South Mountain Land Association

MINUTES OF THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN LAND ASSC.

MINUTES OF THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN LAND ASSC.

November 8, 2009

There were a total of 17 members in attendance including 3 officers. The president was absent because of medical reasons. Bill Vivian called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.
The minutes from the September meeting were read and ratified.

Harry Sweppenheiser gave the treasurers report detailing what was spent so far. He noted that with a submitted bill not yet paid and the insurance premium coming due we will probably end the year with around. The treasurer’s report was then accepted and ratified by the body.

Bill gave a report on the hunter’s safety course noting that SMLA, QDMA and the Noxen Sportsman’s Club sponsored it. There were 50 people who signed up of which 35 actually attended consisting of 3 adults and 32 minors. The no-shows were people who lived a good distance away. Bill stated that the course was a success and the people attending were pleased. Everyone passed the course and Bill stated that the event was very beneficial and that we should sponsor it every year. The secretary noted that an idea proposed by Don Kachmar would award a junior membership in SMLA to any minors who attended and an honorary membership for 1 year for the parent or guardian which would have to be renewed as a new member the following year. The secretary noted that the idea would probably have to be approved by the board and the memberships would need to exceed the 1000 member limit. Chip Sorber made a motion to continue the safety course and award junior and honorary memberships to those who attend. The motion was 2nd by Kevin Ray. A vote was taken and none were opposed. A discussion followed concerning the logistics of implementing the proposal. The conclusions were to try and get the Game Commission to hold the course the last Thursday & Saturday in September and to award the memberships for the following year so that the honorary and Jr. members would have use of the property for a full membership year and would be able to attain a doe license for the hunting season. Bill stated that he would contact the Game Commission to see what could be worked out. He also stated that he had a small concern with how people had to sign up for the course having to go to the Commission web site. He stated that some people do not have access to the Internet and may have been left out. Kevin Ray suggested that we distribute applications for the course to the local sporting goods stores so people could pick them up, fill them out and mail them to us and we could get on the web site and sign them up. It was noted that the cost to the sponsors for the course was $300 and would be shared between the 3 groups.

Bill stated that we had a little more trouble this year renewing memberships. He said he talked to Don about it. The idea was to send out a questionnaire to members who didn’t renew to find out why. Chip Sorber made a motion to send the questionnaire. It was 2nd, a vote taken and none were opposed.

Bill cautioned that when hunting antler less deer, QDMA principles state that we need to identify the deer as a mature doe and not a button buck. He also stated that we should be only harvesting mature bucks. There was a discussion of what the deer count and buck to doe ratios were and what the latest information was about the fly-over that we didn’t get results from as yet. Also discussed were the different methods used to determine the ratios and counts. It was also stated that the wind project was on hold because of finances and that the next meeting would include antler scoring by QDMA.

The meeting was then adjourned at 2:33 PM.
Jmg

MINUTES OF THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN LAND ASSC.

January 10, 2010

There were a total of 18 members in attendance including 3 officers. The president was absent because of medical reasons. Bill Vivian called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.
The minutes from the November meeting were read and ratified.

Harry Sweppenheiser gave the treasurers report. A request was made to Harry to break the costs down and Harry broke the costs down for each expenditure. The treasurer’s report was then accepted and ratified by the body.

Bill began with the latest on the hunter safety course. He stated that we decided to have it on the last Thursday and Saturday in September and that the Game Commission was OK with those dates but wouldn’t be posted on their web site until February. Dorne White asked if we could get an earlier date because of doe licenses. Bill explained that this was discussed noting that during the summer months, that there was a lot of activities like baseball, vacations etc.

The secretary gave a report on the survey sent out to former members asking why they did not renew stating that 125 surveys were sent out and had 28 returned stating various reasons why they didn’t renew. The results showed nothing conclusive.

