Neighborhood Watch Directors Meeting Thursday, November 10, 2016-6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Orchard Creek Lodge - Multimedia Room N O T E S Neighborhood Watch Mission Statement The mission of Neighborhood Watch shall be to strengthen neighborhood ties, increase personal safety and security awareness, be the eyes and ears of the Lincoln Police and Fire Departments, and encourage emergency preparedness. Roll call taken at 6:05 p.m. In attendance were outgoing Directors and new Directors: Karen Allen, Don Budde, Mary Cranston, LeeAnn Fischer, Tom Groves, Fred Harris, Klara Kleman, Linda Minor, Stan Orr, Pat Sladky, Pauline Watson, Larry Wilson, Martha Yanger, and Ed Zychowski. Guest: Pat Evans. Excused absence: Lodge Carlton No flash drive was exchanged. Approve Minutes of September 7, 2016 Directors Meeting - Larry Wilson The minutes of the September 7, 2016 Directors Meeting were accepted and approved. MSA Martha Yanger/Pat Sladky. All ayes. Treasurer's Monthly Report - Don Budde Because the Treasurer's report was not reported in the September 7 minutes, Don Budde reiterated the expenses from March 31, 2016 through October 31, 2016. Income of $1,091 consists of $500 from a Lincoln Hills Foundation Grant, $500 from the May Potluck/National Night Out kickoff and $91 from Boris the Burglar decal sales. Expenditures of $1,247.56 consists of the following expenses: $284 for a Microchip reader, $356.86 for May potluck, $325.35 for awards and recognition certificates, $8.06 for general meeting expenses, $40.83 for March Safety Symposium expenses, $52.70 for handbook binders, $169.76 for office supplies & printing, and bank charges of $10 to change from Umpqua Bank to Golden One Credit Union. Total expenses amount to $1,247.56 which exceeded receipts by $156.56; the accumulative cash balance as of October 31, 2016 is $845.44 that includes $1 in the savings account and the balance of $844.44 is in the checking account. Proposed 2017 Budget (funded by LH Foundation) The 2016 budget balance is $845.00; proposed expenses are $1085, proposed revenue of $129 which results in a $111 deficit for the year which will probably be greater because of minor expenses that will be coming through. The 2017 proposed budget for NNO potluck is a little on the conservative side. Last year income for NNO was $500 with expenditures of $357 that netted out more than projected. A Lincoln Hills Foundation grant of $850 is being requested since income from Boris the Burglar decal sales are on the way out. Another package of 100 decals for $79 will be purchased which will generate at least $100 in sales. Awards and recognitions allocation increased 1
from $100 to $400 due to the rise in awarding recognition certificates to 15 year honorees, postage to mail letters to 5-year honorees, volunteers who retire, framed certificates for outgoing Directors and recognition of former special deceased volunteers. Miscellaneous line item of $100 is included to cover odds and ends; allocating $50 for handbooks and binders. Seminar expenses mainly cover lunches for guest speakers for special events; $75 for Welcome Packet Plastic Bags for inserts to new residents. A motion was made to approve the 2017 proposed budget. MSA Yanger/Karen Allen All ayes Election of 2017 Officers - Larry Wilson Pauline Watson nominated the following individuals: Larry Wilson to continue as Executive Director and Ed Zychowsi to continue as Assistant Executive Director. For the Secretary position, nominating Mary Cranston for the position since she did such an outstanding job last year filling in for the Secretary who was injured. For the Treasurer position, nominating Fred Harris as a capable person in handling our money. A motion was made to nominate Larry Wilson for Executive Director, Ed Zychowski for Assistant Executive Director, Mary Cranston for Secretary and Fred Harris for Treasurer. MSA Pauline Watson/Karen Allen All ayes Role of Pauline Watson for 2017 - Larry Wilson Larry Wilson announced that Pauline Watson has agreed to serve as Administrative Assistant to the Board which is not an elected position. Review and Approval of Proposed Amended Neighborhood Watch Bylaws - Larry Wilson Once the proposed amendments are reviewed and approved, those changes will be incorporated into the Neighborhood Watch Policies & Procedures and Captain's Handbook. Because of a recent incident involving a Coordinator, the word "oversee" in the Director's duties needed to be made clearer in order to provide more authority to the Director in relieving a Coordinator of his duties. A Director, who may also be a temporary coordinator, can dismiss or replace a Mail Box Captain. The "sharing of resident contact information forms" needed to be included in the Bylaws. Villages assigned to a director can be transferred to another director during the course of the year. "Transferred" was not included in the Bylaws. Tom Groves brought up sending emails as BCC. Per Pauline Watson, that ruling is in accordance with Association guidelines. Directors need to cite chapter and section in the Policies & Procedures Handbook or Captain's handbook when you receive a question. Important that Directors are familiar with the Neighborhood Watch Policies & Procedures Handbook. A separate