Friends of the Muscatatuck River Society Monthly Minutes NEXT RIVER SWEEP WILL BE OCTOBER 2 Opening: 7-6-04 Call to order by Secretary Moore at 7:05PM. Attendance: Tom and Sherida Moore Kevin Jayne Everett Sparkman Simeon Stearns Joann Moore Minutes: Approved as read. Treasurer's Report: Local balance is $1984.99. A balance sheet is attached. HHH balance is $520. HHH is using that for grant supplies and then reimbursing with grant money. Old Business: 319 Grant- Simeon and Tom met in June with Terry Stephenson and Phyllis of the HHH and Amy Henninger of IDEM. Project is on task. We needed to adjust payouts to the 15 months left on the grant so that we use our money. We decided to add all the FICA and other monthly payroll expenses from HHH together and divide by the 15 months left for the grant and pay that static fee monthly for the life of the grant. The same was done for hours worked. We took the hours that needed to be worked until the end of the grant and divided by 15, which came out to 33 hours per week. Our coordinators will be reporting bi-weekly to HHH, IDEM. Sim was given the okay to purchase classroom sets of water issue workbooks from Project Wet to use in the classroom. Projector- No picture of the Greens yet. T-shirts- the grant is reimbursing for the purchase of the shirts, so we must give them away from now until they are gone. All workers at the next clean up will get a shirt. Monarch, Uppling, and Richman purveyors of shirts will be consulted on a new round of shirts from the grant for the spring. They will hopefully be blue with red collars or piping and white letters. The mascot will be the turtle Larry had that was shaped like an 8; there will be a naming contest. The logo will possibly be a stewardship idea with fish and a globe or possibly a contest as well. NEW BUSINESS Newsletters- Simeon and Sandra have published two newsletters. Contact Sim or Sandra to get some if you so desire. Review June Sweep- New waiver liability/sign-up form will be used to facilitate sign. Once we have a waiver on file, then a person would check in the next event versus signing in. We agreed not to overload any leader. Check out the possibility of radio communications. Consider having two sweeps annually; April and October- LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. Camera purchase- Unanimous vote for the grant to purchase a EOS Rebel digital camera with three lenses, tripod, and carrying case. It costs $1500 of which we will pay the lion's share of $1100, which will close out Task D of the 319 grant. The Muscatatuck Park and Jennings County Tourism will share the rest of the cost and we will share use of the camera with them. They have graciously agreed to allow us first priority. This is the same camera that the Plain Dealer/Sun has. Billboard sign- we signed a contract that runs from August 30th to Oct 1st for an illuminated billboard promoting water quality and the October sweep. It could say something like: YOU DRINK IT (picture of a very dirty part of the Mus.)(pic of us cleaning) (pic of a pristine part of Mus) WE CLEAN IT OCTOBER 2 8:00AM VERNON COMMONS Friends of the Muscatatuck River Society fomrs@yahoo.com It will cost $465 from the grant with Hoosier Outdoor donating $140 in kind for the rent. Travelling display- we have quotes from Greenwood Fastsigns and will check with Steve Mobley about others before a decision is made. FMRS office sign- something that will match the other park signs. The singular quote to date is for $85 to $95 per square foot. Simeon will check with local Mike Eastman and possibly other locals. Eventual purchase of a sign was approved. Fall Festival Partnering- Elizabeth Trybula of the Clifty Creek Project and ??? of the Sand Creek Project will meet on July 20th to decide if will be able to collaborate on a festival that would reward our volunteers and bring attention to water quality in the region. Preliminary plans (if the decision is made the 20th to go forward) are: Concert, hog roast, promotional give aways Simeon was granted permission to intern with Ms. Trybula during the week of July 20th to observe a water grate program that she runs. Phase 2 grant- will put an ad in the paper and contact a not for profit grant writing consortium Jo Ann's web work- apparently my forwarding of Jo Ann's great efforts did not work, so I will try again soon, I think we can use the activities in the classroom. 300 N dumpsite- possible sweep site for Oct 2 Use the TIP LINE. Call 1-800-847-4367 (1-800-TIP-IDNR) Adjournment at 9:00 Next Meeting: 7:00, August 2nd, in the Jennings County Visitor's center at the Muscatatuck County Park NEXT RIVER SWEEP IS OCTOBER 2 Agenda: Minutes Treasurer's report OLD BUSINESS: Camera Billboard Travelling Display Park office sign NEW BUSINESS: Develop sweep plan for October 2 Fall Festival Set agenda for the next meeting. Mother Nature Thanks You