GAZA Board Meeting
August 19, 2015
Savannah, GA
Members in Attendance:
- Ken Patton, President
- Allison Slocum, Vice-President
- Norman Pope, Secretary/Treasurer
- Richard Osborne
- Mary Teter
- Lisa Jackson
- Mike Mastrario
- Tom O’Bryant
Members Absent:
- LaMeisha Kelly
- Randy Mannino
Staff in Attendance:
- Jean Lord, UGA
President Ken Patton called the scheduled board meeting of GAZA to order at 4:00 PM
Minutes of the previous board meeting held on March 20, 2015 had been emailed to all board members prior to the meeting. Copies were also distributed at this meeting. After review, Richard Osborne made a motion, seconded by Mike Mastrario, to approve the minutes as written. Unanimous approval.
A copy of current financial report was provided to everyone in attendance. Norman Pope gave a short report on expenditures and current financial condition. Allison Slocum made a motion, seconded by Mary Teter, to approve the financial report. Unanimous approval.
Committee reports:
- Norman Pope reported that the Scholarship Committee had received two applications for the current year. After review and discussion, Leigh Hadaway was selected as the winner of the Betty Gecoma Scholarship for 2015-16. Pope was instructed by the Board to compose a letter to Matt Martin regarding his request for payment of his daughter’s second payment for the 2013-14 scholarship winner.
- A Nominations Committee will be appointed by the President to deliver a proposed slate of officers as well as two board positions for the upcoming election to be held at the business meeting of the 2016 Winter Conference.
- The Legislative Committee presented a short report on changes to FCC regulations concerning small cell towers.
- Contract Committee – no activity and no report.
- Newsletter Committee – Allison Slocum brought several copies of the current newsletter for any members who had not received it by email. The projected date for the next edition of the GAZA newsletter will be the end of November.
- AICP CM Committee will meet prior to the next conference to determine if expense of being a continuing education provider is beneficial to the majority of our membership.
- Certificate Program Committee will meet to discuss strategic planning and the possible revisions to our mission statements now that code of ethics is in place.
- Membership Committee – 2015 membership currently stands at 152 members as compared to 160 members in 2014. Everyone needs to work on recruiting new members.
The GAZA 2016 Winter Conference is scheduled for Athens, GA on February 4th and 5th. Jean Lord from UGA presented the Board with several alternative sites for the 2016 Summer Conference, and the decision was made to have the conference at Callaway Gardens at the Lodge and Spa facility. Dates of the conference will be August 17 through 19 and the room rate will be $131 per night.
President Ken Patton appointed board members to introduce the speakers for the 2015 Summer Conference.
A training session concerning zoning will be held in Cartersville in October. This session will be conducted by the Georgia Bar Institute and the Georgia Bar Association. GAZA has been invited to co-sponsor the event along with GPA. No cost is involved on the part of our organization. Norman Pope made a motion, seconded by Mike Mastrario, to be a sponsor of this event. Motion passed unanimously.
With no additional business to conduct, the meeting was adjourned at 5:26 PM.
The next scheduled board meeting of GAZA will be held on October 23, 2015 at 11:00 AM. The meeting will be held in Eatonton at the Putnam County Administrative Center.