MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
RIVER HILLS FOUNDATION, INC.
October 17, 2007
A meeting of the Board of Directors of the River Hills Foundation was held at the Village Hall in the Village of River Hills on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, at 4:00 p.m. pursuant to notice given to all directors. Roll call indicated the presence of President Anne Vogel, Treasurer Stacy Terris and Directors Robert Brunner, Richard Glaisner, Kristin Severson, Mary Ann LaBahn, Jill Pelisek and Elaine Marshall. Absent and excused were Douglas MacNeil, Liza Perry and Donald Baumgartner. Also present were Tom Tollaksen, Village Manager. Kurt Fredrickson, Superintendent of DPW and Carolyn Toms-Neary, Village Clerk,
A motion was made by Richard Glaisner, seconded by Kristin Severson to approve the minutes of the last meeting which was held on January 29, 2007. The motion carried unanimously.
The President’s Report was taken out of order and presented at this time. President Anne Vogel gave a formal welcome to Elaine Marshall as a new member of the Foundation.
Anne Vogel also reported that she was in receipt of a thank you note from the North Shore Library for the Foundation’s contribution for equipment to the children’s room. Anne reported that the library hung a plaque acknowledging the contribution of the River Hills Foundation next to the children’s computer.
Anne felt that
the Foundation should review the criteria for grant applications. She reported that Shorewood has an expansive
website and gives detailed information regarding their stringent criteria for
grant applications. Discussion ensued regarding
the criteria of the
It was agreed that the by-laws should be reviewed and will be distributed to all members for their review for the annual meeting.
Treasurer Stacy Terris presented the financial report summarizing the revenues and expenditures which resulted in a September balance of a little over $77,000. Mr. Terris reported that we have received a final settlement check from Partners Books Distributing, Inc. They also returned 13-14 books. He reported that he did a final reconciliation on the book account and there is a difference of just about $10.00.
Discussion ensued regarding how to get rid of the remaining books the number of which are estimated to be around 900. It was decided that a reminder will be placed in the annual appeal letter that they are available for sale. The Board reviewed the financial report and a motion was made by Richard Glaisner, seconded by Kristen Severson to accept the report as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
Village Manager Tollaksen reported on the changes to the regulations governing the 501(c)(3). He noted that under a recent act of congress the law was changed. He stated that the new regulations do not affect the Foundation as they do not collect more than $25,000 annually. The Foundation will have to file an annual postcard report starting in 2008 for year 2007.
Kurt Fredrickson, Superintendent of the DPW for the Village reported on the status of the free trees available to the Village. Kurt stated that the trees are still in the ground and are of an excellent quality with a wide variety available. Kurt stated that they marked 39 to 40 trees which will be saved for the Village and that there are still more trees available now, but maybe not later.
Kurt noted that his concern is with the expense to uproot the trees and transport them back to the Village. He explained to the Foundation that Mike Ayers has a machine which makes the removal easier in that the trees can be put in baskets which makes it possible to transport many trees at one time. He stated he would like to contract with Ayers for two days. Ayers will provide two people that know his machines and the Village will have assign two employees. He felt it would be wise to allocate two days to put as many trees in baskets as they can so they can be placed on the DPW grounds until they can be planted. His goal is to plant as many trees as possible this year. He figured they would use 27 trees in the memorial tre area and supplement the medians and cul-de-sacs with the remaining trees.
There was discussion at this time regarding maintenance of trees on the boulevards and cul-de-sacs. Kurt explained that they place chips annually so the trees hold water and they remove dead trees as well as weed control. They trim as time and the operating budget permits.
Jill Pelisek asked if there was a danger that diseased trees that are not cut down in a timely manner could spread the disease to healthy trees. Kurt explained that based on advice from experts, he understands that any beetles in the trees stay in the tree until the following spring, so that gives them the winter to cut them down. There was discussion regarding Dutch Elm and the tree removal process including the responsibility of the private homeowner and the Village. It was explained that diseased elm trees on private property are the responsibility of the property owner. They can ask the Village to cut down their trees at their expense. The Village takes care of their own trees in the winter.
Mary
Ann LaBahn stated that she would like them to look at the existing cul-de-sacs
for trees that are dying and don’t look very good when they are looking at
placement of these new trees. Jill
Pelisek noted that the trees at the
Kurt also noted that the trees in the medians have to put up with high salt content, open wind conditions and ground which contain a lot of clay which does not hold water. He also stated that his manpower situations affect timing.
Anne Vogel suggested getting a design specialist or landscape designer to come and give suggestions for plantings in the memorial park and the Foundation could underwrite that cost. Mary Ann LaBahn offered the name of a Village resident who could do that. Anne will contact this person.
Richard Glaisner made the motion to approve an amount not to exceed $10,000 for the removal and moving of the 39 plus trees and to hire and underwrite the cost of a landscape designer. The motion was seconded by Kristin Severson. Motion carried unanimously.
It was also decided that the family of the person being honored by a tree, should be notified by the Foundation.
Discussion followed regarding the Foundation website. Anne Vogel will put some changes together which will be a little more extensive as to information to be placed on the website. She will get her recommendations on this issue back to the Board for the annual meeting.
Anne noted that the Village does not send a newsletter out anymore and thought it would be good to get the email of residents so the Foundation can keep them abreast of Village issues and news. A motion was made by Dick Glaisner, Kristin Severson seconded to ask residents for their email address on a voluntary basis when the annual appeal goes out with the disclaimer using standard language to guard their email addresses. Motion carried unanimously.
A report was given by Village Manager Tollaksen regarding the Tim Johnson fund. A total of $16,981 was collected from 125 sources.
Discussion ensued regarding how the Foundation would handle these types of requests in the future.
Anne Vogel addressed the next item on the agenda which was a request from Police Chief Rischmann for the purchase of body armor for a new officer and for the purchase of two replacement defibrillators for the Department which are too old for upgrading.
Elaine Marshall made the motion to fund $585 for the purchase of a protective vest and $65 for the purchase of breast plates for the newly hired police officer. The motion was seconded by Richard Glaisner. Motion carried unanimously.
A motion was made by Richard Glaisner to fund the purchase of two defibrillators at a cost of $2,898. The motion was seconded by Jill Pelisek. Motion carried unanimously
The next meeting will be set for late January, 2008. Proper motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 5:20 P.M.
Anne H. Vogel, President
Attest:
Carolyn Toms-Neary