January 8 Meeting Minutes

Board of Directors Meeting
Friends of Lake Norman State Park 
January 8, 2019
Lake Norman State Park Visitor’s Center


President Michael Polzin called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m.  Those in attendance and constituting a quorum were:
Present: Michael Polzin, Jeff Cooper, Katie Gradert, Jenni Wyatt, Shannon Johnson, Debbie Page, Vicki Taylor, Ashley Thompson & ex-Officio Advisor Greg Schneider
Absent: Alison Hemingfield, Kathie Kemp & James Pogue
Visitors: Patrick Wurtz


Current Business:
    

• Annual Business Meeting:  By acclamation, the date for the Annual FLANO Member’s Business meeting is set for Saturday, March 30, at 10:30 a.m.  This meeting is open to all FLANO members and will include election of Board members.  Park Superintendent Greg Schneider offered to lead a 9 a.m. Alder Trail hike preceding the annual business meeting.  The meeting will be held in the Visitor Center auditorium with coffee and snacks provided by FLANO.  
  • Action Items:  Debbie Page will create a flyer announcing the meeting and hike which she will email to Board members.  Board members will print off copies of the flyer to distribute in the community to promote the meeting.  Ashley Thompson will check to see if Starbucks will donate coffee for the meeting.  Debbie Page will post event on website and on Facebook.  Katie Gradert will email announcement of meeting to FLANO members at least 30 days prior to the meeting.
• Board Member Terms:  Staggered terms were discussed for the officers/board members to prevent everyone from rotating off the Board at the same time.  Jenni Wyatt will rotate off the Board as secretary.  Jeff Cooper will rotate off the Board as vice-president.  The offices of secretary and vice-president will be up for election.  Jenni and Jeff can ask for their names to be included in the election for a two-year Board member position.   Alison Hemingfield and James Pogue will be contacted to see if either wishes to remain on the Board.  James Pogue has a new job and is moving to Charlotte so this may impact his availability to serve as a Board member.  After the meeting, Jenni Wyatt wrote out the remaining Board member names on slips of paper.  President Michael Polzin drew one to determine which other Board member would rotate off this term.  Kathie Kemp’s name was drawn.   Kathie Kemp will be encouraged to put forth her name for election as a two-year term Board member.  Her contributions to FLANO have been greatly appreciated and she is a highly valued member of the Board.
• Nominating Committee:  According to FLANO By-Laws, President Michael Polzin will create a nominating committee.  Michael asked for volunteers to serve on this committee.  Jeff Cooper volunteered to serve on this committee.
  • Action Item:  Please let President Michael Polzin know of your desire and availability to serve on the nominating committee.
• Treasurer’s Report
  • Katie Wurtz distributed the End-of-year Financial Report.  See attached file.
  • Katie Wurtz gave the End-of-year volunteer and event report.  See attached file.
  • Katie Wurtz distributed membership update report. FLANO now has 48 members.   See attached file.
• Board Meeting Dates:  The Board will meet on Tuesday, February 5, and Tuesday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m.
• Winter/Spring FLANO Events: 
  • Clean-up Day scheduled for Dance Hall or another area on Saturday, February 23, 9-12n.  Volunteers will gather a load to take to recycling center for cash redemption.   Volunteers meet at Visitor’s Center.  
  • Stargazing Events:  Amy Shepherd has several stargazing events that she would like to schedule next year in conjunction with the Piedmont Amateur Astronomy Club.  She is planning a Star Party on April 12th with a rain date on April 13th.  FLANO members will be needed to man the stations and to recruit new members at the FLANO tent. 
    • Action Items:  Any Board member with connections to get a free or discounted bounce house for the event, please contact Amy Shepherd.  Greg Schneider will get details and flyer for this event from Amy.    
  • Fishing Line Recycling Containers:  Katie and Patrick Wurtz volunteered to coordinate this project for FLANO.  March 23rd FLANO members will build and then install the containers at the boat launch, fishing dock & spillway locations.  
    • Action Items:  Katie Wurtz will bring material cost for this project to February Board meeting and, after Board approval, purchase the supplies.
• Phillips Tract Purchase & Clean Up:  Greg Schneider reported on the purchase of the Phillips Tract.  The park has closed on the Phillips Tract, adding 3.7 additional acres along Norwood Creek to the park which will help protect this watershed.  The tract has part of a small Piedmont Levee Forest on it (the only example of that forest type in LANO) and also has seven hemlocks on the slopes above the creek.  (There are only two other hemlocks known in the rest of LANO.) The tract has lots of debris and trash on it.  Depending on what is needed and done on the February 23rd Clean-Up Day at the Dance Hall property, volunteers may also be assigned to this tract for clean-up on that day.  
• Invasive eradication:  Greg Schneider expressed the need for eradication of invasive plants in the park including kudzu and privet.  This is something that could involve physical removal and chemical removal.  This might be a good summer project to enlist volunteer help.  The replanting of native species could also be labor intensive and another opportunity for volunteer help.  
• Habitat Enhancement Program:  Vicki Taylor described her involvement with the Duke Energy Shoreline Management Workgroup.  Duke charges fees for dock permits.  These fees support the Habitat Enhancement Program which was a negotiated item to protect water quality and shoreline in the FERC relicensing process with Duke. The funds that have been collected for the Habitat Enhancement Program currently exceed what has been requested.  Recent awards were between $13,000 to $100,000.  They accept applications between May 1 and July 31 each year.  Vicki asked the Board for project suggestions to apply for this grant money. 
  • Greg Schneider proposed two projects.  The first would be to purchase native species to replace the invasive plants that are eradicated.  These native plants can be very expensive.  Greg also proposed the purchase of a tract of land adjacent to Hicks Creek.  He brought a map printout to show the Board.  This 14.25-acre tract could be divided at a small creek with the park purchasing the majority of the property but leaving a large developable lot off Old Spring Lane or the park could purchase all of it.  The property includes undisturbed Messic Mixed Hardwood Forest and Dry Messic Oak-Hickory Forest. This property has been identified for water quality protection.   It might also be possible to enlist another non-profit might to partner in purchasing this land.  The application for these projects could be submitted by FLANO or the park.  
    • ACTION ITEMS:  Greg Schneider and Vicki Taylor will pursue the application process and the needed documentation.  They will identify possible partnerships for this project.  They will determine whether the application should be submitted by FLANO or the park.
• Credit Card Payments:  Katie Wurtz reported that the best way to handle this would be to solicit credit card payments on a laptop or tablet at FLANO events.
• BioBlitz Update:  More than 300 additional species were identified at BioBlitz.  Prior to this around 600 species had been documented.

New Business

• Katie Wurtz suggested that the barn wood that is being collected from demolished buildings be sold as a fund raiser.
• Jeff Cooper reported that Friends of the Mooresville Library has donated about hundred books to our Little Library.  Debbie Page will post this on our donor appreciation web page.  
• Katie Wurtz will check with NCFSP to see if they will loan us funds so we can order t-shirts that we could sell at our March business meeting.  

Next Board Meeting is Tuesday, February 5, 2018 at 6:00 p.m.
Meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
Minutes submitted for approval by President Michael Polzin on 1/11/2018.