CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Schoharie Land
Trust Board of Directors was called to order by Ken
Hotopp at 7:50 PM at the Cooperative Extension Office
in Cobleskill on 20 June 1991
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ken Hotopp Eugene McCaffrey
Mary Jo O'Donnel Dan Schuppel
Robert Smith
MEMBERS PRESENT:
John and Virginia Mauhs
A QUORUM WAS NOT PRESENT so no action could be taken
OFFICERS' REPORTS:
Recording Secretary: absent, but minutes of the 16 May
1991 meeting were read and corrected.
Treasure: absent, but stated there are 16 paid members
to date.
Corresponding Secretary: absent, but stated the need
for legal assistance in filing 501-c-3
documents. John Mauhs, member present,
offered his experience in this matter.
Vice-President: commented on and emphasized
the need to keep up with the GATT
Legislation, in order to protect American
farms.
President: Reported the donation of $500.00
from Helen Pickett. Also that receipts were
necessary to receive reimbursements of
personal expenditures.
MEMBER REPORTS:
Robert Smith noted the availability of $2000 -
$3000 from Presbytary for specific
projects. Also available is $4000 from
VECA. He stated there is a possibility of
keeping VECA accounts open for future
needs.
Dan Schuppel reported securing a check for $500
from
Presbytary Human Development Fund. He also
passed around an article from N.Y.Times on
farming in Schoharie, which included an
interview of him.
Gene McCaffrey gave an update on what he has
done about the Land Preservation and
Enhancement Program (LPEP), which is funded
by Iroquois Gas Transmission System;
1. provided a letter sent in outlining the
time schedule 2. went over new proposal
guidelines 3. a rough outline was then
distributed. Much discussion followed.
Conclusive remarks: if no administrative
costs were to be picked up by proposal
grant, the possibility of turning down the
grant, should be considered. The following
people were to be contacted by SLT members
to secure ideas on this matter:
Bob Smith contact Pete Lopez, Schoharie
Supervisor
Dan Schuppel contact Duncan Bellinger,
Esperance Super. Gene McCaffrey contact
Linda Gaydushek, Wright Super. Sandy Ford
contact Art Graulich, Carlisle Supervisor
Ken Hotopp & Bob Smith met with Mrs. Pickett at
her home and tossed around some ideas. It
was suggested that she donate it to SLT to
keep it in farming as a production unit.
Life long use of her house was also
suggested. Other components of a proposal
might be;
A. 220 acres B. inheritable lease
C. boundary survey D. base line assessment
of property K. Hotopp and B. Smith will
write a proposal to be ready by next
meeting, that can be submitted to Mrs.
Pickett.
Bob Smith stressed the importance of N. Y. S.
Land Trust Alliance membership, and of
attendance by SLT members at their quarterly
meetings to secure expertise and helpful
information.
Dan Schuppel and Mary Jo O'Donnel brought
attention to the "Agriculture Protection
Bill", number 7126, submitted by Governor
Cuomo. This would allow counties to place a
surcharge of 1/4% on all property sales in
that county and use the proceeds to
protect agricultural land.
Mary Jo O'Donnel asked everyone to write
Sherwood Boehlert stating there position
of SLT on GATT Legislation.
Bob Smith passed out "Earth to Board", which
states responsibilities of Board members.
Ken Hotopp secured information from Catskill
Center on Bonding. This was passed on to Dan
Schuppel to look into bonding and insurance
for Board members.
Mary Jo O'Donnel stressed need for a uniform
agenda.
NEXT MEETING: It was agreed that the next
meeting will be on 18 July 1991 from 7:30
pm at the Cooperative Extension Office in
Cobleskill.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:40
pm.
Dan Schuppel
Board Member
