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Zion Cemetery May 2021 Board Meeting Minutes

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Minutes of Zion Cemetery Preservation & Maintenance Society Board Meeting
May 20th, 2021

Call to Order and Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 4:37 p.m. on May 20th, 2021 by Fred Hearns.

Board Members Present:
Reva Iman
Fred Hearns
Leroy Moore
Pastor Byron Pressley

Approval of Minutes from Meeting on April 15th, 2021.
No quorum was present for a motion to approve minutes.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA
No quorum was present for a motion to approve agenda.

PUBLIC COMMENT
Toyin K. Aina-Hargret, City of Tampa, recommends the committee to move forward with establishing a bank account and request transfer of funds from the City, County and State. Toyin K. Aina-Hargret encourages the board to do so as soon as possible.

Barbara Thomas, Tampa Housing Authority, suggested more Board members to be apportioned due to frequent lack of quorum. Fred Hearns noted Barbara Thomas suggestion.

Vacancies on the Board

  1. Fred Hearns confirmed our By-Laws for two seats on the board by decedents of those buried at Zion. Fred Hearns announced if anyone knows any family relations to any decedents of Zion to please get in touch with Leroy Moore or Amrita Hanuman. The names of the decedents are on the fence on site.
  2. Leroy Moore shared his screen showing the Board Member Application, reviewed all components.  The form will be emailed out to all Board Members to share.
  3. Reva Iman asked a question about seats, if seats can be reassigned to someone else in the community. Pastor Byron Pressley responded with a suggestion from his other board meetings for a letter to go out after X number of times meetings are missed, then removal from the board. Leroy Moore made a comment mentioning the By-laws does spell out a mechanism to remove Board Members. Leroy Moore recommended that we filled the two vacant seats and wait at least a year before we take a look at attendance.
  4. Fred Hearns read the By-Laws that addressed removal and resignation of a Director. Under Page 4 Section 10 REMOVAL AND RESIGNATION. Any Director may be removed by the Board of Directors with or without cause at any meeting of the Board of Directors, but such removal Shall be without prejudice to the contract rights, if any, of the person removed. A Director may resign at any time by delivering notice to the corporation. A resignation shall be effective when the notice is delivered unless the notice specifies a later effective date. A Director's resignation shall not affect the corporation's contract rights, if any, with the Director.
  5. Attorney Toyin K. Aina-Hargret, City of Tampa, provided a clearer version of what this Section means. She stated that is no contractual right of any Board Member. Toyin K. Aina-Hargret does not think this is a problem to be concerned about right now. Toyin K. Aina-Hargret sees one problem with the Section, and that is we need a quorum to take action on anything. Toyin K. Aina-Hargret recommended taking Leroy Moore's advice on having an alternate person to attend. In that way we have a backup for a quorum in replacement for those who cannot attend. Toyin K. Aina-Hargret recommends trying to get as much as we can done when we next have quorum.
  6. Fred Hearns asked Leroy Moore if we can the two vacancies for the decedents can be voted in as members in the next meeting. Amrita Hanuman will be sending out the application form to all Board Members. Leroy Moore responded Yes; it is possible if we have nominations by then.
  7. Pastor Byron Pressley asked a question about Board Member approval. If we can approve a New Board Member via email? Toyin K. Aina-Hargret recommended that this be approved by the Board when we have a quorum. Toyin K. Aina-Hargret mentioned there is many ways for a new Board Member to vote in, but the most important thing to remember is we need a quarom to take any action.
  8. Leroy Moore wants to make note that we are a Board of Nine members, requires a quorum of 5. When we add two more members, we will be a total of 11, with a quorum needed of 6.

State of Florida Task Force on Lost Cemeteries

  1. Leroy Moore received a phone call from Senator Cruz to inform him that SB 222: Abandoned Cemeteries Bill has passed the Florida Senate. The Bill has been approved by the Senate. The bill creates a statewide task force to look for abandoned lost African American Cemeteries. Amrita Hanuman will include a copy of the Bill in the minutes.
  2. Reva Iman made a comment that a Grant that the State of Florida has. She has mentioned that we need to look into the Grant.

Review Budget Estimates

  1. Leroy Moore shared his screen showing an Excel Sheet for the Conceptual Master Budget. He reviewed what is required and the plan going forward.
  2. Fred Hearns asked a question concerning future reports, once we get a quorum, should we set up another standing committee? Does the Board need to setup a separate committee, or all discussion should be kept in one meeting? Leroy Moore said let's keep it simple until we have more active partipation. Pastor Byron Pressley agreed.

Review Master Plan Options

  1. Leroy Moore updated the Board about the Master Plan. Our architect presented the Board all three versions of the Master Plan for Zion Cemetery several months ago. The board needs to know that the Master Plan is completed. All three option plans will be in the final Master Plan Book. Book will be published by the end of June.
  2. Lillian Stringer, Tampa Housing Authority confirmed a date for the ceremony. June 29th 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Review of Funding to date and requests

  1. State of Florida- 50,000
  2. City of Tampa- Commitment of 50,000
  3. Hillsborough County- Commitment of 50,000 

Update on Site Acquisitions

  1. Fred Hearns will start the discussion with the two property owner to acquire their land. Leroy Moore volunteer to be a part of the discussion. Fred Hearns asked if any other Board Members would like to join to contact the other two property owners. Reva Iman volunteered. Pastor Byron Pressley volunteered.

PUBLIC COMMENT 

Pastor Byron Pressley commented for his name to be spelled correctly as well as "Pastor" or "Reverend" for his title. Commented noted by Fred Hearns.

Fred Hearns announced The History Center is aware supportive of his role in the community on Boards such as Zion.

NOTICES AND UPDATES 
Next Board meeting is scheduled for June 17th at 4:30 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT
Motion to Adjourn was made at 5:40 pm by Fred Hearns

Hearing no objections, Fred Hearns ended the meeting at 5:40 pm

The Meeting was adjourned at 5:40 p.m.