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ISECCo Update: Minutes, 1991 Annual Meeting of Members

ISECCo Annual Meeting of Members

April 14, 1991

19:30 Meeting called to order. Ray R. Collins, President, presiding.

Members present:
Ray R. Collins
Debi-Lee Wilkinson (minutes editor)
Patrick L. Wilkinson
Robin Andrews
Terry Fike
Scott Guse
Sheva Corning
(7 voting members)

Non-Members present
Chandra Schaffer
Steven P. Crawford

Proxy's received:
Elisa Corning
Richard Hope
Kelly J. Wilkinson

Old business:
Discussion re: Logo; accept design created by Joe
Beckenbach last summer - though members preferred a
different comet and suggested that it should be pointing the other way.

19:43 motion moved to accept basic design. Ray, Scott
passed 7:0

Discussion re: naming the biosphere; "First CELSS"
suggested, there was a general dislike for the name but no
acceptable suggestions.

19:47 motion moved to accept "First CELSS". Debi ,Ray

19:50 motion to delay naming by Robin, Scott
motion to delay passed 7:0

Treasurer's report read and accepted:
As of Dec. 1990, our balance was about $50
Total Expenses for 1990 were about $2799
The major purchases were (not necessarily in this order) the
land lease, fish supplies, hydroponics supplies and lights
(See Appendix A.)

New business:
discussion re: free membership fee change, current fee is
$5 for 10 years, current cost is $.84 /year.
considered $7.50 and $10 for 5 years.
20:15 motion of $10 for 5 years by Robin, Pat
passed 7:0

Discussion re: changing 2 of the bylaw articles; each article must be reviewed at least ten years after it was included with an expiration date explicitly stated in the article. since all the articles currently in the bylaws were created at the same time we are starting to consider a couple at a time. The two under consideration are Article III: Membership and Article IV: Meeting of Members. See appendix B. for the entire Articles. These changes are to be presented to the board of directors for acceptance.

Article III: Membership

Change the lowest membership level from "Free Association:" to "Interested Observer:". In the second sentence change "It is designed for those..." to "It is a non-voting status for members...". In the third sentence change "$5 (to defray printing..." to "A nominal fee (to defray printing...". At the end of the third sentence the words "for 10 years", are deleted. Under Colonist:, first sentence delete the word "essentially". Delete the last line about contributions over $24,000 or 3,000 man-hours. Remove the Benefactor: category entirely. Include a new category called Corporate Sponsor:. It will read "the corporate rights and privileges will be considered on an individual basis".

20:39 motion to recommend changes to board by Terry, Scott
passed 7:0

Article IV: Meeting of Members

Section 1), sentence 1: change the meeting date from "the month of January" to be "the first 6 months of the calendar year".

Section 5), sentence 1: change "quorum shall be the members..."to be "quorum shall be the voting members...".

20:50 motion to accept changes by Pat, Scott
passed 7:0

Discussion re: general and organizational secretaries, as President, Ray appoints Debi-Lee Wilkinson as both secretaries as described in Article VI: Officers of the corp. bylaws.

20:53 Motion for the members to accept Debi as the secretaries by Scott, Terry
passed 6:0, 1 abstention

20:54 Opened floor for nominations for General Director.
Scott Guse sole Nominee.
Vote for Scott Guse: 10 for, 0 opposed. (3 proxies)

Fund raising suggestions:
Rocket contest, Steven (non-member)
Fair booth, Ray
Picture raffle, Debi
Car raffle, Robin
Make calendar, Steven

Grants:
Reapply to ASTF
Ask NASA for operating costs (unsolicited proposal)

Photo Essay:
Active members
fish, garden, worms, pit, hydroponics, greenhouses
Suggested to decide how many pages there should be and then fill them (probably 8-15 pp)

Newsletter:

Not done yet, it's on high priority and a lot of it still needs to be written.

Summer project list
Keep only current hydroponics status
Keep fish, expand tanks and encourage growth and have a fish fry dinner
Put in one garden to feed summer volunteers
Expand the earthworm farm
Excavate hanger for the spaceplane
Testing masonry and sealing procedures for the biosphere
(finances pending)

Ray will be giving a slide show of his trip to India, date TBA, all are invited!

21:50 motion to adjourn Terry, Ray
passed 7:0

Appendix A; End notes:

1. We never came up with a name for the biosphere.
2. Gross revenues (including labor)
Volunteer hours:
biosphere: 1,225
office: 167
total 1,392

Donated funds:
newsletter and project description report: $ 42.
general donations: $ 695.
total $ 737.

