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FSNA Ottawa Valley Branch
Board of Directors Meeting, 17 May 2010
Zion-Memorial Church, Carleton Place

1. CALL TO ORDER
   Jim Piché called the meeting to order at 1:10 p.m.
   

2. RECORDING OF MEMBERS PRESENT
   Jim Piché, Doug Schoular, Bill Irwin, Chuck Parent, Steve Fahie
   Regrets: Larry Palmer, Larry Gray, Lynda Smith, Ed Rockburne, Judy Buehler, Len Johnston
   
   Jim noted that without a quorum present, we will attempt to keep motions to administrative items.
   

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
   Jim requested that an item 10 c) under New Business be added to the agenda, regarding the National President and Vice-President candidates.
   Motion to approve the amended agenda by Bill Irwin, seconded by Doug Schoular.
   

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
   Motion to approve minutes of April 27, 2010 by Bill Irwin, seconded by Doug Schoular.
   

5. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
   a) Membership Chair handed over to Steve – Steve reported that he had a meeting with Larry Palmer where he was briefed about current membership activities, and was given various documents needed to carry out membership activities.
   
   b) PO Box for Branch – Steve reported that a Post Office Box has been established for Branch mail at the Post Office at Shoppers Drug Mart in Perth. An extra key will be given to Bill Irwin so he can check for new mail periodically.
   

6. REPORTS OF OFFICERS

• President:
  Jim distributed copies of the Bulletin for Branches from National for April 2010. He also mentioned that the upcoming On Guard issue has been sent to Board members electronically. This is an extensive issue, containing biographies of candidates for the upcoming National elections, and also some useful articles on health issues.
  Jim reported that efforts are underway to encourage joint advocacy between FSNA and PIPS, since unions are also interested in protecting federal pensions. There has been agreement particularly from the Edmonton Branch that Unions and FSNA need to work together, and there has been some indication that PIPS is receptive to the effort. Jim has spoken to Sylvia Ceacero regarding this issue.
  Jim noted that he and Chuck will be attending a Regional meeting on May 27 to discuss Congress issues.

• Treasurer:
  Doug presented the unaudited Branch Financial Statements for the year ended Dec. 31 2009. These do not include any interest earned through the ING account since he was unable to login to the account. Jim and Doug will determine additional information Doug will need to have access to the account. The cost of monthly meetings was discussed and determined to be a normal cost of doing Branch business.
  Motion to accept the preliminary Financial Statements by Doug Schoular, seconded by Bill Irwin, carried.
  Doug presented an interim Branch Financial Statement to April 30 2010, along with a calculation of our remittance to National for non-DDS dues received.
  Motion to accept the interim Financial Statements by Doug Schoular, seconded by Chuck Parent, carried.
  Motion to remunerate Steve for internet costs and incidentals related to the Membership and Webmaster duties at the rate of $50/month, moved by Doug Schoular, seconded by Chuck Parent, to be ratified by quorum at the next meeting.

• Membership:
  Steve presented some statistics on membership numbers, noting that our total membership appears to be down by about 25 members since January, now standing at 1466 members. Outstanding non-DDS members stand at 29 as of May 17, down from 37 a month ago.
  Steve reported on progress with our campaign to contact members of other branches who reside in the OVB region, saying the Ottawa Branch has been contacted for their approval of our plan. About 229 Ottawa Branch members are involved, along with 22 who are not affiliated with any Branch.
  Motion to accept report by Steve Fahie, seconded by Chuck parent, carried.

• PSHCP:
  No report.

• Branch Report:
  No report.
  Jim noted that the upcoming On Guard issue has some excellent information on dealing with the death of a spouse, along with an explanation of Medoc and other insurance issues. These could be referenced on the website when they become available.

• Website:
  Steve reported little activity with the website, other than posting of the previous Minutes, and a notice of the new PO Box address is now displayed prominently on the Home Page.
  Motion to accept report by Steve Fahie, seconded by Bill Irwin.
  

7. CORRESPONDENCE:
   None.
   

8. OLD BUSINESS:
   a) Chairs for Branch Committees
   No progress for this meeting, to be carried forward.
   b) ING Signing Authorities
   The signing authorities have been given to Doug, however when he went to login to the account he was presented with additional questions that he did not have answers for. Jim and Doug will resolve this problem.
   a) OVB Annual Meeting Progress
   The following was determined:
   Date: September 15
   Location: Perth Legion. Lynda had reported earlier by email that a contract has been signed with the Legion, and a cheque for $115.00 is due when convenient. Steve will forward Lynda's email to Doug.
   

9. New Business:

• National Congress Resolutions Review
  Jim has reviewed the resolutions to be presented, and says they are not high impact items, so he did not feel it was necessary for the Board to discuss them further. He will be reviewing them also at a Regional meeting coming up.

• Renewal of Website with RipNET
  Steve reported that RipNET is no longer offering free web hosting under our own web address, and that the bill for renewal this year is $152 plus taxes. He recommended that we switch to a service he is familiar with called HostPapa and take advantage of their 3-year term for $214.20, or $71.40/yr. plus taxes.
  Motion to proceed with this by Steve Fahie, seconded by Bill Irwin. Since there is some urgency to do this (the bill from RipNET is due now), Jim Piché as President authorized this to proceed, with ratification by a quorum to follow.

• National Congress Elections
  Jim reviewed the candidates for National President and Vice-President who are presented in the upcoming On-Guard issue. Although he is familiar with some of them, there are others who he does not know. He is reserving his decisions on who to vote for on behalf of the Branch until he has heard them speak at the National Congress. Each Branch gets one vote for these positions, since this vote is not weighted by the number of members within a Branch.

10. Next Meeting:
    BoD - June 21, Perth. Jim to arrange.
    AGM – Sept. 15, Perth
    

11. Adjournment:
    Motion by Chuck Parent to adjourn, seconded by Bill Irwin, carried.

(Minutes prepared by Steve Fahie)