CFSB Board Meeting February 17, 2020
These minutes were written by Camila Vargas to the best of her knowledge on 02.25.20
Agenda [not all items discussed]
5:00 call meeting to order
5:10 Presidents Remark
5:20 2019 Financial Statement
5:35 Cable Grant Application
6:00 Saturday Fisherman’s Market
6:15 Spiny Lobster - not discussed
6:30 Kelp Farm
6:35 Oil Platform decommission
6:45 Southern Sea Otter Delisting
6:50 Old/new business - not discussed
Attendees
- Michael Harrington
- Mike McCorkle
- Gary Burke
- Ben Hyman
- John Colgate
- Brian Colgate
- Chris Voss
- Bernard Friedman
- Miles Wallace
- Steve Escobar
- Mike Nelson
- Jeff Maassen
- Harry Liquornik
· President report
Chris Voss:
We need to define what goals are we pursuing for the year. We need approval for what grant money we will apply.
Cold storage
- There is funding available for getting solar energy for a cold storage. One decision the board needs to make tonight if we want to pursue additional funds to show that a solar system can sustain the cold storage we need.
- Benefit: store bait. Some fishermen have set their own cold space. Based on their experience, the cost of maintaining the cold storage is very expensive. Go solar can be an option to make it more affordable.
- We do not have electrical installation in the current boat yard, another reason to go solar.
- The cold space would be available to everyone. If access to space is conflicting there will be a lottery system to assign who uses it.
- First, we need a demonstration to show that solar work and then be able to expand.
- We need to think ahead of our time. The ice house is an example on something that made fisherman work “easier”. This is a similar situation.
- Concerns:
o Backup plan If the batteries do not work; or do not accumulate enough energy.
o How much is the cost of researching, planning and actually implementing this project?
- What Kim does for us? She is our biggest asset. For example, she presented the fisherman position in Long Beach. Decommission of the oil rigs is another important topic to focus and CFSB need to decide how much we want to invest.
Main goal of the meeting; Align our goal for this year.
1. Solar power for a cold storage:
a. Space with container and the solar system. Consider additional space for the panels and refrigeration system.
b. $25.000 for the container. A used one can be $10K
c. Can the solar sustain the power the cold storage needs?
d. Rough budget: We need batteries. System $25K, batteries $7 thousand and the container.
e. Space: find an additional place adjacent to the yard. Or work within the yard.
f. We need a vote to get approval of the board to peruse a grant for trying the cold storage.
g. This can be an asset for the organization and a money maker in the future. And is also a great opportunity for fisherman to have inexpensive cold storage.
h. Mike Nelson wrote a grant proposal for the Cable Grant for $20 thousand for this project.
i. We are not looking at it as one grant but it will be multiple grants to get all the funding we need.
- John Colgate Opinion: It is hard to vote on “go for it” if we do not have all the parameters of how much it will cost how will it actually work. We need a proof of concept in order to have an educated vote.
- Chris Voss: The first step will be to build one model. Probably it would be a small space. But it would be a prove that this concept works. One container seems like a small space but if the system work, we can scale up according to the demand.
- This is an investment for 30 years. We need to think forward. This place (SB) will look very different than what it looks now.
· Chris Voss: Update on looking for “land”
All the commissions (government institutions) are aware that CFSB is looking for a space in the city for the boat yard.
Coastal commission should be on our side and helpful as the process unfolds.
List of spaces that are possible to be used: working on a shortlist.
The property that we are currently at. They can’t lease that land to anyone else.
a. The lot is big and according to the planning commission it has restricted uses.
b. Get a collaborative working plan with the Wright family.
- The city has agreed to look for space for this purpose.
o It is an expensive thing so we need to work with different institutions; city, waterfront, maybe, state government, federal government.
o It is happening in other locations. Local organization have engaged with government institutions in all level, local, State and Federal. Working together brings positive results. Mike Nelson has been key in making these connections.
- Morro Bay is an example to look into when applying to grants .
- There is a little bit more money coming from the Cable Commission every year. An important aspect is how many fisherman need this. According to Chris there is a need.
- Do you want us to peruse money to bring into existence the solar panels for cold storage?
- Motion: Pursue cable grant to bring in money to better inform the project on solar panels for cold storage. Approved.
- Bernard seconds the motion, there is a vote. The board votes. Motion is approved.
- Gary: solar panel on containers is something that has happened before. Mobil Solar USA is a company that has built important solar projects and bases in CA.
- Solar, refrigerated containers exist.
· Finances:
- Financial report was put together by the new bookkeeper, Kirstin Candy-McFarland. She is managing the bookkeeping online.
- She will be the bookkeeper, her responsibilities is tracking Kim’s expenditure and her salary and the grant moneys, communication with CPA for taxes and putting together this reports.
- Michael task is to be the boatyard manager ($300 a month for accounting, $325 for the boat manager). Michael says: I’m doing exactly the same in work and time, not doing less.
