Minnesota Horse Council s2

Mn Horse Council March 10, th 2015

MINNESOTA HORSE COUNCIL BOARD MINUTES March 10th, 2015

Meeting Location: Nutrena Conference Room – Leatherdale Center U of MN St Paul

Board Members Present: Trina Joyce, Missie Schwartz, Tom Tweeten, Tracy Turner, Tim Bonham, Dave Fleischhaker, Darrell Mead, Dawn Moore, Mark Ward, Kris Kelly, Glen Eaton, Kim Otterson, Kari Newman, Barb Anderson-Whiteis, Meg Sax, Doug Persian

Absent: Sue McDonough

Members/Visitors: Barb Fleischhaker, Marian Robinson, Kelli Schmidt, Allison Eklund

I. Meeting called to order: 6:30 P.M. by President Tracy Turner.

II. Introduction of Board Members/Visitors.

III. Call for Additions/Changes to Agenda.

1. Trina Joyce added Rochester Technical College to New Business 2. Kim Otterson added Teleconferencing to Old Business 3. Tracy Turner added Conflict Between Expo and Council to New Business

IV. Treasurer’s Report for March was presented by Tim Bonham. Assets total $751,850.13. Liabilities total $524,749.08 with a net available funds $227,091.05. Discussion and review followed. Kim Otterson motioned to table the February treasurer’s report until the reserve funds, certificates and bonds and Tony Gasser Fund can be properly reconciled. Kris Kelly seconded, motion carries.

V. Approval of Minutes – Minutes from the December and February meeting were presented to the board electronically prior to the meeting. Mark Ward motioned to approve the December and February minutes as presented. Glen Eaton seconded, motion carries.

VI. Secretary’s Report – Dawn Moore advised she is working with the website committee and website designer to clarify the renewal process online. Discussion followed. Dawn Moore asked all directors willing to work the Expo booth to contact her directly. Director’s name badges will be available at the April meeting.

VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Treasurer’s Ad Hoc Committee- Barb Fleischhaker advised the chart of accounts is complete. There are a great number of reports transferred into the new system. The first part of January needs to be added into the new system in order to make the records complete for 2015. Barb Fleischhaker felt confident the system would be ready to debut in April. B. Teleconference- Mark Ward advised Go to Meeting is available in a version that allows for three absentee individuals to participate remotely. Mark Ward advised he has obtained a high speed connection from the University of MN to test the system this evening after the meeting. Discussion followed. Tom Tweeten motioned to create a task force to create a meeting cancellation policy, and secondly to explore the possibilities of teleconferencing. Doug Persian seconded, discussion followed. Kim Otterson offered a friendly amendment to include a definition of excused absence. Tom Tweeten and Doug Persian accepted the friendly amendment. Motion carries. The task force shall Mark Ward, Kim Otterson, Meg Sax, Missie Schwartz, Kari Newman, Dawn Moore, and Tom Tweeten. Tracy Turner appointed Tom Tweeten as chair of the committee.

VIII. COMMITTEE REPORTS

1 Mn Horse Council March 10, th 2015

A. Expo-Glen Eaton reported SIX WEEKS TO GO. Everything is falling into place. Speakers and Demonstrators are booked, Vendor booths as well as horse stalls are filling up, Rodeo is set. Band for Friday and Saturday night is set. Security is set. The trailer will be pulled from the locker on Monday, April 20 with the Event office being set up on Tuesday. The office will open at 8:00 AM Wednesday. Weather permitting we are looking for a very large attendance.

B. Direct Funding- Mark Ward advised no new applications have been received since the last meeting. $3,000 remains in the Direct Funding budget.

C. Communications- Missie Schwartz requested all directors forward any and all information on activities being held in MN. The newsletter is always looking for content.

