BZI Full Board Meeting Minutes Thursday, January 28, 2015
Location/Time
Zoo Lodge, 8:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
Members:
Wally Nall III, Chair; Cissy Jackson, Vice-Chair; James Priester, Treasurer; David Loper; Secretary; Jesse Vogtle, Jr., Immediate Past Chair; Erin Donohoo, Junior Board President; Jack Darnall; Robin Sparks Davis; Anna B. James; Laura Pitts
BZI Staff:
Bill Foster, President & CEO; Katrina Cade, Vice President of Marketing and Media; Karen Carroll, Vice President of Development; Stephanie McCain, Director of Animal Health; Betsy Rogers, Vice President of Finance and Administration; Roger Torbert, Vice President of Education; Dan Trausch, Director of Operations; Terra Manasco, Special Projects Manager; Kelly Garrison, Animal Interpretation & Programs Manager; Lindsey Herron, Registrar
Special Presentations • Kelly Wall, Animal Interpretation & Programs Manager, Animal Introduction • Lindsey Herron, the Zoo's 2014 Employee of the Year, Introduction
I.
Call to Order
Jesse Vogtle, Jr. outgoing Chair Wally Nall III, Chair
Jesse Vogtle, Jr. called the meeting to order at 8:16 a.m. As first order of business, he called on Robin Sparks Davis, as outgoing chair of the Nominating Committee, to introduce the 2015 Slate of Officers. Robin Sparks Davis said that the board voted in November on the following Slate of Officers for 2015 and introduced them: Wally Nall III, Chair; Cissy Jackson, Vice-Chair; Jim Priester, Treasurer; David Loper, Secretary; and Jesse Vogtle, Jr., Immediate Past Chair. Then, she said it was officially time for Jesse Vogtle to hand over the gavel to Wally Nall and welcome him as the 2015 incoming Board Chair. She said that we have come a long way in two years and we thank Jesse Vogtle for being instrumental in getting our master plan approved by the Mayor and the City Council. Also, we have once again set record attendance in 2014, with 574,581 visitors. In appreciation of his service, Wally Nall and Dr. Foster gave him a commemorative photo book of zoo events over the last two years, an ostrich "Good Egg" award, a Legacy Tree and an explorer's hat.
II.
Chairman’s Report a.
Wally Nall III, Chair
Approval of Minutes from November 20, 2014 Full Board Meeting A quorum was not met. Therefore, approval of the minutes from the November 20, 2014 meeting will be tabled until the next meeting on February 25, 2015.
Full Board Minutes 2015-01-28, Page 1 of 5 (approved 3-25-15 via evote)
b.
Other Business Chairman Nall reminded everyone that we have still need to meet with the board of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, but that meeting is currently postponed. We will send out notice when the meeting is rescheduled.
III.
Committee Reports a.
Finance Committee Report
James Priester, Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair
Jim Priester gave the Finance Report: • Tommy Sisson has joined the Finance Committee meetings and we are glad to have his expertise. •
For December, we did clear our expenses and made a slight profit. At the mid-year point, we were trending down. However, due to the success of Boo at the Zoo (BATZ) and some creative ideas by the Operations team, we were able to end the year with a modest profit of $67K.
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Operations showed creatively regarding discounts and packages to get people in the door and we were pleased that once on grounds, they spent more money once inside the gates. Thus, we ended slight above last year. So given that we were trending down at the mid-year mark, the fact that we've turned it around in the last 4 or 5 months is terrific.
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We were below budget on our desired profit, but we are pleased to be in the black, even if it is a more modest amount that we'd hoped for. At this time, we are unable to contribute to our Rainy Day Fund, which is currently about $375K.
b. Master Planning Committee Report
Cissy Jackson, Vice Chair & Master Planning Committee Chair
Cissy Jackson gave the Master Planning Report • Barbara Ingalls Shook Black Bear Trail: we have had preconstruction meetings this week with the contractor and groundbreaking for this project is happening right now. We still have about $200K to raise for this exhibit. We have funding proposals out for consideration. •
Cahaba Road: because of the gas line issue with breaking the pipe, construction on Cahaba Road has been delayed. Dan Trausch reminded the board that after they broke the line, Alagasco decided to completely reroute the pipe, moving it to the Zoo side of the road. The completion date is now estimated to be at the end of June or first part of July. However, construction of the roundabout, which has the most ability to negatively impact the zoo, is scheduled to be completed by March 20th.
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Cissy Jackson also said we continue to work on solutions for people walking between the zoo and Botanical gardens. Currently we plan to put down some type of crushed or milled surface that will allow visitors to safely walk into the zoo. We will have signage Full Board Minutes 2015-01-28, Page 2 of 5 (approved 3-25-15 via evote)
as well. As far as the design for what goes in the roundabout, we will likely wait until construction is completely finished before we make a decision about that. Birmingham Botanical Gardens will be weighing in on that decision as well.
c.
Development
Cissy Jackson, Outgoing 2014 Secretary & Development Committee Chair
Cissy Jackson gave the Development Report • Robert Aland and Austin Davis will be co-chairing the Development Committee this year. •
Our consultant, Leo Arnoult, continues to work with the Development Committee as we further refine our action plans for the campaign.
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We have raised $11.6 M to date. As we go into the final part of our fundraising efforts, we will face our greatest challenge. We have done great so far, raising a tremendous amount of money, but we need to stay vigilant as we raise the final balance of funds.