item that should be added to Article III, Section 3.04 has to do with obtaining a backup person. If the Coordinator is also a temporary Captain important that two people have a copy of the resident contact information form. All backup people are to be included on the Coordinator's List of Mail Box Captains report and receive either a Captain's Handbook or an electronic copy as they could eventually want to be a Mail Box Captain. The assigned Director can serve as a backup person if the Coordinator has problems finding a volunteer. Don Budde brought up the question "everybody in SCLH is a member of NW." According to Article III, Section 3.01 "Every resident who agrees to voluntarily provide emergency contact information shall become a General Member of the NW organization." The only statement that mentions 2
"voluntary" in the P&P and Captain's Handbook is in Chapter 4, Exhibit 4.04.03 form Welcome to the Neighborhood which is given to new residents. The completion of this form which includes the resident's name, address, phone numbers and email addresses as well as pet information is voluntary. Clarification needs to be added to Chapter 4, Section 4.02 Scope of Captain position in #1. Obtains emergency contact information from residents who voluntarily participate in the program. Mary Cranston brought up the question, "What if you don't agree to participate, are you still a member of Neighborhood Watch?" After discussion, Section 3.01 needs to be revised to "Every resident of SCLH who agrees to voluntarily provide emergency contact information shall become a General Member of Neighborhood Watch." Linda Minor referred to Section 3.03 and questioned "Any General Member of Neighborhood Watch shall be eligible to become a Director, Village Coordinator..." so if a General Member does not volunteer information they cannot be on the board? That situation has never occurred. Ed Zychowski suggested that Article III, Sections 3.01 and 3.02 be reviewed and corrected. Once the Directors approve the changes, the proposed amendments will be forwarded to the Village Coordinators who are given at least 30 days to review and will vote on the package at the next General meeting scheduled for January 27 and will be forwarded and reviewed by the CCOC and finally to the Association Board. Because of the confusion, Article III, Sections 3.01 and 3.02 will be reworded and probably voted on by email. Linda Minor quoted Article I, Section 1.02 Definitions of a General member. A General Member is a name used for those residents who are not Neighborhood Watch Volunteers as defined by this organization. Fred Harris stated that the definition of Neighborhood Watch is pure and simple, we are the "eyes and ears" for the police and has nothing to do with contacting people. You could be part of Neighborhood Watch in that respect and not part of the Neighborhood Watch in what we consider "emergency contact." Article IV, Section 4.04 also needs to be reworded to include "voluntary." Stan Orr suggested that a special session focusing on a thorough review of the Bylaws be held since it has far reaching ramifications beyond just these couple of changes. Everybody should take a chunk of the Bylaws, look through their section and come back with what they have identified specific to this issue, discuss this and come up with a final solution. Linda Minor suggested doing a search for "general member" and see where it is mentioned and what it says so when modifying the Bylaws, make sure that changing "x" doesn't modify "y." The Bylaws can be downloaded from our website for you to see what else needs changing or corrections. The proposed amendments were not approved because of additional items that need changing. Neighborhood Watch's 2017 Goals and Expectations - Larry Wilson Larry Wilson reported that only 5 vacant village coordinator positions were vacant as opposed to last year's 13 vacant positions. Pauline Watson announced that the figure is now down to only 3 thanks to Don Budde who just adopted Villages 3A and 35A. We need to continue promoting the "Adopt a Village/Mail Station" campaign. 3
Directors serving as temporary village coordinators need to work closely with their mail box captains and help them with their resident contact forms if needed. February and August is when the Resident Contact Information forms are due from their captains; do not delay asking for a copy. Important you remind Coordinators they need to forward a copy of the Coordinator's List of Captains according to the distribution listed at the bottom of the form. Important you encourage neighbors to get together to hold NNO. Continue to be the "eyes and ears" of Neighborhood Watch. People casually going through the neighborhood will have residents asking what they are doing here. Village Reassignments and Transfer of Village Documentation - Larry Wilson Pauline distributed the directors' village assignments, Directors Allocation Map, workbooks, and Facts sheet for insertion in their workbooks. Directors to Select Responsibility of one of the 2017 Annual Events - Pauline Watson The Summary of Selection of Events scheduled for 2017 was distributed to the Directors for them to select an event that they would like to manage in 2017. The May Potluck and Kick-off for NNO requires