February Minutes 20242/25/2024
Maplewood Grange #662 general meeting was called to order at 3:40 PM, by Master,/President, Dan Keeley, on Sunday, February 25, 2024 with the “Opening of the Grange” stations (upstairs). The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Visitation: (none) Guest: Alina Blankenship, Sky Guardian Falconer Members acting Pro-Temp: Gatekeeper; JoAnn Keeley ROLL CALL (Secretary): Members present: 8 (Mandatory – Quorum “7”) Dan Keeley, JoAnn Keeley, Don Sether, Roberta Elders, Vicki Pounds, Betty Chipps, Troy Bayless, Sandy Shew. PROPOSALS for MEMBERSHIP (Dan Keeley) – none MINUTES (Secretary): The January 14, 2024 Grange Meeting Minutes are yet to be completed. Betty received “20 lashes with a wet noodle” from Grange Master. SECRETARY COMMUNICATIONS (Betty Chipps) – No report. COMMITTEE REPORTS HALL REPORT (Dan Keeley) – Eight party rentals scheduled. Chaps, Gamers and Zumba still have long term contracts. Recent rentals have gone fairly well except for a glitter issue recently. I asked our insurance agent, Sean Connor, about the advisability of waiving renters insurance in favor of beefing up Maplewood’s policy. He said ‘very bad idea.’ While he has some business interests to look out for I think I trust his judgment in this case. His number one rationale was renters should have some personal exposure to worry about when bad behavior occurs. Renter didn’t quite turn the faucet off, in the storage room, and the drip caused a puddle. Please keep an eye out for faucet leaks in the storage room, when visiting the hall. Also, lights have been left on several times lately. HALL PROJECTS - in priority order (Dan Keeley): . Insulate crawl space under bathrooms (pipes under both restrooms have been insulated) Northeast side roof needs additional screws (nailed through shingles but not boards) Kitchen counters need refinished Kitchen needs exhaust hood and fan Repainting under eaves of hall Kitchen and dining hall floors need refinished AGRICULTURE (Dan Keeley) – Federal farm bill has been extended through 2024. Work on the replacement 5-year bill is proceeding slowly with considerable controversy. Some Oregon legislators propose bypassing land use rules to expand urban growth boundaries in the name of affordable housing. This is bad for agriculture partly due to loss of farmable acres but also due to increased traffic and conflicts in the rural areas. Farm Bureau and Thousand Friends of Oregon are opposing HB 1530 and HB 1537 (governors housing bill) for these and other reasons. Grange has policy and opposition, as well. Don Sether reported Commodities horrible as nothing is being exported out of the United States. COMMUNITY SERVICE (JoAnn Keeley):
- $1,000 will be awarded to a graduating senior with plans to enroll in an Agricultural related field. - Recipients have been requested to present their essa/programy to the Exec. Gr. Board. - Applications turned in for North Marion and Canby High Schools - School Award deadlines are April 7 and April 15. - a Committee member will attend the Award Ceremony. Grange is welcome to go to the Scholarship Award ceremonies, which happen before Graduation.
“According to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, in fall 2022, the average amount spent on a single child’s primary grade sport per season was $833. For families with household incomes at or above $150,000 a year, the average is $2,068. Around half of those who’ve played or have children who’ve played youth sports say they’ve struggled to pay for it, according to a 2023 Project Play report.” That doesn’t include the difficulty or expenses parents have getting their kids to practices, particularly in families where all the adults work outside the home. Maybe grade school kids should go pro now also? LEGISLATIVE (Dan Keeley) – Legislative short session is about ⅔ over. As expected, dealing with addictive drugs is a top issue. The Republican caucus has proposed essentially a straight up repeal of Measure 110, with the exception of cannabis remaining legal. The argument is that addicts will not seek treatment unless compelled to (in jail) and that country health departments will do a better job of treating addicts than the state has. Some opposition from District Attorneys and prison officials, mostly complaining they do not have the capacity or budget to go back to the war on drugs. Democratic caucus has proposed more modest adjustments centered on making public consumption of most addictive drugs illegal similar to alcohol consumption, accelerating establishment of treatment centers and non-police agency response to drug violations and overdoses. The objective is to get addicts into treatment programs without a criminal record that limits employment. Opposition argues that the state has had plenty of time to get treatment programs running and has failed. My opinion is that addicts have to want help for any program to be successful. The main question is whether jail or counseling will be more effective in persuading folks and what to do with them in the meanwhile. Troy Bayless addressed ‘wrap’ on personal employment for drug violations is ineffective as there are always get-arounds. Counseling should be effective. Troy inquired: was legislation proposed for repair of own Farm Equipment? Discussed: QVC Code supports ability to fix own equipment - issue is copyright information. MEMBERSHIP REPORT (Betty Chipps) – Membership dues for 2024 is $50. Don Sether gave a $50 check to the Treasurer. POMONA REPORT – Don Sether advised Clackamas POMONA Grange prompted RESOLUTIONS need to be presented before April 2024. YOUTH REPORT (Mindy Ferriss) – (absent) TREASURER’S REPORT (Vicki Pounds) The Treasurer’s Report for the February 25, 2024 Maplewood Grange meeting was emailed 02/23/2024. The opening balance, as of January 12, was $14,244.05 and the ending balance on February 22, 2024 was $12,481.52. Hearing no discussion, the report will be ‘filed for Audit.’ Vicki reminded the membership that Grange Dues ($50) are due. Thus far I have only 3 checks.. TABLED BUSINESS (Dan Keeley) – None UNFINISHED BUSINESS (Dan Keeley): Website Host – Weebly Are we willing to continue to pay for our website ($211 per year from Weebly) or go with a smaller, plainer one on the National Grange site using WordPress? Pros / Cons: National Grange supports WordPress - it’s simple, no pictures & no videos. Troy asked, has Weebly generated rentals? Dan said Weebly does allow tracking - has generated approximately 25% of rental inquiries Dad advised OK to pay $211 since Weebly was pre pre-approved vendor. NEW BUSINESS
02/04/24 Janitorial Supplies & rug pad 22.58 02/16/24 Dimmer for ballroom 25.35 02/17/24 Electrical for Dimmer 6.78 Sub-Total $ 89.17 l Spot Lamp - Disco ball Additiona Fixture 61.84 expenses Mop 24.00 presented Misc 21.97 TOTAL $196.98 Don Sether moved and Betty Chipps seconded to pay the bills, motion carried. VSO
MEMBERS SICK or IN DISTRESS (Dan Keeley) – none noted. GOOD OF THE ORDER (Dan Keeley) Whether you think you can or think you can’t , you’re right. (Henry Ford) GUEST: Alina Blankenship, Sky Guardian Falconry located in West Linn (503) 969-6119. ([email protected]) (www.GuardianFalcon.com) Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural habitat by means of a trained Bird of Prey.. Landowners/Facilities are provided habitat training as well. Mutually benefiting the Urban / Suburban environments with the bird-of-prey::
A business will provide a habitat (nesting home) for the raptor, and through normal course, the natural hunter will prevent damage to crops, orchards, or business grounds. Examples: the Army Corp of Engineers benefits by the hunting of voles; the hawk would flush out squirrels in a Filbert orchard NEXT MEETING – March 24, 2024 at 3:30 PM. CLOSING – Meeting was adjourned, by Dan Keeley, at 4:16 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Betty Chipps Secretary AuthorBetty Chipps, Secretary. Edited by Dan Keeley Categories |
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