LAKE GASTON
ASSOCIATION
Minutes
(approved) Director’s Meeting – May 7, 2008
Lake Gaston
Baptist Church – 9:30 AM First Wednesday
Mission: To
identify lake issues affecting our members and pursue resolution with the
responsible
organization.
Location:
Lake Gaston Baptist Church
Littleton, North Carolina
Convened:
9:30 AM by President John Cataldo
Pledge of
Allegiance: Led by the President
Moment of Silence:
Led by the President
Visitor
Introductions: Warren County – Bill La Monte,
Judith Fanert, Roland Beauchaine, Tony Moran, Robert T. Wilson, Jim Jones,
Sherman Merchant, Joe Chaneu, Doc Daugherty; Northampton County –
Bruce Johnson, Ed Hubbard, Pete Peters; Mecklenburg County – Fred
Taylor, Jim O’Brien; Dominion – Joe Peterson and Carolyn Allen; Lake Gaston
Gazette – Della Batts.
Director
Attendance: Present – John Boyle, Bill
Bryant, John Cataldo, Patrick Dempsey, Pete Deschenes, Ralph Domach, David
Duxbury, Johnna Fross, Joee Hoxter, Doug Hughes, Larry Jolly, Jack Saunders,
John Slaton, Vernon Wilson, Quinton Qualls and Moira Underwood. Absent
– Barbara Burgdoerfer, Calvin DeShields, Fred Kneisel, Laura Kolb, Bill
Lindenmuth and Lenny Turner.
Guest Speaker
– Allen Garrett, Operations Manager of WZRU 90.1 and 90.5 FM located in
Roanoke Rapids, NC was introduced by our Executive Director, Moira Underwood.
Moira stated that Mr. Garrett has been in broadcasting since 1984. He MC’s
various shows and concerts including the Lakeland L.O.V.E. awards every
February, the Junior Miss Scholarship Fund Raiser every August and various
other shows in the Roanoke Valley. He has worked with such radio
personalities as Wolfman Jack and Tiny Tim. Mr. Garrett and his wife, Denise,
also appeared on the Lakeland Stage in “The Lost Colony”. Mr. Garrett opened
his comments by recognizing Moira and Sherman Merchant for their
professionalism and the work that they do for WZRU. His remarks on the “state
of radio in the 21st century” brought back many memories for our
audience as he reviewed the history of radio in our country. A few of his
comments are as follows:
-
The “radio of yesterday” used the format of “sign
on/sign off” to begin and end each day. Today, most stations run their
programming 24 hours a day.
-
Ownership laws have changed. As a result, there
are more stations owned by a single company and other policies not possible in
yesterday’s market.
-
WZRU participates in the Emergency Activation
System which all stations must have in order to be ready for local, state and
national emergencies.
-
Public radio stations have different regulations
from commercial stations.
-
The communications industry (newspaper,
television and radio) work well together.
-
We cannot keep our operation viable without the
bi-annual fund raising efforts of our staff and volunteers. We also have an
auction. Public radio is supported entirely by the general public. 50% of
our listeners who pledge, actually pay their pledge. No grants are
acceptable. We cannot keep popular programming without adequate funds to pay
for it.
-
Less than 20% of all radio stations are non
profit.
-
We gauge our listener ship by the Arbitron Poll.
-
We do not provide local news. 25 counties would
need to be covered in both states and it would be an additional expense. The
Daily Herald works with us to provide our listeners with any urgent or
information requiring immediate attention.
-
WZRU has one full-time employee, two part-time
and a few dedicated volunteers.
-
WZRU broadcasts on two different frequencies –
90.5 and 90.1.
-
The WZRU broadcast signal is weak is many areas
on the lake. The 90.1 signal was pushed further out by another station
signing on that signal in this area.
-
There has been little or no support to establish
a web page.
-
The programming is designed to entertain target
contributors.
-
Fax or email any communication with the radio
station. The email address is -
garyh@schoollink.net
Our president, John
Cataldo thanked our guest for his remarks. He acknowledged that many of WZRU
listeners are members of the LGA and appreciate his comments.
Secretary’s
Report – Joee Hoxter
The minutes of April
2, 2008 were properly accepted as reported and are on file.
Treasurer’s
Report – Bill Lindenmuth (absent)
The treasurer’s
report will be submitted next month as the Treasurer is out of town.
Committee Reports
Planning and
Development - Jack D. Saunders
A brief overview of
discussions with the School for Urban and Regional Studies, University of
North Carolina was held to give the committee information that would provide
the basis to further investigate the question of Lake Gaston’s incorporation.
The full report is on file.
Nomination
– Laura Kolb
No report.
Lake
Environment/Aquatic Weed – Vernon Wilson
It was reported that
no one is tracking areas being privately treated. If the weed contractors
would follow Dominion’s guidelines and report where they have treated, the
LGWCC would be able to determine the areas most need of treatments. 15 Lake
Environment Monitors (LEMs) attended a training session to assist them in
identifying flora growths in our lake. The complete report is on file.
Safety
– Jack Saunders
The Lake Gaston
Water Safety Council is providing refrigerator magnet cards to assist our lake
residents with obtaining emergency service telephone numbers. The complete
report is on file.
Membership
Development – David Duxbury
Our current
membership numbers are 1,082 households with 39 households as new members.
Our members are encouraged to bring in new members. The response from LG
realtors was very small. They were given 125 packages and we have received
little response. The complete report is on file.
Government
Relations – Larry Jolly
The committee
continues to assign speakers for each general meeting. We have planned for
the annual meeting on Saturday, June 14, 2008 with the Planning & Development
Committee leading the presentation. Festival volunteers are needed to
represent us for membership outreach and LGA dissemination of information to
our lake community. We need more Directors from Halifax County. Each county
contributed the major activities affecting the lake community to the
committee. The complete report is on file.
Executive
Director’s Report – Moira Underwood
Executive Director’s
monthly column was distributed to five lake papers for the April 30 editions.
I attended four LGA committee meetings and the officer’s meeting. A complete
report is on file.
Old Business
– None
New Business
a)
David Duxbury
requested any suggestions or comments regarding recruiting new memberships be
forwarded to him. He will bring them up for discussion during the membership
development committee meeting.
b)
Doug Hughes
mentioned that the Army Corps of Engineers has revisited the concept of “how
to protect the hard woods in the low lands.” There will be three public
meetings on this issue – please see the Lake Gaston Gazette for details.
The meeting was
properly adjourned.
Respectfully
submitted,
Joee A. Hoxter
Secretary
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