- Kirstin will handle Kim’s. Michael did not have the bandwidth to do that. So that is why Kirstin comes in.
- The reason this is happening is to get CFSB in a position to be able to apply to more and larger grants.
- There is a conflict of interest in being the bookkeeper and the treasurer. Therefor Michael is no longer writing check.
- Chris approves the invoices of Kim, Kirstin and Michael then the check is written.
Motion: Remove Stephanie and put Chris on bank account so that he has access and authority. Approved.
Michael Harrington Salary and Kirstin’s work
- Michael thinks lowering his salary is misinformed. Kirstin’s task is over and beyond what his tasks are. Changing the renumeration after services have been performed is not correct.
- Kirstin says check needs to be approved before being written. She said that the previous way we were doing the check approval/writing process was unethical.
- Michael was not doing Kim’s accounting with all the grant money. Therefore, Kirstin is not reducing Michael’s workload, she is doing something that needs to be done but no one was doing it beforehand.
- Michael says, that having Kirstin as a bookkeeper might be perceived as a decrease in responsibility for him, but in reality, Kirstin is doing what Michael was not doing.
- Chris: We do value Michael work and we have compensated his extra work in the past. We all voted on that.
- Michael: I hope my salary stay the same. Kirstin said whatever you do not take less money. My notion is that it remain the same.
- Question arises: is CFSB holding on its own financially? Are we are making money on the yard?
- Michael clarifies that the outreach and education category of the report is used for Kim’s salary. She invoices for that reason. She is doing outreach.
- How much grant money is left in the account?
- Grant money have obligations. And Kim tracks how much time she spends on each issue. She decides how much time she assigns to each topic/category of the grant.
- Michael present the idea that he should be paid by the hour. And Kim should have a salary.
- Kim get grants to pay for her salary.
- To cover paying Michael, boat yard and membership fee should be able to pay the bookkeeping and management.
- We now have an additional expense, for Kirstin. Her fee is $65 an hour.
- Chris: $200 a month approx.
Motion: Pay Michael his current salary for 6 month and then reevaluate – Approved.
Grants Overhead
- Chris: Clarification…….. If we have more grant money, that can also pay for bookkeeping. In the grant world there is an overhead for administration. The overhead depends on the organization. Eg: USCB takes 35%. CFSB cannot declare that much overhead because you would not get any grant.
- We are not taking any overhead write now. We should do it from now on.
· PLF
- Michael: We have contributed $4500 toward the payment of the consultant who has put together a report re: the otter delisting petition that PLF is considering The sea urchin commission would like CFSB to contribute another $2250.
- What is the consultancy they are doing? Scientific report. Prove the case for delisting the sea otter.
- Sea Urchin commission has more money than we do.
- Should we give them more money? They want more than $2250 more.
- The money is going to the consultant, not to PLF. The consultant invoiced at the higher end of the estimate.
- We were naïve thinking that they were going to go for the low range.
- We need PLF on our side
- Urchin commission has gone this far so they are decided to keep going with the consultancy.
Motion: Contribute $1100 to consultant. Write check Approved
· Fisherman’s market
- Activity: Make a cooking demo in the market.
- We need approval for the health department and we need to inform the harbor department. There is a new director on the Harbor department.
· Kelp farm
- Bernard Friedman: Department of energy: has a lot of grant money
- They are looking for a substitute of corn to burn as fuel. That could be kelp.
- One grant will affect us as they are coming to SB. They will get the money an see if they can grow kelp here in SB.
- Location is the most important. Where the farm can be place?
- But, there is an opportunity and we can be benefit.
- Money designates to learn how to grow kelp.
- Bernard is already collaborating with UCSB in a project that is trying to figure out what is the best genetic composition that will allow to grow kelp successfully.
- We can decide to be involved and participate in the decision on where kelp could be grown.
- The downside: if it does not work out, there is a mess in the ocean.
- Bernard thinks it is an opportunity for making money. Specially thinking in the future and energy needs. There is a lot of money being put into this idea.
- Giant kelp mostly for fuel. But you can also use for other purposes. Kelp has a lot of uses.
- Bernard is on it. He already leases part of his land for the UCSB project.
- We as CFSB can get involved and a have say on where and how to place it.
- If they can’t go forward here, they will look another place down the coast.
· Oil rigs Decommission
- Kim made a presentation in behalf of CFSB
- 1000 people from all over the world, sharing experience.
- Milton Love partner gave the presentation on the value of the habitat of the oil rigs.
- Kim’s point: leave some structures in the water because below there is a habitat and also the deck can be used for some commercial used (eg: shellfish aquaculture)
- There is an organization that just want to get all the structure out. And then do restoration.
- There are a lot of organisms around the oilrigs that benefit CFSB commercial fishing here.
- Platform Holly and Rincon Island will likely stay for now.
- What about compensation to fisherman for the damage? There is s discussion about it but it is too early in the game to define if it is actually going to happen.
- Was Kim presence there a positive thing for us? Kim was able to build connections for positive benefit.
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The meeting adjourned.