Table of Contents

• COMMITTEE REPORTS
  • MEMBERSHIP REPORT
  • SOCIAL REPORT
  • SPEAKER COORDINATOR REPORT
  • TREASURER REPORT
• LEADS
• BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
• NOTABLE MENTIONS
• MAIN SPEAKER

Committee Reports

Membership Report
(Click here to go to the Membership page)

We have five open membership applications.  There are questions over years in business and ownership.  The membership will address these issues. 

We will accept applications for realtors until April 15th.  Part 1 of the membership application will be posted as usual.  We are also asking for a separate resume to help us choose the best candidate for our group.  Any questions or concerns over the realtor applications should be directed to Brian Verbraken.

Recently submitted membership applications:

[membersonly/archives/applications/submitted_applications.htm]

 

Social Report
(Click here to go to the Social Event page)

The April rafting trip is coming up in 2 weeks.

Speaker Coordinator Report
(Click here to go to the Speaker Schedule)

• 04/15/05     Reg Batt
• 04/22/05     Patricia Cox
• 04/29/05     John Gruber

Treasurer Report

Roman Okonowski has weekly financial updates available that members can review.

Leads Report

39-43, 46-06, 20-13, 12-02, 12-40, 12-05, 12-18, 18-45, 26-02, 24-13, 05-21, 49-42, 07-21, 07-34, 22-32, 22-23.

This week's leads focus...

• Robert Busch

• Althea Bussert

Business Spotlight

Sandro Menasci was today's Business Spotlight.  It is the A/C season.  Bring your car in and get the A/C checked before it is too late.  The new Freon does not carry the oil as well as the old stuff did.  This means your system can dry up faster.  You can pay $100 now for the checkup or $1000 later when the damage has been done. 

Yah, gas prices are going up.  Sandro received two loads in one week with an 8 cents difference in price.

Bill LaLonde noted that not only is he seeing vendors add surcharges to cover the increase in gas prices, but he is seeing it in the cost of cement as well.  There are shortages which is leading to weekly price increases.  As a result, he has to increase his prices.

Sandro Menasci said that the price of chemicals has gone up quite a bit.  Anti-freeze has tripled in price from last year.

Although gas prices are frequently increasing, the IRS makes only one adjustment each year in January to the standard mileage rate.

Lisa Wolfe lives way out in the boonies.  She makes sure to schedule her appointments and errands in the same trip to save gas.

Don Ellis brought up the state abandoned property laws.  The state is going after abandon paychecks.  The IRS only goes back 7 years.  The state will go back to your first day of business.

Mark Dreher followed this by commenting on the use tax.  They didn't put that line on the tax form because they needed to fill space.  They want you to pay tax on products purchased out-of-state.  He strongly recommends that you keep your returns forever.  You can be aggressive on your deductions, the IRS won't throw you in jail.  But if you don't report all of your income, they won't be so nice.

Notable Mentions

The new brochures are here.  Make sure to pick up a handful and distribute them to your clients.

Fred Vandervort could not make the meeting this morning but he did want to pass along that his wife, Carolyn, was in the hospital last week but she is out now.

Jean Batt announced that they are having a family portrait special for Mother's Day.  They are offering a free desert-scape sitting.  Get yours scheduled while the desert is still beautiful.

Lisa Wolfe reminds everyone that she can get you advertised on the radio for $800/month and on television for $2300/month.

Denver Johnson
American Tree and Landscape Company

Denver gave us an update on changes that have taken place over the last couple of years in their business.  Two years ago they didn't have a bucket truck.  Now they do.  And they have it rigged so that they can get most of their equipment on it.  They also tow a trailer behind which reduces trips to the dump.  Being able to reduce trips to the dump and time waiting on equipment allows them to also reduce their fees.

This is the season when they get busy but Denver said they will always make room for MABE members.  In the meantime, he offered these tips...

It is that time of year to trim your trees.  In Arizona's dry climate the roots do not go deep into the ground so they do not provide good anchors.  If we don't trim our trees they become top heavy and when the monsoon comes rains soften the ground and the winds easily blow the trees over.

Palm Trees - Unless you forgot to trim them last year, wait until after the blooming season to do so.   

Citrus Trees - If you want them to be ornamental then trim them.  If you want the fruit, you can still trim them to remove the dead wood just be careful.  The fruit tends to grow on the outside of the tree.  Citrus trees do have a life span.  But you can keep them trimmed and looking nice for a long time.

Tree bark can get sunburned just like our skin.  Denver always found the white protective paint to be ugly.  But now they offer a bark colored paint.

You should give your trees a deep watering.  Put a hose up to the tree and let the water trickle out for several hours.  Denver does his overnight.  During the winter they don't need a lot.  But do this about every two weeks in the summer.   If the water is deep in the ground, the roots will go there to get it.  There are other methods people use to get a deep watering.  Some use watering sticks or pipes.  Both work well.

Bark Beetle - This is a flying insect that lays it eggs in the bark of pine trees.  They cut off a layer of bark which breaks the cycle of the tree.  It can no longer get nutrients from the ground to the section of the tree above the break.  The tree dries up and dies.

Trees are living organisms just like us.  They need to eat properly and get nutrients to live.  If they don't get the proper nutrients, they are subject to disease.

Grapefruit Trees - These trees are cyclical.  You will get a bumper crop about every 3-4 years.   You will get a huge crop and then it will drop off.

Orange Trees - This is the time to plant these trees.  You may not get a crop the first year or two from a small tree.  You may not even see blooms.

Feeding a Tree Nutrients - Arizona soil is iron deficient.  Denver recommends spreading iron around the tree and then water it.  It does no good laying on the ground.  It needs to soak in to the roots.  You can also create holes, put the nutrients in the holes and fill them with water.

Denver suggests removing fruit for two reasons.  If you don't remove the fruit you will see smaller crops.  Fruit grows from the tips.  If fruit remains there, the tree thinks it already has seed so it produces less fruit but will still bloom.  Removing the fruit also reduces your chances of being raided by roof rats.  Even if you don't eat the fruit, you should at least remove it and toss it.

The most common tree that we see that doesn't belong here is the pine tree.  They don't grow well in this climate and they die in pieces.  But as Bill LaLonde pointed out, besides the Palo Verde and Mesquite, none of the trees we have are native.

Queen Palms - Trim them frequently enough so as not to become a haven for insects.  If you see fungus, send for Dennis.  He will probably have to come out 2-3 times to fix the problem.  These palms are very temperamental but they seem to grow well around swimming pools.

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