounds and other breeds at Country Park was suggested, this is something we have done in the past. It was suggested we look at dates around the spring open house so we could promote both events at the same time.
Lure Course Event- also an event we have done in the past, it was suggested we try to organize it again, suggested the date of September 26th or 27th, 2009. Before our Fall Open house.
Adoptions are good; Blanche agreed to start sending a weekly email to the board/group members giving an "overall kennel update" including adoptions and other pertinent information.
Adoption Contracts- per Dan, he is having our counsel, Charles Calkins, who has helped us in the past with legal issues, review our current adoption contracts with special emphasis on our many varied fostering situations and the impact on GFNC. We want to verify that our contracts cover all circumstances that could arise.