This is a view of the management areas from the
Forestry Stewardship Plan for the Ranch. Thanks to
Gerry for doing the work in getting the Stewardship Plan together.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
September 4 Board Meeting Notes
These are the notes from the September 4, 2010. If Board members have additions or corrections, please let me know and I'll put them in the official record. *Uncle Fred, your faithful secretary*
The Board meeting occurred through a teleconference, brought to order at around 9AM Mountain time. These Board Members were present: Henry, Gerry, Mary, Fred, Tim, and (a bit later) Kiley. Lynne was not present. Fred gave an update that Lynne and Chris had just moved to Tucson, Lynne was starting a new job, Chris was at a new school, and Lynne was taking care of both her father and mother - so it is not surprising that she could not take part in the Board meeting.
Kiley was not online at the beginning of the meeting, so the Board decided to start going through the agenda, starting with the first item not requiring an update from Kiley.
I. Selling the welder. Tim reported that he would be moving the welder to his house in Seeley to repair a fuel leak before putting it on the market.
II. Separating Tim’s house from the Ranch. Tim reported that he is paying insurance, electric, and propane separate from the Ranch already. He is also paying the Ranch fee for water. He has not yet set up paying the taxes separately from those of the Ranch, but will get in touch with the County to get that set up soon. Mary mentioned that the records are all accessible online; Fred said he’d looked them up on line and if Tim needs, he could send Tim the account number. Tim will track this down and set payment up with the County.
III. Project Update. (For more info on some of these projects, see the Blogsite)
a. Brushing. Gerry reported that the brushing project was completed on August 18. The project was inspected by Roger from the Swan Ecosystem Center. Roger will notify the State that the brushing is complete and up to standard. After the burning is completed (estimated to be in October), half of the funds will be paid for the grant. After the seeding is completed (seeds are already acquired), the other half of the grant funds will be paid.
There are still lots of old dead trees around the property; Gerry is trying to find a market for these, though we should not expect much of a monetary return for that timber. One possibility is rails and split rails.
b. Fence. Gerry reported that the posts are all in behind the house and the barn. The big posts are in for the gates, and they are ready for the gates. He said that he’d like to take some of the post and have them spit to use as the rails for the fence. The person who does the rail splitting told him that he could split a trailer full of rails in about an hour, which would cost the Ranch about $40. The Board thought that would be a good idea.
c. Stream and Pond. Gerry had a meeting with Mike Palladini and an engineer working with the Fish and Game Department. The initial idea is that they would reroute the stream back to its original course, which would run from the pond area over to cross the road just below the slope from the ranch buildings, by the old pump house. The current stream course would be filled in and leveled. The water rights are being checked out now, and Gerry is confident that they are all in order. A design firm from Whitefish, the River Design Group, will design the stream course and an out-of stream pond. They’ve been in touch with the Conservation District; they can’t get a permit until they get a design, so the design is the first step. The estimate for doing all of the work, paid for through the Swan Ecosystem Center, is $150,000. The Board will have the opportunity to review the design, offer suggestions for changes, and accept or reject the design.
The people Gerry met with indicated that they would fence in the reclaimed areas, which would include the pond, and at least part of the tributaries. There will likely be a small diameter pipe that runs to a trough to water any livestock around, which would keep the animals out of the stream and pond areas. There is also potential for putting in a small hydropower generator in that line, which may provide enough electricity to run the pump.
d. Logging/Timber project. Gerry reported that the logged areas are getting all cleaned up, but there are a lot of piles that will need to be burned. It would be beneficial to have the Ranch dozer fixed to accomplish that. A little over $1400 for parts and about $200 for a machinist is needed to get the dozer fixed.
IV. Financials Report. Kiley joined the meeting and reported that she had received checks from Henry to be deposited. There has still been some confusion with the First Valley Bank in getting Kiley on the accounts for the Ranch. There are two accounts there: a savings account that Kiley, Gerry, and Tim can access, and a checking account, which Kiley will switch over to a Glacier Bank account to make it more convenient and efficient for her to manage.
