MASSACHUSETTS THROUGHBRED BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

Board of Director’s Business Meeting Minutes

March 18, 2010

Vinny T’s, Dedham, MA

Chairman George Brown called the meeting to order at __7:00 PM.

Board Members Present	Absent	Guests
Brown, George – Chair	Janjigian, Armand	Brown, Arlene –Recording Secretary
Catapano, Frank	Joyce, Daniel	Robbins, Harland -Financial Director
Clarke, Mathew-alternate		Robbins, Bill - Accountant
Currie, Joyce-alternate		Andrews, Randy
Emery, Velma-alternate		Clarke, Anne
Ferguson, Meg		Currie, Robert
Loebelenz, Lee
Posco, Ken
Rose, Gregg
Reagan, Kathleen
Salim, Adel
Spadea, Anthony/Treasurer
Stone, Ed

1.) Secretary’s Report:

Last Secretaries report (November 19, 2009) was approved at Christmas party in December 2009

2.) Treasurer's Report

Bill Robbins presented a report on the organizations financial position as of Feb 28, 2010. He showed that revenues are slightly down from last year partly because we started out this year with less in the accounts than last year. He said it is not a real concern.

Ed Stone questioned the restricted and un-restricted cash and wanted to know if some of the restricted cash could be moved to the unrestricted account. Bill explained that restricted money is the 92% of revenue that is designated by the state to go into awards. Un-restricted is the 8% designated to be used by the program and that restricted money cannot be used for un-restricted expenses.

Bill also reported that the 2009 tax return has done and signed and would be filed immediately.

Bill then presented a brochure from the IRS explaining the differences between a 501 (c) (3) organization –Charitable such as Salvation Army and a 501 (c) (5) organization –Exempt such as MTBA. The brochure is a Compliance Guide for Tax-Exempt Organizations other than 501 (c) (3). It explains that tax exempt organizations who are not eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions (MTBA) must disclose any fundraising solicitations and these contributions are not deductible for federal income tax purposes by the donor. It also explains the differences between related and un-related income and the activities that are excepted from the un-related classification.

Motion to accept treasurer’s report: Lee Loebelenz Second: Anthony Spadea .

Objection: None Abstain: none

3.) Chairman’s notes and comments

a. Legislative Report

George Brown described the many meetings with legislators, legislative fund raisers and farm bureau

breakfasts to meet legislators and present MTBA position on slots legislation that he and Anthony Spadea

have been attending. The feedback is very positive and he expects to see the bill come out of committee

this first week in April. No one knows exactly what the final version will say but he has been emphasizing

the need to have sufficient racing days to make owning a massbred worthwhile. Another important part of

the bill is to make sure that contracts between horsemen and track management are signed before slots

can open on Jan. 1 each year.

4.) Old Business

a. Golf Tournament 2010

The Golf Tournament is scheduled for Aug. 5 this year. Directors were asked for volunteers to help with

the organization of the tournament. Matthew Clarke volunteered the services of his wife Anne. Velma

Emery also volunteered to help in some capacity. By the next meeting, Arlene Brown and Lee Loebelenz

will come up with a list of jobs that need to be done so that people can sign up for specific jobs. Arlene

will add notice of the upcoming event on the website.

b. Equine Affair 2010

Kathy Reagan made a motion to reserve a booth for Equine Affair. Velma Emery volunteered to help out

with the booth but not be in charge.

Motion: Kathy Reagan ______ Second: Frank Catapano .

Objection: none Abstain: none

c. Left over hats/T-shirts

Arlene asked if we want to put hats in the gift bags at the Golf Tournament again as there are about 60 left

over from last year. We should only have to order a few more. This was agreeable to everyone. She will

put left over T-shirts up on the website for donations to the horse retirement find. Since there are only

large and extra large left, she will order some small and medium. The sheriffs department at Plymouth

provides a printing service very inexpensively that we might try.

5.) New Business

a. Contract renewal

A motion to renew Bill Robbins contract for 2010 at the salary of $25,000 and to renew Arlene Brown’s

contract at a salary of $5,000 was made.

Motion to renew as described: Anthony Spadea Second: Kathy Reagan.

Objection: none Abstain: none

b. Mail Lists

Arlene Brown asked if the board would entertain the idea of releasing our mail list to members who have

farms and would like to advertise. It was felt that we should not make any changes in our policies until

after the slots legislation has been decided. We currently have access to the HBPA mailing list by

submitting our mailings to SIR SPEEDY to be mailed out.

c. Voting Procedures

George Brown asked for volunteers to review a voting procedure for MTBA to follow in electing directors.

Gregg Rose, Meg Fergusson, Kathy Reagan and Lee Loebelenz will look into it and come back to the

Board with suggestions.

d. Re-issue checks

Harland Robbins explained that the family of Myra Cohen found 10 un-cashed checks dating from 1998 in

a bureau drawer when they were cleaning out her belongings after her death. They requested that the

checks be re-issued. Harland went back to the accounting firm doing our business at the time these checks

were issued and also when Bill Robbins took over the accounts. At that time a list of about $85,000 in

unpaid checks was given to Harland (all of which he tracked down and re-issued). These checks were not

on that list. The firm assured Harland that all un-cashed checks were on that list. Harland then tried to

check with the bank issuing these checks to determine if they had been cashed. The bank official looked

into the matter but could not trace back that far. Harland feels that the checks had been lost (in the drawer),

re-issued and cashed and that the checks discovered were just the originals that had already been re-issued.

The Board of Directors chose to take no action without further information!!

f. Other new business

Harland Robbins asked that we come to the next meeting with nominees for the TOBA Breeder of the Year Award.

Velma Emery feels that the restriction on registering stallions by Feb 1 is not a state law but manufactured by MTBA and wishes to have it changed. The Board of Directors chose not to discuss the issue until after the slots bill has been passed.

Harland will give copies of our insurance policies to Kathy Reagan so that she can review them to make sure we have adequate coverage.

Velma Emery suggested that we look into having a yearling show at Suffolk Downs during the race meet when many people could see the horses.

6.) Next Meeting

Date: April 15, 2010 Time:__ 6:30PM ______ Place:___TBA__________________

7.) Adjournment:___9:35 PM

Motion to adjourn: Kathy Reagan Second: Ken Posco __

Respectfully Submitted

Arlene Brown