February 2, 2006

APLA board minutes

The meeting was brought to order at 7:00 PM CST, February 2, 2006, by president Dale Merritt when a quorum was present. Those board members in attendance: Dale Merritt, Julie Knutson, Larry Kimble, Wendell Wright, Shawn Hoover, Joe Bubulka, and Mike Bachkosky. The non-attending members Jeff Ports and Jeff Burks were aware of the meeting. Jeff Burks had submitted his resignation earlier in the day and Jeff Ports was unable to access the Sprint Conferencing Services for almost 45 minutes, at which time he joined the meeting in progress.

1.  Treasurer Report – Incorrect year-end balance reported in prior meeting.  The November ending balance was inadvertently reported.  Corrected balance for the end of 2005:  $20,418.46   $19,293.95 is the January ending balance.

2. Secretary Report- most of the outstanding certificates have been issued with a few corrections to be made.  To reissue the corrected certificates requires the APLA seal, which had been broken.  Seal is in for repair, and upon receipt the outstanding certificates will be issued.

New certificates are in the works, with different colors and hand signed.  The ribbon inventory is very low and scattered, so new ribbons are to be ordered so that all issued ribbons will be consistent and be nice enough to showcase for each level. Two colored ribbons will be the standard for this season’s ribbons.  Patches, medallions, hats, vests, lanyards, etc. were discussed to award the upper level achievements in addition to the ribbons.  Specifics and sources will be submitted to board members prior to discussion in the next meeting.

There is now a Judges Affirmation Form to be filled out by judges asked to judge a test and agreeing to judge, so that judges are known and accountable when assigned. The Hunt Test Chairman will get these forms signed and to the Hunt Test Committee before the premiums are released to the membership. This form will accompany all Hunt Test Applications submitted to the Hunt Test Committee. All of these forms will be available on the website and accessible to the appropriate people responsible for tests prior to the test dates and entry closings.

Motion made by Shawn Hoover to accept treasurer and secretary reports, seconded by Mike Bachkosky. All approved.

1.      All members have had time and opportunity to address the contested board position, given the input, President Merritt has decided to assure all future elections have ballots counted in front of impartial witnesses, and made a motion that all decisions on the issue stand, with Joe Bubulka as new director.  Seconded by Shawn Hoover, all approved. All board members were given an opportunity for any further input; there were no comments.

2.      Joe Bubulka recommended establishing an Election Committee to oversee all policy and all elections.  President Merritt stated he would look into this committee formation prior to any further elections. Dale appointed Joe Bubulka and Shawn Hoover to establish the election committee policy.

3.      Outstanding Certificates to be issued were addressed in the Secretary’s report.

4.      Spring Hunt Tests are all set, on the agreed upon dates and locations, as published on the web site and as will be shown in the upcoming Newsletter.

5.      5 minutes or so was spent trying to get J. Ports connected on the Spring Conferencing Services at this time and 39 minutes into the meeting, Jeff was finally connected to the meeting.

6.      The current nonsufficient funds issue has not been resolved as yet, resulting in one member remaining as a member not in good standing with 60 days to correct or be dismissed from the membership for one year.  Larry Kimble as altered some of the wording to the policy for dealing with nonsufficient funds as follows:

APLA NSF Check Policy

Ldk 2/1/06

1.            There is a $35 fee for all checks returned due to non-sufficient funds (NSF). This NSF fee also applies to membership or entry fees paid through credit or debit cards that are rejected by the issuing company.

2.            The member who issues the NSF check or rejected card will be contacted and given 30 days to pay the amount of the NSF check or card amount plus the $35 NSF fee. This total amount must be paid to the APLA via certified check, cashiers check or money order; not a personal check, or a credit or debit card.

3.            After this time if the NSF check and fee amount is not paid the member is considered “a member not in good standing”. The member will receive a certified letter stating this; a request for the monies owed the APLA, and a copy of the APLA NSF Check Policy.

4.            If the treasurer has not received the NSF check and fee amount by 60 days after the letter is received the check is turned over to a collection agency.

5.            APLA membership may resume one year from the date of NSF check and fee collection with payment of APLA membership dues.

