Present: Cynthia Crampton (chair), Margaret Coutts, Jude Grass, Bill Kinkaid, Nigel Peck, David Cook, Adrian Grant Duff, Viveka Ohman, Jeremy McCall, Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen, Dorothy Nelson (recording). 

Cynthia welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Daniel sends regrets.

The agenda was adopted with the addition of (16) (a) Bill Merilees Bulletin Excerpts and (b) BC Society Act update

Moved / seconded by David / Adrian that the minutes of December1 be approved with revisions. Carried.

The Marine Biology pamphlet Explore the Rocky Shore at Stanley Park

    Seasonal cards with wishes for the New Year were received from NV member Lindsey Lorence, City Councillors David Cadman and Ellen Woodsworth, and Metro Vancouver East Area Staff.

    Jeremy reports receipt of donations in response to Steven Partington’s request that donations in memory of partner and VNHS member Laura Parkinson be made to the Camp Reserve Fund as per her wishes. Total amount of donations to date is in excess of $2500.

    [Cynthia recalled that Laura had expressed a wish for a field trip to her coop property on Boyer Island, and perhaps this could still be held with Steven and Felix in future plans for field trips.]

Further to the issue of timely submission of financial accounts and monies to the treasurer, Jeremy submits the following resolution for consideration by the Board:

WHEREAS it is a requirement of Section 36 of the Society Act that Nature Vancouver keep proper accounting records in respect of all its financial and other transactions;

 

AND WHEREAS this is only possible if the Treasurer receives complete information about financial transactions in a timely manner:

 

BE IT RESOLVED that the following rules will apply to the transactions for which the Society is liable and for the transactions in which the Society is the beneficiary:

1. In all material financial transactions related to Nature Vancouver, Nature Vancouver is to be identified as a party to the transaction and specifically named as being either liable for paying the funds, in the case of invoices or claims, or as the designated recipient of the funds, in the case of accounts receivable, cheques and other forms of payment made to the Society;

2. All documentation for such transactions is to be directed to the Treasurer in a timely manner.

Moved / sec by Jeremy / Daphne N. that this resolution be adopted. All in favor. Carried.  

Further to the issue of receipts from sales of Wandering Tattler, Jeremy reports receipts of $800-$1000 with financial records for 2008 / 2009 from Jude on December 31, which receipt he found to be unnecessarily burdensome. 

Jeremy emphasized that cheques in future should be made out to Nature Vancouver, not to the individual member who receives them.

With regard to petty cash required by sections for ongoing expenses, Jeremy stated that such funds can be obtained as a cash advance from the Treasurer, and that, according to advice from the auditor, sections must not maintain their own bank accounts for financial transactions, as is currently the case with the Marine Biology section. Daphne N. supported this concern based on her experience with finance and liability. Jeremy will communicate with the treasurer of the Marine Biology section, Jerome Lopez, and with Marian Coope, former (but acting) editor of Discovery, with regard to these concerns.

Jeremy’s budget statement has been issued and will be presented for approval at the February meeting. 

David reports receipt of 8 responses from individual naturalists, not necessarily birders, offering opinions on the draft report. A consensus of all opinions and proposals will be sought for the final report, which might be concluded in February.

9. Vancouver Naturalist

Responses to the survey in the December issue concerning the future of the newsletter continue to be received. Submissions are requested up to the end of January.

Outgoing copy editor Roxanne Paul has sent large files by email to Jeremy which will be processed along with individual submissions with the layout person at Infigo. The next issue is expected by February at the latest. Jeremy reiterated that Roxanne has done an excellent job, and it is only her job taking her to Yukon which has necessitated her leaving the position.

Cynthia proposes that an editorial committee be struck; Alison Parkinson has declined to be editor. The existing history covers 8 decades, so there is a question: should the proposed update cover the succeeding two decades, or be set out in the same style as the first history? 

Several Directors volunteered to work with Cynthia: Margaret Coutts, Daphne Hamilton-Nagorsen, Bill Kinkaid and Cynthia named Daphne Solecki and will invite Marion Coope. The editorial committee will meet and draw up a business plan on how to proceed, which will be presented to the Board for approval.

Marian Coope is already hard at work compiling the Discovery Index. It was agreed that the Index should be in hard copy form, even if a file is put on to the web. Currently there is a complete set of Discovery and Nature Vancouver in the archives and Jeremy has a set.

Sheila Byers has been working on distribution for which Jeremy has received invoices for her expenses. Sheila’s article about the publication can be read in The Vancouver Naturalist.

Jude reports that projected date for all to be submitted to the publisher is January 30, 2011.

Notice is currently in Vancouver Naturalist. Two submissions have been received so far. Agreed that it is important to encourage members in all sections that submissions at all levels of photography skill are welcome.

Two releases are on the Website and guidelines are finalized.

13a. Venues. All venues are paid up till April; refund of $90 was received by Jeremy from the Billy Bishop legion.

Summer Camps listed in the Newsletter include Salt Spring Island, Gavin Lake, Skagit Bird Blitz, Manning Bird Blitz, in addition to the BC Nature Conference and AGM in May and the Fall GM and Conference, Langley.

John Neville is President-elect from May 2010; Bev Ramey will serve as Vice-President.

Birding Section – Jude reports tentative counts from the Xmas bird count: from Ladner 142 species, from White Rock 128 species, from Vancouver 118+ species. Final totals will be published the next Wandering Tattler. An Arctic Loon was seen in Point Roberts, rare for the area. 

Botany Section - David notes that a mistaken listing in the Vancouver Naturalist should read Bruce Bohm for the March 18 meeting, switched at the November 19, 2009 meeting with Ron Long.

Geology Section – David intends to research costs of a number of hand lenses for his geology and botany field trips for the use of participants.

Evening Programs and Workshops – Jude reports no changes. Applications for the Raptor workshop are being received. 2 have been received for the photography workshop.

Conservation Section – Held a potluck in December. Work continues on revitalized focus for the Section. Re the new Surrey Bend regional park, Jeremy is involved in creation of paths. He was notified by the office of the Auditor General of BC, John Doyle, that a performance audit of Provincial Parks is planned.

Camp Committee – Bill noted he has been informed by the source of one of the maps for Cinnabar that permission for its use was not given, so the map has been taken down from the website. We will ensure that copyright is respected in the future. Applications for 2010 camps will be on the website January 14. 2010.

Field Trips – Noted that field trips during the Holiday period were advertised in the city newspapers which became problematic for the leaders of those trips, due to large numbers. Joseph Lin of the Green Club has supplied the field trip information to the newspapers, and will not do so in future.

Outreach – none to report.

YNC – no report

 

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:15 PM.