Minutes – August 27, 2009

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DOG PARK MINUTES August 27, 2009

Civic Center

ATTENDANCE:

16 signed in: Jennifer Wright, Kathy Hoaks, Bob Mitchell, Michelle Hein, Nancy Ruzic, Elisabeth Grzelak, Tracy Larsen, C. Luanne Freed, Kelly Freed, Terry Shadley, Marilyn Cox, Carol Carter, Todd Mcntyre,Darrel Jacobs, John Mason. Alderman Steve Foster

FINANCIALS

The meeting was opened by J C Mason at 1730 who presented the financial total to date of $18,291.15. The expense of printing brochures by Faulstich has been paid out of Donations ($1838.85) leaving us with the above balance. Wrist band sales have been relatively brisk at 1-$3 2-$5 and T-shirts at $20.00. We are running out of Beagle shirts and there are now 75 Maggie shirts on order from Apparel Unlimited on Georgetown Road. All thank you and memorials have been mailed and we are current to date. 56 sent out. The procedure is this-presented by J C Mason: The City of Danville office prepares the formal thank you letter and its amount on their stationery. I will pick these up at appropriate intervals and mail them out with our DOG Park thank you’s (hand and paw handshake). If it is a memorial then a separate letter goes to them with just our paw and hand letter.

We now have a letter prepared by the city over Doug Ahrens title that Darrel or I can print out after we put in the name of the prospect, i.e. County Market confirming ahead that the donation or service is tax deductible as made to City of Danville/Dog Park. City Finance Director, Gayle Brandon want s a copy of each letter so they can be tracked. IRS implications were reviewed by Darrel Jacobs.

CONTACTS

In view of the nice article and pictures we need to continue our fund raising efforts anticipating costs of fence will be higher and if funds allow we could add some amenities at startup. STRIKE WHILE IRON IS HOT. The contacts list was reviewed, updated and discussed. Copy to be included with minutes. There are some loose ends as noted that will need to be addressed by personal contact and Darrel Jacobs and J C Mason agreed to continue pursuing them. The member ship present was encouraged to make personal contacts of lawyers, dentists, physicians, chiropractors, merchant s and friends. Plenty of brochures are available. Our updated and re-designed poster was redone, framed and enclosed with Plexiglas. Images on Gilbert did a wonderful job on it. They also did not make any charge for their services because they thought it was great cause for the city of Danville. Great In-Kind donation. This will be put to great use in presentations such as upcoming noon Rotary on October 26

Diana Bryant was unable to attend the meeting but provided an update from the Vermilion County Animal Shelter via email:

1. They no longer mail out rabies alert letter-just postcards. With the loss of that potential spread of information we will need to pick up the brochures and search for other mailing sites-water Company , Banks etc

2. There is the feeling that the use of their “Doggy Banks” for funds collection might confuse donors so that offer is off the table

OTHER CONTACTS

A decision was made to pursue the bagging and carry out at County Market. The letter requesting this from the city indicating deductibility has now been prepared and mailed to E Grzelak who will be scheduling and calling for volunteer s

It was decided we would not initiate the selling of Elder Berman coupons at this time. Some concern that this would hamper similar efforts by the schools

Daschund Festival at Fairgrounds on Sept 12 appears to be an attractive opportunity. Kathy Hoaks has assumed the leadership role here. The poster, wrist bands, T-shirts, brochures and informational material about our ink cartridge recycling will be displayed. All who can help please contact Kathy The application has been submitted.

Todd McIntyre suggested the Ellsworth Park Festival and he is looking into that and organizing it. If you can help please contact Todd . Coordination with Kathy for display material and wrist bands will be necessary.

Ink jet recycling. The Funding Factory of 380 E Bayfront Parkway, Erie, PA has provided a START Kit with direction for packing and also the size cartridges they will accept. We are working on getting this project up and running. We have received a large assortment from TRIDAN and Walgreen’s (acct on Voorhees). We have talked to County Market (N&S) and will be contacting BCBS for their used cartridges. Kelly and Luanne Freed have volunteered their talents for box construction for the County Markets. Hopefully the word will spread and this will provide income down the road for items we need (i.e. poop bags). With success we will need to organize sorting and packing parties. www.fundingfactory.com. Email: Info@funding factory.com. They have been contacted and posters, shipping boxes and labels for pre-paid UPS is on the way. Volunteers will be need in this promising effort.

Website Ready

Thanks to the talents and generosity of Alderman Steve Foster and his website development company, BEAMSCO, we have a beautiful website. As it develops we will be able to describe our park, have the rules and regulations readily available, fees, memberships, etc. Our brochure will help in donations and provide usage and membership information. Steve gave a brief presentation of the fundamentals, has provided all the fees necessary and we are up and running. Very- Very exciting. Thank You, Steve, from all the volunteers in the Fetch Dog Park Group. Great in-kind donation. www.fetchdogpark.org

TIME TO ORGANIZE

A general discussion regarding what routes we might take at this point from informal group to a more formal group with bylaws developed. This discussion was lead by Kelly Freed as a prelude to his presentation and drafts for rules and regulation. He had prepared a packet with a format followed by his suggested ONE PAGE RULES AND THEN A PAMPHLET VERSION WITH MORE DETAIL. A COPY WAS HANDED OUT TO MOST MEMBERS PRESENT WITH PLAN THAT THEY WOULD READ, DIGESTED, AND BE READY TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FINAL FORM AT THE NEXT MEETING.

The consensus favored a formal organization that could present, represent and be a valuable resource to the City that would be a force in ensuring the success and longevity of the Dog Park Concept. Eventually bylaws will be needed

At this point a Nominating Committee was proposed with the charge of developing officer structure and organizational guidelines to help the volunteers move forward and create an organization that will ensure survival of the Dog Park Dream. Volunteer members: Kathy Hoaks Chr, Kelly Freed, Nancy Ruzic, Tracy Larsen, Elisabeth Grzelak spoke up early but any who want to help please contact Kathy Hoaks

T he meeting concluded at 710 PM. Thanks to all who attended. Diana Bryant, Deb Fridy, Jeannette Gourley expressed their desire to be present but unable because of circumstances beyond their control. 7 new members expressed their desire to help.

Respectfully submitted. Will be attached to Yahoo and our new website.

J C Mason