Manatee-Sarasota Group of the Sierra Club

March 28, 2016

Executive Committee Board Minutes

In attendance: Sandra Ripberger, Krista Pizzurro, RebeccaRowland, DonKirkley, Cathy Page, Linda Jones, Gerry Swormstedt, John Myers, Mary Sheppard, Andy Mele (Quorum was present)

The meeting was called to order by the Chair, Gerry Swormstedt at 6:30 p.m.

Gerry reported that Andy was appointed to the Sierra Florida phosphate committee. Linda will still work on phosphate at the local level. Democracy Awakening has a meeting on April 4th at Fogartyville to plan a demonstration for April 15th. National Sierra is part of this group. We should put this event on the website when we get some more information.

No Treasurer’s Report

Minutes: The corrected January minutes were approved.

Manatee Conservation: Sandra stated that the March 13th Brunch for the Bay held at the Bradenton Yacht Club had a good turnout. Over $6,000 ($4,000 from the silent auction) was raised towards the legal defense funds for action on the Long Bar and Harbor Sound developments. Sandra emailed Dr. Harold Wanless from the University of Miami for information on dredging lakes landward of mangroves. Long Bar and Peninsula Bay developments are both proposing these lakes. Sandra will be out of town for the next conservation meeting on April 11th so Linda will chair this meeting.

Sarasota Conservation: Andy reported on the rezoning at Gulf Gate. He is still working on a ‘Shame Campaign” against Whole Foods. Sierra will not have time to intervene in the lawsuit against the Sarasota County Commission.

Development: Krista discussed some of her fundraising ideas. A night at McCurdy’s Comedy Club, possibly promoting an issue such as mangroves. We would need to know the comedian that would perform that night. A recycle event where we collect trash and make art from what is collected. An eco-fair with possibly eco-artists. Lakewood Ranch has Music on the Main from July – December. They pick charities to run their booths. We would have to acquire a temporary Florida liquor license and get temporary liability insurance. Krista would also like to have gift bags to hand out. Gerry will work with John and see what Sierra items we could give away. We could also contact businesses for possible gifts. We need to get Sandra’s silent auction list from the Brunch for the Bay and Gerlinde’s list from the holiday party to make sure that we don’t overlap on the donors.

Programs: We will have a potluck prior to the May meeting. We’ll get Lynn Nilssen to send the new member lists for the last nine months. The June program is a presentation on Borneo by Gail Swanson and Bob Fellman. Gerry would like to get someone from the Suncoast Group to present "Ready for a 100”. If she can’t get one of the leaders, she’ll try Frank Jackalone or Darden Rice. Liz Cantarine has agreed to present a program on her travels at either the August or September meeting. Gerry won’t be at the next general meeting, so Andy has agreed to run it.

Newsletter: The newsletter deadline is April 8th. Sandra will get together some photos from the Brunch for the Bay. Andy will write an article on the Gulf Gate/Whole Foods development. A possible article could be on fertilizer usage for the upcoming summer. John suggested that Cris Costello could write an article on the Lake Okeechobee water release. Sandra stated that we need to look over the BOCA before it’s mailed. She volunteered to be the proof-reader. We also need to figure out a way to get extra newsletters to the libraries and tabling events. Gerry got last month’s extras from the printer.

Outreach: John reported that we have 435 Meet Up members. He has done a variety of posts to facebook this month. Earth Day at Oscar Scherer is from 10 to 4 on Saturday, April 23rd. He has already sent in the application for a booth. John wants to have a couple of raffles at our booth: one for a canoe/kayak trip and one for some Sierra merchandise. Sandra moved that we order some Sierra t-shirts, bags, caps and other merchandise. Andy seconded the motion and it passed with four ‘yes’ votes and three “no” votes. Gerry will work with John on what items to order. John moved that we spend $30 to $50 on a raffle prize for Earth Day. Andy seconded the motion and it passed. John still needs an assistant to help out with his outreach events.

Political: Andy has a meeting this Wednesday, March 30th at Fogartyville. He is still working on editing the candidates’ questions and putting together a letter to invite candidates to the interviews. Andy will send the questions up to Manatee County for them to adjust to Manatee County issues.

Outings: Don is putting together the annual outings report. Rocky Milburn from the Tampa Bay Group will give first aid training to the outings leaders that need to renew. He has three people signed up.

Website: Rebecca would like our mission statement on the site. Linda did a statement for Cris Costello, so Linda will try to find it. Rebecca would also like some better photos. John has some pictures on Meet Up that he will send. In the future, we could ask our members to send in photos and maybe even have a phot contest. Rebecca wants to put donate and join buttons on the site. The finance part would have to be run past Bob Fellman or Tom Larson from Florida Sierra. John has a donate button on the Meet Up site.

The next meeting is scheduled for May 30th (Memorial Day), so it was agreed to change the meeting to May 23rd. We’ll have to find another meeting location or see if Gerlinde can get the firehouse for the new meeting date.

The meeting was adjourned by the Chair, Gerry Swormstedt at 8:45 pm.