Mar 8, 2016

New Mexico Dressage Association

Board Meeting

March 8, 2016

At Nexus, 4730 Pan American, Albq.

Board Members present:  Cindy Kavan Winfield, Dawn Foster, Barbara Burkhardt, Winnie Fitch, Nance McManus, John Collins.

Board Members absent: Donald Simpson, Harold Baskin

The meeting opened at 6:30 pm with individual statements of their goals/visions of the club from most Board Members.

Officer Reports

Secretary:  The minutes of Feb. 9, 2016 were accepted with minor corrections.

Treasurer: Multiple fact sheets were submitted by Dawn. All attending Board Members turned in a “Conflict of Interest” form. The Secretary will keep these.

Committee Reports

Schooling Shows: March 6, Cherry Tree Show:  Beautiful weather, comfortable show, good food from “Ready to Roll” food truck. Very lightly attended, only 23 entries. CTF only charged ½ price. On line entries are problematic, still need signatures per insurance. Nance: April 2 show at BFRA: This show has a USEF “R” judge, the Western Dressage section is recognized by WDAA. Rusty Cook will be the Steward. It was suggested that in the web announcement that all (Western) bits and equipment will be examined after each test by the Steward as per WDAA rules.

Membership: 118 members plus a couple that have not yet paid. Membership starts upon payment of dues.

Education: Nance said the April 3 clinic with Renee Johnson (USEF “R” judge) is full and has a waiting list. Cindy said the Pilates clinic (May 6-9, 2016) is 4 days. A lecture and pot luck on Friday, the usual mat class and riding on Saturday and Sunday and a bonus lesson for anyone that has paid on Monday. We will get a $600 grant from the Dressage Foundation. – Insurance is $60 a day for the mounted/mat days.

Youth: Cindy: The Youth Meet and Greet, February 27, 2016, at Vista Sandia was well attended: 9 Youth plus parents. 5 Juniors will serve on an activities committee. Suggestions were made for a Youth Chair (adult).

Old Business

(Only win Championship at level once.)

(Youth vs. Junior at schooling shows)

Tabled until the April meeting.

New Business

Financial Review Committee: Katy Lindberg was appointed chair of the Financial Audit Committee (ByLaws Art. VI, #4d).

OnLine Review: Harold recommends discontinuing the on line system (Flagship) for memberships and show entries. We need to hand write all the information anyway, signatures don’t come through and it costs everybody extra money. It was unanimous to discontinue the current program but to revisit after research.

Non-member fees: It was decided to put in the Standing Rules and clarify on the Show entry form that the Rider AND the Owner must be members or pay the non-member fee. It was re-instated that Junior Riders and the horse owner can waive the non-member fee for their first show only. Scores will not count toward Year End Awards if they are non-members at that show.

Conflict of Interest: The “Conflict of Interest” rules are currently at the end of the Standing Rules. There was a discussion of what is “services provided” and a conflict. All attending Board members turned in a signed Conflict of Interest form and these will be held by the Secretary.

Rent Arena:  the WMPC wants to rent our arena May 6-7. This conflicts with our Pilates Clinic. It was suggest we borrow Barbara’s arena for the Pilates clinic. (Later the WMPC said they don’t need our arena.) NMDA will purchase 5 new rails and Nance will purchase 5 rails to replace broken and cracked rails. The pylons will be checked and we may purchase some new pylons.

New Meeting Place:  Nexus will stop allowing use of their meeting room, therefore we need a new place to meet. Vick’s Vittles (Central & Wyoming); REI (Recreational Equipment Intl, off I25 at Montano) and the PRE Building were suggested. John will check on the PRE Building. There was a discussion of time and day. Prefer the 2^nd Tuesday or 2^nd Wednesday. During daylight savings we will meet at 6:30 pm, in the winter earlier.

By-Laws Sub-Committee: The committee consists of: Dawn Foster chair, Cindy Kavan Winfield, Lily Luman, Eliza Stewart, and Wendy Wilkins. The committee identified general items/concepts under discussion or to be discussed in future. A letter will be mailed out to the membership asking for written proposals. The process will take 4 membership mailings and a discussion at the General Membership Meeting.

Education Fund: Donations will go into the Education Fund unless designated elsewhere. Winnie will send a thank you letter when donations come in.

Legal Address: It will be the president’s address.

Engage CPA: We want a CPA that is familiar with 501c3. We will have Katy Lindberg (financial review committee) contact possible persons. Winnie suggested Muehlmeyer Tax. Also a possible is Taminy Marshal.

Approval of Budgets: Dawn asked what the policy is about reimbursing expenses. The policy needs to go in the Standing Rules. “The treasurer or president can write checks for all ‘standard’ expenditures for Schooling Shows and equipment upkeep. ‘Extra’ expenses for Schooling Shows or events/programs must be discussed and approved by the Board.  Clinic expenses and details must be discussed (a budget presented) and approved by the Board before the clinician is contracted.”Wording of this S.R. will be discussed at the next Board Meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 pm

Respectfully submitted by Barbara Burkhardt, Secretary