Minutes from October 16, 2016

Minutes
Meeting on October 16, 2016
Pocono Avian Research Center
Board of Directors Meeting
Billy's Pocono Diner, Tannersville, PA

Present: Darryl Speicher, Jackie Speicher, Mildred Bernstein, Lisa Schreffler, John Leiser
Absent: Diane Wong, John Styk
Guest: Rebekah Snyder

1. Call to order at 10 am at Billy's Pocono Diner.
   
2. Approval of minutes from July 7, 2016.  Darryl Speicher reviewed the minutes from July.  On a motion by Jackie, second by Mildred, the minutes were approved.
   
3. Financial Report: According to the Profit and Loss (P&L) statement, we are $169.03 in the red at the end of the second quarter.  Expenses included dinner at the Stroudsmoor, insurance, and website.  Income is from education programs and general donations.  Accounts balanced at $13,791.54 with $325 in accounts receivable.
   
4. Directors report   (a)In March/April 2016 we wrote a letter of support for an easement with The Nature Conservancy - we may be able to access the property for research.  We also have an agreement with the Buck Hill Conservation Foundation to access their three acre bird sanctuary.  Additionally, we have applied for and received the station permit for Kettle Creek. We have been making some strong connections in the county. (b)We have been holding weekly research meetings (Monday at noon at Dunkin Donuts in Bartonsville).  Everyone is welcome to attend these meetings.  Please join us when you can and give us your expertise. cWe have been doing some additional presentations for NCC: Darryl and John (Jackie and Lisa were present) did a banding presentation at NCC Monroe Campus for the US Dept of Education (DoE), PA DoE, local politicians, NCC administrators, faculty and students.  John reported that the presentation was well received.  NCC had been awarded a 'green ribbon' award and this was intended to showcase some of the activities NCC has been supporting .
5. Education Committee   (a)education programs: Garlic festival, Cherry valley festival, PEEC warbler weekend, Lackawanna College, Barrett Library ( 6-part program)  (b)Bekah was asked to do an education program in Scranton in December.  (c)(Darryl reports) Kettle Creek Friday night owl banding programs will take place during October.  PR has gone in the county and on the Kettle creek Facebook Page. (d)(Lisa reports) Face book Page: send her stories.  The page has a lot of likes, and is linked to the bird theme for NEH grant at NCC.
6. Research Committee   (a)Stephen Kloiber: Owl eye color research is going well.  He has written a few paragraphs.  Lisa has helped with the data analysis.  (b)Bekah reported on progress in the Grey Catbird and barberry study: we will be looking at DNA analysis this fall, and the color banding will go on for one more year.  We are sure it is not just Barberry presence/absence but age of the plant as well.  It is being used for nest sites, and maybe food resources.  (c)John's student have been coming out to owl banding.  They have been very helpful and dependable.  This will be worth service learning credit to them.   (d)Lisa reported on her bird research.  Jackie and Stephen have been listening to the sound files and helping to analyze the recordings.  Very slow process.   (e)There was no Snipe Hunt in 2016.  We will reevaluate and maybe try again in 2017.   (f)Bluebird Nest Box project has been successful at Buck Hill.  This finished up at the end of August.  We have one dedicated volunteer at Buck Hill (Carol Klatt) who has been helping out.
7. Community Activities - We have a lot of good community partners: The Nature Conservancy, Monroe County Conservation District, Kettle Creek Environmental Ed Center, Lackawanna College Environmental Ed Center, East Stroudsburg University, Buck Hill Conservation Foundation, Pocono Environmental Ed Center, Brodhead Watershed Assoc, Barrett Paradise Friendly Library.
8. New Business    (a)Change in the board: John Styk- Board member since 2010.  He is interested in helping with big projects, but has been unable to attend most meetings, especially online.  John should be removed from the board for inactivity.    (b)Change in the board: Rebekah Snyder is a long-time volunteer, who was hired as a biologist in 2015 and 2016.  Bekah has been very helpful in all aspects of the research.  We would like to invite her to join the board.  On a motion from Lisa, second by Mildred: all in favor.    (c)Status update on NCC merge: John is working on a business plan for the college.  The merger would include office space, separate endowment under NCC foundation, salary for a full time person (50/50 split) who would teach and run the center.  Future plans for the center include generating new courses such as field ornithology, research techniques, and more.  In 2017 NCC will begin a capital campaign for their 50th anniversary: we will get a line item in the budget and donations can be earmarked for the center. John indicates this will happen sometime soon.   (d)Annual dinner will be held on January 8 (1-4 pm) and is usually at the Stroudsmoor.  We make about $1.00 on each person attending, and the remainder of the fundraising is from the silent auction.  Jackie will look into other venues to see if there are other good choices out there.  Everyone is happy with the Stroudsmoor: so we may stay with them.
9. Next Meeting: January 8, 2017 Prior to the annual dinner.
10. Adjourn at 11:24 am.