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Some Development Highlights from 2014 included obtaining funding for digital x-ray equipment, EcoGarden/EcoDrum, and the zipline.
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ZooGala 2015. The date for the gala this year is September 18th. It is on a Friday evening and our sponsor is Iberia Bank. Iberia has been our sponsor for the last four or five years and they keep increasing their sponsorship. Our honorary Chairs this year are Bill and Emily Bowron.
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Karen Carroll also mentioned Birdies for Charity. She passed around the promotional material and told the board if they contribute to the charity, 100% of it will come back to the zoo and Bill Bowron will match the donation 1:1. It is such a great opportunity, that we are going to include it in our appeal letter and EBSCO has agreed to insert it with our other materials at no charge. The event is in May.
IV.
Junior Board Report
Erin Donohoo, Junior Board President
Wally Nall welcomed and introduced Erin Donohoo, the Junior Board's new President. Erin Donohoo gave the Junior Board Report, including: • The Junior Board remains committed to supporting the Barbara Ingalls Shook Black Bear Trail. This year's Tails in Trails will be on April 24, 2015. As with last year, we have earmarked profits of the event to go toward the bear exhibit. Also, we just confirmed our title sponsor is Harbert Management. We have also confirmed our special meet and greet guest, Jack Hanna. •
The Junior Board has pledged a $100K commitment to the BIS Black Bear Trail, with $40K already contributed. We have set an aggressive goal for ourselves to meet this goal in two years instead of the three years that we pledged.
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We have elected new board members and we have a great group this year.
Full Board Minutes 2015-01-28, Page 3 of 5 (approved 3-25-15 via evote)
V.
Zoo Report
Dr. Bill Foster, President & CEO
Dr. Foster gave the Zoo Report, including: Animal News. • Cenzoo, our western lowland gorilla, has been selected to go to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia SC, where he will be the dominant male in a social group of all females. Once Cenzoo goes to Riverbanks, we will be putting mandrills in the exhibit. Jim Priester asked about ownership of animals. Dr. Foster talked about what it means to be an AZA accredited facility, breeding loans and more. Cenzoo is owned by Denver and is on loan to us. He has been here three or four years and came to us from Busch Gardens. We will continue to house great apes, our orangutans, Oliver, Lipz and Nairi. Projects in Progress •
We are now in our 4th year since the last accreditation process. We will be turning in our report in March of 2016. Only 218 zoos and aquariums are accredited by AZA and it is a rigorous process.
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We have broken attendance records for the 3rd straight year. This year, we had some terrific special events, such as the Baby Bunch, the opening of the Jane L. Brock presents Soaring Safari Zipline, and Wells Fargo Boo at the Zoo. As a result of these successful events and the increasing popularity of our zoo, this year 574,581 people attended the zoo!
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Dr. Foster asked Roger Torbert, Vice President of Education, to tell the board about our partnership with Kulturecity, the advocacy group that supports individuals and families affected by autism. o
Roger Torbert said that we mentioned at the last board meeting that we would soon be working with Kulturecity to have a special event night here at the zoo on November 1st for individuals and families impacted by autism. This was an extremely successful event and as a result, we are collaborating with them further. In December, the Kulturecity staff came and trained our Education staff and some of our Keepers, helping us to make the zoo more friendly for everyone. Currently we are at work develop a sensory needs package, that when a family comes, they can check out this package which will come with such helpful items as a weighted blanket, noise canceling headphones, sensory items and a GPS tracking wristband which will sound an alert if the child gets too far away from the parent or supervisor. NPR has recently done a segment on museums in Seattle and Austin that are providing these materials, but will be the first zoo to do so.
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Kulturecity is preparing to launch on a national level soon.
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Starting on March 7, we will be working with a focus group to see how our program is working and then after we get feedback and make adjustments, we will be launching it on a much bigger scale. Full Board Minutes 2015-01-28, Page 4 of 5 (approved 3-25-15 via evote)
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The board and BZI senior staff discussed merits of publicity and best practices for getting the word out. Katrina Cade reminded everyone that it is always best to have a third party tell the story.
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Events & Exhibits: Monster Slide was a great success, generating an extra $50K over the previous year's BATZ. In conjunction with our 60th Anniversary, Katrina Cade said that we are working on a number of events, including a Brews and Full Moon BBQ on June 20. The 60th Anniversary logo that is displayed onscreen "Still Swinging" is one of our taglines, and we will have different taglines that we use to match subject matter as we promote the 60th anniversary. We will be doing a lot of promotion and having a lot of dialogue with guests and their families, showing the progress of the zoo across a 60 year span and how far we have come.
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Passion into Conservation Action grants. This year we awarded 5 grants totaling $25K. We are pleased to see this program grow and to support our employees. One of the grantees, Dr. Stephanie McCain is with us today. Dr. McCain spoke briefly about the grant she was awarded. She has received a grant to travel to Indonesia to be part of the Orangutan Advisory group.
VI.
Other Business Jack Darnall reminded everyone to use extreme caution during the construction process, and said that one of his company's flagmen had been struck and killed two weeks ago by a distracted driver. He asked that we pull together and include signage reminding our guests and staff to be cautious as they drive on Cahaba Road during the construction process.
VII.
Adjourn Wally Nall adjourned the meeting at 9:05 a.m.
Hand Outs: October Finance Report
Full Board Minutes 2015-01-28, Page 5 of 5 (approved 3-25-15 via evote)
