Council Packet for May 2021 by Greene County MU Extension

Council Packet

Formerly known as the “Reaching Out Report,” this is only published when the county extension council meets.

May 2021 * Vol. 14 Issue 5

Lawn Art With Neighbors (LAWN). has ended but only after thousands of online views and in person viewing of nearly 50 sculptures all over the Springfield area. Art can bring people together. It can also make people laugh or wonder “what the heck.” That was certainly the case with David Zaslow’s creation at 1022 S. Roanoke Ave, Springfield. Dave's creatures appear to be are on the move! Makes plans now for your lawn sculpture in 2022.

Greene County Extension Council | extension.missouri.edu/greene Tel: (417) 881-8909 | Email: burtond@missouri.edu

An equal opportunity/ access/affirmative action/ pro-disabled and veteran employer.

Greene County COUNCIL MEETING NOTICE Extension Council Pursuant to the Missouri Sunshine Law: Notice is given: Greene Greg Boehne Chairman

County Extension Council will conduct a public meeting starting at noon, Monday, May 24, 2021, online.

Alex Greiwe Vice-chair

MEETING: Hybrid—in person at Botanical Center but also available via Zoom Online: https://umsystem.zoom.us/j/355711943

Morgan Ash Secretary

Noon —

Lisa Bakerink Treasurer John Russell County Commission Tammy Lowrey Farm Bureau Jordan Miller MFA Samuel Snider City of Willard Jason Buffington City of Battlefield Joseph Hoffman City of Springfield Vacant 4-H Youth member Members at large Scott Smith Chad Courtney Karen Dowdy Chris Schulze Rick Stenberg Larry Adams Ray Meyer Eric Sutton Allison Anbari Christina Hammers Aaron Jones Stephen Snead Mike Lofaro Tiger Ambassador

Call Meeting to Order

Roll Call — Secretary (Establish a Quorum) Consent Agenda Items — Meeting minutes (next page). Financials & bills are provided to council in a separate email for approval.

Staff Reports & Grant Updates: Sherri Hull, Myra Dickensheet, Kelly McGowan, Amy Patillo, Amber Allen and David Burton Old Business /Committee Reports • Audit Committee Report • Council leadership training — Question: How might extension councils need to change in order to stay relevant and meet the future needs of Missourians? New Business for discussion • Mini-Grant forms in the financial package. This months requests: Pilot Neighborhood grant program, Fall Commission Ag Tour. • National Good Neighbor Day challenge—help judging, getting sponsors, and how this is marketing Educational Presentation that Adds Value to Your Life Guest speaker: “What is ECHO” - Amber Allen, human development CLOSED SESSION (if needed): Agenda includes a possible vote to close part of this meeting pursuant to Section 610.021 to discuss issues related to “individually identifiable personnel records.”

Adjourn FUTURE COUNCIL MEETINGS • June 2021— Master Gardener Year-end Report” - Kelly McGowan, horticulture • July 2021— No Meeting PENDING: Any and all other matters that come before the extension council. Council receives proposals and financials by mail or email. Same information is available to the public on request.

MU Extension is an equal opportunity/ access/affirmative action/ pro-disabled and veteran employer.

Greene County Extension Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION COUNCIL OF GREENE COUNTY Date: Monday, April 26, 2021 Place: Via Zoom Meeting and In Person at: Botanical Center, 2400 South Scenic Avenue, Springfield, MO Attendees: Larry Adams, Morgan Ash, Greg Boehne, Karen Dowdy, Alex Greiwe, Christina Hammers, Joseph Hoffman, Aaron Jones, Ray Meyer, John Russell, Chris Schulze, Scott Smith, Rick Stenberg and Eric Sutton. The meeting was called to order at 12:01 pm, by Council Chair, Greg Boehne, who welcomed those in attendance. The pledge of allegiance was said. Secretary Morgan Ash called roll and it was determined that a quorum was present. Consent Agenda: A motion was made by Christina Hammers and was seconded by Joseph Hoffman, to approve the March meeting minutes. Motion to approve passed by unanimous vote. A motion was made by Ray Meyer and was seconded by Larry Adams, to approve the March financials and bills. Motion to approve passed by unanimous vote. Staff Reports: Kelly McGowan is working on two more projects, including a tomato grafting project and a Farmer’s Market pricing study. The Department of Agriculture is creating a pricing database for

