NORTHEAST DAIRY
COMPACT COMMISSION
MONTHLY MEETING,
JUNE 7, 2000
CENTENNIAL INN,
CONCORD NH
Commission Members in Attendance:
CT: Shirley Ferris, Robert Jacquier, Mae Schmidle.
MA: Gordon Cook, Jay Healy, Mary K. Kassler.
ME: Fred Hardy, Colon Durrell, Stanley Millay.
NH: Doug Morris, Debora Erb, Powell Cabot.
RI: Ron Newman, Al Bettencourt Jr., Aaron Briggs, Peter Petrone, Jametta Alston.
VT: Bobby Starr, Harold Howrigan, Andy Dykstra, Millicent Rooney, Jacques Couture.
Ex Officio Members Present:
Leon Graves, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Agriculture, Foods and Markets.
Commission Staff Present:
Kenneth Becker, Executive Director; Dixie Henry, General Counsel; Carmen Ross, Regulations Administrator; David Ferch, Public Information Director; and Patricia Lammott, Temporary Office Assistant.
Vice Chair Mae Schmidle called the meeting to order at 10:56 a.m. on Wednesday,
June 7, 2000.
I. Public Participation:
Robert Wellington of Agrimark said the failure of Agrimark to submit its
block voting notification within the deadline for the Supply Management
Proposal Referendum was attributed to insufficient postage affixed to the
ballot and postal delays. Mr. Wellington noted that this error did not alter
the outcome of the referendum. Agrimark members were notified of the intention
to block vote in support of the proposal so any members who wished to vote
against the measure were given full opportunity to do so.
II.
Introduction of guests:
Thomas
Griffiths of Wiley, Rein and Fielding; Ray Christensen of New York Department
of Agriculture and Markets; Gail Christensen, dairy farmer; Mayo Cookson of
National Farmers Organization; Steve Watous of Allied Federated Coops; Allen
Hall of the New Hampshire Farm Bureau; Patricia Green of Country Folks; Kelly
Furstenberg of New England Farmer; Maggie Murphy from the office of New York
State Senator Nancy Loraine Hoffman; Erik Rasmussen, USDA Market Administrator;
Bonnie Burr of the Connecticut Farm Bureau; and Gabe Moquin of the Connecticut
Department of Agriculture.
III.
Consideration and approval of minutes of the May 3, 2000 meeting:
Moved to accept the Minutes of the May 3, 2000 as presented.
IV.
Consideration of Communications:
Mrs.
Schmidle read a letter naming Mr. Petrone the designee for the Rhode Island
delegation and Becky Bessette as the alternate.
Mrs.
Schmidle referred to a letter from eight senators of the New England
delegation.
Mr.
Cabot reported on the March and April 2000 compiled financial statements for
the Administrative and Producer Settlement Funds.
Mr.
Cabot said the Committee on Finance was recommending a revised year 2000 budget
and to repay $50,000 to the state of Maine at this time.
Mr.
Cabot also commented that contracting with outside services for the provision
of temporary staff is more expensive than a full-time employee would be.
Responding
to a question about the financial statements, Mr. Becker explained the over
order obligation and how the producer pay price is derived and the source of
the administrative fund.
Mr.
Cook asked about and Mr. Becker gave an explanation of the school milk
reimbursement fund.
VI.
Reports:
A.
Chairs Report:
Mrs.
Schmidle read a communication from Ms. Henry notifying the Commission of her
resignation.
Ms.
Schmidle read the biography for Thomas B. Griffith, the attorney from the firm
Wiley, Rein and Fielding representing
the Commission.
B.
Executive Director's Report:
Mr.
Becker said the producer referendum on supply management passed and the measure
will be implemented as part of the Commission’s regulations July 1, 2000.
Mr.
Becker referred to the legislative debate in Massachusetts and commended Mr.
Healy, Mr. Cook, Mr. Shields and Ms. Kassler for their efforts.
Mr.
Becker said escrowed funds from the New York State Dairy Foods Association case
are being reviewed and verified. A motion was filed in U.S. District Court to release
the funds. The funds will be remitted
as soon as is feasible.
Mr.
Becker said the claim forms for school milk were sent out to the schools and
should be returned to the office by July. The payment can then be sent out to
the states for subsequent distribution to the schools.
C.
Committee on Finance Report:
Nothing
further.
D.
Committee on Administration:
Mrs.
Schmidle said the committee has been meeting regularly to discuss finances, the
executive search committee and the personnel manual.
Moved that in recognition of the extraordinary services of the general counsel Dixie Henry to the Northeast Dairy Compact and her generosity, patience and invaluable legal advice we express our deep gratitude and sincere thanks and wish her well in her new career.
The
Audit Committee had not had a chance to meet.
F.
Bylaws Committee:
Ms.
Erb said the committee met in the morning and will recommend no action at this
time.
G.
Committee on Regulations and Rulemaking:
The
committee had not met.
Mr. Starr said he served as referendum agent on the supply management proposal
and described the ballot counting experience.
VII.
