STANDING RULES

Meetings:

1. Business Meeting Date and Time: Monthly business meetings will be held the first Thursday of the month at 10:00 a.m., from September to June.

2. Dirt Gardeners Events: Dirt Gardeners events will generally be held on the third Thursday of the month unless otherwise announced.

Officers and Board:

3. Extension of Two Years in Office Rule: If no one is nominated to fill an office, the member currently in office, who has already served two consecutive terms, can be nominated. It would, however, require the approval of the board of directors.

4. Legal Documents: The president or a member designated by the president shall have all legal documents and binding contracts pertaining to the club in their possession. The person possessing the documents and contracts will make a list of them, maintain the list and make it available to the secretary and any club member on request.

5. Co-Officers Board Attendance: If an office is held by two members as co-officers, they shall each be allowed to attend board of directors meetings and each shall have a vote.

6. Officer Job Description Update: In January of each year, the parliamentarian shall request that all club officers submit updates for their job descriptions. The parliamentarian and the board of directors shall review the changes and, if necessary, a revised job description shall be prepared and approved by the board of directors.  The parliamentarian shall keep a binder with the current officer job descriptions.

7. Attendance at Board of Directors Meetings: Any club member in good standing may attend a board of directors meeting providing they have asked and received permission from the board, however they will not be permitted to vote on board issues.

8. Procedure Book: Each officer shall keep a procedure book of the duties and achievements of that office during the term of service. This file shall be passed on to the successor.

9. Vacancy of the President’s Position: If the position of first vice president is shared by two members, they will decide who will assume the position of president in the event of a vacancy. The decision will be made and reported to the board of directors within one week of taking office.

10. Chairmen of Standing Committees: The president can reappoint a standing committee chairman to a third term.

11. Responsibilities of Chairmen of Standing Committees: The chairman of each standing committee and any other committee shall keep the president informed as to the progress of ongoing projects.

12. Procedure Book: The chairman of each standing and additional committee shall keep a “procedure” of the duties and achievements of that office during the term of service. This file shall be passed on to the successor.

13. Standing and Additional Committee Job Descriptions: Each March the parliamentarian shall request all chairmen of standing and additional committees to submit updates for their committee descriptions. The parliamentarian, and a member of their choice, will review these updates, make necessary changes to the descriptions, and submit them to the board of directors for approval.  A binder of these changes will be kept by the parliamentarian.

14. Community Projects Procedure: Once the money is allocated by the budget committee, the community projects committee will research and prepare recommendations for possible projects. These recommendations must include a detailed analysis of estimated costs and how many volunteers are needed to complete the project.  This information will be submitted to the board of directors for their consideration before being presented to the voting body.  Copies of the proposed projects will be emailed and/or mailed to all members at least seven days prior to the next business meeting where a membership vote will be taken.

Finance:

15. Dues: Dues charged to new members who are approved on or after February 1, shall be $12.50, one-half the yearly amount. Dues charged new members approved on or after April 1, will be $25.00 and the amount shall be applied to the amount owed for the next club year.

16. Proposed Budget: The treasurer shall distribute the annual proposed budget to all members at least one week prior to vote.

17. Expense Reimbursement: Bills for the current fiscal year must be presented for authorization of payment to the treasurer on or before June 1.

18. Bylaw and Expenditure Change Procedure: Any motion that would propose a bylaw change, or involve an unbudgeted expenditure shall be submitted in writing to the board of directors for consideration before being presented at the business meeting to be voted on by the voting body.

19. Grants, Scholarships, Community Projects: Separate amounts are budgeted for grants and scholarships, however, if the total grants requests exceeds the budgeted amount, and the requests are worthy projects, the membership can vote to increase the total grant amount and reduce the total scholarship amount. In addition, if money is left over in the grants fund or the community projects fund as of May 1 the money will be added to the scholarship fund for the club year.

General:

20. Documents Correction Committee: The president may appoint a committee to correct inconsistencies in the spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar and terminology within the bylaws and standing rules as may be necessary and still maintain the intent of the club.

21. Amendment to Standing Rules: Standing rules may be rescinded or amended at any business meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present. If notice of the proposed action was given at a previous meeting, or published, the standing rules may be rescinded or amended by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting.

22. Storage Supplies: Those with storage unit keys should prepare and keep a current inventory of all items in storage. An inventory shall be taken and updated every even-numbered year by those with keys.  A clip-board of all items in storage should be available on site for sign-in and sign-out.

23. Keys to Post Office and Storage Unit: The president shall have the keys for the post office box and the storage unit. All mail is the property of the president.  The president can designate a member of the board of directors to be responsible for the regular collection of the mail and its dispersal.  Storage keys may be given to two additional members in good standing at the president’s discretion.  A list of those with keys shall be maintained by the president and treasurer.

24. Bylaws Review: Bylaws should be reviewed every three years by a committee whose chairman shall be designated by the president.

25. Membership Roster Use: The contents of the membership roster are not to be used for any private, personal, or professional use other than club business.

26. Yearbook Cover Design: A contest shall be held annually to select a design for the yearbook cover. Designs will be due to the president by May 15. The membership will vote on the cover design at the June business meeting. Each member can submit one entry.

27. Limit on Size of Membership: Membership in the club will be limited to one-hundred fifty-two and when that limit is reached there will be a waiting list started for those who want to join the club. If a member leaves or does not renew, the next person on the waiting list will be asked to join.

28. Dues Deadline Clarification: Club dues are payable on May 1 and become delinquent on June 15. If not paid, the membership will expire on June 30.  After July 1 the new members waiting list will be consulted and applicants will be asked to join in the order they signed on the list.  If, at a later date, the dropped member wants to rejoin the club they will need to sign-up on the new mem-bers waiting list.

29. Announcements for Other Nonprofit Organizations: All announcements from other nonprofit organizations that are not part of the club can be made in the following three ways: (1) a flyer can be displayed on the club announcements board at the business meeting; (2) a flyer can be placed at each table and those left after the meeting must be picked up; (3) a brief announcement of no more than two or three lines can submitted to the newsletter editor, who, space permitting, will include it in the current newsletter. It could include a link to a website containing more information about the event.  The announcements will be selected in the order they were submitted until the space available is filled.

30. Attendance at Dirt Gardeners Events: If a Dirt Gardeners event has limited space only members may attend. If there is unlimited space members may invite spouses or friends to attend. The names of the guests must be listed on the sign-up sheet, and if there is a fee each guest will need to pay the fee.

31. Use of Alcohol: The club will not use bottles of alcohol as raffle items or as silent auction items. Alcohol will not be served at any club meetings or events.

Garden Tour:

32. Garden Tour Budget: Any change to the garden tour budget exceeding $100.00 over the budgeted amount, must be approved by of vote of the membership.

33. Garden Tour Structure Changes: Changes to the structure of the garden tour must be presented to the board of directors for discussion and then to a business meeting to be voted on by the members. This would include the number of days the garden tour would be held and the name of the garden tour.

34. Garden Tour Selection Committee: The second vice president-elect may form the garden selection committee following the election of club officers at the May business meeting.

— Standing Rules revised March 2, 2017