As long the NSF check and fee amount remain uncollected membership in the APLA is prohibited.

Motion to accept made by Mike Bachkosky, Wendell Wright seconded, all approved.

7.      Newsletter is going to be on schedule, sent out the 1^st of March.  Included will be all premiums, maps, articles, stories and a letter from the President and fall test results. Jeff Ports will do the mailing of the Newsletter to members. The first test is the middle of April, so it is important to get this Newsletter out in a timely manner.

8.      Larry Kimble brought up the discussion about placement of the nonsufficient check policy.  It is required that all members be made aware of the policy.  L. Kimble’s suggestion was to put the policy for nonsufficient funds, checks, debit cards and credit cards, be placed on the premiums themselves.  Discussion followed regarding the adequacy of having the policy posted in the rules section of the website.  It would be difficult for non-computer using members to view the website, so it was decided the policy be placed on both the premiums and the website to cover all bases.

1.      On the day of the meeting, a letter of resignation was received from Jeff Burks, past president of the APLA.  The board discussed the resignation, decided to follow all stipulations laid out by the by-laws in the receipt and handling of this resignation.  The board also agreed it was a loss to the organization and the board itself personally and by virtue of his experience, and reluctantly agreed to honor Jeff Burks’ wishes. A motion to accept was made by Shawn Hoover, seconded by Wendell Wright, all accepted.

2.      Following the notice of resignation a discussion of having to fill another available board position took a lot of time.  Dale Merritt stated he felt the by-laws required Jeff Burks’ prior opponent in an election would fill his position, and that would be Tim Durkes.  The board debated whether the by-laws clearly require 2 elections ago apply to current vacated position.  Lengthy discussion resulted with a variety of interpretations and recollections. Jeff may have been unopposed in his last presidential election but not his first presidential election.  Again Dale Merritt stated he felt the first runner up should fill the position now vacated.  In the event that the board would have to fill the position it was decided that a posting will be put on the website announcing in accordance with the by-laws, stating the President of the APLA will be accepting volunteers for consideration for filling the vacated board position. The board at the next board meeting will discuss the names.  All names will be passed to the board prior to the meeting so there are no surprises.  All nominations need to be turned into the President by the third week of February. Since no one on the board considers themselves a legal expert, the decision was made to utilize the attorney who had previously assisted the APLA in some litigations and legal issues, to review the by-laws and advise which is the most reasonable way to address the replacement of Jeff Burks.  Shawn Hoover asked if this lawyer would assist in establishing policy with the Election Committee as well.

3.      Web Page News:

a.       Classified ads were still in progress with the web host, and it would be two more weeks before the classifieds will be up and running.

b.      All Officer information except for Jeff Burks is up on the website.  Pictures of Jeff Ports and Wendell Wright are still not up.

c.      Online entries will be available as soon as the means to pay online, requiring a Merchant Services Account.

d.      The web guys are working on the payment processing part of the Merchant Services account, and they are looking for firms supplying the necessary services.  L. Kimble will assess the service providers and make a decision based on services offered and interest rates.  As soon as this available, memberships can be online along with test entries.

e.      The grace period for operating off last year’s memberships is assumed to be March 31^st of the new year.  A motion was made to establish the 90 days as the grace period policy, by Shawn Hoover, seconded by Dale Merritt, all agreed.  Deadline for all renewals will be March 31^st.  At the time all unrenewed memberships will loose membership privileges on the APLA website. Renewal will immediately open the membership privileges again.

f.       Advertisement in Gundog Magazine will reflect new website in its next issue.

4.      Clothing and Merchandise

a.       Wendell has contacted 12 suppliers and received 3 responses, including the previous supplier of APLA clothing. A proposal was requested, none have responded by the meeting date.  Wendell is still pursuing the information and proposal from these suppliers.  Only Trader Jack’s has current APLA artwork.  Wendell asked if the board would like to see samples of clothing and embroidery, and all stated Wendell could make the decisions without any assistance.  L. Kimble suggested there be some items available fitting the classification of “Tall”.  J. Ports suggested going with a supplier with whom the APLA has already dealt successfully, shortening the lead times for manufacture and supply of merchandise.  The board suggested Wendell find the supplier most willing to work with us and get the process underway.

b.      L. Kimble and D. Merritt discussed the appropriate handling of merchandise and money generated by a nonprofit organization.  Dale suggested contacting Gregg Kay, an APLA member who is an attorney specializing in nonprofit organization to assure all issues are handled appropriately. L. Kimble will look into the issue.

