Members Present: Jessie Levine, John Scruton, Steve Fournier, Mike Joyal, Jill Collins, Elizabeth Corrow

The group reviewed the annual meeting minutes draft and determined approval of minutes will occur at the next annual meeting.

John Scruton moved, seconded by Steve Fournier, to move the annual membership dues back to $70 and forgo the increase this year due to the economy and the financial strain being placed on communities. Vote unanimous. Christian Pearsall will be sending out a list of managers for the group to review for accuracy.

Meeting schedule for 2009- 
Jessie Levine mentioned that Peter Joseph volunteered to host a monthly manager’s meeting in Lincoln so that skiing would also be available to the members. He noted the slopes aren’t open to the 3pm. The group indicated an interest to pursue this further.
Jessie discussed the January meeting and inviting Kevin Clougherty to speak to the manager’s group about what towns can do to improve the political relationship with the governor and to review the states revenue picture.

• John Scruton offered to contact Kevin and get back to the group.
• Steve Fournier agreed to contact Carol Granfield about the NH Film Commission as a possible monthly meeting topic.
• Elizabeth Corrow agreed to contact NHDOT Commissioner Campbell about speaking at one the meetings.

Annual Conference-The group discussed several possible locations for the annual meeting (White Mountain Hotel, the Balsams’, and Mt. Washington, as well as places in Meredith and Wolfeboro).

• Erin agreed to research options and get back to the group. Cost is a concern. Steve Fournier mentioned that maybe the group should discuss paying for the conference for members attending and require only that they pay for their room.

ICMA Sessions- Jessie Levine mentioned that Steve Fournier might want to start working on a topic for next December as she encountered several delays while working with ICMA this year.

• Steve Fournier agreed to begin researching possible ICMA sessions for next December.

Financial Update-  Jessie Levine presented the financial statement as of 10/31. Balance in checkbooks as of 10/31/08 is $47,746.51. Jessie talked about fundraising for the annual conference.

• Mike Joyal agreed to begin working with Christian to coordinate and begin getting together sponsorship letters.

MPA Internships-  Jessie Levine discussed the email she received from Carlos Baia, City of Concord, offering to help with the internship program. The group agreed that it would be great to have Carlos involved in coordinating the next round of internships. The consensus of the group was to strive this time for interns that have more managerial potential. It was noted that this last round of applicants were not all individuals interested in becoming managers.

LGC Annual conference-Jessie Levine mentioned that LGC is looking for feedback about the most recent annual conference. Steve Fournier stated he thought it was the worst conference ever mostly due to scheduling conflicts between classes of interest and necessary attendance at meetings. John Scruton disagreed and stated that he felt there were some good topics and only a couple minor scheduling conflicts. Steve Fournier stated he felt the right to know session was held at the wrong time and John Scruton agreed. Jessie stated that Eleanor from LGC would like to have a manager involved in the planning of the conference this year. Steve Fournier agreed to participate in the LGC planning process.

Affiliate Staff Recognition: Jessie stated that they usually send cookies but would like to do something more for Christian since he does so much work for us. John Scruton suggested checking with LGC to see if there is a prohibition against receiving gifts.

Other Business-  Steve Fournier discussed the planning for the ICMA conference in Montreal. He mentioned that anyone wanting to use their blackberrys will need an international plan, everyone will needs a passport, 99% of the people attending from NH will likely drive and we should consider coordinating some carpooling. John Scruton mentioned that anyone driving in Canada will need a Canadian card from their auto insurance to meet Canada’s minimum insurance requirements.

Elizabeth Corrow mentioned a goal for the group discussed by Pam Brenner at the annual conference “As leaders in our field we should continue to seek out ways to encourage others to enter the field of municipal management as a rewarding career opportunity”.

Submitted by,

Elizabeth Corrow
NHMMA Secretary