GPA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Date: September, 30 2005
Location: Columbus, Georgia
Members In Attendance:Adam Hazell
Pamela Thompson
Patti Cullen
Dan Reuter
Paul Forgey
Stan Harvey
Rob LeBeau
Larry Vanden Bosch
Glenn Coyne
Tracy Dunnavant
Kathleen Field
Kip Padgett
Sharon Caton
Mark Wilkes
Eric Clarkson
Elizabeth Keysar
David Sutton
Attendance by Proxy:
Jerry Weitz David Kirk to Glenn Coyne
Ellen Heath Phil Clark to Dan Reuter
President Dan Reuter called the meeting to order at 7:37 a.m. Proxies were announced.
Reuter welcomed all new members of the Board of Directors.
Approval of Meeting MinutesThe minutes of the May 13, 2005 Board of Directors were unanimously approved with no corrections.
The minutes of the June 10th – 24th e-mail vote regarding FAICP nominations were unanimously approved with no corrections.
Financial Report
Heath informed the Directors that a financial update had been given at the annual meeting held the previous afternoon. Weitz asked if any monies had been budgeted for awards. Heath said $1,800. Reuter told the Directors that the AICP rebate was being discontinued. Heath said the amount that GPA had been receiving from APA had been decreasing every year. Harvey asked when the Board prepared their budget. Reuter said at the end of the year.
President’s Report
Reuter discussed his attendance at the APA Leadership Meeting. He said he made some excellent contacts. Reuter added that the majority of the discussion surrounded Hurricane Katrina and the issue of communication. Bill Ross asked who developed the Chapter expectations that were discussed at the annual meeting. Reuter said the CPC was responsible for making those recommendations. Ross expressed concern over the CPC trying to assume the role of the reporting agency. Weitz said he felt the CPC may have been overstepping their bounds.
Reuter mentioned his desire to have teleconferencing for all Board meetings. The Directors discussed the proposed meeting dates and the possibility of piggybacking the November meeting with the planner’s luncheon to be held on November 4th. Reuter reviewed the proposed legislative priorities for 2006. He suggested adding a statement on inverse condemnation and inverse condemnation for economic development purposes.
Reuter told the Directors that he included a copy of the work program to remind them of the specific tasks that the Board was trying to accomplish. Hazell said he and Phil Clark were developing a “welcome kit” for new members. The Board discussed the newsletter and how it would be distributed during 2006. LeBeau said the Directors had originally
voted to print four newsletters and send one electronic newsletter every other month. Weitz said he felt that plan could be varied. Forgey reminded the Board that the “welcome kit” item needed to be separate from minority involvement in the work program.
Chapter Services
Stan Harvey said he was looking at the possibility of requesting a special called meeting to discuss proposed changes to the website. He stressed the need to work particularly close with District Directors. Reuter said the website issue needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Thompson suggested having designers bring in ideas for the Board to consider. Harvey asked how much was budgeted for website improvements. Heath said $3,000. Reuter suggested possibly holding a meeting in October for those individuals interested in working on the website project.
Conferences and Programs
LeBeau informed the Directors that there were 206 registrants for the fall conference. He added that GPA should make a decent profit off the event. LeBeau said he would like to select the 2007 conference sites fairly soon. Reuter advocated moving the sites around Minutes, September 30, 2005 Board of Directors 3 and suggested exploring new locations throughout the state. The Directors discussed the possibility of formally tying GPA’s conference to GMA’s annual conference. Heath reminded the Board that many GPA members work for counties. Harvey suggested offering a planning related session at GMA’s annual conference. Reuter said he felt GMA would be open to the idea. Sutton mentioned the possibility of developing a land use certification for elected officials that could piggyback off CPI.
District Events or Announcements
Reuter said Phil Clark had held three events in District 5 during the year. He added that two were luncheons and the other was a brown bag seminar. Reuter said he would like to see additional funding added to next year’s budget for district events. Hazell echoed Reuter’s statement and added that he would like to hold additional events in his district.
The Directors discussed several upcoming planning related events including the Georgia MPO conference, a water resources seminar, and a Livable Cities Initiative Committee meeting.
Bill Ross advised the Board that the newsletter deadline had been extended to allow information from the conference to be included in the next addition.
Committee Reports
Sutton reminded the Directors of the $10,000 appropriation that had been given to DCA for the Planning Commissioner’s certification program. He said a Planning Commissioner database had been created and added that only $3,000 of the original $10,000 had been needed. He said three CPIs had already been held, with another scheduled for November. Weitz added that he felt a more advanced curriculum should be considered in the future. Debbie Miness said she had received a request to add more economic development topics to the curriculum. Thompson said her entire Commission had been certified and added that it truly made a difference in terms of their performance.
Approval of Appointed Officers
Reuter informed the Directors that several appointments needed to be made to the Board. He discussed the need for greater minority participation and mentioned the benefits of diversity.
Reuter nominated Gary Cornell for the position of Professional Development Officer (PDO). Have gave a short biography and added that he felt Cornell met all the qualifications that the Board would be seeking in a candidate. Hazell asked if there were any other nominees. Reuter said he had spoken with Coyne and they agreed that Cornell was the best candidate. LeBeau concurred with Coyne’s assessment. LeBeau made motion to appoint Cornell to the position of PDO. Seconded by Heath. Weitz asked if the three appointments should be considered as a group. LeBeau said he felt they were separate and added that Coyne had already taken another position. Miness said she felt Minutes, September 30, 2005 Board of Directors 4 the three positions should be left open to give a future minority appointment their choice in terms of responsibility. Fourteen in favor (twelve present and two proxy votes). Seven opposed. Motion carried.
Reuter nominated Kellie Brownlow for the position of Planning Officials Development Officer. He discussed her background and added that he felt she was highly qualified for the position. Forgey asked if she was a GPA member. Reuter said yes. Weitz reminded Reuter that he had indicated in a previous e-mail that there would be ample time to discuss Brownlow’s nomination. Reuter said scheduling had become an issue. Hazell said he would like more information regarding her involvement with GPA. Field said she would like to have Brownlow attend a meeting so that she could answer questions from the Board. Reuter suggested adding Brownlow’s nomination to the November 4th agenda. Cullen said she would like choices for these positions. Reuter said he wanted the best person for the job. Caton said she would feel much more comfortable if she had additional time to consider the choices. LeBeau said he felt interviewing the candidates would be unfair. Forgey said he would like to work on getting more minority involvement. The Board indicated that they would support his effort.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Tracy S. Dunnavant, AICP
Secretary