Bill talked about the 2 members who were accused of driving their ATVs on a food plot stating that they were notified to state their case before the Board but never showed up. He said that their memberships would not be renewed until they came forth to state their case.

Bill asked if someone would volunteer to audit the books. Russ Wall was asked to do it and he accepted.

Bill stated that a fly-over was done in November in lieu of the one we scheduled but was not done in 2008. The results were passed out to the members in attendance.

Bill asked the secretary if a copy of the new map could be placed on our web site. The secretary stated that it might take a little while noting that the scale of Deer Parks map was a little different than ours.

Bill noted that the donation for the use of the school was die and that he would like to raise it from $400 to $500 because of our increased use of the building with the hunter safety course etc. Dorne White made a motion to increase the donation to $500. The motion was 2nd, a vote taken and none were opposed.

The secretary then reported on why the fly-over was done last November. He stated that he e-mailed the Co. asking why and the explanation was that the fly-0ver was done in 2008 using some new equipment that failed and that they thought they had notified us of the situation. The secretary noted that they may have e-mailed us about it but it was around the time that we had the failure of our old web site provider.

A question was asked as to how do we really know the fly-over was actually done and it was noted that they dent us the videotapes showing that they did.

Bill stated that the local QDMA chapter along with the local NWTF chapter would be doing a project on SGL 57 and that anyone who wants to be involved could volunteer. They will meet on Jan 23 and the following Saturday at 8AM at the Noxen convenience store.

A question was asked about sponsoring an archery hunter safety course, which was given by the National bow hunters Assn and assisted by the PGC. Bill stated suggested that the person should get more information for the next meeting and if there was an interest in doing so then we would consider doing it.

Bill said the Chuck Kovalik was at the school earlier and said that he could photograph a picture of the antlers of a deer that someone shot and make a painting of a deer with those antlers in any woodland setting the person wanted. If anyone was interested, his business cards were probably some in the room somewhere.

A member stated that when he was hunting the property, he saw several vehicles with no ID stickers. Bill stated that this year there would be a strong effort to take care of these problems. Several other members also related similar sightings of possible non-member vehicles and confrontations noting that caution was followed because of the possibility of violence. Bill asked the secretary if we had heard anything from Deer Park concerning their help in prosecuting trespassers. The secretary stated that there was no response from them. Bill stated that there would be at least one patrol each month. A question was asked about the requirements for volunteering for a patrol. Bill said that the patrols were organized and not freelanced and that there were guidelines that needed to be followed.

A question was asked about Don’s status and Bill said that he was showing good improvement and would probably be at the March meeting.

The meeting was then adjourned at 2:31 PM.
Jmg

MINUTES OF THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN LAND ASSC.

March 14, 2010

There were a total of 17 members in attendance including 3 officers. The president was absent because of medical reasons. Bill Vivian called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.
The minutes from the January meeting were read and ratified.

Harry Sweppenheiser stated that the books were audited by Russ Wall and with the exception of some missing receipts, everything was found to be ok. Since then the missing receipts have been recovered. He then gave the treasurers report detailing what was spent so far. The treasurer’s report was then accepted and ratified by the body.

OLD BUSINESS:
Bill began with stating that the new map was posted to the web site and that coordinates of the new food plots needed to be taken so they could be added to the map.

NEW BUSINESS:
RENEWALS:
Bill asked if there were any volunteers to help with stuffing envelopes for sending out renewals on the coming Thursday at 1 PM at the school.

BRIDGE REPAIR:
Bill said that the bridge that was previously repaired at South Branch was in need of repair again and posed a possible hazard. He stated that we needed to as soon as the roads were passable that we needed to set a date, get the lumber and some volunteers to do the job.

A question was asked about the status of the President. Bill stated that he was expected to be at this meeting, but had a little setback during the week and wasn’t able to attend.

