Board of Directors Minutes – July 27, 2007

MINUTES, BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
WAUSAU, WISCONSIN [technically Rothschild, not Wausau]
JULY 27, 2007

President Tim Webb called the meeting to order at 3:07 p.m.

Directors present:
Kevin Baker
Stony Burk
Steve Gamble
Nikki Hemphill
Robert Hyman
Fred Lobdell
Will Mokszycki
Craig Noland
Jim Sutton
Steve Urbanski
Tim Webb

Directors absent:
Ken Akerman
Lillian Elliott
Tom Karchesy
Olivier Kozlowski

Ex-officio, non-voting Directors present:
John Mitchler

Other Club members present:
Dave Covill
Jack Parsell
Paul Pontiff
Mike Rude
Jean Trousdale
Penn Watson

OLD BUSINESS

1. approve Sep-May email minutes – n/a

2. approve May-Aug email minutes – n/a

3. Treasurer’s Report – n/a

3. (sic) Robert Hyman reported on the status of the District of Columbia
HP. The National Park Service has agreed to the placement of a marker
disc in the ground. The disc is presently being designed and will
include mention of the Highpointers Club. The cost will be $983.50, 50%
of which will be submitted to the Highpointers Foundation (HPF) to be
paid by that organization. The marker is tentatively to be placed in
the ground in September 2007, and the official dedication and unveiling
is tentatively scheduled for July 16, 2008, the anniversary of the
founding of Washington, D. C. The official name of the HP is to be
Point Reno. Robert asked the Board about the appropriateness of the Club
paying for Pewter benchmarks (by Betty Riser) to give to V.I.P.s.

4. Tim Webb reported on the Jack Longacre Memorial. The Club owns 9.44
acres of what was formerly Jack’s property near the Missouri HP. There
will be a plaque attached to the summit boulder on Taum Sauk Mountain
and the dedication is scheduled for 2 p.m. on September 8, 2007. Tim
also reported for Olivier Kozlowski on the sign project.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
(this was moved up in the agenda because Jean & Dave had to leave early)

6. Jean Trousdale reported on the status of the Merc. She said it was
doing fine and was operating in the black. Will Mokszycki asked about
the approach to investment of the Club and Committees, and the
Treasurer, Merc, and HPF reported that non-operating money was invested
in Certificates of Deposit (CDs).

7. Dave Covill reported on the status of the HP Foundation. HPF received
IRS approval for tax-deductible status. HPF has received $8k in
donations. HPF received $10k from transfer from the HP Club of the
Zumwalt Fund and most of the Good Guys & Gal Fund. HPF is conducting
fund raising.

Nikki Hemphill raised the issue of the mountaineering books for door
prizes that were purchased from Mike Chessler with $200 of WI-07 funds.
It had been planned to auction off the four autographed books, the
proceeds going to benefit the HPF, but Nikki’s point was that these
books had been bought by the Convention for door prizes and that’s how
they should be disposed of. Following an extensive discussion, the
consensus seemed to be that the books in question were indeed donated to
be door prizes, and that’s what was decided to be done with them, no
formal vote being taken.

Dave Covill reported on the status of the Bradford Washburn American
Mountaineering Museum (BWAMM). The organizers of this project (the
Colorado Mountain Club, the American Mountaineering Center, and the
American Alpine Club) have agreed to a display for the Highpointers Club
as a part of the exhibits. Dave suggested that we need a volunteer to
coordinate these efforts and work on our museum display. The HPF gave
BWAMM $5,000 to create the exhibit and will donate $1,000 per year to
maintain it.

Dave Covill also reported on his meeting with Mrs. Donna Sterler, owner
of the Iowa HP, and her family. She will be donating 1.6 acres, to
include the HP, to Osceola County. The Economic Development Coordinator
of Osceola County will take charge of developing this land. The 8 acres
around the farm house will be sold.

1. Nikki Hemphill reported on the status of Conventions. On a motion by
Will Mokszycki, second by Craig Noland, the Board approved without
dissent the use of letterhead stationery by the Arizona 2008 convention.

Nikki announced that the AZ 2008 convention would be held from Wed.,
Sept. 10 through Sat., Sept. 13. The price would be $65 per person.

Nikki said the WI07 konvention team had performed in a very cooperative
way.

NEW BUSINESS
(at this point, the regular order of agenda was resumed)

1. Robert Hyman discussed adding Washington, D.C., to the Club regions
for a possible convention site. John Mitchler discussed what the Bylaws
allowed. Tim Webb suggested we take a straw poll of members at the
banquet.

2. A written list of state highpoints was submitted by John Mitchler.
Robert Hyman noted that the new HP of Washington, D.C. is Reno Point at
409′. On a motion by Craig Noland, second by Will Mokszycki, the list
was approved without dissent.

3. Mail-in Voting – stricken from the agenda

4. HP Postage Stamps – stricken from the agenda

5. Craig Noland initiated a discussion of HPC markers on all high points
to locate the HP. Will Mokszycki did not believe we need to identify the
highest spot. Craig offered to investigate more and get back to the
Board.

6. Craig Noland discussed reaching out for new members. Robert Hyman
suggested a “PR arm” of the Club could contact Rand McNally and Mapquest
to improve HP identification. Will Mokszycki suggested we align
activities with local events near HPs.

Relating to membership, John Mitchler presented two graphs summarizing
Club members and memberships. [This distinction arises because
memberships are paid subscriptions to one address, whereas members are
the number of people in the Club, many of whom share an address with one
or more other members.] There are currently just under 3,000 members,
and just under 1,500 memberships. The trend is more important than the
numbers.

Relating to membership, Steve Urbanski noted possible problems with
convention venues if there were more members.

7. Craig Noland submitted a written list of honorary members. After
corrections (2 added and 2 deleted), Will Mokszycki moved, seconded by
Steve Urbanski, to approve the listas corrected. The motion passed
without dissent.

8. Tracking convention data – n/a

ITEMS FROM THE FLOOR

A brief discussion of the high points of Mississippi, Michigan, Iowa,
and Kansas ensued. Stony Burk met the MS owners and they were not
concerned with vandalism. Mt. Arvon will be closed for about a month
next summer because of a logging operation. The highway was closed for
reconstruction in front of Hawkeye Point. There have been reports of
vandalism at Mt. Sunflower. It was agreed that the Club could do
nothing about the last item, and that no action was necessary for the
others except that an announcement should be made at the general
membership meeting that evening concerning Mt. Arvon access.

Stony Burk nominated Tracy B and Steve in L’Anse for the Paul Zumwalt
Award.

Stony Burk noted that the completer plaques are made in WA and painted
in NY, so there is cost of postage.

Member Penn Watson raised the point that there had been a change in the
criteria for the 40-state pin. Previously, it merely required 40 state
highpoints, but the new Directory stated that in addition to 40 state
HPs, at least 5 must be from the 4 regions of the country. This change
had never been made officially, and it appeared to be due merely to a
typographical error. President Webb said he would look into the matter.

COMMITTEE REPORTS
(at this point, committee reports resumed)

2. Dave Covill and John Mitchler submitted a written Editors report on
the newsletter.

3. John Mitchler presented a written report for the Liaison Committee.

4. Web report – none

5. Membership report – none

On a motion by Robert Hyman, the meeting adjourned at 5:24 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Fred Lobdell, Secretary