extension.missouri.edu

sales of vegetables. Amy Patillo is working with a group on a grant proposal for agricultural technology and biotechnology on campus. A new program in workforce and economic development kicked off in July. Amber Allen has a Youth Mental Health First Aid class in Fair Grove. There is a Boost Your Brain and Memory class starting May 3. Several Youth Mental Health First Aid classes are coming up. She is starting to work with Great Circle. David Burton reported that he is meeting with KY3 to be a sponsor for National Good Neighbor Day. He has had a lot of interest in community support and has meetings with people in various states. Old Business: Quickbooks: Moving to the online version is complete, has support questions. Council Leadership Training: Training with Jay Chism is going well, thank you for attending.

Audit Committee: The Audit Committee is meeting on May 6th at noon at the Botanical Center to review financials. New Business: Mini-Grants: There is a Farm fest request for attendance and booth space for $420. This is a huge event. There are also requests for classes at Habitat for Humanity with Kelly McGowan on a Vegetable Gardening class for $900 and Human Development class with Amber Allen for $800. A request for $500 is being made by

Page 3

Greene County Extension Council Minutes Kelley McGowan to update new plant information with the KY3 news segments. A motion was made by Rick Stenberg and was seconded by Joseph Hoffman, to approve the mini-grant requests presented. Morgan Ash abstained from voting. The motion to approve passed by otherwise unanimous vote. Extension Leadersip Conference: Kelly McGowan and Greg Bohne reported on their experiences at the conference, including acronym training and a volunteer overview. They met with several state politicians and learned a lot about funding streams and how local officials have input. There were a lot of leadership sessions. An 8% increase in NIFAA funding was advocated. There is a shortage of people in Extension all over the state. Extension generates $11 in economic impact for every $1 spent on Extension. A motion was made by Aaron Jones and was seconded by Joseph Hoffman, to adjourn the meeting at 12:34 pm. Motion to approve passed by unanimous vote.

member; Lisa Bakerink, Council treasurer; Caroline Griesemer, Master Gardeners of Greene County treasurer; Kelly McGowan, Field Specialist in Horticulture; Amber Allen, Human Development Specialist; and David Burton, County Engagement Specialist for Greene County. The three required files randomly selected for the audit sample were from August, September and December 2020. General steps from the Audit Guidelines for County Extension Councils were utilized for the audit process.

The audit resulted in the following comments and suggestions: •

•

Respectfully submitted by Morgan Ash

COUNCIL ADUIT REPORT

•

Date: May 17, 2021 To: Greene County Extension Council, County Commissioners and Jay Chism From: Greene County Extension Audit Committee Re: Greene County Extension Audit of 2020 Financial Records In accordance with State Law governing extension councils, an audit of Greene County was conducted on May 6, 2021 by a council committee using MU Extension provided resources and forms. Those present for the audit of the Greene county Extension council were: Larry Adams, Council

extension.missouri.edu

•

No irregularities were noted in the financial records of the months sampled. All debits, credits, accompanying documentation and bank reconciliations were in order. In discussion with David, Kelly and Amber, county specialists, about procedures established in lieu of an office manager position, it was clear that care had been taken to ensure financial accountability and, in fact, improvements in this area have been made over last year. The audit committee recommends that unreconciled receipts/invoices for any given month, be accounted for in the records for the following month. This will allow for clearer tracking of expenditures from month to month. David had already implemented this practice beginning in 2021 and will continue. The audit committee noted a discrepancy in the Master Gardener and Master Naturalist balances on hand – one being negative and one being positive. Both should be positive. The committee speculated an error in the way one of the accounts was set up. Investigation and resolution is recommended by the audit committee. It was recommended to continue progress toward the transition to QuickBooks online for Greene County Council financial record keeping and reconciliation. The committee recommends funds be allocated, if necessary, toward this successful transition.

The Audit Committee requests a motion at the May 2021 Extension Council meeting to approve this report as submitted by Lisa Bakerink, treasurer.

Page 4

extension.missouri.edu

Page 5

extension.missouri.edu

Page 6