Saskatchewan Alpaca Breeders Network Inc.
Annual General Meeting
Saturday, March 9, 2013
09:45 am – Hans Peter Vos called the meeting to order. One member was connected by Skype.
R. Weber/R. Blom moved “Approve the agenda”. Carried.
Fibre Research Project - Lynn Hilderman informed the members that the Final Reports are
nearing completion. Once they are complete the information will be summarized and
distributed to the membership. Lynn presented the Research Project. The findings in the areas
of Cleaning, Drying, Storage and Processing were discussed.
Drs. Satya Panigrahi and Lal Kushwaha joined the meeting. Satya reviewed the
progression of the Marcelin Mill. There has been very little work done regarding the mill as the
research project needs to be completed first. Satya stated that he would like to have 4 to 6
people work with Himself and some others to develop a Business Plan. He would like to have a
brainstorming session with these people and the interested people from Marcelin. The people
from Marcelin should be involved in helping to set up the mill.
12:00 break for lunch.
12:50 Meeting called to order. Hans-Peter reminded members that we need nominations for
director and committee positions.
L. Bray/R. Blom moved ”To approve the 2012 SABN AGM minutes”. Carried.
President’s Report – Hans-Peter reported that his first year as SABN President has been a fun
experience.
Treasurer’s Report – Lorraine presented the report on SABN”s financial status. Digital Financial
statements were circulated prior to the meeting and hard copies were provided at the meeting.
Lorraine also distributed the 2013 SABN Financial Summary at the meeting. This document
outlined the money that SABN has received from the CLAA in the form of Bridge Funding. To
date we have received $20,000.00. We will receive another $10,000.00 when the Final
Research Reports are approved by the Fibre Committee and the SABN Board. The money will
be repaid to CLAA as soon as SABN pays all of our invoices and gets reimbursement from ACS
on behalf of CAAP. This should occur later this spring. SABN still has invoices for $14,400.00
and we expect to receive another invoice for $4000.00.
There was discussion regarding the timing of the delivery of the financial statements to
the members prior to the AGM. Lorraine stated that the statements were not circulated 15
days in advance of the AGM as set out in the Corporation’s Act because they were not
balanced. The statements were sent out as soon as they were balanced (10 days before the
meeting).
There was discussion regarding a review of the finances. Lorraine informed the
members that the person that did the 2011 review has retired and is no longer interested in
doing this type of work. A search for someone else to do the review determined that the cost
of a review would be between $400 and $1000. The Board decided to seek membership input
prior to pursuing the review any further. Members expressed a desire to have the financial
information reviewed and D. Hilderman stated that Strasbourg Agencies could do the review
and complete the Corporate Tax Form for $400.00. P. Schindel/K. Kokoski moved “Send the
financial information to Strasbourg Agencies who will review the information and complete the
2012 Corporate Tax Form”.
R. Weber/R. Blom moved an amendment to the motion “The membership empowers the Board
to negotiate price”. The amendment was Carried. The amended main motion “Send the
financial information to Strasbourg Agencies who will review the information and complete
the 2012 Corporate Tax Form. The membership empowers the Board to negotiate price.”
Carried.
R. Blom/R. Weber moved “The membership authorizes the Board to approve the 2012
financial review and the statements will be discussed at the 2014 AGM”. Carried.
B. Blom/K. Kowski moved “The membership authorizes the Board to negotiate and extend our
contract with Strasbourg Agencies to do the review of 2013 financials”. Carried.
Membership Report – L. Bray reported that we had up to 49 members in 2012. Currently 20
members have renewed their memberships for 2013.
Agribition Report – P. Schindel reported that the activities involved in Agribition are changing
and we do not yet have all of the details. It looks like there will be a stronger education
component. L. Hilderman volunteered to work on the Agribition committee. She is also
interested in volunteering with the Education Committee.
Newsletter – R. Vos indicated the plan to produce newsletters in Jan/Feb (will contain info
related to the SABN AGM) and early fall. There was general discussion regarding the pricing of
ads in our newsletters and on the website.. There was consensus that the Board evaluate,
clarify and advertise the pricing of ads for the newsletter and the website.
Fibre Committee Report – P. Schindel reported that the 4 Final Reports and the Literature
Report from the Research Project are almost completed. Members of the Fibre Committee
have done hours of work editing the reports to ensure terminology used in the industry is
correct and to improve the readability (correct grammar). All changes are being reviewed by
Dr. Panigrahi to ensure that accuracy of the findings is intact.
Decisions have not yet been made about distribution of the reports (i.e. send them to all
members, send them to members that request them or place them on the member’s only area
of the website). The 4 reports will be condensed into Methodologies.
Polly stated that Satya wants to publish the research results in a peer – reviewed journal.
Satya stated that he believes that is important for SABN to explain why the funding for the trip
to Peru was not utilized. He stated that we need to provide justification for not using the
money.
Lynn Hilderman stated that the research project is almost complete. This project was to look a
processing fibre to the roving state. The next step will be to look at a sock project – finding out
why the tops supplied by Peru are more accepted than those produced in Canada. It will likely
require a trip to Peru to see how they do things there as well as potentially bringing people
from Peru here to help us get started. Polly moved/seconded by Lynn “That the SABN Fibre
Committee and the Board work together to investigate the next phase of research and present
a proposal to the 2014 AGM”. R. Weber/ R. Blom proposed an amendment to the original
motion “seek suggestions from the membership”. The amendment was carried and then the
amended main motion “That the SABN Fibre Committee and Board work together to
investigate the next phase of research. The SABN Fibre Committee and the Board will seek
suggestions from the membership. A proposal will be presented to the 2014 AGM” was
Carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Billboards and Farm Signs – Keith Molder stated that the second billboard is still at the
manufacturers’. Following general discussion there was consensus that we get the second
billboard up if the location is still available. It is believed that Lloyd Ottenbreit still has farm
signs.
Members only area of website – is not yet created. We will talk to Trudy McCall to see if this
can be added to our website.
NEW BUSINESS
Spruce Meadows – L. Hilderman reported on a visit to the pet food facilities. She stated that
they informed her that alpaca is the #1 seller in their frozen pet food line. Lynn stated that
April will be the last time they use alpacas for the pet food because they do not have a
guaranteed source of animals. There was general discussion of the use of alpacas for pet food
and the supply and demand issues facing the pet food company.
Report on Being a SABN Director - discussed briefly.
Elections
P. Schindel moved “I nominate Glenda Shotter” and Elaine Wyatt seconded the motion.
A member stated that Bruce Peters may be interested in a Board position. R. Blom/P. Schindel
“move that nominations close”. Carried. Glenda Shotter was elected to the SABN Board by
acclamation.
There was discussion regarding the low number of people running for SABN positions.
Suggestions were discussed regarding increasing member involvement. The ideas discussed
included: Creation of a Facebook page, pull down signs, putting a counter on our website. R.
Vos/P. Schindel moved “SABN look into a professionally done display fpr
Agribition/membership use”. Carried.
Distribution of minutes – R. Weber raised a question about distribution of minutes. There was
general consensus that reports regarding committee meetings should be part of the Board
minutes. Once Board minutes are approved by the Board they should be made available to
members. The suggestions were that they be emailed to members, posted to the website in a
member’s only area or posted to the open area of the website. P. Shindel/R. Vos “Move that
minutes be circulated to members by email”. Carried.
Invitation – the invitation to have the 2014 AGM in Meadow Lake was regretfully declined.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:45pm.