Dan River Basin Association

“The organization has members, but the organization does not have shareholders.”

“The members of the organization elect the governing body (board of directors). The board of directors elects the officers.”

“Organizational decisions are subject to the board of directors' approval.”

“The board of directors of the dan river basin association will review the final draft of the 2020 990 at a special board meeting in may. The form 990 was prepared by rouse, rouse, rouse & gardner, cpa firm in conjunction with drba staff and input from board members. The final draft document will be distributed to board members prior to the board meeting in may for review. For those not able to attend the meeting, an email approval will be required prior to submission. Board members were asked to forward questions to shawn gorman, treasurer.”

“The organization distributed a copy of the conflict of interest policy with requests that each board member disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest, sign and return a copy of the policy to the executive director. This distribution and request was made (1) at the board meeting held february 10, 2020, (2) by email on february 25, 2020 to new board members and any board members that had not returned the forms. This information was assimilated into the 990 form as to related party transactions and potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed in this filing.”

“The executive committee meets periodically to review the performance of the executive director and evaluate the competitiveness of the compensation package and the organization's capability to retain its staff, while evaluating information from other regional non profits as it relates to their disclosed compensation package information.”

“The organization's bylaws, other governing documents, policies, and audited financial statements are available for review by appointment at the headquarters office location of the organization at 413 church street, suite 401, eden, nc 27288. The organization's form 990 tax return is posted on another's website, www.guidestar.org, for review annually.”

“Education & stewardship in 2020, drba, like so many nonprofit organizations, was impacted by the global pandemic. Despite the challenges, the organization provided environmental education (ee) programs virtually to almost 4,000 students. Ee programming was redesigned to be able to take place in the home. Stem programming was provided to 600 students in pittsylvania county, va, with the supplies mailed to student homes by the teacher. Other special projects and virtual presentations were provided in 12 counties in the region. Drba continued to partner with franklin county public schools to continue the first floating classroom and with albert harris elementary school for the second phase of the green schoolyard project in virginia. In addition, drba redesigned its citizen water quality training to be taken virtually and trained and supported over 50 new volunteers to participate in its citizen water quality monitoring program which now covers 60 monitoring sites on the dan, smith, and mayo rivers. Drba staff continued to work with 5 virginia organizations to provide ee programs and curricula to teachers throughout the commonwealth through a quarterly southern environmental education catalog that was distributed to all schools in virginia. Drba was unable to hold large volunteer events; however, donated hours by volunteers matched 2019 at 1500+ hours. Volunteers worked in independent small groups and cleaned approximately 60 miles of river and trails and removed 20,000 pounds of trash and debris. Drba continued its work with keylog economics to develop an ecosystem services plan for the region and partnered with henry county public service authority and the united states army corps of engineers at philpott lake to identify potential contamination sources or degraded areas of concern on the smith river. In 2020, drba developed a new water protector certification application,making it simpler for more citizens and businesses to participate.drba's river watch monitoring program, cleanup crew and the riparian buffer programs were continued to inspire stewardship in the region. Drba also continued to invest resources in holding virtual workshops and presentations, educating the public about the issues related to hydraulic fracturing, uranium mining, coal ash waste, pipeline development, forestry best practices and the damage caused by littering.”

“Recreation for the first time in the organization's history, drba had to cancel its fso events in march, april, may and june of 2020 due to restrictions of large group gatherings. However, drba did offer outings from july through november. First saturday outings (fso), are monthly hikes and/or paddles that are free, open to the public, and developed for people of all ages and abilities. Even though several events were cancelled, drba's fsos in 2020 attracted a total of 177 individuals from 15 localities,compared to 281 individuals from 21 localities in 2019. Drba's outdoor recreation asset project included securing funding and implementation of 70 trail and river access projects in martinsville/henry county, virginia and continued construction in north carolina of a 2.5 mile extension of the lake reidsville trail, groundbreaking of the clearwater park, trail work at the moss street educational trail and providing renovation planning for the settles bridge river access. Drba also began construction of the jacobs creek batteau landing park and continued planning on the mayo river state park master plan and lindsey bridge dam project”

“Sustainable economy, heritage and operations in 2020 drba's municipal memberships remained stable and included the town of halifax and henry county,virginia and the town of mayodan, town of madison, city of eden, rockingham county, town of stoneville, wentworth, and the town of danbury in north carolina. All regional festivals were cancelled in the region due to covid-19 restrictions. Drba also continued to be fiscal agent for the dan river implementation team which developed dan river st8 crossings to promote tourism to the region. Drba staff decreased in 2020 with one voluntary resignation, nc program manager, and one retiring staff, office and finance manager. A new office and fiance manager was hired in october 2020. The nc program manager position is expected to be filled in 2021. Drba staff and board continued to serve on several committees and boards of organizations including the board of the virginia association for environmental education (vaee), virginia resource use education council (vruec), virginia no child left inside cli)coalition, mayo river state park stakeholders, virginia water resources research center, piedmont land conservancy,and eden rivers and trails. Drba staff were also virtual guest lecturers and speakers for several organizations, such as middle border forward vision 2035, master gardeners in virginia and north carolina, kiwanis, rotary,and other local clubs and committees.”

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