Old Business:
A. Final Decision on HEP 97-06 (In re Petition of Organic Cow, LLC)- Executive Session.
Moved to go into executive session to discuss a legal matter.
Executive session from 11:45 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.
Moved that the Commission adopt as its final decision in re: Petition of the Organic Cow, LLC, Docket Number HEP-97-006, the Document found at tab 21 of our materials relating to that matter and styled “final decision the commission” with the following amendment: That the date of the decision reflect today’s date.
B.
Bylaws Committee Recommendations:
Ms.
Erb suggested the Commission hold a retreat to address long standing issues.
Moved that the Commission have a retreat, using an independent facilitator, to consider the future direction of the Commission. This retreat would help the Commission members clarify bylaws, job descriptions and the structure of the organization. This retreat should happen within two months.
Ms.
Ferris asked if the retreat could take the place of a commission meeting.
Ms.
Rooney said many of the issues faced by the Bylaws Committee center on
semantics.
Mr.
Howrigan said a retreat could be very valuable given the time already spent on
these issues.
Ms.
Kassler said an outside facilitator needs to be prepared and who does the
preparation is important. She questioned the need for a retreat.
Mrs.
Schmidle asked who would arrange the retreat and at what cost.
Mr.
Starr asked what a retreat would do to solve the problem.
Ms.
Erb said there are unresolved disputes over the job descriptions for chair, vice
chair and executive director.
Ms.
Erb said she did not have a preconceived notion but was concerned that the
Commission seems unable to arrive at a consensus.
Mr.
Healy said the cause is the dynamics of a Commission.
Mr.
Cook said the Commission is passing a developmental stage that may require a
retreat.
Ms.
Ferris suggested a retreat be tied to a meeting and that a specific list of
issues to be addressed.
Ms.
Alston said the committee motion includes such a list.
Mr.
Healy proposed an amendment to reflect Ms. Ferris’ comment.
Moved to amend the motion to include a specific agenda and a fixed, compressed time period.
A
lunch recess was held from 12:55 to 1:35 p.m.
VIII.
New Business:
A.
Committee on Finance Recommendations:
Mr.
Cabot suggested one motion encompassing several payments.
Moved to:
1. Approve for payment the Federal Milk market Administrator’s Invoice – March 2000 pool, audits completed during April.
2. Accept the March and April 2000 Financial Statements and file for audit purposes.
3. Repay the State of Maine $50,000.
4. Adopt the revised 2000 budget.
B.
Committee on Administration Recommendations:
Moved to approve for payment the Wiley, Rein and Fielding invoice for legal services for the amount of $11,291.47
2.
July Meeting Date:
Mr.
Becker said the first Wednesday in July is the 5th, the day after
Independence Day, which may be inconvenient for some Commissioners.
Moved to change the meeting date from the first Wednesday in July to the 12th.
Mrs. Schmidle conducted several straw polls to determine which date might be most convenient.
Moved to change the date from the 12th to the 25th of July.
AMENDMENT FAILED TO PASS BY A VOTE OF 3 TO 3 (MAINE, RHODE ISLAND, VERMONT VOTING AGAINST)
IX.
Announcements: Opportunity for State Comments:
Mr.
Healy summarized the legislative debate in Massachusetts and thanked Mr. Graves
and Ms. Ferris for their support.
Mr. Healy said the Massachusetts
Senate voted by a 22 to 17 margin to withdraw Massachusetts from the Compact.
The issue must be approved by a conference committee and then be signed by the
governor. The governor has publicly stated that he will veto the measure and 17
votes is a sufficient margin to uphold a veto. Currently supporters have
garnered 67 signatures in the House for a letter of support. A similar letter
was circulated in the Senate but three signatories changed their position at
the last minute.
Mr. Healy said opponents are
spending a lot of money lobbying to withdraw Massachusetts from the Compact and
the Senate president is very active in the issue. The issue will be reduced to
the $22 billion state budget and negotiations over what stays in and what is
cut, Mr. Healy said.
The issue is boiling down to a rural
versus urban debate. Mr. Healy said that a press conference with the New
England governors might be useful. Mr. Healy said gubernatorial politics is
involved as the Senate president is campaigning and the chief opposition
lobbyist is the Senate president’s campaign consultant.
Ms.
Erb asked about the argument that Massachusetts has the majority of processing
jobs.
Mr.
Healy said there are 30,000 processing jobs in Massachusetts.
Mr.
Hardy said no one believes that the retail price of milk will go down if the
Compact is eliminated.
Mr.
Howrigan said the source of the opposition is International Dairy Foods
Association.
X.
Executive Session if Necessary:
Moved to go into executive session to discuss a legal matter.
The
Commission went into executive session at 2:20 p.m. and returned to open
session at 3 p.m.
Moved to accept the signed settlement agreement between Kenneth Becker and the Northeast Dairy Compact.
Mr.
Howrigan commended the executive director for the manner in which the
resignation was handled.
The
meeting was adjourned at 3 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Mary
Kelligrew Kassler, Secretary
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