The meeting was called to order by vice chairman Tom Wolfe at 1:05. Tom thanked the Gainesville Bromeliad Society, GBS president Betty Neubauer and Ron Schoenau for hosting the meeting. In the absence of the secretary, Karen Andreas took the minutes.

The representatives introduced themselves. Societies present: Tampa, Broward, Central Florida, South Florida, Caloosahatchee, Florida East Coast, Florida West Coast, Gainesville, and Seminole. Absent: Sarasota and Treasure Coast.

Minutes from the January meeting were approved with no changes. Sara Donayre made the motion, Michael Andreas seconded.

Treasurer Sudi Hipsley presented the Treasurer’s Report, which was filed for audit.

Michael Andreas gave the Webmaster Report. The backlog of pictures has diminished because the BSI no longer shares the registration pictures, so Michael is pretty much up to date on the site.

Karen Andreas told members that the May issue will contain the list of bromeliad sources within the state of Florida. As long as a nursery is state inspected, it can be included in the list. The August issue will be the state roster; Karen asked for updates to the societies’ rosters by the first of July.

Dr. Howard Frank gave the Weevil Report and was pleased to announce that Dr. Teresa Cooper is now in charge of the weevil project, overseeing weevil and fly production as well as releases and other research. Teresa does give presentations on the weevil and can be reached at tmcooper@ufl.edu.

Jay Thurrott spoke for the BSI report. The next BSI board of directors meeting is in July before the World Bromeliad Conference (WBC). Elections for new officers of the BSI will be held at this meeting. Jay said that the BSI is still trying to sort out the status of the Bromeliad Identification Center now that Harry Luther has left. The BIC seems to be in limbo at this point. There was discussion on what FCBS materials may be at the BIC but no one was aware of any documents or materials there. Vicky Chirnside mentioned that the bromeliad library at Selby, including Mulford Foster’s field notes, came from the BSI, not the Council. Bruce Holst at Selby has volunteered to curate the collection. Jay mentioned that Harry recommended that the BSI stop making any payments to Selby for the BIC until the situation can be sorted out. Michael Andreas made a motion, seconded by Mike Michalksi, that the Council also suspends its quarterly payments until the BIC is resolved. Motion passed unanimously.

Jay said there was nothing to report on the Clone Preservation Project. Pepe Donayre asked that each society look for one person to assist with the project, mainly in the area of growing the bromeliads. South Florida and Broward both have a member working with the project. Let Nat DeLeon or Alan Herndon know who your society volunteer is.

Vicky Chirnside reported that all the students passed the last Judging School (the second one). Two of the students are from the Bahamas. The Judges School in New Orleans will be Schools 4 and 5.

Ron Schoenau reported on behalf of Carolyn Schoenau that the audit of the Treasurer’s books has been completed and all is in good order. Carolyn stated that Sudi Hipsley is doing a very good job.

Tom opened the discussion on who will host Extravaganza 2010. Left over from the last meeting was the suggestion that the Council host a one-day Extravaganza this year. Jay Thurrott said that the Southwest Bromeliad Guild in Texas has run its shows in mandatory rotation for years and everyone likes it because it allows for advance planning. Vicky Chirnside made a motion, seconded by Sudi Hipsley, that the Council sponsor this year’s Extravaganza. The motion failed. Sara Donayre made the motion, Steve Provost second, that there be a mandatory rotation for the Extravaganza. The motion failed. Sudi made a motion that the Extravaganza be held every other year and the Council host the Extravaganza. Motion failed for lack of a second.

It was pointed out that a society needs to host the Extravaganza in 2011. Representatives were reminded to talk to their societies about it.

Steve Provost made a motion, seconded by Mike Michalski, to approve the cash register policy. Motion carried unanimously. Jay asked if the BSI could rent the cash registers for New Orleans but the policy allows only for affiliated societies to rent the register and does not provide for the registers to be taken out of state.

Two amendments to the Council bylaws were proposed. These amendments would have given a non-representative Treasurer, the newsletter editor and the webmaster the right to vote at Council meetings although they could not be counted towards a quorum. Karen spoke as Parliamentarian, noting that the Bylaws were constructed to keep a balance of votes and influence between all the societies; awarding the vote to non-representing members of the Council could upset that balance. Mike Michalski made a motion, Steve Provost seconded, to approve the first amendment, giving the Treasurer the vote. Motion failed. There was no motion for the second amendment, allowing the Treasurer, newsletter editor and webmaster to vote.

Jay reported that the list of speakers for this summer’s World Bromeliad Conference is now available on the BSI website (bsi.org). Although Harry Luther will no longer be a speaker at the WBC, he is putting together a presentation of the Singapore gardens to be given in a Power Point presentation.

Karen asked about the Council placing an ad in the WBC program. Vicky made a motion, seconded by Mike Michalski, to take out a half page ad. Motion passed. Michael Andreas said that he voted against the motion because he thought the Council should take out a full-page ad. Linda Sheetz made a motion, seconded by Michael Andreas, that the Council take out a full-page ad. Motion passed. Everyone agreed to use the Council’s standard ad with the state of Florida and the names of the societies in their geographic locations.

Sara Donayre is in charge of the WBC auction. She is asking each society to donate a rare or wonderful bromeliad for the auction and one item for the raffle. She also is looking for a spectacular bromeliad to auction at the Judges Luncheon.

There was lengthy discussion about the Council’s proposal for the 2012 WBC. Jay was asked about the financial arrangements with the BSI but he could not recall them. Tom asked Jay to find out and distribute that information to the Council representatives. Karen pointed out that the BSI board meeting will be held after the Council July meeting, which means that the Council will not be able to begin planning until it meets again in October. Pepe pointed out that the location of the next WBC is always announced at the banquet. Tom asked Sara to look into facilities in south Florida; Betsy will be asked to look in Central Florida; Tom will look in the Tampa area. All will report in July.

In New Business, Vicky announced that Caloosahatchee had held its annual auction and will be donating $594.00 to the Council. Members expressed their appreciation for Caloosahatchee’s support.

Members reported on the activities of their societies and their recent speakers.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:25.

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Andreas

Acting Secretary