D. Disaster- Dave Fleischhaker introduced Marian Robinson who will report this evening. Marian Robinson advised the February governor’s conference debuted plans to create a MN State Animal Response Team, to be modeled after the North Carolina SART program. This April they will be in Texas to promote the program. They are currently working on a brochure. They would have liked to attend the 2015 MN Horse Expo, but had a conflict and will try for 2016. Because of the unusually warmer weather and lack of moisture this winter, many felt there will be fires and drought this summer. In order to be prepared for fires, there are free FEMA online courses on how to protect your homes and farms.

E. Legislative- Tracy Turner advised there has been no new news on Ag tourism. Allison Eklund advised there are some individuals in the state that are planning to present additional information to legislature.

F. Certified Stables- Sue McDonough absent. Report submitted electronically. There are two stables interested in joining the CS Program. There will be dates arranged to inspect sometime in May. Reinspections will start in May also, done by committee members. Discussion followed on the process to train Director’s to certify stables.

G. Aisle of Breeds- Glen Eaton advised there is no report at this time.

H. Coalition of State Horse Councils-Glen Eaton advised there are plans being made with the hotel on room counts, meeting areas, etc. The MHC will host the fall meeting October 30th, 31st and November 1st. Meeting before each Council meeting. Working on speakers ,Sponsorship, hours and the schedule at this time.

I. Trail Blazers- Darrell Mead advised this has been quite the year. No snow, warm weather and a great group of people to work within the DNR. First time ever we got a temporary use permit to use ATV’s on non-motorized trails, to get into the work areas. Because of this, we have been able to open a large number of trails within the Chengwatana State Forest that have not been ridden for years. We are also working with the DNR on putting in a day use parking area with a few primitive camping sites. This amount of work takes good volunteers and we have a number of people from the area that have really stepped up to the plate on this project. Scheduled also this coming year we have we have contracted with the Conservation Corp. of MN for a week that they will in the St. Croix State Forest Tamarac Horse Camp. This is a crew of five that will work five days, eleven hours a day, so they can accomplish a huge number of projects. They are scheduled for the second week of May so the trails should be in good shape for spring riding. We will be finishing the two projects at the Grant Creek Horse Camp in Bemidji. The MN Horse Council has funded $10,000 towards a $23,000 double vault toilet and $6,500 for the well that is set up with a hand pump or electric if you have a generator. All that is left to do is to put a fence around the well and some big rock in front of the toilet to prevent someone from running to it. We have worked with Crow Wing State Park at the Walter Stark Horse Camp in Pillsbury State Forest where we had a manure issue. The MN Horse Council funded $2,500 to a private party that will haul the manure and put it on their fields. We will be working in some of the other horse camps within the state doing a few refresh jobs just to clean and improve the horse camp areas.

J. Budget Review Expo- Darrell Mead advised a full report will be available after the 2015 MN Horse Expo. Darrell Mead advised this is a committee that reviews and authorizes any expenditure over $10,000.

IX. NEW BUSINESS

2 Mn Horse Council March 10, th 2015

A. Rochester Technical College- Trina Joyce advised the college will be closing the horse program. Trina Joyce motioned to have the MHC send a letter to encourage the college to reconsider their decision. Mark Ward seconded, discussion followed. Motion carries. Kris Kelly will draft the letter. Tracy Tuner will edit and sign.

B. Conflict between Expo and Council Meetings- Tracy Turner advised the MN Horse Council and the MN Horse Expo will hold their meetings on the same date and time in April. Glen Eaton advised there are plans to accommodate both meetings. There will be an attempt to reschedule the Council meeting for the first Tuesday of the month (April 7th). Dawn Moore will work on rescheduling the room and report back to the board as soon as information becomes available.

C. Conflict of Interest forms were made available to update by all directors.

Announcements:  March 13th is the deadline for submissions for the next newsletter.

X. Tracy Turner adjourned the meeting at 8:18 PM.

NEXT MEETING April 7th, 2015 6:30 p.m. University of MN Leatherdale Center