Lewis and
CALL TO ORDER: President Jean Ketchel
called the monthly meeting of the Lewis and Clark Humane Society Board to order
at 6:10 pm at the shelter. Present were board members Jean Ketchel, Lisa
Mecklenberg Jackson, Tia Nelson, Kaye Davis, Jane Benson, Lisa Peterson, Kevin
St. John, Jolyn Eggart, Ed Stipich, Debbie Irby, Gail Beattie, and Esther
Suhr-Stewart. Shelter employee Christine
Stipich and shelter bookkeeper Robyn McNellis were also present. Board members absent were Annie Murfitt and
Jen Hornung. Guests included Debra Haydn
and Anita Varone, L & C County Commissioner.
TREASURER’S REPORT: See Budget Crisis below.
SECRETARY’S REPORT: Motion by Lisa P., second by Ed, to approve
minutes from the August 2004 meeting.
Motion passed.
SHELTER COMMITTEE REPORT: Tia reported that the final employee
policy manual is not done yet. Tia reported that she met with shelter staff
on Sept. 15 regarding the “chaotic” front
desk situation. Five options were discussed: Using moveable
panels; putting a window/glass door in Gina’s office; a counter for Jessie in a
different area; using a different door for the walkers; and a remodel of the
front desk area. Tia said she would have
Derek look at the area to see what he thought.
Having walkers go out through the med. room, moving euthanasias to the
stray pet center, and making the screen door open in were other options
discussed. Tia will give this situation
to the shelter staff to come up with a solution. The animals behind the front counter issue
has been tabled; fixing the front desk area may take care of this.
BUILDING/GROUNDS
COMMITTEE: Ed reported that the building/grounds committee did not meet this
month. There will be a clean-up day for the shelter garage on Sunday, Sept. 26 starting at 11 a.m. Anything that is useable should be donated to
Habitat for Humanity. Ed was directed to
get messages to the people he is waiting for on work to be done on the moldy
dog kennel.
FUNDRAISING
COMMITTEE: The fundraising committee met Sept. 14 and discussed Pet’oween which will be held Saturday, Oct. 30 in conjunction with Murdoch’s. With their OK, we will enhance the presence
of the humane society there, offering games, raffle, etc. There will be publicity to that effect. Volunteers for the day are needed. Kaye needs recipes a.s.a.p. for a cookbook the committee hopes to have together by Christmas. Both people and animal recipes are
needed. Please send recipes (with fun,
animal-oriented names) to Kaye. E-mail
recipes preferred.
NOMINATING
COMMITTEE: The committee has six people to meet with who sent in letters of interest
in joining the board in June. There are
currently one, perhaps two, open spots on the board.
WEBSITE COMMITTEE: Lisa
P. will be meeting with Ed Benasky next week.
DISASTER PLAN: No
report.
SNIP! COMMITTEE: Tia’s
recent column in the IR resulted in many phone calls to Jane regarding
SNIP. The committee is in the process of
sending out second letters to local vets with the specifics of the event. 4-H is donating the use of their building at
the fairgrounds for the event (we will pay energy costs).
OTHER BUSINESS: Annual meeting—Jean
and Kevin sent out postcards to the membership reminding them of this event on
Wednesday, Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at The Pattern House. This is also the meeting where we elect officers
for the year. Lisa P. submitted a
written request to change the LCHS bylaws requirement that officers have to
have been board members for a year.
Officer candidates: The
following have said they would serve as board officers for the next year:
President—Tia; Vice-President—Lisa P. (pending bylaws change); Treasurer—Kaye;
Secretary—Esther (pending bylaws change) or Lisa M.J. A question was raised as to the
appropriateness of Tia serving as president if she contracts with LCHS. Jean will explore this issue. We do not have the nominations for annual
awards yet. These will be determined
at a special meeting on Sept. 29. A
motion was made by Lisa P. to add another category to the awards—a Starfish
Award for a volunteer who makes a difference.
Ed seconded. Motion passed. Kaye also made a motion, second by Esther, to
have a shelter Employee of the Year Award.
Motion passed. Both will be
recognized by certificates.
SHELTER MANAGER’S REPORT: In
Gina’s absence, Christine reported that they are still looking for the guy with
the boxer and pups (a cruelty case).
There are six horses to adopt--$300 each—people have filled out
applications. There are also three
goats. It was suggested they go out for
$35 each.
BUDGET CRISIS: Kaye reported that “we’re about
broke.” There is only $4,000 in savings
and we need $8,000 to meet payroll next week.
$25,000 will be coming at the end of the month (first quarterly payment
from counties), but we need a short-term solution. Three were suggested: 1. Anita would talk to
her fellow commissioners and ask them to give $4,000 early. 2.
$25,000 of the $45,000 at D.A. Davidson is touchable. 3.
Could borrow from the $6,000 set aside for cruelty cases. Motion by Lisa P., second by Tia, to go with
the 3rd option. Motion
passed. Although the budget was balanced
at the end of June, there appears to be several reasons for this budget
crisis. We have had no major fundraisers
since Feb; there was no Strutt this year; and there have been a number of
cruelty cases. It costs approx. $26,000
to run the shelter each month and nowhere close to that amount is coming
in. Options for raising money quickly: Inserting a letter asking for donations in the following:
-Mountain West
statements -Rocky Mountain
Credit Union statements
-Valley Bank -All bank
statements (Jean)
-Qwest bill
(Esther) -County
paychecks (Anita)
-Water bill (Lisa
P./Jolyn) -Bresnan bill
(Esther)
-NorthWestern
Power (Lisa P./Jolyn)
-Donation nights
for MacKenzie River and Pizza huts (Lisa M.J., Jolyn, Kevin).
Anita suggested
doing a plea for funds on KTVH—only have enough money to run the shelter for
three months, etc. The board decided to
wait on this. Anita also suggested that
the shelter also make a business plan.
Additional
fundraising ideas: Put our 3-4 donation jars in various
businesses; Albertson’s donor card (Debbie); recycling drive (East Helena is
now giving us all their recycling); having schools give us their pennies;
holding a “design the container” contest in local schools at Halloween and
Christmas—set the winners from each class out in the community; booth at Alive@5; craft fair/garage sale—we rent space;
raffles; advertise the Sponsor a Cage and Angel Pet programs better; contact
Stray Pet Center donors (Jean); contact clinics who do euthanasia—give them
donor cards for memorials to LCHS. Kevin
will get a list of those who donated to us through MT Shares. Although we can’t solicit funds from these
people, we can send a thank you and a newsletter.
MISCELLANEOUS: Jean read two letters she had
received recently—both of them praising the wonderful service, policies, staff,
and facility at the shelter. It was
suggested these letters be put in the LCHS newsletter, Animal Tracks. It was suggested that we hold a special board
meeting in two weeks to discuss annual awards, food at the annual meeting,
officer candidates, changing of the bylaws, and the status of fundraising
efforts.
ADJOURNMENT:
The board meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.
The next LCHS Board meeting will be at the shelter on Wednesday, Sept. 29,
2004 at 6:00 pm.
Respectfully
Submitted,
Lisa
Mecklenberg Jackson
LCHS
Secretary