Kiley noted that in going through the Ranch documents she saw that there was a credit card account. Tim said that the account was no longer active. Kiley noted that the balance was $1413, and it was accruing penalties each month. The Board agreed that the credit card should be paid off as soon as possible.
In discussion about the electric bill, it was noted that the bill is not paid automatically. Payments had been missed, resulting in $5 disconnect letter fees. The Board agreed that the electric bill could be put on an automatic pay plan from the bank account; Kiley can arrange that.
The savings account currently has $25,000. The checking account currently stands at $92. A $750 deposit is ready to go into the checking account.
Kiley also noted that she had been offered $5,000 for the Jeep, but it is worth more like $7,500. She suggested that the market may be better in the fall, so would like to hold onto the vehicle to try to get a better price. The Board agreed that she should do so.
V. Inventory. Mary reported that she was still waiting to receive the inventory report from Jason. Jason took pictures of stuff at the Ranch and made a list. The pickup and trailer information was not available when Jason was at the ranch, but it seems those are the only items missing. Once the inventory is available, Fred will post that for the family.
VI. Guidelines for use of the cabins, shops, etc. Mary had sent out a set of guidelines for the Board to review. However, it was not in a format that Board members were able to open on their computers. Mary sent a different format to Kiley, who was able to open it. Discussion let to the decision that Board members would send ideas for the guidelines to Mary; Mary will compile those and send out to the Board as a whole for further review. The guidelines would incorporate the pack-it-in-pack-it-out policy, and set expectations for what is needed for arrival, during a stay, and before leaving a visit to the Ranch.
VII. Map of residential area. Kiley had sent out to the Board a map that Brandon had produced, with a suggested layout for the residential area north of the entry road. All were appreciative of Brandon’s work and felt the layout overall was good. Fred suggested that a common access area be established along the western and northern boundaries of the residential area. He also suggested that the eastern lot may be shortened somewhat more than illustrated on the map because of the drop-off to Owl creek. He suggested that it would be fun to do a topographic map of the area as well.
Henry has not seen the map yet. Fred will email it to him.
Kiley and Fred will confer about a method to assign the remaining unassigned lots and make a proposal to the Board.
VIII. Family Reunion. The Board unanimously decided to set the date for the 2011 family reunion at August 6 – 8. People are welcome to come earlier to help prepare and to stay late to help clean up. And to visit more. Henry and Mary will develop a schedule of activities, including assigning cooking and other duties to each family group.
There was additional discussion about how to ensure there were enough beds in the old ranch house and the bunk house. The Board agreed that the first step would be to inventory what beds and bed frames were already there, and what family members might be able to provide locally. After that, we may need to purchase additional frames and/or mattresses.
(Gerry had to leave the teleconference meeting at this point.)
IX. Communications Tools. Fred reported that the blog seems to be working OK, but he would really like to have something established for the family that is more interactive, where it is easy for family members to post photos, documents, and such, in addition to serving as a forum for dialog.
Henry said he would check with Randy, who is a web designer, to see if he has ideas or could develop a website for us.
X. Engraving on Grandma’s headstone. Tim had not arranged to have the dates engraved. Kiley will check with the company to have it done, since the company that does the work is close to where she lives. The work has already been paid for, so there should be no additional cost.
XI. Joint Ventures. Tim reported that he and Gerry determined that there is good grazing land available in the pasture area just south of the upper meadow. They offered to facilitate family members each having a steer there so families could have their own beef. They would like to have another steer specifically for the family reunion. Nobody on the call voiced any opposition to this idea, but there was not a quorum for a decision. Tim offered to raise a pig for the reunion, and Henry offered to help him. That did not require a Board decision and Henry and Tim will figure it out.
XII. Next Board Meeting. The next Board meeting was set for Saturday, November 6, at 9AM Mountain Time.
XIII. Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned.
The Board meeting occurred through a teleconference, brought to order at around 9AM Mountain time. These Board Members were present: Henry, Gerry, Mary, Fred, Tim, and (a bit later) Kiley. Lynne was not present. Fred gave an update that Lynne and Chris had just moved to Tucson, Lynne was starting a new job, Chris was at a new school, and Lynne was taking care of both her father and mother - so it is not surprising that she could not take part in the Board meeting.
