KCB Board Meeting – January, 2013

The monthly meeting of the Kentucky Council of the Blind Board of Directors was held via conference call on Thursday, January 17, 2013. President Deb Lewis called the meeting to order at 9:15 PM eastern time. Members present were Deb Lewis, Joey Couch, Rick Boggess, Carla Ruschival, Bill Deatherage, Debbie Deatherage, Jim Shaw, Birchell Cisco Slusher, Adam Ruschival, Donnie Parrett, Patti Cox, and Bill Wright. Members Deb Trevino, Frances Gregory, and David Perry were unable to attend. Guests Elaine Weisbard and David Cox were also present.

President Deb Lewis called for reading of the minutes from the December meeting. Since a copy had been e-mailed to board members prior to the meeting, she asked if anyone needed the minutes read. Birchell Slusher 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 December 2012. Rick Boggess made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

Carla reported that she and President Deb Lewis had visited a local bank to check on getting a KCB credit card. The application was approved and a card is being issued to KCB with a $3000 line of credit. Carla reported that her name is also on the card since the bank will not issue a company credit card without having a person’s name on it. She reported that she checked with the ACB national office on this and that it is customary for banks to require a person’s name on this type of credit card. It should be noted that the card has not yet been received.

Over the years, KCB has purchased some preferred stocks whose dividends are deposited into the checking account to assist with the day to day expenses. Aigon Preferred, paying 7.25%, was callable in December but was not called. It could be called in March. GE preferred stock, yielding 6%, has been called effective on January 18. KCB has the option to roll the proceeds from the GE preferred stock into Process Storage, a computer storage company paying 5.5% with an A- rating which has been around for many years. Carla pointed out that the broker, Ameriprise, does not charges a brokerage fee on these stock purchases since the stocks are purchased at the time of issue. Bill Wright moved that the Board approve the purchase of the Process Storage preferred stock paying a 5.5% dividend. The motion was seconded by Joey Couch and unanimously approved by the board.

Carla indicated that KCB currently has a CD and checking account. Unfortunately, CD rates yield almost nothing. She pointed out that there needs to be some degree of liquidity since the funding for Sound Prints is somewhat uncertain and the cost for applying for tax exempt status will be around $3000.
The income from the preferred stocks should help cover these expenses. Therefore, she suggested that the board consider using $5000 (money from the CD plus money from checking) to purchase an additional preferred stock if and when one becomes available. Any such purchase should be a new issue to avoid brokerage fees and should be of high quality to better insure safety. Bill Wright made a motion to allow the treasurer to purchase $5000 worth of high yielding preferred stock provided the stock is of high quality and can be purchased without paying a brokerage fee. The motion was seconded by Birchell Slusher and unanimously approved by the board.

Carla Ruschival advised the board that KCB membership dues will be due to ACB on March 15. She, along with representatives from about 40 other chapters, plans to do the registration using the new ACB database. This database should allow registration to move much more smoothly and offers a tremendous opportunity for local chapters to streamline recordkeeping for multiple purposes. She pointed out that she currently keeps all records in her Braillenote which has very limited sorting ability. In addition this could prove somewhat problematic should someone else need to access and manipulate the records which are difficult to export.

Carla informed the board that she has purchase Microsoft Office 2010 (Word and Excel) and will begin entering 2013 information into Excel. As time permits, she will work backward to enter records from previous years.

Chapter Reports

Eastern Kentucky Christian Council: Joey Couch reported that the chapter held its Christmas party in December. However, they have not had any regular activities in January due to the flu and weather. They are hoping to set up a group activity at a local venue where local writers present their works.

Donnie Parrett reported that nothing has really been happening in his area. He has had some contacts and hopes to get something under way with the hope of eventually organizing another chapter in the eastern part of the state.

Northern Kentucky Council: Birchell Slusher reported the chapter conducted a meeting via conference call. Deb Lewis and Carla Ruschival were guests at the meeting where they explored fundraising ideas. They are exploring the idea of selling cards. David Perry is also trying to arrange for a convenient meting time with hopes of conducting meetings every other month.

Greater Louisville Council: Bill Wright reported on activities at the Greater Louisville Council of the Blind. The chapter will be having its first bingo and pizza night tomorrow (January 18) at KSB. On February 9 from about 2 to 8 PM, there will be a spaghetti dinner, business meeting and workshop on emergency preparedness. Deb Lewis will also be hosting a meeting of GLCB in the Afternoon on February 20. Over the past month, Deb Lewis conducted a meeting of GLCB in the Afternoon where numerous household tips were shared, Jim Shaw organized a dine out at Dish on Market, and the chapter had a monthly meeting via phone.

Carla Ruschival reported that two fundraisers had been successfully completed. Four cases of pecans were sold and card sales were up from last year. Since there have been additional requests for cards, Carla will check with the company to see if this is possible and will notify membership accordingly.

Tri-state Library Users Group: Adam Ruschival reported that the chapter held its business meeting on January 8 at Clifton Pizza with 16 people in attendance. There were 17 members last year and their goal is to reach 20 members this year. Elections were held with last year’s board being reelected. Everyone enjoyed playing Word Ladder, a word puzzle game.

Bill Wright reported that Pam Cox is on the NLS (National Library Service) Advisory Committee which will meet in May. This committee advises NLS on talking book selection and other issues. She welcomes suggestions and input.

