Ohio Waterfowl Association

September 22nd, 2007 A Meeting of the Ohio Waterfowl Association was called to order at 2 p.m. at the Gander Mountain in Reynoldsburg, OH following the 2nd annual Youth Dove hunt. Officers present were Andy Hogle, Mike Petkovich, Aaron Lynch, Dave Phillips and Bryan Schreiber along with approximately 12 members. Meeting minutes are hereby summarized:

Minutes from the last meeting were approved without comment.

Dan Boone submitted a Treasury and member report via e-mail as he was not able to attend. Dan noted $4899.54 in the bank plus $100 petty cash and no outstanding debt. Membership roles were officially 226 members plus one added at the youth hunt earlier in the day. It was also noted that Waterfowler’s Bootcamp netted 60 new members and a total of $1800

Old Business:

Mike Petkovich gave a completed project update from the North Zone. This included a summary of the Killbuck build day where 50 hen houses and a dozen wood duck nesting structures were built in conjunction with the ODNR and Delta Waterfowl. Mike also reported on his attendance at the Mississippi Council Flyway meeting at the end of July. Possible upcoming North Zone initiatives: Placing Nesting structures at Killbuck during ice-out. Possible Wood Duck box Maintenance at Berlin Lake in May or June of 2008. And wood duck box placement at Ottawa in spring of 2008. Plus others as suggestions from members are received.

Aaron Lynch gave a completed project update from the South Zone. South Zone build day was completed with all donated materials provided by OWA members in attendance. 40 hen tubes were constructed and are being stored at Aaron’s house available for members to place. Upcoming South Zone Initiatives may include Wayne National Forest nesting structure maintenance or replacement. Plus others as suggestions from members are received.

Andy reported on the success of the Hebron Fish Hatchery Handicapped Blind and walkway project. $2000 in building materials was donated by Khentco Building Supply and labor provided by 20 OWA Members. The ODNR Division of Wildlife Chief David Graham visited the site and was highly complimentary of the OWA efforts. There is talk of doing a similar project at Deer Creek in 2008.

Old Business:

Discussion regarding the vacant Treasurers position was brief. It was noted that Dan Boone has been doing a good job serving a dual role as Secretary and Treasurer. Dewayne Knight motioned to continue the combined Officership for the duration of the term, it was seconded by Aaron Lynch and the motion was passed by members with out objection.

Amendment to the OWA constitution concerning meeting dates proposed at the previous meeting was voted on and approved by the membership without objection. The meeting dates for the two required yearly meetings will be changed from the Third Sunday in February and June; to the third Saturday in February and a flexible date in August. Notice of the intended constitutional amendment was previously announced in the Summer newsletter.

There was much discussion again regarding a Sponsorship program and structure for individuals or corporations that wanted to donate to the OWA in greater amounts. After a lot of discussion it was motioned by Aaron Lynch to set up an Exploratory Committee to investigate different ideas and structure and to report back to the Executive Committee. Dave Phillips will serve as the Officer Chair with DeWayne Knight, Jay Comyns and Pete Strewjewski serving on the committee. Finding will be presented at the February Meeting.

New Business:

It was discussed that there is no provision for replacement of Officers in the OWA Constitution. Future amendment or procedures may be undertaken to specifically address this issue. Some draft language was discussed and a motion to move forward with this issue was proposed by DeWayne Knight and seconded by Pete Strewjeski. On a related note, Pete Strewjeski brought up the idea of drafting a Policies and Procedures document, vs. amending the constitution to address every issue or anomaly that popped up.

Andy Hogle proposed the OWA sponsor a Youth Hunter Ed Class combined with a Youth Pheasant Hunt for those who successfully completed the hunter education. The event would be held at Elkhorn Lake in the March 2008. Some discussion was had on funding of the birds that would be hunted. The event will be announced in the next newsletter.

There was a brief discussion on putting PayPal up on the OWA site as a method of membership sign-up and renewal, and donations taking. The proposal was passed without objection by the membership. Bryan Schreiber will work with Dan Boone to get that up and running.

The meeting was ended with a motion for the next meeting to be held the third Saturday in February at a location TBA. The Meeting time and location will be announced on the website and in the next newsletter.

These minutes are accurate to the best of my recollection. Minutes will posted and comments taken at the next OWA meeting. – Bryan Schreiber, OWA Media Relations