Minutes

March 19, 2008 Tully Ag Advisory Committee

Present;

Kraig Pritts

Peter Cardamone

Denise Cardamone

Derek Hill

Jean Reed

Colleen Curry

Jill Northrup

John Snavlin

Kevin Sommer

Kathy Doody

Hal Brown

Next meeting will be June ______, 2008

Committees should meet before June ______meeting.

Jean opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.

A list of current committee members was distributed. All but the FFA president are voting members.

The original missions and goals statement was handed out for committee members to review & revise. Comments and corrections can be submitted to Jean Reed.

Jean handed out the charter. Several changes were reviewed. An electronic copy of the document will be sent to Janet Fallon so changes can be made.

  1. Article 3 Section A
  2. Added that there will be three officer positions, president, secretary & treasurer and their terms will be one year.
  3. Cathy Doody noted that the elementary school position will be shared by 3 people who will rotate attendance at committee meetings.
  4. Article 4 Item #2 should read; “To be a part of the development process for any of the agriculture capital projects and technology budget.

Derek Hill’s Report;

Derek informed the group that the best way to keep students and parents up to date on events, activities, etc. was via the TullyCentralSchool website via the Encore Department page. The site includes announcements, officers, a calendar of events, links to meeting minutes, and photos of student activities.

Derek thanked committee members who helped judge some of the activities at the District competition last month. It provided a big boost to our image.

Eric Larsen - from Wisconsin & Julia Tolosky from NY but are now both in charge of New York State FFAand recently called Derek to ask if Tully could host the National Officers in October. We may need host families if they spend a night here.

Derek reported that he currently has 25 students in FFA. FFA provides leadership skills, job skills, public speaking skills...... not just “cows, plows and sows.”

Derek currently offers the following classes;

Agricultural Science

Animal Science

Plant Science (may change name to Horticulture & Green House Management)

Ag Leadership

Ag Business

2 7th grade technology classes

He is trying to add Ag Mechanics and Natural Resource Management.

Possible activities being planned include;

A community service project with Rotary

A Clean up the causeway

Adopt a Highway

Derek handed out a list of greenhouse accomplishments to date.

Derek reported that the FFA & Ag students will grow plants for the village flower baskets. The Tully DPW will provide money for supplies. Kids will plant 40 pots & baskets to be ready for Memorial day. They will choose more drought/heat tolerant plants to help reduce the need for watering. Derek will arrange for photos of this community service project for the Knight Insight and signs placed in the village acknowledging the Tully Ag Program.

Derek showed the greenhouse powerpoint presentation that reviewed the history of the $50,000 grant obtained by N.L. Hoffman and a $13,000 Community Foundation Grant.

The final cost of the greenhouse was $153,000. That was the barebones cost without benches, tools, sink, supplies, security etc. A $13,000 Community Foundation Grant offset expenses for the necessary tools & irrigation. Mr. Paccia obtained a Home Depot grant for the technology class to build the benches. We now have 7 benches built by students but we need 3 more. We have irrigation nets. Ted Shaw donated sinks. The kids installed the brick floors with guidance from Dutch Hill Landscaping. We have a few drainage issues but these are being addressed.

The greenhouse was dedicated to Doc Watson in August of 2007 and has been used extensively ever since.

It has taken a bit of time to figure out the ventilation and heating. The computer monitoring system was wired wrong and they are still “tweaking” the system. It is still under warranty and will be fixed.

Watson’s Greenhouse has donated plants for various projects.

Kevin Sommers Report;

Kevin Sommers provided a list of tree seedlings being produced in the greenhouse for various Environmental Science projects including the American Liberty Chestnut. He has obtained some seedlings from Saratoga DEC and some from the Arboretum at Tipperary Hill???.

Kevin has also received approval for 3 college credits for students completing the Environmental Science course for a fee of $175. Students with a B average will have a guaranteed entrance to ESF. High school students taking this class will also serve as mentors for 4th grade students providing a “bridge” from the high school to the elementary school.

A field trip to see a trout hatchery in Canton is planned in conjunction with SUNY Morrisville.