Kiley was not online at the beginning of the meeting, so the Board decided to start going through the agenda, starting with the first item not requiring an update from Kiley.
I. Selling the welder. Tim reported that he would be moving the welder to his house in Seeley to repair a fuel leak before putting it on the market.
II. Separating Tim’s house from the Ranch. Tim reported that he is paying insurance, electric, and propane separate from the Ranch already. He is also paying the Ranch fee for water. He has not yet set up paying the taxes separately from those of the Ranch, but will get in touch with the County to get that set up soon. Mary mentioned that the records are all accessible online; Fred said he’d looked them up on line and if Tim needs, he could send Tim the account number. Tim will track this down and set payment up with the County.
III. Project Update. (For more info on some of these projects, see the Blogsite)
a. Brushing. Gerry reported that the brushing project was completed on August 18. The project was inspected by Roger from the Swan Ecosystem Center. Roger will notify the State that the brushing is complete and up to standard. After the burning is completed (estimated to be in October), half of the funds will be paid for the grant. After the seeding is completed (seeds are already acquired), the other half of the grant funds will be paid.
There are still lots of old dead trees around the property; Gerry is trying to find a market for these, though we should not expect much of a monetary return for that timber. One possibility is rails and split rails.
b. Fence. Gerry reported that the posts are all in behind the house and the barn. The big posts are in for the gates, and they are ready for the gates. He said that he’d like to take some of the post and have them spit to use as the rails for the fence. The person who does the rail splitting told him that he could split a trailer full of rails in about an hour, which would cost the Ranch about $40. The Board thought that would be a good idea.
c. Stream and Pond. Gerry had a meeting with Mike Palladini and an engineer working with the Fish and Game Department. The initial idea is that they would reroute the stream back to its original course, which would run from the pond area over to cross the road just below the slope from the ranch buildings, by the old pump house. The current stream course would be filled in and leveled. The water rights are being checked out now, and Gerry is confident that they are all in order. A design firm from Whitefish, the River Design Group, will design the stream course and an out-of stream pond. They’ve been in touch with the Conservation District; they can’t get a permit until they get a design, so the design is the first step. The estimate for doing all of the work, paid for through the Swan Ecosystem Center, is $150,000. The Board will have the opportunity to review the design, offer suggestions for changes, and accept or reject the design.
The people Gerry met with indicated that they would fence in the reclaimed areas, which would include the pond, and at least part of the tributaries. There will likely be a small diameter pipe that runs to a trough to water any livestock around, which would keep the animals out of the stream and pond areas. There is also potential for putting in a small hydropower generator in that line, which may provide enough electricity to run the pump.
d. Logging/Timber project. Gerry reported that the logged areas are getting all cleaned up, but there are a lot of piles that will need to be burned. It would be beneficial to have the Ranch dozer fixed to accomplish that. A little over $1400 for parts and about $200 for a machinist is needed to get the dozer fixed.
IV. Financials Report. Kiley joined the meeting and reported that she had received checks from Henry to be deposited. There has still been some confusion with the First Valley Bank in getting Kiley on the accounts for the Ranch. There are two accounts there: a savings account that Kiley, Gerry, and Tim can access, and a checking account, which Kiley will switch over to a Glacier Bank account to make it more convenient and efficient for her to manage.
Kiley noted that in going through the Ranch documents she saw that there was a credit card account. Tim said that the account was no longer active. Kiley noted that the balance was $1413, and it was accruing penalties each month. The Board agreed that the credit card should be paid off as soon as possible.
In discussion about the electric bill, it was noted that the bill is not paid automatically. Payments had been missed, resulting in $5 disconnect letter fees. The Board agreed that the electric bill could be put on an automatic pay plan from the bank account; Kiley can arrange that.
The savings account currently has $25,000. The checking account currently stands at $92. A $750 deposit is ready to go into the checking account.
Kiley also noted that she had been offered $5,000 for the Jeep, but it is worth more like $7,500. She suggested that the market may be better in the fall, so would like to hold onto the vehicle to try to get a better price. The Board agreed that she should do so.
