MGEC Board Minutes 12.16.24

	Present		Present
President Fernando Nacionales	X	Director Blake Nelson	X
Vice President Corey Mathisen	X	Director Brandon JB Nelson	X
Past President Dan Sullivan		Director Luke Schuette	X
Treasurer Wes Leksell	X-V	Director Mike Rude	X
Secretary Benton Campbell	X	Director Mark Trogstad-Isaacson	X
Director Carroll Aasen	X-V	Executive Director Dana Wheeler
Director John Dalton	X-V	Administrative Assistant Donna Blackwell	X
Director Jared DeMaster	X	Labor Relations Specialist Tony Kelly	X
Director Bruce Henningsgaard	X

Others in attendance: Hunter Vraa (MnDOT, formerly MPCA, elected to 2025 board)

 Meeting called to order at 4:35 PM by President Fernando Nacionales. Fernando Nacionales asked Hunter Vraa to introduce himself to the board.

Review & Approve Agenda (Fernando Nacionales)

Motion #1 To approve the agenda (Rude/Henningsgaard). Motion Carries.

 Secretary’s Report – Review & Approve Past Minutes (Benton Campbell)

1. November Board Minutes

• Motion #2 To approve the minutes (Aasen/B. Nelson). Motion Carries.

  President’s Report (Fernando Nacionales)

• Nothing significant to report. Thank you to everyone for keeping things up during his absences. Leaves for Germany in January, and will be there at least 9 months.

 Executive Director’s Report (Tony Kelly for Dana Wheeler)

1. 1. Blackberry Association
      • Association dues will increase from $540 to $560 monthly.
      • Consultant suggested a capital improvement fund which would nearly double the dues. Remains to be seen what the board will do with that recommendations.
      • Brandon Nelson asks about selling. Tony Kelly suggests a subcommittee if the board wishes to explore that.
   2. Property Taxes
      • Increasing by 1.1% overall. The 2024-25 budget assumed a larger increase.
   3. Staff Leave Report
      • Reviewed. A couple typos the board pointed out.
   4. Holiday Pay Period Guidance for Exempt Employees
      • Hearing from exempt members that if they work overtime during a pay period, they are expected to donate time in pay periods where there is a holiday. MGEC does not agree with this interpretation or the legality of it.
   5. Exec Director Manual/Continuity Documents
      • Progress being made. Donna Blackwell has the current draft.
   6. IRS Letter (Donna Blackwell)
      • Received a letter from the IRS stating we had not paid payroll taxes. Payment had not been received by IRS due to a scheduling error on MGEC’s end. This has been cleared up including a $29 late payment fee.
   7. Oak Marsh (Donna Blackwell)
      • Confusion on payment process for Oak Marsh annual meeting and tournament. This has been settled. No additional fee charged for this miscommunication.

Finance Report (Wes Leksell)

1. Budget update

• Still continuing very close to projected spending
• Working down accrued liabilities

2. Plans to develop a long-term financial plan for the organization
3. Considering building ownership and the financial pros and cons

 Committee Reports (Fernando Nacionales)

1. None met this month

Membership Update (Donna Blackwell)

1. Membership Numbers

• Reviewed
  1. Trends in new hires
• Reviewed

 Labor Relations Update (Tony Kelly)

1. 2025 Meeting Schedule

• Updated/finalized dates will be sent out soon
• 3:30 proposed as a new meeting time. Corey (as President) leans for 3:30, this will be the time for meetings.

1. MnDOT Issues

• Reallocations hitting a wall of silence after working with their supervisor to ensure PD and justification memo is complete. Tony has pushed the issue, but we don’t currently have strong contract language. MnDOT CO is not returning calls or emails.
• Meet and confer on former mileage grievance likely in the next few weeks.
• No updates on former MnDOT employee

3. Bargaining Planning

• MAPE has started their bargaining process
• Survey
  • • What should we ask? The way we ask questions will steer outcomes. Tony asked board members to send any comments, proposed questions, or feedback on the previous survey.
    • Tony would like to send the survey by February. Last time was April. We’d like to get further ahead.
• When should we form the bargaining committee? And who should be on the negotiation team?

Vice President’s Report (Corey Mathisen)

1. Thank you to Fernando for his work on the board, and thank you to Dan for his tenure(s) on the board. Looking forward to contract bargaining, and clearing up/shoring up staff contracts during his term. Will also look to finish updates to constitution and bylaws for presentation to the membership.

Past President’s Report (Dan Sullivan)

1. Thank you to Fernando for his work. Hopes the work with continuity documents will make the organization stronger as we move into the future.

Other updates

1. (Blake Nelson) The Insurance coalition meets this week (week of 12/16).

Motion #3 To adjourn (Henningsgaard/Schuette. Motion Carries.