Minutes and Agenda AWA General Membership Meeting Minutes
The AWA general membership meeting was held at the Washington Township Meeting Room at 7 p.m. Board Members present were Steve Rettig, Bruce Francis, Pat Heefner, Maggie Cisar, Clif Norris, Rebecca Wertime, Sterling Buzzell, Pat O’Connor and Judy Bricker.President Steve Rettig opened the meeting with a brief overview of our organization, and its mission to Preserve the Antietam, to Protect the regional water supply and to Proceed cooperatively with the community members and municipalities through projects and education.
Minutes of 7/20/05: The minutes of AWA meeting July 20, 2005, were approved on a motion by Pat Heefner, 2nd by Clif Norris.
Treasurer’s Report: Bruce Francis reported that there was a balance of $8,020.30 in checking and $667.19 in the savings account. Bills were received for equipment the riparian maintenance volunteers, 2 payments from the Center for Watershed Protection, and Paul’s Market planting project. The Administrative Assistant, M. Cisar, submitted her first bill for the 1st phase of the Legacy grant and other administrative duties. She is considered a private contractor for executive duties over and above the volunteer hours she spends on watershed activities.
Volunteer Hours: Members were reminded again to report to Bruce Francis monthly the number of volunteer hours spent on watershed activities. These “in kind” hours count toward matching the dollars that we receive in the Legacy Grant.
Website: Bruce reminded everyone that the website has been updated to include a calendar of activities. Anyone having an addition to the calendar can contact him to post.
Pictures of past planting projects are also available to view.
Professional Stream Assessment: The Center for Watershed Protection, with Paul Sturm in charge, conducted stream assessments on September 13 through 17, 2005. CWP personnel and volunteers from our local AWA walked portions of the Antietam Creek along Country Club Road, Red Run, and Falls Creek. Their report is pending.
Project (Volunteer) Opportunities: The planting at the Lehman farm in Quincy is scheduled for October 22. Beaver Creek planting is November 12. Rattlesnake Run Road cleanup will be November 19. The stream monitoring committee has lost test sites and needs help immediately. The newly formed riparian maintenance team is also in need of help for spring. This committee is being formed to help with maintenance at previous planting sites.
Board Elections: Sterling Buzzell withdrew his name for re-election. Marty Schorn has submitted a letter of resignation because of a conflict of meetings. On a 1st from Clif, 2nd from Pat H. the nominations were closed and ballots were handed out with Steve Rettig, Pat Heefner, and Bruce Francis being re-elected for 3 year terms.
Presentations: AWA made presentations to St. Andrew group, Rouzerville Lions, and local developers.
New Partner: The Rotary Club has answered and accepted a letter of invitation of partnership.
Potential Farmers’ Meeting: Still in the works for planning a 2006 presentation to local farmers to make them aware of our watershed activities and purpose, in hopes of enlisting their cooperation.
The speaker for the evening was Mr. George Siehl, who is a graduate of the Mont Alto Campus and currently a professor there. He talked about how our legislators make laws; some of the ways our legislators receive their information, and the process of bills becoming laws.
The meeting was adjourned on a 1st from Clif, 2nd from Rebecca. The next scheduled general membership meeting of the AWA will be October 18, 2006, at 7 p.m. at the Washington Township Meeting Room..
Respectfully submitted, Judy Bricker Secretary, AWA