KCB Board Meeting – February, 2013

The monthly meeting of the Kentucky Council of the Blind Board of Directors was held via conference call on Thursday, February 21, 2013. President Deb Lewis called the meeting to order at 9:06 PM eastern time. Members present were Deb Lewis, Deb Trevino, Joey Couch, Rick Boggess, Carla Ruschival, Bill Deatherage, Debbie Deatherage, Jim Shaw, Adam Ruschival, David Perry, Patti Cox, and Bill Wright. Members Birchell Cisco Slusher, Frances Gregory and Donnie Parrett were unable to attend. It was pointed out that Frances Gregory does not have Internet access which results in her not being able to receive meeting notifications and review the Board minutes. Several members, including Rick Boggess, offered to notify her of meetings and get the minutes to her in her preferred format prior to each meeting. Guests Elaine Weisbard and David Cox were also present.

President Deb Lewis reported that Vurah Berry will now be representing Guide Dog Users of Kentucky. However, she was unable to attend this meeting.

President Deb Lewis called for reading of the minutes from the January 17 meeting. Since a copy had been e-mailed to board members prior to the meeting, she asked if anyone needed the minutes read. Bill Deatherage moved to dispense with the reading of the minutes and for their approval. Joey Couch seconded the motion which was unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report:

Treasurer Carla Ruschival presented her report for January 31. Carla stated that the amount in the CD had not changed since no money had been moved into preferred stocks while the amount in stocks reflects the purchase of the Process Storage preferred stock which was approved at our last meeting. She also reported that last month KCB received a $500 contribution from the Downtown Louisville Lions Club for the upcoming Crossroads Conference. Joey Couch moved for approval of the Treasurer’s Report. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved by the Board.

Chapter Reports

Eastern Kentucky Christian Council: Joey Couch reported that the chapter has not had any meetings over the past month. He stated that he had been approached by a representative from the Central Kentucky Reading Eye in Lexington regarding assistance with expanding service into eastern Kentucky. In accordance with this request, he contacted Eastern Kentucky University which runs a public radio station to inquire about letting CKRE use some of their band width for this purpose. The University has indicated a willingness to cooperate in this endeavor. CKRE will have to raise money to purchase the necessary equipment. The chapter will assist with testing once the project is ready to go. They hope to schedule a meeting the second weekend in March or the first weekend in April depending upon driver availability. Joey will post updated information on the list once arrangements are finalized.

Northern Kentucky Council: David Perry reported that the chapter held a meeting last month and is planning for the upcoming year. They have hosted several goalball demonstrations to help increase awareness of the sport. They are also exploring several different fundraising ideas.

Greater Louisville Council: Bill Wright indicated that the Greater Louisville Council has been very busy and has lots of activities planned in the coming weeks. On February 9, they held a spaghetti supper, business meeting and emergency preparedness workshop. The GLCB in the Afternoon group went to the Frazier History Museum on February 20. On March 3 the chapter will be touring the Louisville Mega Caverns and will be having a dine out at Tumbleweed on March 9. Bingo has been moved to March 22 since the normal meeting date conflicts with the Crossroads Conference. The quarterly business meeting, including election of new officers, will take place the second weekend in April.

Carla Ruschival stated that members of GLCB continue to expand their advocacy efforts in a variety of ways. Elaine Weisbard is on a TARC committee dealing with issues regarding fixed route and paratransit concerns. Jim Shaw will also be joining this committee in March. Several other members are involved on a variety of neighborhood committees in the Louisville area. Deb Lewis will be visiting the McDowell Center on March 18 to continue to spread the word about KCB and GLCB.

Tri-state Library Users Group: Adam Ruschival reported that the chapter will dine out and have a program on March 5 at Dish On Market. In January the chapter collected dues. It appears that about 20 members paid but he can account for only 15 names. He will be trying to correct this discrepancy.

Guide Dog Users of Kentucky: Deb Lewis reported that the chapter had a good turnout for a get together at Dish On Market in January. They distributed bags of goodies to people who have gotten dogs in the last year and played Guidedog Trivia using questions provided by Carla Ruschival and Rick Roderick. There will be a conference call on Tuesday February 26 to discuss ideas for future activities.

Committee Reports

Cross Roads Committee: Plans for the upcoming Crossroads Conference, which is scheduled for March 15-17, have been finalized. Carla and Paula designed the registration form which has been sent out. Registration is $45 before March 8 and increases to $55 after that date. Deb Lewis stated that when she was volunteering at the McDowell Center earlier today, she learned that staff had received an email about the conference with instructions to share it with students. In addition, there are indications from the West Virginia and Tennessee chapters that they will be bringing more people than previously anticipated.

