The WACD Board of Directors met on the evening of September 20, 2021 with more than a quorum of officers and directors present.
The unofficial notes (not minutes) of the meeting follow below.
The draft agenda is available here: WACD Board meeting agenda – 20210920
All attendees briefly introduced themselves. After the call to order, an amended agenda was approved without dissent.
The focus area for status updates this month was the Northwest Area. Several conservation district representatives talked about their projects, how their district was operating, and we heard that new districts managers are coming up to speed quickly.
The Board approved the minutes for the June, July, and August meetings.
The Treasurer’s Report was given by WACD staff. The Board approved authorizing having WACD cover the employee premiums for the Cares Act tax during the rest of fiscal year 2021-2022. The Board also approved having an investment policy work group appointed under the Finance Committee to work on crafting an investment policy for WACD.
WACD staff requested an amendment to the policy on gratuities and meals which was approved.
The Tribal Relations Committee submitted several recommendations to the Board for approval. A majority of the Board approved the Committee’s recommendations.
Southwest Area Director Dean Longrie spoke to the desirability of WACD creating an Associate Supervisor of the Year award. A motion to create the award – expanded to include friends of conservation districts – passed.
Several potential changes to WACD’s bylaws were presented and discussed:
- Changing the name of the Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District to Rock Lake Conservation District.
- Lengthening the term of service for the offices of WACD President and Vice President.
- Recasting what WACD membership means to member districts that don’t pay dues.
- Creating a permanent Long-Term Sustainable Funding Committee.
- Make permanent allowing members to vote remotely at the WACD annual business meeting.
The Board did not object to sending these five possible changes to conservation districts for their area association meetings.
The Board approved a resolution that acknowledges the legal necessity of providing a virtual option for the 2021 WACD Annual Business Meeting. The Board also previewed the potential WACD Annual Conference sessions topics and offered suggestions.
WACD staff asked for guidance on the idea of removing personal contact information from the public-facing District Directory. The general feeling of the group was that business contact information should be easy for the public to find.
The meeting closed with remembrances and celebrations of Dr. Carol Smith’s time with us as Executive Director of the Washington State Conservation Commission.