PLANT WNY MEETING MINUTES
Monday, October 2, 2023
Niagara County Community College, 311 Saunders Settlement Road, Sanborn, NY 14132
The meeting was called to order at 6:34pm by Steve Sypniewski, president.
Carolyn Stanko, NCCC Professor introduced William J. Murabito, Ph.D. President of NCCC. Dr. Murabito presented Steve Sypniewski with a Certificate of Appreciation. The certificate was in appreciation of our support to the horticulture program and that our dedication and generosity have made a lasting impact on their students and alumni.
In the absence of Ryan McMillan, secretary, Kristy Schmitt, director, read the notice of the meeting and gave membership update.
It was determined we had a quorum.
In the absence of Peter Burke, treasurer, the profit and loss statements and balance sheet for PLANT WNY were reviewed by Lou Sardo, vice president.
Committee Reports
CNLP Awareness & Promotion – CNLP Day will take place on February 1 at Salvatore’s Italian Gardens. Earn CNLP credits when volunteering at Plantasia. The CNLP committee needs committee members and if interested please contact Kim Schichtel.
Ed Day/Trade Show – Feb 1is CNLP/Horticulture 101 and Feb 2 is the Trade Show & Education Day. Our general meeting will take place on Thursday, Feb 1. We are excited to announce our keynote speaker will be Tim Zimmerman. He is local, a PLANT WNY member and CNLP.
Erie County Fair – It was a transitional year for the Fair for us with Lisa Kiec-Maliszewski stepping down. Steve Sypniewski is asking for assistance with help with this committee. We should take full advantage of the space we are provided. Help is needed the week before the Fair opens, during the Fair with watering and teardown . Valley View has control of the grange building. Steve will be meeting with Mike of Valley View to discuss 2024.
Golf Outing – Golf outing was held on Monday, September 15 at Springville Country Club. Great success. We had 68 golfers. Financials are still being worked on.
Harvest Dinner- The dinner will take place November 3 at the Wurlitzer Events. We are looking for sponsors for the evening. We are pleased that we can do something we have not done since COVID in presenting special awards.
Person of the Year – Helen Makeyenko, CNLP
Business of the Year – Tripi’s Landscaping
Historian – Matt Dore received many years of financial documents and historic information brought to him at this meeting. Matt is always willing to accept historic information and would welcome assistance with sorting through what he has.
Membership – The Snow & Ice Management Conference too place on September 28. It was hosted by Bobcat of Hamburg – they provided the location and the food. We had 46 people attend and several were nonmembers. It is now another benefit to membership and a means to attract more members. It was a casual, open roundtable event. Consensus from the surveys submitted is that we should do it again. Phil Tripi chaired this event is now forming a committee to grow it.
Plantasia – Vendor applications are coming in nicely. There are just a few garden spaces available. Plantasia Community Affairs will be funding a new shed that the NCCC horticulture program needed. Chris Zeisz informed the membership there is an option for new member sponsorship. Talk to Chris if you know of someone. We would like to bring new landscapers into the show.
Social Media/Marketing – We need to hire someone on a part-time basis, possibly an intern, to do social media and create educational videos. The Executive Board will be working on a job description and budget. It would be great to have to the person on board for the new year.
State Reps – There are plans for a NYSNLA statewide conference, Venues are being looked at and for the first year it will be in Albany. The NYSNLA is looking at October as it will not conflict with regional trade shows. The leadership conference may be combined with it. The Green Industry Management Summit will take place at the end of October. It is worth going to.
McKinley Highschool – Ron Callea expressed gratitude to the membership for continuous support of their horticulture program. Seven students from McKinley Highschool attended the meeting. The school now has a new horticulture teacher and conservation teacher. Ron said that speakers are also welcome to come in and speak to the students. The McKinley horticulture program is still using the mulch from Plantasia and they are offering their assistance for Plantasia with setup and take down.