Financial support for the conference has come from several sources. The Downtown Louisville Lions Club has contributed $500 while a $500 donation has been received from the KSB Charitable Foundation. The Louisville East Lions Club has pledged $200, but the money has not been received. Jim Shaw is planning to check with the Middletown Lions Club about a possible contribution. He had planned to approach them at their last meeting which was cancelled due to Valentine’s Day. He will be bringing this up at their February 28 meeting. Carla Ruschival stated that if he needs a letter to support his request, she will be glad to provide a copy of the letter which has been used to solicit other contributions. The Greater Louisville Council has pledged $200 to assist with snacks and with breakfast goodies for local attendees not staying at the hotel. Guide Dog Users of Kentucky has voted to provide up to six $30 stipends for people to attend the conference provided they are not receiving assistance from any other source.

Last month the KCB Board voted to spend up to $1000 in support of the Crossroads Conference. The Board spent time discussing how best to spend the allocated funds. The board decided to set aside $500 from this allocation to cover expenses for snacks and breakfast goodies for local attendees. Adam Ruschival proposed a $25 stipend be provided in the form of a reimbursement to KCB members (not receiving stipends from any other source) who register and submit their claims at the conclusion of the conference. Bill Deatherage seconded the motion which was unanimously approved by the board.

BEP: Adam Ruschival advised the Board that the Kentucky Office for the Blind and the blind vendors program are involved in a major federal lawsuit regarding the contract for vending facilities at Fort Campbell. He pointed out that the military wants to award its own contracts thus avoiding rights guaranteed under the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Program. OFB lost the first round in federal court but is appealing the decision. If OFB loses this battle, there could be negative consequences for blind vendors which reach well beyond Fort Campbell. One major concern is that the attorney being used by the Office for the Blind has had little or no experience with litigation issues related to the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Program and has not reached out to organizations such as ACB and NFB for assistance with this issue.

SRC Report: The State Rehabilitation Council held its quarterly meeting at the McDowell Center in January and will be having its next meeting on April 25. Several council members, including Jim Shaw, will be rotating off the council after the April meeting. The nominating committee will be submitting names of potential replacements at this meeting. Interested parties should submit the appropriate form and resume to Jennifer Wright at OFB or Michael Freeholm chairman of the nominating committee. It was pointed out that the doughnuts which KCB provided for the SRC meeting were a real hit.

Due to budget constraints, the Office for the Blind has announced a cut back in services. They will be closing two levels of service; only clients eligible for level 3 services will receive assistance. It was noted that people coming up for consideration for service eligibility should be approved in April so the cutback should not immediately impact that many clients. However, there is concern that these cutbacks will have a significant negative impact in the longterm since monies are allocated based on cases closed in the last year.

Sound Prints: Carla Ruschival stated that she has been doing some serious thinking about the impact of the recently signed Sound Prints contract on the KCB budget and other chapter endeavors such as producing a newsletter. It is estimated that the total cost for producing Sound Prints will be around $9200 or $9300 for the current year. Last year KCB was fortunate because it took in additional revenue since it hosted the ACB national convention which helped offset some of the expense. Although the program has been tremendously successful during its 11 year run, there is some question as to whether it would be best to continue airing the program on Clear Channel or examine other options. Just out of curiosity, Carla asked Ken Washington at KSB about whether or not KCB might use their radio studio to produce the show. After running this idea past other KSB officials, Ken responded that they would be very much interested in further exploring this idea and inquired as to whether or not it might be possible to use KSB students as reporters as part of any agreement. Ken encouraged KCB to outline their proposal in writing for possible action. If a program were to be produced at KSB, it would not be live since the KSB equipment is very low powered. However, the show would continue to be heard on Central Kentucky Reading Eye, Iblink Radio, ACB Radio, etc. Before making any decision, it is necessary that we investigate the impact of any such change on the level of sponsorship from APH and the Downtown Lions Club. We also need to investigate how any such change would impact our ability to produce a quality program in a timely fashion. Deb Trevino made a motion that KCB investigate various alternatives for producing Sound Prints (including using KSB facilities.) Joey Couch seconded the motion which was unanimously approved by the Board.

Old Business

President Deb Lewis called for consideration of old business, but none was presented.

New Business

President Deb Lewis called for new business. However, none was presented for consideration.

Announcements

Rick Boggess reported that he and another visually impaired gentleman are working with Devona Stuerzenberger, Independent Living Instructor in the Owensboro Office of the Kentucky Office for the Blind, to try to gauge interest in organizing a support group for visually impaired adults in the Owensboro area. A selected group of individuals were invited to attend a meeting which was held at the Owensboro office on February 21. Five people attended and several cancelled at the last minute probably due to the threat of snow. Another meeting will be held sometime in the next couple of months. Rick Boggess indicated that the main purpose at this point is to get people together so they can get to know each other and to determine perceived group and individual needs. Carla Ruschival indicated she might have some names of individuals who might be interested. She also stated that this was an excellent number for a first meeting.

Board members were reminded that the Louisville East Lions Club will be holding its chili supper at KSB on April 5.

Since there was no further business, President Deb Lewis moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Joey Couch and the board unanimously voted to adjourn at 10:46 PM Eastern Time.

Submitted by Rick Boggess, KCB Secretary

Document Summary: KCBBoardMeetingFebruary2013