Minutes submitted by Stanley Holloway, Secretary
The meeting was called to order by President Alan Durden at 10:15 a.m. Alan thanked the Buncombe County staff for hosting the meeting and setting up the meeting location. Alan also thanked Past-President John Dorner for his service last year and commended him on the work he has done with maintaining the Association's website.
The minutes of the last meeting were read by Secretary Stanley Holloway. Kenneth Reeves moved that the minutes be approved as read, and Ross Young seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as read. Ross Young then went over the Treasurer's Report. It was brought up that the report still showed John Dorner as Treasurer and this should be changed to current Treasurer, Ross Young. Steve Duckett moved to accept the report as changed and Kenneth Reeves seconded the motion. The Treasurer's Report was approved as changed.
The next item of business was the introduction of new agents. John Dorner introduced Chris Talley, the new agricultural agent in Henderson and Translvania Counties. The group then went around introducing themselves to Chris.
The first item of old business discussed was the summer activity at Lake Chatuge. Those that attended the event agreed that it went smoothly and everyone enjoyed the activity. It was the consensus of the group that we should seriously consider doing a similar event next year.
The next item of business was the 2000 State Meeting. Gary Hyatt reported that overall it was a good meeting. The meeting was well attended. Gary stated that there were some glitches in the tours and that he was disappointed with Dr. Ort's responses to agent questions at the meeting.
The next item was the 2000 National Meeting held in Jackson, MS. John Dorner reported that it was an excellent meeting. The tours were good and the professional improvement sessions were very good. John stated that it was a very well organized for such a large meeting and that the spouses and kids tours were great. There was some discussion of NC's plan to bid on hosting the National Meeting in 2008 in Greensboro. It was mentioned that we need to be thinking about helping with the event.
Alan then inquired about the status of the association award nominations. It was confirmed that Phillip Hedden had applied for the Young Agent Award and Jeff Vance had applied for the A.A.
A report from the Tobacco Situation Committee was called for. Terri Scruggs reported that the committee had met and they had come up with the idea to apply for a grant from the Golden Leaf Foundation. Gary Hyatt was to report on this later.
The next item of business was the 2001 State Meeting. Alan Durden shared a preliminary budget with the group. The budget is approximately $5000 higher than the previous two year's State Meeting budgets. This increase is primarily due to food costs associated with the Holiday Inn Sun-Spree of which we have no control. Alan asked for any modifications or adjustments. After considerable discussion over the preliminary budget, it was recommended that Alan and Steve discuss the budget with the State Board at the Oct. 6 meeting and ask for their feedback. It was also suggested that they get some clarification from the Board as to the funding status of the pre-conference tours.
Ross Young then moved that we adjourn for lunch and Steve Duckett seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned for lunch at 11:40 a.m.
The meeting was reconvened at 12:40 p.m. Alan went over the 2001 State Meeting Committee assignments and the preliminary agenda. There was some discussion on how to get all members of the West District involved in planning for the State Meeting. The suggestion was made to have the individual chairs of each committee to personally contact members asking them to serve. There was also discussion on the professional development tours. It was decided that 6 to 8 tours needed to be planned for Wednesday of the State Meeting. Tom Harvey and Steve Duckett shared their preliminary plans and asked for any ideas from the group. After some discussion, Tom brought up the question on liability during the tours and who would be responsible if a problem were to occur. Ross Young volunteered to contact the State Legal Advisor and Alan and Steve are to check with the State Board regarding this issue.
The next item discussed was the Professional Improvement sessions. It was decided that at least 3 topics were needed for the first session with possible repeat during the second session. Some ideas shared for these sessions included; Time Management - Dr. Gary Moore, having a financial planner such as Edward Jones or Dean Witter, and a meteorologist to discuss weather patterns.
Next, Alan brought up the reception for award recipients and posed the question do we need to have it or not? The consensus of the group was to leave it in the program; however, if money is tight use it as an orientation session for awardees and not serve refreshments.
Tom Harvey suggested that we need some identifiable item for our district members to wear during the meeting. Several items were discussed including special caps, vests, and name tags. Terri Scruggs suggested that the district purchase "HOST" ribbons and attach to district members name tags as a relatively inexpensive, yet professional means of identification. Everyone agreed.
Next, Alan posed the question, do we need a theme or slogan for the meeting. Several ideas were thrown around and the group decided on Terri's suggestion of "Reaching New Heights in The Mountains".
Alan Durden discussed Rhett Davis's meeting with Dr's. Ort and Zublena. He read Rhett's e-mail message concerning the meeting and administration's response concerning the Ag. Agent's concerns and suggestions to CES Administration.
Next, Gary Hyatt reported on the status of the Tobacco Situation Committee's response and the Golden Leaf Foundation grant proposal. Agents from the district are working with the Western North Carolina Tobacco Growers Assoc. and the Tobacco Foundation to submit a proposal to facilitate programming similar to the old TVA Program. The grant will ask for $100,000 from the Golden Leaf Foundation to provide 100 farmers from the 24 burley producing counties with $1,000 each of incentive money to encourage farmers to implement test plots, etc. looking at "alternatives". The WNCTGA will facilitate the program and the Tobacco Foundation will handle the money and issue checks without overhead. CES will provide technical assistance and help to facilitate the program in their respective counties. Plans are for participants to provide a two page summary of the results of their project. These summaries will be compiled and placed on the internet for access state-wide.
Next, the group decided that due to the State Meeting, we need to meet more frequently than normal to firm up plans for the meeting. The next meeting is set for Dec. 7, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. in Mars Hill. The Madison staff will be responsible for locating a meeting site.
Tom Harvey brought up the issue of the Association paying new agent dues. Currently, most counties are paying agent dues and it was suggested that in the future we may want to review the policy on the Association paying these dues.
With no further discussion, John Dorner moved that the meeting be adjourned and Tom Harvey seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m.
Minutes submitted by
Stanley Holloway, Secretary
NCACAA, Western District
Posted on 10/9/00.
Please send comments and suggestions to John Dorner.