MINUTES-FRIENDS OF DONALD PARK, INC. MONTHLY MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: 04/20/10

IN ATTENDANCE: Board: Adrian Barta, Mary Feldt, Matt Marty, Roger Parr, Vickie Peterson, Merry Ross, Pat Schultz, Donna Thomas.

Absent: Jay Gullixson, Linda Murray. Recording Secretary B. Hartman

The April meeting was held at the Springdale Town Hall and called to order by President Roger Parr at 6:42 P.M.

REVIEW AGENDA: Agenda was reviewed and motion by M. Ross/P. Schultz to approve as submitted. Motion carried unanimously

MINUTES: The March meeting minutes were reviewed. Motion by V. Peterson/P. Schultz to approve with changes. Motion carried unanimously

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A motion was made by V. Peterson/M. Ross to purchase a $50 gift Card from Katy’s Indian Art on Monroe Street, Madison for Dave Gjestson in appreciation for being our MC at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Motion carried unanimously. A thank you will also be sent to Dave Schreiber for providing the wine.

APPEARANCES:

Bob Dettwiler – Bob joined the meeting to report on Tuesday volunteer projects and present the maps that he has updated for the Mother’s Day park event.

COMMUNICATIONS: A letter was received from DOT regarding the Highway Cleanup project on Hwy 92 from Townhall Road to Kahl Road. Kim Hegstrom’s group has done this in the past and Barb will contact Kim to see if she will continue the project.

REPORTS

SECRETARY REPORT: Pat Schultz sent a Thank You to Cloris Lowe for being our guest speaker at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Vickie Peterson reported that the budget is not quite ready.

PRESIDENT: Roger reported on the rentals of hay land on the park property. The old hay bails that have been sitting on the edges of the fields have been removed.

ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION REPORT: Barb reported that approximately 111 membership renewals have been received to date.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

ADMINISTRATION, BUDGET, FINANCE, AND PLANNING – No Report

MEMBERSHIP/COMMUNICATIONS: Donna Thomas reported new/corrected copies of the tribute to Pat have been received and Barb will mail a supply to Pat’s family and Rhea. The next newsletter is expected to late spring, after the Mother’s Day event, but before the Father’s Day Picnic. Hopefully our new student photographer will have some pictures for the newsletter.

WEBSITE: Merry Ross wrote an article for the website. Megan McGuire is resigning from being our website master and Roger recommended Anne Watmann who has expressed interest in assisting us in the past.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATION:

Bob Dettwiler reported the Tuesday group has been busy spreading woodchips on the trails. A prairie burn was done on Mary’s prairie. Bob expressed concern over the buildings at Pat’s and would like some direction from the County as to why they would not want them rented. Roger will invite the County to a future board meeting to get updated information on our Master Plan.

NATURAL AREAS: None

EQUESTRIAN TRAILS: Roger Parr

A new trail has been developed on Dave Garfoot’s land. The horse group is hoping to host a Sacking Out Horse Event at the park in early June.

EDUCATION AND INTERPRETATION: Matt Marty

The next stage for work at the cabin site is to start digging out the foundation, and stack and clean the rocks. Pallets have been obtained to hold the rocks that are being removed for cleaning. Matt expressed a need for a tank to hold water so they can use power washers to clean the rocks. Donna Thomas has a water tank they can use.

EVENTS: Vickie Peterson

The maps, which Bob Dettwiler updated, and brochure are almost complete. Vickie is working with Judy Dvorak on the design. Vickie hopes to have one more meeting to review before the Mother’s Day event.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Action Items:

**Scheidegger Grant Update – Merry was in contact with Sara Kwitek on the status of the Scheidegger Grant. The Scheidegger Forest project has now been moved to Fall 2010. Sara suggested, to keep our project going, we use the Woodburn funds (of approximately $20,000) that are available and move our workshops to Spring 2011. A motion was made by D.Thomas to apply to the county for the Woodburn funds to proceed with our Interpretive Plan project. V.Peterson/M. Feldt added a contingency to the motion that we move forward using the Woodburn funds and re-negotiate the contract with Tom Woods’ availability with approximately $20,000. Motion carried unanimously. Merry Ross will check with Tom Woods on his availability and decision to assist and also with the county.

** MATC Photography Project – The photography student has been in the park taking pictures. It would be ideal to keep the student informed of events in the park. One suggestion was Mary Spaay’s visit with the 3^rd Graders in May.

**Annual Meeting/Volunteer Dinner – All reports indicated that the annual meeting and volunteer dinner was a success and everyone enjoyed the food and events of the night; especially the presentation by Cloris Lowe. Dave Gjestson did an outstanding job as our MC.

NEW BUSINESS:

**Action Items

**Father’s Day Picnic planning – Barb was in contact with Nina Cheney and she will not be able to work the Father’s Day picnic this year. Roger has a lead on music (Blue Grass Band) which will fall into the $150-$200 range. Any other suggestions for entertainment are welcomed. We will serve hot dogs and root beer floats as in the past.

**Tractor – Bob Dettwiler has been in contact with the County to determine what areas they will be mowing and what areas they would like us to mow. This will help make the decision regarding the possible purchase of a tractor and mower. There is still a balance in the horse trail fund that could potentially be put toward this purchase. Roger will contact the Dick Black to discuss the work plan for the trails.

**Clean up around Pat’s buildings – A dumpster has been delivered to Pat’s and the Tuesday group is cleaning out the buildings. Roger and Bob will work on cleaning up the logs. Trails are being worked on across Sutter Drive.

**Grants - Donna reminded us that there is a Capital Equipment Grant available for large equipment like the tractor and mower. However, the deadline was March 1. Donna suggested we begin to catalog our needs and make it part of our work plans to mark grant deadlines and begin working on the applications. Additional money is still needed to complete the reconstruction of the Foye Cabin foundation. Another source would be the Horse Council grant.

REVIEW AND APPROVE BILLS:

Bills in the amount of $805.41 were submitted to Vickie Peterson: Sprint Print Bill $691.11, reimburse Barb for expenses $64.30 and check to Katy’s Indian Art for the $50 gift card for Dave Gjestson. A motion made by M. Ross/M. Marty to approve the bills. Motion carried unanimously.

Agenda Items/Dream Projects:

Fundraising projects

Father’s Day Event

NEXT BOARD MEETING:

Tuesday, May 18, 2010, 6:30 PM at the Springdale Town Hall.

ADJOURN: Motion by M. Marty/P. Schultz to adjourn by unanimous consent at 8:54 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Barb Hartman, Recording Secretary