Kevin & Derek have many other ideas for the future including forestry, aquaculture, etc.

Important Dates;

April 11 – Elect FFA officers

April 23 – Growing Tully Green Forum with Dave Eichorn as the moderator. The panel will include M.Omara, J. Bertollo from Anhauser Busch (Recycling), Jamie Rodems (Green Technology at the school, i.e. Excel renovation, LEAD Innovation, double pane windows in high school to replace single pane windows), J Kublick (recycling program), John Bishop Builders (Energy Efficient Homes). Invitations will go to the Onondaga County Executive and our Deputy County Executive for opening comments. We will have student and industry displays, i.e. Knapp’s organics, Kevin’s windmill, lots of publicity in Neighbors East, etc.

April 29 – FFA Banquet with the NY Commissioner of Agriculture, Pat HookerInvitations will go out to local ag dignitaries & politicians

May 28 – Agtravaganza – with exhibits from local farms & ag businesses, a petting zoo organized by the FFA, Bossy Bingo. The Character Council will help. Proceeds will go to kids in Africa (they have already sent $3000).

Election of Officers;

Jean will step down as committee chair

Clive Snow and Cathy Kuss have stepped down from the committee.

Kathy Doody nominated Colleen Curry and Jill Northrup to co-chair the committee. They accepted and the committee approved unanimously.

Janet was nominated and agreed to serve as secretary provided someone else would take & prepare minutes when she is unable to attend.

Kim Cameron was nominated to be treasurer. Currently, there is not much money in our account. We still need to purchase the Chris Fesko video tapes and pay Kathy Doody for plaques. Someone mentioned that the Jasper/Throopsburg committee raises $10,000 per year to offset costs for students to attend FFA activities, purchase needed equipment, ie. tractor, welder, etc. We are an outside organization and have more flexibility in how we can use the money. We cannot use the school tax exempt status but we have more control of how & where money is spent.

Derek's FFA account is an extra classroom account. The club can spend it according to FFA wishes. This is audited by the school and may get tax exemption status.

????Jean will investigate tax status. Pete said we may have to incorporate to protect officers from liability.

Derek would like more money to support Ag Programs. We all agreed that we are in a good position to ask ag business & others in the community to make a donation to the ag program.

Hal suggested that we solicited money or equipment donations from the community via a quarterly blurb in the Village newsletter, ie. specifically state that we could use a tractor or a welder etc. with a personal follow up from committee members shortly there after.

Committee Assignments;

Derek Hill, Kraig Pritts, Jamie Rodems and Co-Chairs Jill Northrup & Colleen Curry will serve on each committee.

Program & Facilities;

Mark Bailey

Janet Fallon

Peter Knapp

Mark Drumm

Kevin Sommers

Promotions Committee;

Hal Brown

John Snavlin

Dave Spaulding

Jackie et al at the elementary school

Heather

Fundraising Committee;

Hal Brown

Mark Guttendorf

Jean Reed

Kim Cameron

PLANS FOR THE APRIL 29 2008 FFA BANQUET WITH THE AG COMMISSIONER AS OUR GUEST SPEAKER

Starts promptly at 6:00 PM

Harvey Skeele wants 5 minutes re; Onondaga Farm Bureau

All local dignitaries should be invited

  • McCobe
  • Valesky
  • Seward
  • Sweetland
  • James Walsh
  • N.L. Hoffman
  • Skaneateles Lake Watershed folks (Lafayette)
  • Local FFA chapters
  • Local ag businesses
  • Farmers
  • Suppliers – seed, feed, fertilizer, crop protectants, etc
  • Educators (Morrisville, ESF, Cornell)

Door prizes

Dish to pass

Ask for RSVP for dinner but also invite folks to come for speeches at 7 if they can’t make it for the meal and speeches.

Need press release by April 1

Need back up speaker if Hooker can’t make it or new governor appoints a new commissioner & new commissioner can’t make it.

Keith Copeland with ??? offered to come to the school to teach the class a segment on speaking to/dealing with the media

Derek extended an invitation to all of the committee members for a picnic at his home sometime in June...... exact date to be determined.