AGM 2007 January 17

Minutes of the 3rd Annual General Meeting Held at the United Church Hall Wednesday, 17 Jan 2007 Welcome and Introductions Linda Van Hal welcomed the members and visitor Bret Colman of the Frontenac Stewardship Council. She then introduced the special guest speaker, Matt Ellerbeck. The large number of people attending the meeting was noted, with delight and appreciation. Call to Order The meeting commenced at 7:10 pm. Motion: Linda Van Hal moved that Elise Huffman take the minutes of the meeting, seconded by David Colburn. Carried. Motion: Linda Van Hal moved that the approval of last year’s AGM minutes be added to the agenda. Seconded by Elise Huffman. Carried. No further amendments were necessary. Motion: Linda Van Hal moved that the agenda, with amendment, be approved, seconded by Margaret Knott. Carried. Motion: Ken Keyes moved to dispense with reading of the minutes of the 21 Jun 2006 AGM, seconded by David Colburn. Carried. Linda Van Hal provided one copy for anyone interested in reading it. Anyone wishing for his or her own copy could contact Linda directly. Report to Membership Linda Van Hal reported that there are currently 50 members of Friends and then presented an overview of the written 2006 Annual Report. The report covered a period of 12 months in conjunction with the fiscal year, which ended 30 Sep 2006. The report listed the current members of the Board and highlighted the activities of the Friends during the past year. This included 3 book sales versus the usual 2, which successfully raised $3000.00. Members were asked to think about donating books to FOBSB in the coming year, as book sales are the main fundraising event for Friends. As well, several guided tours and sponsored “walks” were conducted and well received and will continue in the coming year. More school tours would be encouraged. General maintenance and rehabilitation projects were completed and two ongoing projects were well underway. Linda reported that a cheque had been received from the Ministry of Natural Resources to assist in the construction of removable safety railings for the culvert. This would allow the staff to safely clear the culvert in order to ensure the water continued to flow freely, despite the best efforts of the beavers. The second project underway is the creation of a display board to be mounted on the wall of the Information Kiosk at Big Sandy Bay. Funding for the design and construction of the board has been received from the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston. The report also included various graphs depicting the visitor information during the 2006 operating season. Linda noted that on one day there were over 200 visitors that occurred after an article about Big Sandy Bay was published in the local paper. Review of Financial Statements & Auditors Report for fiscal year ending 30 September 2006. Prior to the AGM, Ken Keyes and Cathy Harroun reviewed the accounts for the year and found no discrepancies. Linda Thomas reviewed the financial statements and reported that there was approximately $12,000.00 in the bank. Motion: Dennis Doyle moved that the Annual Report and Financial Statements be accepted as presented, seconded by Dr. Day. Carried. Election of Directors, Officers and Auditors (2007) Ken Keyes took the reins to conduct the elections and congratulated Linda Van Hal for all the hard work and successful activities during the year. Ken confirmed that the appropriate number of directors were present to represent a quorum therefore elections would take place. In accordance with the Constitution, 6-10 directors were elected by the general membership. These persons could hold office for a period of two years. Directors leaving office included Linda Van Hal, Linda Thomas, Maggie Crothers and David Colburn. Directors remaining on the board included Elise Huffman, Leann Cunningham, David Field and Tim Seitz. The Nominating Committee consisting of David Colburn and Maggie Crothers submitted the following names for consideration; Linda Van Hal, Linda Thomas, Melanie Beauparlant, Nancy Steele and David Clark. Ken asked for further nominations from the floor and received none. Motion: Dr Day moved to close nominations, seconded by Dennis Doyle. Carried. Ken announced the slate of new board members to be the four returning members and five newly nominated. Motion: Ken Keyes nominated the Executive Directors be: President Linda Van Hal Vice President Leann Cunningham Treasurer Linda Thomas Secretary Elise Huffman Motion: Dr Day moved that nominations be closed, seconded by Betty Ann Field. Carried. The officers named were acclaimed. Linda Van Hal thanked the Nominating Committee, Ken Keyes and the membership for their efforts and welcomed the new directors. A special thanks was extended to Maggie for her artistry in the mailings for the AGM. There will be more general meetings held in the coming year and members were reminded that the executive meetings were also opened to any interested in attending. The dates for all meetings would be posted on the website. New Business Motion: Linda Van Hal moved that Cathy Harroun and Ken Keyes be appointed auditors for the year 2007, seconded by Betty Ann Field. Carried. Motion: Ken Keyes moved that the authorized signing officers for the year 2007, should consist of any two of the President (Linda Van Hal), Vice President (Leann Cunningham) or Treasurer (Linda Thomas), seconded by David Colburn. Carried. Guest Speaker Maggie Crothers introduced Matt Ellerbeck who has made presentations to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Cataraqui Creek Conservation Authority and the Association of Reptiles and Amphibians and is an avid conservationist. The topic dealt with the protection of turtles, particularly those found in the local area. Matt spoke eloquently and succinctly about the reasons the turtle population was decreasing; the loss of habitat and the fragmentation of what habitats remained, the killing of females and therefore the next generation, illegal collecting with a 90% death toll of those in captivity, hunting wild turtles versus domestic for food and jewellery products and wasteful practices that have created such a surplus of predators the turtles cannot overcome the losses incurred. Matt provided information on what can be done to help the turtle population and several websites to access, in particular http://www.freewebs.com/turtleconservationist. To the delight of some younger attendees, Matt demonstrated the characteristics and care and handling of turtles with two of his own live turtles. All members agreed that the lecture had been most informative and very professional and thanked Matt for attending the meeting. Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.