NCCC – Horticulture books have been donated to NCCC. Part of the collection goes back to the 1800s and some are more contemporary. The public is welcome to utilize the school library. Spring horticulture courses are being offered through workforce development. There are also grants available for a full year of tuition from the federal government.
New Business
Election of 2024 Board
There are two vacancies on the PLANT WNY board due to the resignation of Peter Burke, board secretary. We need to fill the secretary and treasurer positions. Ryan McMillan, current secretary, will move up to vice president for 2024.
Steve Sypniewski asked for the Nominating Committee to make a motion to nominate the incoming secretary. Phil Tripi made the motion to nominate Crystal O’Hara as secretary to the 2024 PLANT WNY Board of Directors. Tom Mitchell seconded the motion. Nominations were closed for secretary.
Steve Sypniewski asked for the Nominating Committee to make a motion to nominate the incoming treasurer. Phil Tripi made the motion to nominate Roger Restorff as treasurer to the 2024 PLANT WNY Board of Directors. Kim Schichtel seconded the motion. Nominations were closed. Phil presented the 2024 Slate of Officers as follows:
Lou Sardo – President
Ryan McMillan – Vice President
Roger Restorff – Treasurer
Crystal O’Hara – Secretary
Steve Sypniewski – Director
Kristy Schmitt, in the absence of the secretary, cast one vote for the Slate of Officers. All were in favor.
Steve Sypniewski asked for the Nominating Committee to make a motion to nominate a member to the Audit Committee. Phil Tripi made the motion to nominate Kristy Schmitt as secretary to the 2024 Audit Committee. Kim Schichtel seconded the motion. Nominations were closed. Phil presented the 2024 Audit Committee as follows:
Phil Tripi (term ending 2024)
Teresa Buchanan (term ending 2025)
Kristy Schmitt (term ending 2026)
Lou Sardo, in the absence of the secretary, cast one vote for the Audit Committee. All were in favor.
2024 Budget
Lou Sardo presented his proposed 2024 budget. It is based on the 2023 budget with a cost-of-living increase to several budget categories. Lou stated that members who sponsor our meeting provide a great service to us in keeping our costs down.
Kim Schichtel made a motion to accept the 2024 budget as presented and it was seconded by Nick Fleckenstein. All in favor.
Additional New Business
Chris Zeisz brought information pamphlets on the box tree moth. The box tree moth is here and it is not going away. You need to talk to your customers about it.
Teresa Buchanan motioned to accept the minutes of July 19, 2023 and it was seconded by David Clark.
Kim Schichtel motioned to adjourn the PLANT WNY meeting and it was seconded by Rich Nella. The meeting was adjourned at 7:42pm.
Respectfully submitted by: Joyce Janson
PLANT WNY Foundation Meeting
The Foundation meeting was called to order at 7:43pm by Teresa Buchanan, president.
There is a new online scholarship application process. Please let students know to go to www.plantwny.com to application. The deadline to apply is in November.
Election of 2024 Foundation Trustees
Teresa Buchanan, as Foundation trustee, moved to nominate Phil Colarusso to the Foundation Board with a 5-year term. Tom Mitchell motioned to accept the nomination and it was seconded by Crystal O’Hara. Nominations closed after no further nomination were received. The 2024 PLANT WNY Foundation Board slated was presented as:
Teresa Buchanan, Lifetime CNLP, Trustee (term ending 2024)
Kim Schichtel, CNLP, Trustee (term ending 2025)
Matt Dore, Trustee (term ending 2026)
Phil Tripi, Trustee (term ending 2027)
Phil Colarusso (term ending 2028)
As Foundation Trustee, Kim Schichtel cast one vote for the slate as presented. All in favor.
Financials
Matt Dore, treasurer gave a brief financial report. Investments are at about $485,000 and it has been a fluctuating market. We receive dividends on our investments and draw those funds out and use for funding scholarships, Education Day and various projects/programs of PLANT WNY. An updated report will be provided at the February meeting.
Chris Zeisz motioned to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded by Tom Mitchell. Meeting adjourned at 8pm.
Respectfully submitted by:
Joyce Janson