Donated equipment work
cat work to dig biosphere hole 70 hrs.

Appendix B; Bylaw changes

Old wording:

Article III: Membership

The following are descriptions of the types of Members which ISECCo. recognizes:

Free Association: This is the lowest level anyone can be who is associated with ISECCo. It is designed for those who are only slightly interested in space but are interested in following our progress. $5 (to defray printing and postage) is required for a newsletter subscription for 10 years.

Contributor: A contributor must donate between $8 and $120 a year, work between 1 and 15 man-hours a year, or any combination equaling the same.

General: A General Member donates between $121 and $800 a year or contributes more than 15 and less than 100 man-hours of labor a year, or any combination equaling the same.

Supporter: A Supporter must contribute between $801 and $10,000 or do between 100 and 250 man-hours of labor a year, or any combination equaling the same.

Colonist: A colonist is essentially a full-time worker or donating substantial amounts of cash to our space efforts. The minimum to be a Colonist is an annual donation of $10,001 or working more than 1,250 man-hours, or a combination. Any contributions exceeding $24,000 or 3,000 man-hours will be considered as a Benefactor donation, though the Colonist status may be maintained as long as any donations exceeding the maximums are applied to the Benefactor Membership.

Benefactor: A benefactor will receive the same rights and privileges as allowed to the Colonist Member, unless additional rights and privileges are granted to the Benefactor by a waiver of the Board of Directors or their appointee(s).

Null: A null member is one who has dropped out; having not maintained any level of membership for more than a year, or those Members who have moved and left no forwarding address.

Persons classified as either Free Associates or Null Members as of the record date for any Meeting of Members shall not receive any balloting or membership forms for that meeting nor shall they be entitled to vote. These members may not, however, be excluded from said meeting.

In determining membership status donations by any one person may not be transferred to the donation records of another person unless: (1) The donation was designated as a "gift" donation at the time of donation and the person to whom the donation is to be credited was specified or (2) A waiver is granted by the Board of Directors or their appointee(s).

Article III is amended to meet the IRS requirements for a tax-exempt organization on 09/15/88; Article III is further amended to clarify wording on January 27, 1989.

Article IV: Meeting of Members

1) A general meeting of Members shall be held annually during the month of January. This meeting shall be for the purpose of electing directors, ratification of any newly appointed corporate officials, and performing any corporate business which the board of directors deems necessary and appropriate.

2) All meetings of Members shall be held either at the registered office ISECCo. in the State of Alaska, or at such place as the President of ISECCo. shall deem to be convenient.

3) A special meeting of Members may be requested by the President or the Board of Directors or 10% of the voting members. The order for a special meeting must be submitted in writing to the General Secretary, whose duty it will be to schedule the meeting and notify the Members of the meeting, which must be held within 60 days of the receipt of the request for meeting.

4) Notice of the time, place, record date and purpose of the annual and special meetings shall be given by mailing a written or printed notice of the same at least ten days prior to the meeting, with the postage prepaid, to each Member, addressed to his last known address. The notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mails, given in person, or when properly entered into the appropriate computer mail system.

5) A quorum shall be the members, or their proxy, consisting of ten percent of those eligible votes as of the record date of said meeting. If a quorum is not present at any meeting, a majority of the Members present may adjourn the meeting without further notice.

Business may be transacted at a meeting at which a quorum does not exist if the business performed is ratified by mail-in ballot; however at least ten percent of the eligible votes must respond to the mail-in ballot on said business.

6) At any meeting of Members, a Member entitled to vote may vote by proxy executed in writing by the Member or by his duly authorized attorney. No proxy shall be valid after three months from the date of its execution, unless otherwise provided for in the proxy.

Article IV is amended to meet the IRS requirements for a tax-exempt organization on 09/15/88; Article IV is further amended to clarify wording on January 27, 1989.

New wording:

Article III: Membership

The following are descriptions of the types of Members which ISECCo. recognizes:

Interested Observer: This is the lowest level anyone can be who is associated with ISECCo. It is a non-voting status for members who are only slightly interested in space but are interested in following our progress. A nominal fee (to defray printing and postage) is required for a newsletter subscription.

Contributor: A contributor must donate between $8 and $120 a year, work between 1 and 15 man-hours a year, or any combination equaling the same.

General: A General Member donates between $121 and $800 a year or contributes more than 15 and less than 100 man-hours of labor a year, or any combination equaling the same.

Supporter: A Supporter must contribute between $801 and $10,000 or do between 100 and 250 man-hours of labor a year, or any combination equaling the same.