V. Inventory. Mary reported that she was still waiting to receive the inventory report from Jason. Jason took pictures of stuff at the Ranch and made a list. The pickup and trailer information was not available when Jason was at the ranch, but it seems those are the only items missing. Once the inventory is available, Fred will post that for the family.
VI. Guidelines for use of the cabins, shops, etc. Mary had sent out a set of guidelines for the Board to review. However, it was not in a format that Board members were able to open on their computers. Mary sent a different format to Kiley, who was able to open it. Discussion let to the decision that Board members would send ideas for the guidelines to Mary; Mary will compile those and send out to the Board as a whole for further review. The guidelines would incorporate the pack-it-in-pack-it-out policy, and set expectations for what is needed for arrival, during a stay, and before leaving a visit to the Ranch.
VII. Map of residential area. Kiley had sent out to the Board a map that Brandon had produced, with a suggested layout for the residential area north of the entry road. All were appreciative of Brandon’s work and felt the layout overall was good. Fred suggested that a common access area be established along the western and northern boundaries of the residential area. He also suggested that the eastern lot may be shortened somewhat more than illustrated on the map because of the drop-off to Owl creek. He suggested that it would be fun to do a topographic map of the area as well.
Henry has not seen the map yet. Fred will email it to him.
Kiley and Fred will confer about a method to assign the remaining unassigned lots and make a proposal to the Board.
VIII. Family Reunion. The Board unanimously decided to set the date for the 2011 family reunion at August 6 – 8. People are welcome to come earlier to help prepare and to stay late to help clean up. And to visit more. Henry and Mary will develop a schedule of activities, including assigning cooking and other duties to each family group.
There was additional discussion about how to ensure there were enough beds in the old ranch house and the bunk house. The Board agreed that the first step would be to inventory what beds and bed frames were already there, and what family members might be able to provide locally. After that, we may need to purchase additional frames and/or mattresses.
(Gerry had to leave the teleconference meeting at this point.)
IX. Communications Tools. Fred reported that the blog seems to be working OK, but he would really like to have something established for the family that is more interactive, where it is easy for family members to post photos, documents, and such, in addition to serving as a forum for dialog.
Henry said he would check with Randy, who is a web designer, to see if he has ideas or could develop a website for us.
X. Engraving on Grandma’s headstone. Tim had not arranged to have the dates engraved. Kiley will check with the company to have it done, since the company that does the work is close to where she lives. The work has already been paid for, so there should be no additional cost.
XI. Joint Ventures. Tim reported that he and Gerry determined that there is good grazing land available in the pasture area just south of the upper meadow. They offered to facilitate family members each having a steer there so families could have their own beef. They would like to have another steer specifically for the family reunion. Nobody on the call voiced any opposition to this idea, but there was not a quorum for a decision. Tim offered to raise a pig for the reunion, and Henry offered to help him. That did not require a Board decision and Henry and Tim will figure it out.
XII. Next Board Meeting. The next Board meeting was set for Saturday, November 6, at 9AM Mountain Time.
XIII. Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned.
Monday, September 6, 2010
September Clark Family Trust Board Meeting Completed.
Henry, Gerry, Mary, Kiley, Fred, and Tim met for a teleconference Clark Family Trust Board meeting on Saturday, September 4, 2010. The teleconference was conducted through Skype, and all of the Board Members on the call were pleased with the set-up. We'll continue to use that method for our next meeting, scheduled for November 6.
I've compiled the draft notes of the meeting and sent them out to the Board for review. Once I get any corrections, I'll post the final notes here on the Blog.
IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE SAVE THE DATES FOR THE 2011 FAMILY REUNION AT THE RANCH: August 6-8, 2011. There are many reasons to celebrate August 8. We'll kick off the celebrations on August 6, but folks are welcome to come early and stay later too. . .
I've compiled the draft notes of the meeting and sent them out to the Board for review. Once I get any corrections, I'll post the final notes here on the Blog.
IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE SAVE THE DATES FOR THE 2011 FAMILY REUNION AT THE RANCH: August 6-8, 2011. There are many reasons to celebrate August 8. We'll kick off the celebrations on August 6, but folks are welcome to come early and stay later too. . .
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