Commissioners in attendance: Bob Berger, Kevin Corliss, Ann George, Andy Jensen, Bill Mason, Ted Maxwell, Doug Muse, Herb Teas, Kurt Volker, Doug Walsh

Staff in attendance: Cindy Hayes, Alan Schreiber

Commissioners not in attendance: Ron Angel, Ben Barstow, Bill Green, Chuck Masters, Bryan Sakuma

Guests: John Brown, WSU, Sandra Ristow, WSU

Chair Teas called the meeting to order at 10:20 a.m.

Commissioners, staff and guests introduced themselves.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Chair Teas called for public comment. There were no comments.

MINUTES
Chair Teas asked if any further information was available regarding the inquiry by an outside interested party mentioned in the March 13, 2002 proposed minutes. Schreiber said he had no more information at this time.

Andy Jensen said he had a copy of the minutes with corrections noted and a question regarding WSDA funding at the bottom of page two. Schreiber clarified the statement. WSDA does not want to track "Jesernig funds" and they want WSCPR to track the funds.

Kurt Volker asked if any updates were made on the legislative report, on page three, paragraph three. Schreiber said he would cover this later in the meeting and had not bounced any ideas off the executive committee. Volker asked for clarification about when a decision was made to send out a WSCPR questionnaire to all researchers. Schreiber said this was something he wanted to do and he wanted feedback prior to the July meeting. Herb Teas said there was considerable discussion at the last meeting and Commissioners helped design some of the questions. Schreiber said there would not be any additional costs to the Commission for the survey. Teas said this would be a management function of the administration staff. Schreiber said he wanted a larger base to get information and feed back from in regard to how the Commission is doing. Volker noted the July deadline would be here soon. Schreiber said due to recent staffing issues, not all the preparation for this meeting was completed and said the Executive Committee will see the survey before it is sent out.

Bob Berger noted on page nine, by reading the minutes he is not able to tell what the proposal is asking for and there is no note for re-submittal. Schreiber agreed to add to the minutes these are re-submittals and include the title and presenter's name.

Commissioners discussed whether a quorum was present. Teas noted a majority of current voting members are present and a quorum is present.

FINANCIAL REPORT
Schreiber directed Commissioners attention to the financial reports provided by WSU. Schreiber noted the deficit allocation amount is ($156,654.41) or 15%. Nearly all the money from previous years has been expended. An alfalfa seed proposal has been terminated with about $18,000 being returned to WSCPR. As of April 30, approximately $32,000 in funds that have not been expended on projects that are 90 days past the completion date. These researchers will be getting a letter telling the money will be pulled back if an extension is not requested. Some of these projects have more legitimate claims for extension than others. Schreiber said some of these funds will come back to the Commission, perhaps as much as $16,000. The Commission will go into the next funding cycle with less of a deficit than in the previous two years.

Commissioners discussed figures that appear on the report as unexpended funds from previous fiscal years. Commissioners requested Sandy Ristow to contact Tucson Smith for an explanation as to why there is carry over each year. Ristow said she would find out and e-mail the explanation.

Schreiber said the figures on page two of the report represent funds that have been allocated but not expended. Schreiber said the $836,951.29 is the amount of funds authorized to be spent, but have not been spent yet. This figure includes projects not billed back yet and administrative fees for May and June.

ADMINISTRATOR'S REPORT
Schreiber updated Commissioners on planning for the 2002 Washington Pest Control Tour. Schreiber discussed the daily itinerary, plans for stops and speakers, and activities planned. Schreiber noted Commissioners are invited to attend the tour. Kurt Volker asked if legislators have been invited. Schreiber said legislators have not been contacted yet. Schreiber noted a packet of information would be available for Commissioners that have personal contacts. Ann George, Doug Muse, and Kurt Volker said they would like packets. Schreiber said he wanted to invite Valoria Loveland and Bill Brookreson from WSDA. The invitation list includes a list of legislators and staff members. Bob Berger asked if the press is targeted. Schreiber said the press is invited by day and area. Bill Mason asked to add the assistant secretary (of the Department of Health?) to the invitation list.

Commissioners discussed the idea of having the WSCPR books at WSU audited by the state.

Schreiber said the draft agreement to transfer the "Jesernig dollars" was on track and nearly complete. Schreiber attended an Ag Presidents Group meeting. Schreiber said he was working on updating the policy and procedures, and suggested yearly updates. A request was received from Jane Thomas in regard to the timing of the PNN survey. Commissioner consensus was the current schedule is good. Thomas also asked if electronic sign-up was acceptable. Commissioners said as long as the user is responsible to update their e-mail, this was an acceptable. Schreiber noted expected budget cuts would affect PNN. Thomas said the increased time would not be significant. Ann George said to let Thomas proceed and if it becomes too costly to continue it can be removed.

