March 27th, 2023 Meeting

President Dennis Pratt called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM at Kro Bar.

Officers and Directors: Present – Ed Chaplinski, Glen Hill, Ken Lundberg, Dennis Pratt, Mike Sierszen, Dennis Smet, Jeff Stollenwerk, Walt Swanson, Jim Waletzko, and Mike Zicus.

Treasurer’s and Financial Secretary’s Reports: The Financial Secretary’s report and Treasurer’s report are postponed until the April meeting. We are transitioning our financial recordkeeping to a calendar month period and will begin providing calendar month financial reports at the April 24 meeting.

Committee Reports

Legislative: Ken Lundberg – The Club supports a $5 increase in the Wisconsin inland waters trout stamp.

Habitat: Dennis Pratt – Tree Planting Project scheduled for May 20^th, DNR to supply tools.  Waiting on DNR to approve Angel Creek work.

Audit: Jeff Stollenwerk – Audit Committee Report: Dean Wellman, Bill Gobin, Ron Gaare, and Ken Zivic and Jeff Stollenwerk met on March 23, 2023. The Brule River Sportsmen’s Club continues to be in good financial condition with increasing growth in total funds over the past five years. Total CY2022 revenue was $27,749 and CY2022 expenditures were -$15,542. Approximately 19.8% ($5,497) of revenue came through the online Store, which is an increase over CY2021 (15.5%). Most expenditures are in the scholarships, business expenses/supplies, newsletter development, and merchandise stock categories. Itemized bank deposits and expenditures are reconciled in the monthly reports from the treasurer. The CY2022 bank transactions and online Store transactions via PayPal were reviewed by the Audit Committee. Federal Form 990-N for tax-exempt organizations and Wisconsin Form 5 – Domestic Non-Stock Corporation Annual Report were filed prior to their respective due dates. Federal 1099-Misc and 1096 forms were completed and filed in January 2023. The Committee reviewed the CY2022 transactions that were fully reconciled with no significant discrepancies. The committee brought the following reports/recommendations for Board approval/discussion:

1. CY2022 Accounting and March 1 Balances reports were approved following a motion by Ken Lundberg, second by Jim Waletzko and unanimous approval by voice vote.
2. The General CD and Scholarship CD recently matured. The combined total is just over $50,000. The best reinvestment options through Security State Bank are CDs of 7 months @ 3.7%, and 25 months @4.3%. The Audit committee recommended reinvesting $10,000 in a 7-month CD and $40,000 in a 25-month CD. This was approved following a motion by Walt Swanson, second by Mike Zicus, and unanimous approval by voice vote.
3. The Audit Committee recommended removing the “Scholarship CD” designation because the Club’s obligations for the original scholarship donation have been fulfilled, and use of the funds in the CD are not limited to just scholarships. The new CDs are proposed to be simply “Short-term and Long-term CD”. After discussion, it was decided that the Club would make no change to the Scholarship CD designation.
4. Given the consistent growth of Club funds, the Audit Committee recommends the Club consider developing a spending plan that reflects the interests of our membership. One possibility is increasing the number of scholarships if multiple highly qualified applicants are identified. Habitat and education investments are also a possibility. This was tabled for future discussion.

Education: Dennis Smet – Status of the ‘Aquarium in the Classroom’ project. Dennis Smet and Dennis Pratt gave presentations to a total of 243 students in 4 classes of 6th graders at Northwestern Middle School and 7 classes of 11th and 12th graders at Superior Senior High School during this past week.  The 500 fry in each aquarium are doing well.

Scholarship: Mike Sierszen/Paul Helbach – No applications yet, one inquiry.

Membership: Jim Waletzko/Ed Chaplinski – 169 members have renewed so far (44 paper and 125 e-news) out of 385 listed members.  This does not include any memberships from the Expo.

Social Media: Mike Zicus/Dennis Pratt – Mike Zicus shared his thoughts on how the Club should change our email processes to be in line with our revised bylaws. Any Club correspondence would be archived to an email account by using a BCC on the correspondence as an archival address (to be managed by the Recording Secretary).

 Other Business

Spring Clean-up – Dennis Smet reported we’re scheduled for April 29th, 9AM at the Brule Pavilion (inclement weather date May 13th). Afterwards lunch to be provided at Twin Gables. This was approved following a motion by Ken Lundberg, second by Ed Chaplinski, and unanimous approval by voice vote.

Fly of the Month – Dean Wellman has chosen the ‘Edge Bright Stonefly’ for April.

Meeting with State Senator Quinn – Ken Lundberg and Dennis Pratt met with State Senator Quinn to describe our Club’s history, activities, and our concerns.

Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearing – This year’s hearing will be held online from noon April 10th to noon April 13th.   https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/about/wcc/springhearing

Wisconsin Wildlife Federation – Tom Sklebar and Dennis Pratt met with other local WWF Clubs on March 25^th on sharing information and planning events. The upcoming Wisconsin Wildlife Federation banquet was discussed. The topic of Club liability was brought up followed by a short discussion. Tom will research and get back to us.

Great Waters Expo Booth Discussion – Ken Lundberg – Map sales down; however, we sold a framed poster and had 14 new and renewed memberships. Mike Sierszen was recognized for his outstanding help.

Nebagamon Creek Culvert Removal Progress – Last update was published in January newsletter.

Family Fun Day – Angelica Komarek described the need for volunteers for the event and the fact that another group needs to handle the funding for the event. Ken Lundberg made a motion to handle the funding for this event, second by Dennis Smet and unanimous approval by voice vote. The date planned is August 19^th. Walt Swanson made a motion to donate $500 for this event, second by Jeff Stollenwerk and unanimous approval by voice vote.

Upcoming Events – Suggestion was made to include a link to the Club’s event calendar in the newsletter. https://bruleriversportsmensclub.com/category/club-calendar/

The business meeting adjourned at 7:11 PM.

Recorded by Walt Swanson