Dorne White stated that the annual QDMA banquet is to be held on April 10. He asked if the Association would donate $200 as we did in the past. A motion to give the donation was made by Ken Wall and 2nd by Russ Wall. A vote was taken and none were opposed. Dorne noted that on the banquet brochure did not have the SMLA emblem on it. The secretary said that he had e-mailed the logo to Randy Jones last year but if needed he would send it to him again. Dorne said that he would check with him to see if he still had it and would let the secretary know.

A question was asked about the results of the fly-over. Bill passed the results to the body and asked the secretary if they could be posted on the web site so that all members would have access to them. The secretary stated that he would do so that night.

Bill stated that there would be a Board of Directors meeting following the regular meeting and then a motion was made to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was then adjourned at 2:17.
jmg

MINUTES OF THE SOUTH MOUNTAIN LAND ASSC.

May 2, 2010

There were a total of 16 members in attendance including 4 officers. Don called the meeting to order at 2:15 PM. The minutes from the January meeting were read and ratified.

Don stated that the treasurer was delayed and would be late.

A question was asked about the bridge repair. Bill said that when he talks to Jeff Nichols that he would suggest to him that Deer Park do the repair. It was also noted that Deer Park was going to do repair work in that area.

Don gave an explanation of his medical condition which caused him to miss the last several meetings. He went on to say that he has kept up with the business of the Association through contact with the officers and others. He stated that we needed to have a BOD meeting after the regular meeting. He also said that we needed to evaluate the membership committee so we could bring it back up to par so we didn’t need to ask for volunteers to do mailings. He then stated that he was somewhat annoyed about some things he had read in the minutes which are as follows. (1) There was a member who suggested we sponsor an archery hunter safety course, but there was no follow up at the next meeting in doing so. It was explained to Don that the member was supposed to bring the details of doing it to the next meeting but never showed up. (2) The hunter safety course was billed as being sponsored by SMLA and co-sponsored by QDMA and the Noxen Monroe Sportsman’s club. The Sportsman’s Club was supposed to provide the lunch but never did. Don stated that it wasn’t fair to QDMA and SMLA that the Sportsman’s club was mentioned as a co-sponsor. He also talked about the membership changing his idea of giving an honorary membership to the people who took the course for the remaining 6 months to giving them the membership instead for a full year starting with the following years renewals. A suggestion was made for a committee to be formed to organize what needs to be done to make this honorary membership idea happen. Don also talked about volunteers to help with the safety course and asked if anyone present would like to help. Bill suggested that we put an announcement on the web site that we are looking for volunteers to form a committee to handle the logistics of the safety course. The secretary said he would do this. Don then asked the secretary to talk about probable changes concerning the wind mill project and South Mtn and Forkston Mtn Assoc..

The Secretary (who had attended the Forkston Mtn Assoc. meeting earlier) reported that the plan was (pending an agreement with Forkston Mtn Assoc) to have a main road starting at the main entrance (at Hettis Hollow side) and linking with the road at South Branch into the Forkston Mtn Assoc. This road would be gated and only vehicles with SMLA and Forkston Mtn stickers would be allowed to travel on it. No Forkston Mtn vehicles would be allowed to access any roads on South Mtn from this road. Any Forkston Atvs would have to be on a trailer. The road would be cleared and maintained year round and there would probably be full time security.

Don asked for any suggestions to get a better attendance at our regular meeting. Chip Sorber stated that the meetings are published and if anyone who wants to come would come and that decisions made here has to be accepted by those who don’t attend. Jim Wall stated that when we had guest speakers there was a significant number of members who came to the meetings. He also said that maybe when the wind project gets going that we could get some personel to come and give us a report and speak as to what was going on. He asked if anyone doing work to get some digital photos to put on the web site.

The secretary reported on the progress of the renewals stating that there were just under 600 memberships returned and that we had about 200 to send out which would be done the following Thursday. He asked that if anyone wanted to volunteer to help, to be at the school at 1 PM. He also noted that there were about 70 people on the waiting list.
The meeting was then adjourned at 2:35 PM
jmg