North Dakota Association of the Blind, Inc.
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
October 2, 2023
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Trampes Brown, Lexee Steffan, Rebecca Anderson, Helen Baumgartner, Elias Youngblom, Gerald Byron, Janelle Olson, Allan Peterson and Zelda Gebhard
GUESTS PRESENT: Mary Stip, Missy Miller, Doug Puetz, Michelle Zentz
CALL TO ORDER: Trampes called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm via Zoom.
ROLL CALL: Helen took roll call.
REPORTS:
President: Trampes has been getting phone calls from people from out of state requesting assistance for people with vision loss. He is able to direct them to the service providers in their state. The Glenburn Lions Club requested our beep baseball equipment to help people in that area experience playing the game.
Secretary: On July 28, Elias made a motion to approve the entertainment expense for camp, seconded by Allan. MC
Allan made a motion to approve the July 17, 2023 board meeting minutes, seconded by Janelle. MC
Treasurer’s Report: The CPA Financial Review will be tabled as Rebecca has received questions that need to be clarified by the CPA. Following a discussion of questions asked about the June, July & August reports, Allan made a motion to approve these monthly reports with corrections, seconded by Gerald. MC
Development Director: Since June 1, 2023, $16,826.38 has been received from donations. The Walk for Vision/White Cane Safety Day will be held on Oct 16 on NDSU campus. A mailing will be going out for this fundraiser. White Cane Safety Day proclamations have been received from Governor Burgum and Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney. Allan attended the Kickoff of GHD training. Donations have been received for the GHD match fund, including one from the Horace Lions for $7,500.
Membership: Lexee presented four new members and one returning member: Jessica Miller-Wollan and Ryan Wollan, both sighted from West Fargo; Daniel Leer, blind from Wolford; and Angelita Martinez, blind from East Grand Forks. The returning member is Kristina Brown, sighted from Dickinson. Allan made a motion to approve the five members, seconded by Gerald. MC
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Finance: Allan reported a CD came due and was reinvested.
Sports and Rec: Lexee reported the Fall Retreat was cancelled due to Wesley Acres minimum attendance requirement of 10 people. Only 7 people had registered.
Awards: There is an open spot on the committee for another person to serve.
Camp: Missy reported the results of the 52nd Annual Camp held August 6 – 13. The theme was All Roads Lead to Camp. There were 36 campers, with 5 of them being new. There were 23 classes offered, 6 of them being new. The banquet/dance were both a great success. A waiver for camp was discussed at a previous meeting. The camp committee does not feel this is a task for this committee. It is a much broader task than just involving camp.
Convention: See attached report
Constitution and Bylaws: The changes to the Constitution and Bylaws made at the 2023 Convention have been made and posted to the website.
DITD: The event will be held in Minot on October 19th . There are 11 table hosts attending. There are currently 7 tables filled. A final number of tickets purchased will be available on Oct 13. There will be four drivers transporting people to Minot.
Publicity: The master donor list has been updated. It will be used for mailing letters for the Walk for Vision/White Cane Safety Day.
Legislative: Allan reported there will be an accessible absentee ballot to test in January, 2024. It will be available for the primary election in June. An article in the Fargo Forum featured Allan encouraging the defeat of a petition filed that would only allow the use of paper ballots to conduct elections in ND. This would eliminate the Express Vote machines used by people with disabilities. He also shared that NDAB has joined numerous organizations of the blind and people with disabilities to offer comments that counter the Dept of Justice’s proposed ADA Title II changes regarding website accessibility, which would be detrimental to people with vision loss. Title II applies to services provided by state and local government.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
Ski for Light Transportation: After a lengthy discussion, more information will be compiled and brought back to the board to help make a decision. Trampes, Elias, and Allan will work on gathering more information.
Work Days: Trampes proposed the board have a work day between meetings to help the meetings go quicker. The work day would be about 1.5 hours.
Tracking Volunteer Hours: We need to track our NDAB volunteer hours. Hours will be recorded at the end of each month.
ACB Holiday Auction: Funds raised from the auction will be used to support ACB Media. Allan made a motion to donate $100 for postage for the ACB Holiday Auction, seconded by Lexee. MC
Announcement: Trampes informed the board that Jim Justesen from Eye Link is looking for people to serve on their board.
NEXT MEETING: A special board meeting will be held on Sunday, October 22nd at 7:00 pm.
ADJOURN: Allan made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Lexee. MC The meeting adjourned at 9:13 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
Helen Baumgartner, NDAB Secretary