Annual Meeting MSSMPG Oct 9, 2004
MSSM, Limestone

*Called to order: by Acting Co-President Alice Chartrand

*Nomination of Denis Culley as moderator:
elected by unanimous vote. Bruce handed out a condensed copy of the Maine Moderators Manual and reviewed its voting chart and procedures.

*MSSMPG Bylaws Article 13:
The concept of changing Roberts Rules of Order to the Maine Moderators Manual was briefly discussed at the August MSSMPG General Meeting. A copy of this was sent to membership in advance and the Manual has been on the MSSMPG Website. After brief discussion and unanimous vote, MSSMPG Bylaws Article 13 were amended to read as follows:

      Original:
      ARTICLE 13- Rules of Meetings
      If conflict at any meeting level cannot easily be resolved by informal discussion then Robert's Rules of Order will be used.

      Strike, "Roberts Rules of Order" and insert "Maine Moderators Manual" to be used for general and      
annual meetings and as optional for other meetings.

      New Version:
      ARTICLE 13- Rules of Meetings
      The Maine Moderators Manual will be used for general and annual meetings and is an option for use      
if a conflict at any meeting level cannot easily be resolved by informal discussion.

*Nominations were taken from the floor, with the following officers elected by unanimous vote:
      President: Bruce Hancock
      Vice President: David Haines
      Treasurer: Jon Eaton
      Chair Student Life/Enrichment: Paul Meyer
      Chair Publicity/Communications: Steven Powell

*Annual Treasurer's report:

The MSSM Parent's Group established a checking account at Camden National Bank in December 2003. Balances as of Saturday, October 9, 2004:
-- $413.81 in our checking account.
-- $200.00 earmarked for Parents Group in the MSSM Foundation.

Pending contributions as of Saturday, October 9, 2004:
-- $750 in parent donations to the MSSM Foundation to be earmarked for the Parents Group (and restricted to expenditures on recreational equipment as verified with all contributors)), which would raise the Parents Group fund balance within the Foundation to $950.

The total contributions to the Parents Group funds within the MSSM Foundation is $1,200 since inception of the PG funds last year, of which $250 have been spent (see above).

Dispersal's as of October 9:
--From the PG checking account, three checks totaling $560 last spring to cover Mystery Weekend expenses, and one check for $60 in September for Chef Tom.
--From the Parents Group funds within the MSSM Foundation, $250 was disbursed on April 22 to cover Mystery Weekend expenses.

The MSSMPG checking account is currently with Camden National Bank, which charged some $52 in monthly and transaction fees from December 2003 through September 2004 but has now agreed to waive all fees from end September 04 onward.

The MSSM Foundation is a 501c3 Tax exempt nonprofit organization.
The Foundation (as represented by Stanley Marshall) agreed in late 2003 to accept moneys earmarked for MSSMPG and to issue us quarterly statements. This allows parents to deduct these contributions from their taxes, and is beneficial to the Foundation as it demonstrates grassroots support when applying for large grants.
A check cannot be simply remade out to MSSMPG by the Foundation, as this would not document the fiscal requirement of spending the money on the items designated by the contributors.
MSSMPG Foundation checks are issued with the signature of both the MSSMPG Treasurer and the MSSM Executive Director.

Motions from the floor:

After much discussion (due to concern that the Treasurer might need to eventually resign before his term was up)- the following final motion was proposed: "That the Bylaws be amended to state, 'In the event of an officer's position becoming vacant the Executive Committee will have the authority to appoint an officer until the next general meeting.".

In retrospect, the Bylaws state that any amendment must be presented to the general membership at least 7 days prior to voting. The current Bylaws also already read, "Should an Officer or Chairperson step down for any reason during his or her term, the Steering Committee will select a replacement." Therefore the amendment to give authority to fill vacant positions to the Executive Committee will need to be resubmitted to the next general meeting with advance notice, for revote.

Motion made and passed unanimously "to note that the sense of the meeting is that a Treasurer trainee should be in place by January '05, after semester break."

Executive Director Joe Siddiqui spoke briefly and thanked parents for their help with recruitment. He also answered questions, with news including:
Jane Karker presented outgoing President Terrie Frisbie and Co-President Alice Chartrand with gifts of appreciation ( gift certificates for Hamilton Marine and Cafe Miranda in Rockland). Terrie will continue work on the Steering Committee as Past President.

Adjournment (next expected general meeting to be Move In Day '05)

(Post Meeting: Executive Committee to contact bus reps individually to verify willingness to act as regional reps to form a Steering Committee)