MINUTES – September 10, 2009
THE WEST VIRGINIA BAR FOUNDATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
STATE BAR CENTER-CHARLESTON
September 10, 2009
MINUTES
The meeting of the West Virginia Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors was called to order by President John Tinney on September 10, 2009, at the State Bar Center in Charleston.
Members of the Board of Directors in attendance were Steve Nord, Steve Crislip, and Harry Hatfield. Participating by telephone conference call were Secretary/Treasurer Joe Long, Jane Moran, Neva Lusk, Janet Preston, Mike Aloi, Tracey Weber and Eric Holmes. Bar Foundation Executive Director Tom Tinder were also in attendance.
The first item on the Agenda was a review of the Minutes of the last Board of Directors meeting which was held on June 11, 2009. A motion was duly made, seconded and passed that the Minutes of the meeting be approved as presented.
President Tinney requested a report from the IOLTA Advisory Committee and it was given by Board Member Crislip, in place of Committee Chairperson Flaherty. He stated that the Committee had met two days earlier and there had been the largest attendance ever with public and banking representatives actively participating. The IOLTA Comparability Rule is being implemented and federal government funding for legal services for the poor may increase. There was a total amount of $109,000 available for distribution. After some discussion, a motion was duly made, seconded and passed to set aside $12,500 as a quarterly payment for the annual management fee, retain approximately $83,000 currently in the Rainy Day Fund and distribute the amount of $96,000, in accordance with the Supreme Court Order.
The next item on the agenda related to the 2008-09 unaudited financial report and the 2009-2010 financial report. Secretary/Treasurer Long reviewed the unaudited financial report for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which was projected to be a successful financial year, and the first two months revenues and expenses for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. He highlighted several line items in both fiscal years and mentioned that there were no difficult trends for the first two months of the current fiscal year. A motion was duly made, seconded and passed to approve the financial report.
President Tinney gave a report on behalf of the Bar Foundation/State Bar Committee, which is a joint committee with the WV State Bar. He reviewed the discussion that had occurred at the meeting that had been held on the previous day. He said that the State Bar leaders said that they were desirous of moving out of the buildings at 2006 and 2008 Kanawha Blvd., East. The Board members had a lengthy discussion of this matter. Then, a motion was duly made, seconded and passed that the Bar Foundation get an appraisal and an engineering study of both buildings at a cost not to exceed $7,500.
After more comments were made, a motion was duly made, seconded and passed to send a letter to the State Bar requesting that it inform the Bar Foundation, by no later than October 15, 2009, of its specific intention to remain in the buildings or to move out, and if the State Bar planned to move out that the Bar Foundation would grant up to two six month extensions of both leases, beyond the end of the current leases on June 30, 2010, at the same terms and conditions as the current leases. It was agreed that the appraisal and engineering study on the two buildings would not be done until after getting a response from the State Bar to the letter.
The next item on the agenda was a report from the Grants Committee. Board Member Nord stated that one grant request had been received and reviewed by the Committee and it was from the Fayette County Education Fund for its Student Leadership program. The Committee felt that it was an excellent program and that the Bar Foundation should support two sessions of the multi session program relating to Government and the Justice System. After some discussion, a motion was duly made, seconded and passed to approve the awarding of a grant in the amount of $1,200 to the Fayette County Education Fund for its Student Leadership program.
President Tinney stated that action would be deferred on the next agenda item—the report from the Long Range Planning Committee—until the next Board meeting.
President Tinney then announced appointments that he had made to various committees:
- Grants Committee—Ms. Lusk to join Mr. Nord and Mr. Weber
- Foundation Fellows Nominating Committee—Mr. Hatfield to join Vice President Rohrbaugh and Mr. Aloi
- Audit Committee—President Tinney, Secretary/Treasurer Long and Ms. Lusk
A motion was duly made, seconded and passed that the appointments be approved as presented.
The next item on the agenda was the Executive Director’s Report. Mr. Tinder said that the Conflict of Interest forms had been included in the Board meeting materials and asked that the forms be signed and returned to the office. He informed the Board of the request he had received to make a brief statistical presentation to the Governor’s Independent Commission on Judicial Reform at its public meeting in Morgantown on September 21 and wanted to make sure that the Board was in agreement with his participation. There were no comments made. He told the Board members again that he had been elected as the President-elect of the National Conference of Bar Foundations at the ABA meeting in August. He told the Board of the recent meetings that he had had with new Board members Hatfield and Holmes, as well as his meeting last year with Mr. Aloi as he came on the Board.
Under the topic of Other Business, President Tinney announced that Immediate Past President Harris, Mr. Tinder and he would be making a presentation at the WV Judicial Association meeting on October 15 regarding Bar Foundation activities, including cy pres awards.
President Tinney announced that the next meetings of the Board of Directors will be held at 12:00 Noon at the State Bar Center in Charleston on the following dates:
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
There being no further business to transact, the meeting was adjourned.