a team of three Directors; they get to choose the theme and decorate the room. The same thing goes for the annual November Meeting and Breakfast potluck. The following Directors agreed to be responsible for the following two events: Lodge Carlton had already agreed to be on the committee for the May Potluck on Saturday, May 20 before he left on vacation. The other two directors are LeeAnn Fischer and Karen Allen. There is a checklist for you to follow that Pauline will provide. For the Annual 2017 November Meeting on Saturday, November 4, Tom Groves, Klara Kleman, Linda Minor are the team. Karen Allen has graciously agreed to host this year's Neighborhood Watch Holiday Party on Tuesday, December 6 which includes outgoing Directors. Stan Orr agreed to host the Neighborhood Watch Holiday Party at his home for December 2017. The following documents were distributed to the Directors: 2017 Names and addresses of the Board, Support Group (not available online) 2017 Schedule of Events and Deadlines Calendar - not available online - will forward a copy to Directors so they can download a colored copy. 2017 Annual NW Meeting Schedule - available on line. Any director can attend the officers meetings if they have a special item they want to discuss but need to advise officers prior to the meeting. Compass and Sun Senior News reporters are invited to attend officers meetings. The Officers meetings are always held on the first Monday of the month. The next Officers meeting is scheduled for December 5 at Larry Wilson's home. 2017 List of Accomplishments - available on line Pauline Watson offered this important message to the Directors: Directors have coordinators reporting to you. The Secretary, Director and Coordinator all need to maintain the same information. When a new Mail Box Captain is added to the Coordinator's List of Mail Box Captains report, the 4
Secretary sends a copy to the Village Coordinator, assigned director and Executive Director. Someone recently asked me a question on why should a director or village coordinator maintain the same information since the secretary has it. The Secretary is not the only keeper of your villages. All of us have to maintain the same information. The secretary is the holder of all records but she is not the only source of information for each of the villages. Whatever is on the secretary's sheet, the same should be on your reports. For example, who is on the 5-year honor roll, who has a Captain's Handbook, when did the captain start, who achieved 15 years and listed on the honor roll? The Secretary has it, director has it and the coordinator needs to have it. The Secretary should never download the Coordinator's report if forwarded to the Secretary. Some of the reports are incomplete i.e., missing starting date for the captain. Sometimes a captain will notify the Secretary that they have a new email address and may not have informed the Coordinator. To keep the record current, the Secretary will automatically update the Coordinator's List of Captains and forward it to Coordinator that the captain has a new email address. A copy will be sent to the assigned Director and Executive Director with instructions to the Coordinator that the copy is being sent in Word and in PDF. The PDF copy is important for the Coordinator to send to their Mail Box Captains so the Captains know who their coordinator is. Directors need to make sure that everybody is connected. What's the use of getting all this information and have sloppy records? Neighborhood Watch has to look smart and be smart. 2017 Nominations Committee Chair The Nominations Committee Chair will be determined at a later date. The Directors will be meeting in January and March so a new chair can be announced at that time. 2017 Directors Orientation Session The new Director's Orientation Session is scheduled for Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 6:00-8:30 p.m. in the Orchard Creek Multipurpose room. Outgoing directors are encouraged to attend and start transferring their electronic copies to the new Directors. Each new director was sent an excerpt of the Master Excel spreadsheet from the Secretary for you to maintain which is "a snapshot of your assigned villages." Outgoing directors should contact their coordinators and inform them you are stepping down and announce the name of their new assigned Director. New directors need to contact their coordinators and introduce themselves and agree to meet with them one-on-one. Official transition should end by the middle of January. Directors who were temporary coordinators also need to transfer the Resident Contact Information forms to the new Director. Secretary can send the Coordinators report to the new directors. Larry Wilson read a note received from Pauline Watson that she agreed to be Administrative Assistant to the Board and Mary Cranston and will be helpful in any way she can. This is not an elected position. It was important to continue having her involved because of her vast knowledge of Neighborhood Watch. A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. MSA Don Budde/ Martha Yanger. All ayes Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Minutes respectfully submitted November 24, 2016 By Pauline Watson, Outgoing Neighborhood Watch Secretary 5