5.   Rules Committee:

a.                             The rules committee is still in the process of generating the changes to the current rules.  The changes will be to the board before the 1^st of March and published for the membership.

5.      Head Judge Seminars are necessary to inform the approved judges of the rule changes, and the interpretations of the rules, talking about set ups, behavior, ethics and further interpretation.  The rules committee will address this seminar situation, and it’s staffing.  Dale emphasizes the need for discussion of rules and test set-ups as well. The Rules Committee will propose the means this will be accomplished at the next Board Meeting.

6.      Hunt Test Committee 

a.       S. Hoover wants the information for the hunt tests available on the website, so people interested in hosting a test can gather the info they need and know specifically what to do with it so they can be considered as a potential test location at a future date.

b.      J. Bubulka stated website access to forms and data will be a very simple thing to do.

c.      M. Bachkosky asked if any submittals for this spring’s tests had been received.  Most of them had been sent to L. Kimble as he functioned as Hunt Test Committee last year.  All info must be sent to Hunt Test Committee in a consistent manner.  This is a transition period and various situations will arise.

d.      L. Kimble brought up the need for the deadline for Hunt test entries be defined and clarified.  Currently it is a 2-week deadline prior to the test date, unless a dog failed a test the week prior to another test, in which case the dog could enter late. There was discussion about flexibility to allow late entries when there was adequate bird/time/judge supply.  As an organization, the APLA needs to stick to its policy.  Further discussions of ‘flexibility’ will continue at later meetings, such as late fees, etc.  J. Bubulka will write a proposal to allow for some flexibility and submit it for review.

7.      A judges committee needs to be put together to review and revise policy for judges, both becoming judges and carrying out the duties of an approved judge. Dale Merritt appointed J. Knutson, Joe Bubulka and Wendell to use Guidelines already written by L. Kimble and D. Hove and further refine and condense those policies. J. Bubulka suggested this committee create a Standard Briefing Guide so judges inform contestants of all relevant info prior to the test beginning. All agreed to function as the Judges Committee members and J. Knutson was appointed Chair. Any other members to be added must be approved by the board.  Dale wants a proposal written and submitted to the board by the next meeting.

8.      Equipment, Hunt test Committee needs to acquire a list of missing or necessary equipment that can be replaced or acquired in the regional areas. This list will be assessed and equipment will be ordered as required. J. Ports motioned to replace a missing radio in Penn, seconded by M. Bachkosky, all approved.

9.      Names of people making motions or seconding motions should appear in minutes.  Numbers agreeing or disagreeing should be listed, no names given for those.

10. L. Kimble needs another set of equipment in Kansas to run tests, supporting multiple sets of judges.  J. Ports motioned to approve, seconded by M. Bachkosky.

11. Inventory lists of each region needs to be established and maintained, which should be a part of the hunt test chairs paperwork and responsibility.  This list must be checked before test and after, to assure accountability for all equipment at all tests.  This list should be submitted within 15 days of the completion of any test to the Hunt Test Committee. All motions to purchase and replace equipment were unanimously approved.

12. Next Board Meeting March 2^nd, 2006.

Wendell pointed out Jeff Burkes has done a remarkable job in some difficult times during his tenure on the board, and suggested a public statement be made to address his level of contribution, and the significance of his leaving.  The entire board agreed and a public letter will result.

Dale motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Shawn Hoover,  all approved, meeting ended at 10:05 pm CST.

Addendum to meeting minutes:

Upon receipt of the attorney’s recommendation on the resignation issue, the board decided to open the vacated board position for volunteers to submit their interest in serving on the board of directors of the APLA.  After this was received, the posting announcing the position was placed on the website. The attorney also agreed to assist the Election Committee in any way necessary.

Julie Knutson, Secretary