AFMC

Regular Board Meeting

January 7, 2008

6:00 P.M. Clinton County

CALL TO ORDER: Dick Crawford called the meeting to order at 6:10 pm at the Clinton County Government Center.

ATTENDING: Dick Crawford, Vicky Lesniak, JoEllen Saumier, Ken Gadway, Nancy Moriarty, Meredith Johnston, Chris McCauliffe and Warren Newman. Also present were Paul Moriarty, Gina Agoney and Bernadette Logozar

The following corrections were made to previous meeting minutes from November 13, 2007.

Old Business: Minutes state that Meredith Johnston will contact Ellen to thank her for her help with the Paul Smith tents. Meredith was not asked to do this.

JoEllen asked to strike from the minutes under Old Business that a "motion was made by Marjorie" regarding use of leftover funds.

JoEllen asked to add to New Business that it was discussed that managers and others should encourage vendors to use the sampler pass.

Next Meeting Date: The statement that "Dick called Jane Dec. 18^th to say we have to change the next meeting to Jan. 7^th. Jane will notify the board and make arrangements for another to take the minutes as she will be out of town" should not be part of the meeting minutes.

It was mentioned that the person who takes the minutes of a meeting should record their name on the minutes.

A motion was made by JoEllen Saumier to accept the minutes as corrected and seconded by Nancy Moriarty. The motion was passed unanimously.

Dick Crawford read the Secretary’s Report from the agenda. In the interest of saving paper and postage, Jane Desotelle suggested that there could be a check off box on the sign up form that a vendor could check if they prefer to get Email notifications only. The board can also receive Email instead of paper, except for Ken, Dick and Warren who do not have Email. The Secretary’s report was accepted unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Gina Agoney passed out the treasurer’s report for 2007.

JoEllen mentioned the need to correct the date to December 31, not December.

JoEllen shared highlights which include:

AFMC exceeded expected income by $5,000

Expenses that did exceed what was originally planned include an additional $600 that was paid to Gina Agoney due to increased workload. This was approved by the board at a previous meeting.

Ink and paper expenses were higher than anticipated due to higher prices for these products.

Market management expenses were more due to higher than anticipated income.

Insurance was budgeted for $2,000 but was only billed at $1,500. This could have been due to a higher risk for the Akwesasne market.

Field Forest and Stream took in $348 this year, which was more than the previous year.

Gina questioned whether the AFMC checking account that was set up for EBT would be reimbursed for the deductions that were taken out. According to the NY Farmer’s Market Federation, the AFMC account will be reimbursed in January.
The Treasurer’s Report was accepted with thanks.

Bernadette inquired about Friends of the Market and how it is promoted. Dick said that it goes out in the packets in the Spring. JoEllen suggested that managers could send a letter to last year’s friends to rejoin.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT: The Executive Director’s report was accepted as written.

There was discussion regarding whether the 15% of leftover funds from the vendor fees should go to each individual market to roll over for necessary projects. Since a vote was not taken at the last meeting, JoEllen asked if the board really wanted to do this. Dick thought that the money should be available if needed, but not have it there automatically for each market. The board could vote on what was needed.

Dick reported the progress that has been made on the Elizabethtown floor. The materials will be donated by volunteers. A local contractor will rototill and dig up the area. Chris McCauliffe’s landscape company will disperse materials. The Elizabethtown floor will be essentially free. Rob will ask the museum to see if they will accept a clay floor, as the museum will not accept concrete or asphalt. Dick stressed that a clay floor must be maintained with 15% moisture. The museum has water available by the cedar hedge and the floor will probably have to be watered every week. The clay floor will be contained inside the posts, and gravel will still be on the outside edges for drainage. JoEllen also put aside $600 (based on Marjorie’s $500 estimate at the October 2007 meeting) for the Elizabethtown floor and this will appear in the January billing statement. It was decided to leave the $5,000 CD and let it grow and buy necessary items out of reserve funds. A motion was made by Warren to take the old business off the table and seconded by Ken. The motion was approved unanimously.

Market Dates for 2008 will be as follows:

Saranac Lake: June 3-September 30

Chateaugay Lake: June 21 – August 30

Malone: June 4 – October 8

Elizabethtown: May 16-October 10

Keene: June 8 – October 12

Wilmington: July 3-August 28

Paul Smiths: June 20 – September 26

Paul Smith’s hours will change to 2:00-5:00

Bernadette Logozar will put market information in Ag News if she receives the information by January 18, 2008

2008 Budget: JoEllen distributed 2 possible budgets, one with $10/$15 for season and daily vendor fees, and another budget using the 2007 vendor rates of $12/$18. JoEllen anticipates 70 members for 2008. JoEllen estimates that there will be 15 sampler pass vendors in 2008 and also expects the 2008 income to be higher than what shows on her budget. $120 was budgeted for the web site this year. There is no money in contingency because there is enough money in reserve.

Market managers proposed expenses are 25% for managers and 15% for market management. JoEllen noted that the only manager income last year that was down in income was in Elizabethtown, probably due to the dirt floor. JoEllen recommended paying board members mileage for attending meetings.

MOTION: To be presented at annual meeting. JoEllen motioned and Warren seconded motion to adopt a $10 season vendor rate and $15 rate for daily vendors

Motion was passed unanimously.

Also discussed:

Website should only keep current years minutes (12 months).

Dick will contact insurance company to get exact premium for 2008.

Meredith did calculation for gas mileage and came up with 40 cents per mile, to be part of budget to be voted on at the Annual Meeting.

Ken will not be running for the board. Thank you to Ken for 6 years of service to the AFMC board.

Dick discussed the popularity of local foods and how this is good for the Farmer’s Markets.

Dick asked if there were changes to the bylaws and there were none.

NEXT MEETING: Annual Meeting January 27 at the Saranac Town Hall

ADJOURNMENT: Dick motioned meeting to end, Ken seconded

Meeting adjourned 7:15.

Minutes respectfully submitted

Victoria Lesniak