The September meeting will be in Mt. Vernon on the 11th. There is no conflict with the IR-4 regional meeting.

Schreiber noted the preliminary draft of the legislative report is not available. A draft will be mailed out prior to the July meeting and a second draft with changes will be available at the July meeting.

FY2003 WSCPR BUDGET
Herb Teas directed Commissioners attention to the proposed budget. Bob Berger asked where the contingency fund stands with proposed budget cuts. Schreiber said the contingency fund is released at the January funding meeting and it is still a requirement. Schreiber reviewed the budget line items and asked for Commissioner feedback. The budget assumes a $980,000 allocation; the proposed budget is as follows:

Reimbursable expenses are direct from ADG, Inc. and include travel, printing costs, postage, office supplies and other office expenses. Tour expenses are revised to $20,000 total with WSCPR's portion at $5,000 and fees at $7,500 and sponsorships at $7,500. The Administrative fee is reduced by 2% in line with the budget cut to $112,700. Attorney General fee is budgeted at $2,000, which is the same as last year. Schreiber noted a bill has not been received to date. Commissioner Travel is $6,000, which is reduced from last year. Schreiber noted if another meeting were held in Portland, the accommodations would change. The amount for the WSU fiscal specialist is $15,000. PNN is budgeted at $50,500. The total amount is $206,200 without the Tour budget reduction. The total amount available to fund projects including the contingency fund and old /new mandate would be $773,800. The discussion was tabled until later in the meeting.

PROGRESS REPORT ON WSCPR FUNDED PROJECTS
David James, WSU, presented updates to the Commission on two of his projects currently funded by WSCPR: Beneficial Arthropods in Washington Vineyards and Hop Yards: Screening the Impact of Pesticides on Survival and Function. This work is in support of his overall responsibility to develop IPM programs for hops and grapes.

Chair Teas invited Commissioners to break for lunch. The meeting resumed after a ½ hour break.

FY2003 WSCPR BUDGET, continued
Schreiber continued with budget discussion with the following revised, proposed budget:

Bob Berger said he thinks PNN should take a budget cut, just based on the overall scheme. Schreiber said the budget cuts could be done two ways - across the board cuts or targeting specific line items. Ann George said cutting the Tour costs would equal a 2.5% reduction. Sandra Ristow noted the Commission should plan for a 5% cut; this is the general consensus at WSU. Ann George asked if the budget cut is going to affect the number of proposals funded in full or partially reduced in funding. George suggested looking for areas to cut that are "nice to have" rather than mandated areas. Schreiber noted if the Tour were cut, the amount of time put into the Commission would change accordingly. This could be handled two ways, cut the administrative fee budget or put that time into other programs. Ann George suggested funding this years Tour out of the Commission's private account and reevaluate funding next years Tour based on budget cuts. Kurt Volker agreed. Doug Walsh noted as a result of previous Tours, most chemical companies are aware of Washington. Volker said he feels it is important to involve Legislators. Walsh said the equivalent of a tour might be to go directly to Olympia to educate legislators. Walsh suggested alternating years with the Tour and the trip to Olympia. Ann George noted if WSCPR is important to individual Commissions, than the Commissions should be interested in showing the legislators how important WSCPR is. Commissioner consensus was to table the discussion for this meeting.

A brief break was taken to try to contact Bill Green for a teleconference. Bill Green was unable to connect for the teleconference. The meeting resumed.

Ann George asked Jane Thomas what a 2% or 5% budget cut would do to her program. Thomas said she would discontinue updating some information on the Internet and the Federal Register summarizations. Schreiber noted the tasks Thomas was referring to were not part of the mandate. Commissioners noted R.E.D.'s do fit the mandate. Thomas said functions can be changed, she spends 50% of her time on PNN, a database person spends 20% of her time, and some clerical work can be shifted to other budgets. Thomas said updating miscellaneous information on the web page could be discontinued, also. Volker noted if PNN were funded by WSU alone, they would be facing 2% and 5% budget cuts.

Volker suggested each agency be notified of the budget cuts and asked what impacts the budget cuts would cause. Volker listed the proposed budget amounts:

DISCUSSION
Volker requested Commissioners to be frugal in their expenses. Volker noted not all Commissioners submit expenses reimbursements and this may be an area to examine more closely. Volker said he took 2% off the starting numbers and followed that with a 5% reduction. This brings the budget to 93.1% of the original line item budget. Commissioners noted the remaining funds would be split between old and new mandate projects and the contingency fund. The contingency fund amount can be changed. Volker asked the affected agencies to respond to the Commission how the budget cuts would effect operations. Volker said the budget cuts should not come out of profits and the agencies should look for ways to cut costs.

