Minutes of November 9, 2009
Merrimac Savings Bank
Members present: Bill Landry, Marilyn Landry, Irene Nally, Mary Riordan, Ron Saunders, Cheryl Saunders, Diane Morin, Sally Woodman, John Meserve, Kathy Meserve, Forest Reynolds, Karen O’Malley and Barbara DiBartolomeo
Bill Landry called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Mary Riordan
Marilyn Landry made a motion to accept the minutes of October13, 2009. Sally Woodman seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Treasurer’s Report – Bill Landry
Bill Landry reported the income this month was from the Wine Social ticket sales and corporate sponsors. Irene Nally made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Kathy Meserve seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Old Business:
Schoolhouse Repairs – Bill Landry distributed pictures of the progress on the floor. He reported the sub-floor is in and there is no more musty smell in the building. They put a trap door in so we can get under the floor in the future if we need to. They left one window open in the crawl space for ventilation. The next step is for Bill and Ron Saunders to open the back wall and start up the heater to get the building warm enough for the painter, Nick Giorgi. When the painter is finished, Ron Saunders will finish the electrical work. Ron Saunders asked what the plan was for the finished floor. Bill Landry replied he thought we would use finished wide pine boards for the floor. Bill asked if we should consider getting pre-finished boards for the floor. He noted that this
would reduce the amount of work to complete the job. He did not know what the cost would be. Cheryl Saunders noted that Home Depot has a program for donating materials to organizations. If we sent a request to Home Depot on our letterhead with our tax ID number, describing what we were doing and what we needed they may donate the materials. There was discussion about whether the pre-finished boards would have the look of the old floor. Bill will talk to Rob Hayes about it.
3rd Annual Wine & Cheese Social Final Report – Kathy Meserve reported the event was a success and a good time was had by all. We had a 25% increase in the number of people attending. Kathy thanked the anonymous donor of the wine. Bill noted that people came earlier and stayed later than in previous years. Kathy stated that someone had told her they would have gone but they didn’t drink wine. She told them we also had soda and water available. She suggested that making that fact more know next year may increase attendance. Bill Landry reported the revenue from the event was down 20% from last year. He noted this was most likely due to the continuing economic conditions. Bill reported that we have netted $6,722 for this
event in the three years. Bill thanked John Meserve for his efforts in getting business sponsors for the event.
New Business:
Review of Society By-Laws
Bill Landry distributed copies of the by-laws.
Article I, Sections 2 & 3, Dues rates –Marilyn Landry suggested we keep the dues at their current amount. Cheryl Saunders made a motion to keep the dues at the current rate. John Meserve seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Article III, Section 1, Limit on Consecutive Terms for Office of President -- Bill Landry suggested amending Article III Section 1 of the by-laws to include a maximum consecutive years term limit for President. He feels that the Society can benefit from a change in perspective in this position and suggested a 4 year limit. Ron Saunders stated we Bill has been a very good President.
John Meserve made a motion to amend Article III, Section 1 of the by-laws to include “The office of President shall have a maximum term limit of 4 consecutive years”. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Article III, Section 6, Executive Board -- Ron Saunders made a motion to create an Executive Board. Marilyn Landry seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
There was discussion on the members of the Executive Board. Karen O’Malley asked what kinds of decisions come up during that the Executive Board would handle. Bill Landry listed the Lamb roast and Plan NH issues. The consensus was to have a 5 member board consisting of all elected officers and 1 appointed at-large member. In the event an officer holds two offices a second at-large member will be appointed. Three members of the Executive Board shall constitute a quorum. Sally Woodman suggested the Executive Board have a maximum expenditure limit. There was discussion on having a maximum expenditure per item limit of $2,500 per item. This amendment will be reviewed again at the next meeting.
Article III, Section 5, Duties of Historian/Archivist/Curator -- There was discussion on the duties of these three positions.
John Meserve suggested we create a Historical Committee that would consist of the Historian, Archivist and Curator. This amendment will be reviewed again at the next meeting.
It was suggested to change the wording to:
The Historian shall be responsible for the continuing research of matters of historical interest to the Society and its members.
The Archivist shall be responsible for the cataloguing of the Society’s historical collections.
The Curator shall be responsible for the storage and safekeeping of the Society’s historical collections and buildings.”
Article III, Section 7 – There was discussion on what this means and that it is sufficient as written.
Article III, Section 8, Standing Committees – The members agreed to not populate the Building, Funds and Grants and Education Committees at this time. Committee chairpersons will be appointed for the Membership and Program and Publicity committees at the next meeting.
John Meserve suggested we remove the word “quarterly” from the Program and Publicity Committee section. The Chairpersons will then solicit members to be on their committee. A draft of these changes will be reviewed at the next meeting.
Correspondence:
None
Other:
Bill Landry spoke to Trish McCarthy about replacing the sign at the Marshall House. He will send her a formal letter requesting a new sign.
Officers for next year will be elected at the next meeting.
Next meeting is Monday December 14, 2009 at the Merrimac Savings Bank
Barbara DiBartolomeo made a motion to adjourn. Karen O’Malley seconded the motion. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Bill Landry adjourned the meeting at 8:15PM
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Riordan, Secretary
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