January 2023 Board Meeting Minutes

[lauracricket]

13th January, 2023
Second Baptist Church, 1117 N James St, Jacksonville, AR 72076

Board Members Present:
Pat Vaughn (Woodwalker9), President
Angela Munden (ABJCM), Vice President
Randy Elder (RJElder), Treasurer
Laura Neale (lauracricket), Secretary

Board Members Absent:
David Solomon (KSDS97)
Chris Rasmussen (Razz007)
Justin Murphree (arkfiremedic)
Jason Nuckols (jclaudii), Website Manager

Guests Present:
Judy Vaughn (MathSeeker)
Joann McRae (JAM6100)
Sheila Reese (Reese486)
Bobby Reese (MuggleNephew)
Carla Matlock (myst_again)
Richard Lee (idratherbehiking)

Round Table Discussion 6:00-6:45 p.m.

Called to Order 6:45 p.m.

Agenda Presented

Officer Reports

President's Report:
"Your President has been busy this past quarter working with fellow Board Members in a continuing effort to restore Arkgeo to Arkansas' Statewide geocaching association.

From working closely with the Election Committee to assemble a list of possible candidates for the upcoming Board of Director's election to working with the other committee's to reach the objectives according to their individual charters.

We continue to work to help bring Arkgeo back to the great association it was pre-pandemic."

Treasurer's Report:
"10/12/2022 to 01/01/2023
Beginning Balance: $3,789.03 (Checking $3,536.61, PayPal $70.92, PathTag $181.50)
Receipts: $25.00 PathTag giveback credit tag #52802 11/14/2022
Expenses: none
Ending Balance: $3,814.03 (Checking $3,536.61, PayPal $70.92, PathTag $206.50)"

Committee Reports

Election Committee:
Judy Vaughn, chair - The Election Committee is actively looking for candidates for the upcoming Board election. Nominations are now open. A willing candidate must be nominated by 2 members to be added to the ballot. (See Bylaws.)
Timeline:
Now - January 31: nominations open
February 8: Election Committee will officially compile slate of nominees
February 15: Election Committee will post nominee ballots for open positions to the ArkGeo website's Voting Booth
March 1 - 31: voting active
May 1: old Board members will rotate off, newly elected Board members will begin their 3-year terms
Email notifications and reminders will go out to voting members via the Website Manager.

Fundraising Committee:
chair currently vacant, none

Community Relations Committee:
chair currently vacant, none

Membership Relations Committee:
Judy Vaughn is chair.
(See discussion under Unfinished Business below.)

Events Committee:
chair currently vacant, none

President's comment: Committees are the backbone of ArkGeo. The Board just helps facilitate what they want to do. We need to get them back up and running.

Unfinished Business

Increasing ArkGeo Membership and Participation

Guest question: How many active members does ArkGeo have?
Board answer: About 110 (allowing for admin accounts and several recent member deaths), but not all are currently active.

Guest suggestion: The ArkGeo website could feature new posts and content on the front page.
Guest comment: It seems that there is sometimes more activity on the ArkGeo Facebook group than on the ArkGeo website Forum.
Guest suggestion: ArkGeo Board meetings, event reminders, etc. could be posted to the Facebook group to draw in more participation.
General agreement.
President's comment: Facebook can be a useful tool, but we ultimately want to drive traffic to the ArkGeo website.

New Business

Elect Executive Committee Officers for the New Term

Treasurer: Treasurer Randy Elder will stay on, as there is historical precedent to allow a longer term for this position.

Immediate Past President: President Pat Vaughn is due to rotate off, but he will stay on to prevent a critical vacancy in this position.

President-elect: Vice President Angela Munden was nominated, accepted nomination, and was elected.

Vice President-elect: currently vacant
from the Bylaws: "Any vacancies occurring among the Officers of the Executive Committee shall be filled, until the next annual election, at the discretion and decision of the Board..."
General question: Can "discretion" be used to fill vacancies with non-Board ArkGeo members?
President's answer: No, because the positions need to be filled with elected members.
(See further discussion below.)

Secretary-elect (temporary): Treasurer Randy Elder
General discussion: There is historical precedent for the Treasurer and Secretary roles to be combined. To prevent a vacancy, Randy volunteered to fulfill secretarial duties for the short term, though he would prefer not to do so in the long term. A motion to temporarily combine the positions was seconded and passed.

Guest questions: Can the bylaws be changed? Can the VP position be left vacant? Can an absent Board member be elected or "voluntold"?
General discussion: It's not ideal, but it's been done before...
President's comment: Board positions are a volunteer activity and y'all are appreciated for showing up. Sometimes life just gets in the way. The pandemic has been difficult for us. This time next year, we will have more options for filling vacancies. Guests who are actively involved and attend meetings are great potential future Board candidates. VP vacancy can be revisited in future.

Guest question: Can Board meetings be rotated around the state to accommodate members who cannot easily travel to central Arkansas?
Vice President's / President-elect's comment: What about Zoom or MS Teams? Most of us are familiar with using these now because of the pandemic, and it could allow remote attendance. It could be combined with in-person meetings or, if need be, replace them.
President's / Immediate Past President's comment: There have been some technical difficulties in the past. Ideally, Board members will once again begin hosting events in different regions of the state. We could go back to meeting in Conway, now that the previous meeting location's fire damage has likely been fixed.
Secretary's comment: We could maybe take a poll in the ArkGeo Facebook group to gather member input / preferences about these options?

Status of Board Member Candidates:
General discussion redacted, pending ballot publication.

Next ArkGeo Board Meeting: April 14th, 2023, 6:00 p.m., Second Baptist Church, 1117 N James St, Jacksonville, AR 72076

Adjourned 8:15 p.m.

Submitted by Secretary Laura Neale

(Secretary's note: This was the last Board meeting I will be able to attend for the foreseeable future. I have begun graduate school, so studies must take priority in my schedule now, though I will remain on the Board until I rotate off and will be available via digital communication. I am gratified by the Board's confidence in me over the past year, and I have enjoyed the time spent with its members. I look forward to the progress ArkGeo will continue to make for the benefit of the geocaching community in our state. - Laura)