THIRD PARTY LABELING
Schreiber said the committee members are Chuck Masters, Ted Maxwell, Shawn McNeill (WTFRC), Kurt Volker, Doug Walsh and himself. The committee has met once. Schreiber said the process will work and has been done in other states. Products cannot be labeled for single use growers. For this process to move forward, there has to be an entity that can administer the program. Schreiber said he would like to administer a program like this. Schreiber said to get this started; WSCPR would need to contribute start-up funds. The WTFRC may also be interested in supporting this. The entity would have to be self-supporting, non-profit and operate in a very lean manner with very little fund carryover to avoid the possibility of a lawsuit. Schreiber asked if the Commission wanted to pursue this and if so, how. Doug Muse asked about liability. Schreiber said it would be set up so the sponsoring organization is not liable, the manufacturer and the non-profit entity would carry the liability. Doug Walsh said if this is set up, we must be very discriminating in what we accept. Muse asked if the Attorney General would be involved. Schreiber said there would be no liability to WSCPR, and the Attorney General would review the process. Schreiber said Teas suggested asking other commissions and commodity groups what their interest in this is and what their involvement would be. Schreiber said WSCPR has been recognized as the right group to do this and suggested the Commission fund some of the base costs along with possible support from WTFRC for their own project. Maxwell said he would like to know more detail of how this works in Florida and California. Teas asked Commissioners if they wanted Schreiber to pursue this. Ann George noted the Commission should take a hard look at this to determine if this is within the Commission's mandate given the budget cuts and denial of the crop profile coordinator proposal. Volker suggested continuing the committee for three more months and providing a more formal, detailed presentation at the July meeting. Kevin Corliss suggested getting letters of support from some of the commodity groups that would benefit.

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTRACT
Chair Teas said he had asked Richard McCartan to draft a MOA that more succinctly outlines the role of the Commission and WSU. Andy Jensen said he prefers this agreement and it is more acceptable that the previous agreement from WSU.

Schreiber said the dollar amounts would be adjusted down based on the previous motion to accept the proposed budget. Schreiber noted the contract may be renewed after one year. Teas said in his opinion the Commission would continue with Schreiber as the administrator because he has heard no expressions of discontent with Schreiber's management since he has been on the Board.

COMMISSION FUNDING POLICIES/GUIDELINES
Teas asked Schreiber to update the policies based on the last two years minutes and motions. Schreiber said he noted where the changes came from (minutes, motions, rfp) and only added the changes to the existing document. Teas asked Commissioners to read this before the next meeting and make notes about what changes need to be made. Comments will be reviewed at the July meeting. Kurt Volker asked for an electronic copy. Schreiber said he would e-mail Commissioners a copy of the draft.

OTHER BUSINESS
Bob Berger suggested Commissioners keep one meeting binder and add information for each meeting to the binder, noting the cost of mailing binders. Schreiber agreed to reduce the costs of mailing and materials associated with the meeting binders.

Schreiber noted that minutes from previous meetings indicate policies need to be developed for plant breeding programs and using salaries as matching funds. Commissioners agreed.

Schreiber said the cost of the legislative report is not included in the budget and is unknown at this time. Schreiber said the cost should be available by the July meeting. Volker said Bill Green has stated in the past he has strong feelings as to what constitutes a good legislative report. Volker suggested Schreiber talk to Green about the Department of Ecology's legislative report format and structure. Schreiber said three bids would be obtained and the lowest bid will be chosen.

The following commissioners will attend the tour for one or more days: Bob Berger, Kevin Corliss, Andy Jensen, Bill Mason, Ted Maxwell, Doug Muse, Herb Teas, Kurt Volker, Doug Walsh.

Chair Teas asked if Commissioners had any outstanding expense reimbursements. Commissioners said some reimbursements are taking six months to resolve. Schreiber noted WSU has committed to process the reimbursements within 30 days.

Schreiber noted there are some expenses associated with the Commission that WSU will not reimburse ADG, Inc. for. At the Moses Lake meeting, $180 of the meal expenses will not be reimbursed. Currently, there is about $2,800 of outstanding expenses, some of which will not be reimbursed

DISCUSSION
Teas said at the Moses Lake meeting, headcount was confirmed for the caterer prior to the meeting, not as many people attended the meeting as were expected and the bill was based on the confirmed headcount. Sandra Ristow asked for a copy of the list.

Doug Walsh suggested setting up a development fund with WSU for WSCPR to use for outreach expenses. Schreiber asked for clarification from Sandra Ristow. Walsh said a PI is needed for signature. Ann George said some of these expenses should come out of the private account.

Chair Teas adjourned the meeting at 2:40pm.

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