Lewis and Clark Humane Society

Minutes of Board Meeting

July 16, 2002

Call to Order: First Vice-President Jean Ketchel called the board meeting of the Lewis and Clark Humane Society to order at 6:35 pm at the Stray Pet Center. Also present were executive board members Jane Benson, Gerry Daumiller, Jennifer Green, shelter executive director Gina Wiest, shelter bookkeeper Robyn McNellis, and auxiliary board member Pamela Joscelyn. Executive board members absent were Tia Nelson, Denise Tarr, Lisa Mecklenberg Jackson, Terey Artz, and Gary Spaeth.

Robyn reported that the 2002 Strutt Your Mutt event returned a net income of $8,600. The 2001 event had a net income of over $10,000.

Gina reported that we have received the 6 tons of cat litter donated to us by Oil Dry of America, which they had in storage in Billings. Watkins-Shepard charged us only $150 to deliver it to the shelter, and the shelter staff unloaded it

Jean and Gina reported that the Diamond dog food distributor has decided to stop providing the food that we had been selling and using at the shelter. Science Diet has offered to provide us with all the dog food we need for our shelter animals if we would buy an 8-pound bag of food to give away with every adopted dog. This would probably not result in us saving any money. Tia is going to write them a letter asking for a better deal.

Gina presented a proposed revision to Subsection N part 3 of the employee manual, allowing the shelter supervisor to suspend an employee without prior authorization from the shelter committee. The board amended the proposal to allow the shelter supervisor on-duty to enact a suspension and requiring the shelter committee to review the suspension within one week. Jean moved that the employee manual be so revised and Jennifer seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote.

As the revision to the employee manual was discussed, it became apparent that we need to revise the manual to more clearly define meaning of "shelter supervisor" and other terms referring to people in the manual.

Jean announced that a local Toastmasters club has proposed operating a garage sale at the shelter on Aug. 17, using donations we have received in the past and any additional donations that come in. They propose taking 70 percent of the sales and hauling away all unsold items and trash for us. While the board sees this as very desirable, we would have to find out what they plan to use the money for before we could commit to it. We would also have to make sure that people making donations and purchasing items would understand where the money is going. Pam volunteered to find out what the Toastmasters would use the money for.

Gina reported that Jefferson County reimbursed us for our costs in the recent cruelty case there. She asked that we reimburse the staff approximately $73 for their mileage involved in the case, which happened before we instituted the mileage reimbursement policy. Gerry moved that we do so and the motion was seconded by Jean. The motion carried on a voice vote.

Shelter Committee/FY 2003 Budget

At a previous meeting, the board authorized the shelter to pay Robyn $5.50 per hour, the wage of a starting kennel assistant, to work additional hours as a cleaner. It was been brought to the board's attention that other staff members who earn more than kennel assistants perform cleaning duties and receive their full wages for this. Gina said that it is very helpful to have these staff there for the extra hours that they clean, because they do a better job and are available for other tasks that a kennel assistant would not be able to do. Gerry made a motion that, effective July 1, Robyn be paid her full wage for the time she spends cleaning, and Jane seconded the motion. It passed on a voice vote.

The shelter committee proposed that the current open staff position of animal care attendant not be filled and that a new position of adoption counselor be instituted at a wage of $8.50 per hour, 35 hours per week. Gina will submit a job description for the board's approval before advertising the position. Jean moved that we accept the proposal and Gerry seconded the motion. The motion passed on a voice vote.

The shelter committee proposed that the wage of three positions of shelter manager, bookkeeper, and animal welfare supervisor be given a one-time increase to bring them in line with the prevailing market rate, as proposed in April by Terey Artz and tentatively approved by the board at that time. Gerry moved that we approve the proposal and Jean seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote.

In April the board looked at four different proposed performance-based pay increases for the staff but did not choose one because of uncertainty the FY2003 budget. The shelter committee now recommends accepting the highest proposal (Proposal 1), with increases ranging from 3.5 to 7 percent. Gerry moved that we accept the recommendation and Jean seconded the motion. The motion carried on a voice vote.

Gerry presented the shelter committee's proposed budget for FY2003. The budget approved by the board in April has been modified to incorporate the proposed pay plan changes approved earlier in this meeting, to reflect what we believe we will actually receive from Jefferson County, East Helena, and Broadwater County, and made other changes according to the final information now available for the money we actually spent and received in FY 2002. The proposed budget was revised to change the amount for Automobile Expense from $1,350 to $2,000. Jean moved that we adopt the amended proposal as the FY2003 budget, and the motion was seconded by Jennifer. The motion carried on a voice vote.

Robyn explained that the budget vs. actual report for FY2002 has a misleading bottom line that makes it look like we lost $35,658.33 in the fiscal year. This figure includes the $33,814.51 we paid for the new structure that came out of our investments and the $9,375.00 payment from the City of Helena that was received late from FY2001. So our actual FY2002 net income from the budget's perspective was $11,218.82 in the red.

Adjournment: The board meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm. The next regular LCHS Board meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 pm at the Stray Pet Center.

Respectfully Submitted,

Gerry Daumiller