Minutes of December 1998 Atlanta Group ExCom Meeting
Date: 01 December 1998 19:30 - 21:30
Location: Alan Toney's House
Attendees: Alan Toney, Herb Bastin, Larry Winslett, Mark Alexander, Ted Jackson
Agenda: None
Quorum: Not enough ExCom members to have a quorum
Holiday Party: E-mail sent to 48 people notifying them of Holiday party; mailers sent to 65 regular attendees. Janet & Carolyn to do signs. Tables biggest problem - need extra card tables to be brought. Setup - please come early to set up. Letter writing - unknown, January will have lots of issues. Firewood - Janet, Alan, Herb. Store - Herb. Extra Food: Janet and Jane Hon. Coffee Pot - Alan. Slide Projector - Lee.
February Program: Will not be Georgia Power, but Campaign for Prosperous Georgia will talk about energy issues, deregulation, and sustainable energy.
Thank You Letters: Thank you letters to be written by Ted for Roy Barnes, Cynthia McKinney, John Lewis, Max Cleland for people to sign at party. Will enclose a calendar as a thank you or holiday gift.
November Meeting Reaction: Went generally well. ExCom members question expense of $400 for TV/VCR rental when only used for 1 minute advertisement.
Treasurer Report: Above budget for year to date. Atlanta Group has not paid $1,000 for 1998 newsletter cost sharing. Need authorization to pay. Larry complained about the lateness of the newsletters going out. Katie Van Brackle needs more information to put into newsletter. Chapter has a new treasurer, which should help financial problems (Carolyn ? is her name). Consensus was to pay $1,000 to pay newsletter costs for the year. A letter was sent by Atlanta Group Treasurer to Georgia Chapter asking for an audit of the Chapter finances and enclosing a copy of the Atlanta Group's audit for 1997.
Lobbying: Someone suggested to use volunteers to lobby legislature. Neil Herring appears to be effective at lobbying, but we don't know if Neil is always on topic or agreement with Sierra Club positions. Alan suggested to make a list of priorities to give Neil and get agreement to conduct lobbying in accordance with priorities.
Mark Woodall has softened stance against Chip Mill legislation and will not support Bottle Bill legislation. Neil and Mark were quoted last year stating bottle bills were dead, whether or not the legislation was viable. A resolution was proposed to impose a moratorium on chip mills until alternatives were studied. Last year Neil or Mark stated that the moratorium wasn't going to happen. Reps Polak and Teper were sent a letter of apology by Sierra Club stating that our lobbyist was not in sync with Sierra Club wishes.
Conservation Committee will meet Thursday (3 Dec 98) night to hash out Chip Mill proposed resolution. Meeting to be held at Chapter office.
Last year, the Chapter was in such disarray that Neil and Mark thought they had more latitude in dealing with legislation. Any water issues needs to be coordinated with Glenn Grozman, Adopt-a-Stream coordinator or other water issues leaders.
Local Conservation: Mark Alexander stated nothing was ongoing. Sue Ann Brenner, DeKalb Tree ordinance coordinator, was called but got no response. Alan put in an article in the Sierran regarding Soil and Water Conservation and City of Atlanta allowed Law Environmental to drain an eight-acre wetland without a permit. Need citizens to call S&WC Commission whenever they see earth moving. Larry is tracking down who are the issue leaders for various conservation areas.
Web Page: Herb asked what do we want in a web page. Items include needing a map, link to outings, issues, conservation, meetings.
New Groups: Larry wanted to know how to start a new group. Financially, a new group in Northern Georgia would have a small impact, as there are few scattered members north of the metro Atlanta area. Approximately 129 mailing addresses are in Lumpkin county and Blairsville and bordering counties. Larry already received instructions from National Sierra Club on how to start a group. Considering having Dalonega and Blairsville as alternating meeting locations for monthly meetings for three or four conservation issues.
Last Updated: 02 Jan 99