Unapproved minutes of March Oconee County Democratic Committee meeting

MINUTES
Oconee County Democratic Committee Meeting 
7:30 PM THURSDAY, MARCH 17TH, 2011 @ JITTERY JOE'S WATKINSVILLE
Dan Matthews, chair, called the meeting to Order at 7:33.  There was a quorum present and Dan welcomed guests, Ben Emmanuel and Micaela Hobbs.
Absent Excused: Ann Stoneburner, Robert Wyatt, Rita Bennett, Tony Glenn
Absent: Sarajane Love, Linda Elkins
Approval of the minutes for February – Dan made a motion to approve, Diana seconded; all approved
Old business – success of amphibian night @ the library; discussion regarding our website.  Jonathan has website name reserved and hosting reserved; discussion regarding website and/or blog.  Standalone website is preferred, in general.
New business -- Pat Priest outlined a new project – possible collaboration with the Oconee Republicans to foster better understanding and relationships and opportunities to serve the community.  Pat has been speaking with Tammy Gilland, she is Secretary of the Oconee Republicans.  Project books for soldiers still on hold.  Pat discussed her recent article on trash on the beach, and outlined her idea of fishing line receptacles -- making them for installations in GA.  Ben Emmanuel suggested Kayak Fishing Club @ UGA might be interested in participating.  Book Group – The Killer Angels, to be held the last Wednesday of the month @ The Taco stand in Watkinsville.
Vicky Moody talked about news from the State Democrats office – there is a movement to install State offices in different locations across the state;  Augusta will have the first office; she said the new President is committed to bringing the State down to the local levels, will hold trainings to help identify potential candidates, candidates training, etc. 
Treasurer's report by Violet Dawe – there is $XX,XXX.XX in the bank, but $XXX is still outstanding with Russell Edwards, he hasn’t yet deposited our donation to his campaign.  So our balance is could be XX,XXX.XX.
Ben Emanuel was a guest speaker.  He is the Altamaha River Keeper.  Previously Ben was a writer/reporter for the Flagpole;  Ben said the Altamaha river keepers organization is the second oldest in the state, going on 12 years;  by way of background, US river keepers started in NY state and is an international effort; the organization is both staffed and volunteer run; it’s a model for grassroots environmental advocacy.  Ben stated that water efficiency and conservation the primary focus issues.  During the drought beginning in 2007, Athens was actually a leader in water efficiencies, which was a pleasant surprise to hear, given the restaurants and bars, campus, hospitals and larger industries in and around Athens. Ben identified specific, simple things that restaurants and bars did and are doing to conserve water and use water more efficiently.  For example in restaurants, sink aerators, at the dishwashing stations – not only do they use less water, but the staff loves them as they are high powered, as well.  Efficiency and conservation are the best solution to water problems.  
Ben spoke briefly about Hard Labor Creek; the official stand by the project leaders is the “project has slowed down due to economic slowdown;”  however there is some peripheral talk that the population demand projections were overblown at the beginning, leading to unsustainable environmental and financial conditions.  Ben said in a nutshell, water supply reservoirs are not the way to go.  It works against conservation and adds to the financial burdens of citizens.    Promoting better public access to water ways for citizens to recreate on the waterways actually leads to greater protection of the waterways.
Here are some upcoming events for those who wish to get involved: 
3/19: 10am – noon, Dudley park, stream buffer restoration
3/24: fundraising @ Kelly Girtz’s house, 562 Pulaski Street 5:30pm – 8:30pm
3/26: 9am -1pm, 14th annual water quality monitoring, Upper Oconee Watershed Network, a day in the life of a watershed, annual water quality sampling event; www.uown.org
4/16: in Athens, a river paddling event with Big Dogs on the River, Oconee River Classic 1st Annual, $20; 10am – 4pm
The meeting next month will be at Jittery Joe’s beginning at 7:30 pm Thursday, April 21. 
Motion was made to adjourn the meeting, all approved.  The meeting was adjourned at 8:59PM

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