Lewis and
Minutes
of Board Meeting
Call to Order: President Denise Tarr called the board meeting of
the Lewis and Clark Humane Society to order at
Secretary’s Report: Motion by Gerry, seconded by Jennifer, to approve
the June 2002 board minutes (with a change from Helena to East Helena), as well
at the July 2002 board minutes.
Treasurer’s Report: Robyn said that at one month into the budget,
donations and memorials are “really slow.”
A flyer will come out in next month’s city water bill, Gerry
reported. Denise suggested looking into
leaving “in memory of” envelopes at funeral homes. Robyn said she would get us an example from
Retz Funeral Home. The suggestion was
also made to put humane society “banks” in other locations—perhaps Appleyby’s
or Perkins.
Shelter Executive Director’s Report: Gina reported that we need to monitor the
budget quarterly to make sure it stays in line.
Gina also reported that $8,900 is needed to repair the shelter’s
crematorium, which brings in $38,000-40,000/year. The crew will thoroughly check the
crematorium and given an estimation of the cost of future repairs as well. Gina has already paid half of the $8,900 with
money from a savings account. Discussion
ensued as to how to pay the other half—spend more savings or trim the
budget? Robyn and Gina will explore
various options and present them to the board at the September meeting. The board also needs to talk about what to do
with Jefferson County at the next meeting as well. A motion was made by Gerry, seconded by Jean,
to make the following changes in the LCHS budget: Increase the East Helena
contract $1,300 (to $4,300), increase building insurance $600 (to $4,100) and
increase crematorium repairs from $2,500 to $8,900. The motion passed.
Gina reported that the Helena
Kennel Club has approached her about using the large room at the shelter for
their monthly meeting. Gina said she
would charge $10-$15 for use. If they
should decide to use the shelter space, we need to come up with a waiver
stating they are responsible for cleaning up the space and the shelter will not
be held liable for any disease caught by their animals. There is also an issue of access. Gina reported she would give a key to the
member in charge—if she can’t attend the meeting, the shelter staff would have
to be called to open up the room.
Gina stated the Dog Days of
Summer event held Sunday, July 28 in the parking lot at WoodPecker’s Sports Bar
was a big success. Eight dogs were
adopted. Chris from KCAP suggested the
idea. He arranged all the sponsors, who
paid $35 each, and the spay/neuter fee was waived. The most anyone had to pay was $5.00 for a
rabies vaccination. Chris would like to
do this type of event again in October at Big R.
The shelter now has central air
conditioning, which was all donated. The
$600 in the budget for air conditioning will be used to pay the
electricians.
Gina also told the board that
recently a police officer came in on a Saturday night to retrieve his own dog
which had been placed at the shelter, leaving Gina a note. Gina stated that such activity is
“unacceptable,” as this officer was in the capacity of a private citizen at the
time he came into the shelter to get his dog.
At the very least, Gina said, he should have called ahead.
The garage/shed at the shelter
needs to be cleaned out in order to be useable (it is full of stuff from
previous garage sales). Jane will make
some calls to see what some of the local discount stores are needing. A clean-up day for the garage is planned for
Sunday, Sept. 15 at 11 am. All board
members should plan to attend and bring their trucks if they have them.
Gina announced that there is a
“Bridging the Gap: Community Involvement Fair” at Carroll College on Sept.
10. This is a student outreach
opportunity to recruit students for volunteering.
Statistics for July: 90 dogs were turned into the
shelter (48 were already altered). 40
dogs were returned in July, 40 dogs were adopted and 13 were euthanized. 91 cats were turned into the shelter in July
(11 were already altered). 2 cats were
returned in July, 36 were adopted, and 37 were euthanized (5 for no room). Gina reported there are over 50 kittens at
the shelter now. Animal Center and
Bridger Vet are still giving a break on their spay/neuter fees.
President’s Report: Denise
discussed Montana Shares. Robyn has been
attending meetings for which we receive points.
We also get points for selling raffle tickets. We need to reach 10 points in order to be in
compliance with our duties as a Montana Shares associate member. Denise reported that we have done that and
are working on more points. There is
some training in September that Robyn may not be able to attend. Robyn will check to see if it is mandatory
and let us know if she can’t go—if she can’t, someone else will try to
attend. Denise reported that one of the
last chamber events we will be invited to (we dropped our membership) is a
business card social to be held Sept. 5 from 5-7 at the Hampton Inn.
OLD BUSINESS:
Strutt Your
Mutt: We netted approximately $8,500 on
Strutt this year.
NEW BUSINESS:
Annual Meeting – The Pattern House has been reserved for the LCHS
Board’s Annual meeting on Tuesday, October 15.
Lisa will send a special notice/letter to board members, potential new
board members, and award winners inviting them to the meeting.
Jean reported that it recently
came to her attention that the land lease we have with the city expired in
1973. The city would like us to renew
that lease and amend it to include the pet cemetery at $10/year. Denise made a motion to to do that and Gerry
seconded.
Boo Bash – The annual Boo Bash is set for Saturday, Oct. 26
at Capital Hill Mall. Sandy Newton and
Linda Owen are in charge of the event this year.
KMTV Expo – Oct. 11, 12 & 13.
An Awards Committee was appointed (Gina, Jean, Jane, and Lisa doing
logistics) to determine awards for the October annual meeting. Lisa will pick up a list of award winners
from year’s past from The Trophy Case and attempt to compile a comprehensive
list of previous winners. This committee
will need to meet before the September board meeting in order to present their
award selections to the board at the meeting.
Standing Committee Reports:
The Nominating Committee has not
met with any potential board members this month. However, the will be meeting with several in
September in order to present them at the annual meeting in October.
No report given.
The Bylaws Committee will be
meeting Thursday, Sept. 5 to discuss bylaws changes that will be presented to
the board at the meeting in September.
The changes will be voted on at the annual meeting in October.
Miscellaneous: There was
discussion of the low attendance numbers at board meetings. It was suggested to send a nice friendly
reminder to people to show up at board meetings. Lisa will put together a spreadsheet of
attendance statistics for the past year.
Adjournment: The board
meeting adjourned at approximately 8:10 pm.
The next regular LCHS Board meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 6:30 at
the shelter.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Mecklenberg Jackson