2014 Big Sky Chapter of NAVHDA business meeting 2/8/14 Members Present: Mark Troyer, Lisa Troyer, Phil Parsneau, Gary Whitman, John Stewart Scotty Henry, Jeff and Nancy Kershner, Phil Matteson and new members Jim and Diane Lechkitner. Treasurer’s report presented by Gary Whitman. Reviewed with members present. The Chapter operated at a loss last year. Our insurance is paid for 2014 and we have $300 in the bank. Motion by Phil Parsneau, seconded by John Stewart to accept the treasurers report. Motion carried. Gary Whitman will prepare some tax deductable guidelines for members as the chapter is a non profit and charitable donations to the chapter are tax deductible. New Business Membership Dues increase was discussed. Motion by John Stewart, seconded by Phil Parsneau to increase the dues to $40 per year effective today. (Family or individual will be the same rate. Lifetime membership is unchanged.) The motion was amended to state that those members who have already paid for 2014 will not be retroactively charged the difference from the old rate, but may contribute the difference voluntarily if they choose. Motion carried. Test fee increase was discussed. Mark Troyer moved and Gary Whitman seconded that cost for NA test increase by $25 and UT/UPT by $35, making the cost for members $150 for NA test and $185 for UT/ UPT test. Motion carried. Training day fees were discussed. Scotty Henry moved and Mark Troyer seconded, that the Chapter adopt a $10 per day, per dog, training day fee. Motion carried. Pre printed envelopes will be provided to members to write their names on and put their fees inside and will be turned in to a Chapter officer at the training day. It needs to be made clear to members that this fee is to cover club expenses like insurance and portable bathrooms. It is not a fee members are paying for training services to be provided. No Chapter members are being paid. There was discussion about charging a surcharge for training birds used during training days with the surcharge going to the chapter. After discussion, this topic was tabled with no changes to the current/ past practice. Training birds will continue to be provided at cost and will be reimbursed to the member(s) who provide the birds separately from the aforementioned training day fee. Corporate sponsorships/donations- Gary Whitman can provide our Federal ID number as a non- profit so that donations can be tax deductible. If any members have ideas of businesses to approach for donations (real goods or monetary) please bring that up. We can raffle real goods or use them in other fund raising ways for the benefit of the chapter. If any members would like to make donations, either individually or on behalf of their business, or a business they can solicit donations from, the chapter will recognize such donations appropriately. The Chapter Website link to the membership form is pending repair once new form reflecting dues change is created (Thanks Mike Wignot for stepping up to take care of that!) Gary Whitman will change the membership form to reflect the new dues amounts and the form will be linked to the website. The Chapter's enclosed trailer is in need of some repairs and materials to repair it. A Workday will be scheduled this spring to rewire it and repair the broken roof vent. (roof vent, 4 prong flat plug, wires, conduit and brackets) Volunteers are welcome. Phil Parsneau volunteered to donate the wiring materials. Other donors are welcome if they have a spare roof vent, plastic conduit for running the wiring in and brackets for the conduit. We will post the workday on the website and hope to get the repairs done in one day. Test grounds and training grounds were discussed.- Scotty Henry will be confirming in the coming week on our hopeful return to Muddy Dog Ranch for training days and spring test. This was a great location last year and we were very grateful to our hosts for the use of the property. Mark Troyer is exploring some other property which may be suitable for our Fall Utility testing. Members are encouraged to be on the lookout for areas that could be made available to the chapter for training and testing. Such sites should have suitable acreage, water and cover with no close proximity to hazards for the dogs. It would be beneficial if we could find a site for our utility testing that was open to training throughout the summer. Birds for tests- Scotty Henry has ordered the chukar and pheasants for the spring test. Food and drinks at tests- In the past we have provided breakfast, lunch, and some dinners at testing events due to the remote locations. We have operated on a "donation" system on some meals and a set fee for some. Sometimes the donations were pretty slim. We have provided pop and bottled water at no charge during events in the past. We will be adopting a "suggested donation" amount for any meals provided in the future and will be charging a nominal fee for bottled water and pop at the events. Test and training sites- Our Spring test will be May 24-26, 2014 tentatively scheduled in Great Falls area. (Exact location will be announced once confirmed.) Our Fall test will be August 30-September1, 2014. Location to be determined. Lisa Troyer and Gary Whitman are arranging for judges for the tests. Fund Raiser- We will try to get a snake break clinic put together this summer and advertise it in advance in the region in the hopes of attracting folks from outside the chapter as well. Mark Troyer has access to snakes. We will need members to volunteer to work this in various positions, (many of which will not involve you having to handle snakes.) Apprentice judge expenses were discussed. It was agreed that the chapter will continue to try to assist members of this chapter who are apprentice judges with their expenses when apprentice judging for an event sponsored by this chapter. The request should be made in advance and be specific as to what is being requested (meals, etc), and will be accommodated on a case by case basis depending on the availability of funds. Gary Whitman brought up that we need someone else on the bank account in case he is unavailable. Suggested Lisa Troyer and Phil Matteson. Motion by Gary Whitman, Seconded by Mark Troyer. Motion carried. Election of officers- No one volunteered to assume any of the officer positions. The incumbents within the positions agreed to continue in their respective positions. Phil Parsneau moved and John Stewart seconded, that the existing office holders be re-elected to their respective positions. Motion carried. President- Mark Troyer Vice President-Phil Matteson Treasurer/Secretary- Gary Whitman Test secretary- Lisa Troyer Director of cooking-Lisa Troyer Director of training-Phil Parsneau Board Member- Randy Bakker We will be posting training dates and locations in the near future on the web blog. Hopefully we will hit the ground in late March, weather permitting.