FOS meeting - November 10, 2004

Steering committee members in attendance:  Jim Wagner, Bill Stone, Burt Allaire, Deedee West, Dirk Faegre, Ruth Sargent, Pauline Angione Bill Zoellick, Jay Horschak, Nancy Horschak, Jeanie Wilson, Tom Mayer, Peggy Grammer, Garry Levin, Rosemary Levin, Ed Pontbriand

The meeting began with a discussion of the separation of Friends of Schoodic from Schoodic Futures.  Three motions were offered and passed.

• Motion by Bill Zoellick, seconded by Jay Horschak, that FOS should communicate to SF that it intends to separate itself from SF, and further that FOS recommends to SF that SF return the Maine Community Foundation grant provided to Friends of Schoodic.
• Motion by Nancy Horschak, seconded by Pauline Angione, to request of SF that the funds donated by individuals to FOS be transferred to Friends of Acadia for use by FOS as it becomes the Schoodic Committee or Friends of Acadia.
• Motion by Jay Horschak, seconded by Bill Zoellick, to express appreciation to SF for shepherding FOS through its first two years.

Dirk announced that the Friends of Acadia board of directors had asked Bill Zoellick to serve on the board and that Bill had accepted the invitation.   Bill reported on the FOA fall board meeting that he had attended earlier that day.  The key activities at that meeting were:

• approval of the 2005 FOA operating budget, which contains a $5,000 line item to support FOS activities as it reconstitutes itself as the Schoodic Committee of Friends of Acadia.  The expectation is that--as the Schoodic Committee operates over the coming year--we all will come away with a clearer idea of the committee's actual budgetary needs.
• initiation of a revolving fund that could be used to assist in the purchase of property or easements to protect the many patches of private property that are scattered throughout the Park on MDI and elsewhere
• commencement of work on a five year plan to guide FOA's activities through 2010.

Ed Pontbriand reported on the design session for the Commissary, which will be turned into a first class meeting facility with high speed hookups and auditorium facilities.  Construction could begin next fall.  Work on the dormitories could begin in the Spring.

Garry Levin and Ed reported on the work of the algae researcher seeking assistance in collection of seaweed as well as on the project looking at local currents and tidal flows.

There was a discussion of volunteer projects for the coming year.  Dirk noted that it would be good to have projects that do not involve heavy lifting.  For example, Kate Petrie is concerned about loss of funding -- could FOS help in some way?  Scholarships for kids?  Donations for supplies?

A discussion followed that produced a number of ideas that the committee should explore for possible inclusion in next year's volunteer efforts:

• Library for kids and adults in Kate's program, scholarships for kids, supplies for the program.
• Newsletter -- in process
• Gatehouse -- definitely part of the plans for next year.
• Assistance on days with heavy surf to manage traffic at the point.
• Fence -- move to Saturdays.  Also, we will start hauling it out to the road.
• Shore cleanups.  Problem is that the trash is not always there.  Dirk suggests that we have a way to do cleanups as necessary.
• Roadside cleanups beyond the park boundaries.  Could the group serve as facilitators and spark-plugs?
• Sanding off the signposts to make trail signs more readable.
• Straighten out the confusion of trails at top of Schoodic head.
• Fall trail cleanup -- to get leaves off of run-off bars. 
• Plant ID around the gatehouse.

Tools: Ed has rakes and such and would like us to use them.  We need to put a sign on the building used for Schoodic committee tools.  In addition, the Schoodic Committee will be able to set up a charge account with Anderson's Hardware to acquire other tools as needed.  Expenses will come out of the Schoodic Committee budget.

Ed stressed the importance of filling out forms for volunteer hours.  This is important to ensuring that the park gets funding.

The next meeting of the committee will be on December 8 at the Schooner Club.

The meeting adjourned at 9 PM..