Guide Dog Users of Kentucky: President Deb Lewis reported that the chapter did not have any organized activities during the past month. They will be having a meeting on the conference line at 8 PM on January 22 and they will be planning an activity for early February.

Committee Reports

Legislative Committee: President Deb Lewis stated that Joey Couch has agreed to keep up with legislative issues and inform the membership on related issues as necessary.

Cross Roads Committee: President Deb Lewis updated the board on plans for the Cross Roads Leadership Conference which will be held March 15-17 at the Best Western on Bishop Lane in Louisville. Committees continue meeting to plan various aspects of the conference. However, the general planning committee has not met in January.

Carla Ruschival reported that the Downtown Louisville Lions Club has donated $500 to help cover the cost of producing conference materials such as handouts. GLCB will also be providing soft drinks in the hospitality area while their Activities Committee has agreed to supply breakfast items for those not staying at the hotel since they cannot take advantage of the hot breakfast offered with the rooms.

Carla Ruschival suggested that the board consider providing some money to assist with the hospitality area and to provide some financial assistance to individuals who might wish to attend. Although the exact registration fee has not been established, Carla and Adam Ruschival continue to work on some additional potential funding with the hope of keeping the fee (which will include four meals) relatively low. Debbie Deatherage made a motion to approve $1000 to assist with conference expenses. Rick Boggess seconded the motion which was approved unanimously.

Carla pointed out that the hotel has agreed to let us bring in our own food (softdrinks, chips, etc.) for the hospitality area and will be providing free shuttle service to the airport, bus station and possibly the Megabus pickup/dropoff point.

Carla Ruschival announced that the next General Conference Planning Committee meeting will be held on Wednesday January 23 on the conference line. In addition, the Program Committee will meet on Monday January 21 on the conference line and the Logistics Committee will meet on the conference line at 3 on Sunday January 20. Everyone is invited to participate in the meetings and interested persons should let Carla know and she will add their names to the email list so they can receive up-to-date information.

PR Committee: Carla reported that the PR Committee has not met.

Old Business

President Deb Lewis reminded the board that we had postponed a decision on whether or not to attend the ACB President’s Meeting and Legislative meeting until more information was known about the agenda. Carla indicated that one of the items to be addressed was to seek congressional sponsors for the Anne Sullivan Macey bill which would solidify the residential school concept. It would appear that if this remains the major priority we would be better served to attempt to meet with our congressmen back in their home districts rather than spend money to send people to Washington. Joey Couch asked if we have any specific information about the prospective legislation. Carla indicated that she anticipates that ACB will eventually distribute a handout with information and “talking points” relating to the bill. AFB is taking the lead on the bill and specific information was not disseminated at the ACB Education Taskforce meeting she attended recently. Given the fact that little is known about this prospective legislation, it was agreed that it should not be brought up at the upcoming SRC board meeting.

Rick Boggess inquired about what is happening with the Scholarship Committee. President Deb Lewis reported that the committee has not met. However, it is hoped they will be able to meet and report to the board at our February meeting.

New Business

President Deb Lewis reported that Jim Shaw, one of KCB’s representatives on the SRC, will be rotating off in June. When asked about his term on the SRC, Joey Couch stated he was not sure when his term expires. However, there is a chance that his term may also end in June. It should be noted that Joey, who indicated an interest in continuing on the board, does not fill one of the seats allocated to KCB.

When asked if he might be interested in applying for the board, Donnie Parrett inquired about what the SRC does. Joey Couch explained that the SRC acts as an advisory board to provide input to the Kentucky Office for the Blind on its programs and services. Carla also stated that the 21-member board, which is comprised of representatives from various organizations, the public, companies and agencies, meets quarterly at the Charles McDowell Center in Louisville.

Carla Ruschival expressed an interest in applying for the soon-to-be vacant KCB seat provided the board votes to support her in this endeavor. After some discussion, Adam Ruschival moved that the board go on record as supporting Carla to fill the position being vacated when Jim Shaw rotates off the board. The motion was seconded by Bill Wright and unanimously approved by the board.

Carla Ruschival strongly encouraged others (especially people from the eastern and western parts of the state) to consider applying for SRC board vacancies as they occur. Potential applicants, who are reimbursed for travel and lodging, must apply for positions on the board and be approved by the governor’s office. The SRC Board nominating committee will be selecting nominees for board positions at its meeting on Friday January 25.

Adam Ruschival stated that he had been approached by Bo Mullins, a KSB teacher, seeking financial assistance with purchasing a new Apple Mac computer to be used for producing the schools video yearbook. This was made necessary by the fact that the computer used for this purpose recently crashed. The projected cost to replace the computer and editing software is estimated to be around $1500. Adam made a motion, which was seconded by Joey Couch, that KCB provide KSB with $300 to assist with the purchase of new equipment and software for the video yearbook production. There were questions as to whether or not Mr. Mullins is seeking funding from other sources for the remainder of the project. It was assumed that he is pursuing additional sources and it was further noted that the request was not included in funds awarded to KSB by the KsB Charitable Foundation since the crash occurred after the award was made. The motion to approve the $300 funding was unanimously approved.

Since there was no further business, Debbie Deatherage moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded and the board unanimously voted to adjourn at 10:38 PM.

Submitted By Rick Boggess, KCB Secretary

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