Colonist: A colonist is a full-time worker or donating substantial amounts of cash to our space efforts. The minimum to be a Colonist is an annual donation of $10,001 or working more than 1,250 man-hours, or a combination.

Corporate Sponsor: The rights and privileges of these members will be considered on an individual basis.

Null: A null member is one who has dropped out; having not maintained any level of membership for more than a year, or those Members who have moved and left no forwarding address.

Members classified as either Interested Observers or Null Members as of the record date for any Meeting of Members shall not receive any balloting or membership forms for that meeting nor shall they be entitled to vote. These members may not, however, be excluded from said meeting.

In determining membership status donations by any one person may not be transferred to the donation records of another person unless: (1) The donation was designated as a "gift" donation at the time of donation and the person to whom the donation is to be credited was specified or (2) A waiver is granted by the Board of Directors or their appointee(s).

Article III is amended to meet the IRS requirements for a tax-exempt organization on 09/15/88; Article III is further amended to clarify wording on January 27, 1989. This article was reviewed in the Annual Meeting of Members on 4/14/91, and was amended to clarify wording and to modify membership requirements to match ongoing corporate practices at the 4/20/91 Director's meeting.

Article IV: Meeting of Members

1) A general meeting of Members shall be held annually during the first 6 months of every calendar year. This meeting shall be for the purpose of electing directors, ratification of any newly appointed corporate officials, and performing any corporate business which the board of directors deems necessary and appropriate.

2) All meetings of Members shall be held either at the registered office ISECCo. in the State of Alaska, or at such place as the President of ISECCo. shall deem to be convenient.

3) A special meeting of Members may be requested by the President or the Board of Directors or 10% of the voting members. The order for a special meeting must be submitted in writing to the General Secretary, whose duty it will be to schedule the meeting and notify the Members of the meeting, which must be held within 60 days of the receipt of the request for meeting.

4) Notice of the time, place, record date and purpose of the annual and special meetings shall be given by mailing a written or printed notice of the same at least ten days prior to the meeting, with the postage prepaid, to each Member, addressed to his last known address. The notice shall be deemed to be delivered when deposited in the United States mails, given in person, or when properly entered into the appropriate computer mail system.

5) A quorum shall be the voting members, or their proxy, consisting of twenty percent of those eligible votes as of the record date of said meeting. If a quorum is not present at any meeting, a majority of the Members present may adjourn the meeting without further notice.

Business may be transacted at a meeting at which a quorum does not exist if the business performed is ratified by mail-in ballot; however at least twenty percent of the eligible votes must respond to the mail-in ballot on said business.

6) At any meeting of Members, a Member entitled to vote may vote by proxy executed in writing by the Member or by his duly authorized attorney. No proxy shall be valid after three months from the date of its execution, unless otherwise provided for in the proxy.

Article IV is amended to meet the IRS requirements for a tax-exempt organization on 09/15/88; Article IV is further amended to clarify wording on January 27, 1989. This article was reviewed in the Annual Meeting of Members on 4/14/91, and was amended to suit ongoing corporate practices at the 4/20/91 Director's meeting.

FURTHER:

We would very much like to receive suggestions for a name for the biosphere. If we fail to get a reasonable name it is likely we will end up calling it the First CELSS by default!

Please take special note of the by-law change affecting membership. This will effectively reduce our voting membership by about 1/3. If you are a person whose status is reduced to 'Interested Observer' we would be very interested in having you maintain your voting membership by an annual donation of $8 or more.

ON OTHER MATTERS:

Our garden is begun, and the greenery is beginning to crawl all over the windowsill! The HUGE quantities of snow that fell over the winter are almost gone, and in another week or 10 days we will be plowing the garden.

This summer we will be doing sizing experiments: we will be planting an area the same size & shape as one floor of the biosphere, to determine how much area we will need planted. The minimum amount of food we need to grow is 1.5 months worth in our 80 square meters (850 sq. foot) area; if we get more then we will know that the area is too big and the entire space should not be planted.

This summer our activities are going to be limited to gardening & fish because we lack the funds (see treasurer's report above!) for anything more.

Those of you who would like more information, feel free to drop

me a note via BITNET at FSRRC@ALASKA or via the postal system at

the address below. Please include a postal mailing address for

all initial correspondence--we occasionally have letters whose

computer return address fails for one reason or another.

--Ray :: President, ISECCo

:::The International Space Exploration and Colonization Company:::

:::P.O. Box 60885::Fairbanks::Alaska::99706:::

Researching and Developing

space oriented technology for the

betterment of mankind.