November 2013

The meeting was called to order at 3:45 PM by Brian Samuels, President. Present were Board members Brian Samuels, Valerie Baldwin, Margot Livenspargar, Kevin O’Leary, Bob Horowitz, James Stuart-Smith, and Lee Haze. Absent were Sue Griswold, Steve Barasch, Sue Barkley, and Todd Makler.

Also attending: Elinor Tanck, Kibitzer, John Prior, Club Owner, and Bob Lawrence.

Guest Business Items:

Bob Lawrence, who had attended the hearing in Mountain View for the review of the Conditional Use Permit issued to IFES with Mike Atherton, gave a summary of the proceedings. The hearing was held to address the complaints of citizens concerning noise and parking problems. The noise is not a problem for our Unit but the parking is. Due to complaints from the neighbors about the volume of traffic on Stierlin Rd., the City Zoning Administrator, who has unilateral power over IFES’ CUP, recommended that we stop parking on the street. After much discussion, Kevin, as Club Owner representative, volunteered to organize the Club Owners to help with the problem by asking that NO vehicles be parked on the street. He will ask the Club Owners to monitor this at the beginning of their game or to ask one of the players to check that no cars of players are parked on the street. Brian will take care of the communication to the players concerning this.

The minutes of the October Board meeting were approved (Kevin).

President’s Reports

The Board Meeting for December will be held on Tuesday, December 17, due to the Nationals being held on our regular meeting day. The new Board members will also be present.

The Unit website has received over one million hits. Thanks to Alan Templeton for all the work he puts in on the website.

There will be a Special Meeting of the Board on Thursday, November 21, at 3:45 PM to discuss the 2014 Budget.

Brian had a meeting with the Club Owners. Discussion was held on the following subjects: license agreements, zero tolerance (three letters have been received by the President relating to unacceptable behavior by opponents), student discounts (call the director as some will grant ½ the entry fee to students and some will not; Unit games and educational games will grant the discount to students).

Brian approved the use of the Bridge Center at no rent for use by SiVY (Silicon Valley Youth Bridge) for a Youth Pizza Party Bridge Event on 10/25. A policy will be developed to cover this type of use.

There was a comment received concerning the San Jose Sectional, questioning why we didn’t close our games when they close their games for our Sectional.

Reports

Directors’ and Officers’ Insurance-Bob said that the insurance would cost approximately $850. He asked for more time to review the policy before making a recommendation. James moved that if Bob and Brian approved of it, the Unit purchase the policy. Carried.

Treasurer- Bob gave the report in Todd’s absence. General Fund, $87,675; Education Fund $2927.

Education-Valerie is looking into having Larry Cohen give a two-day lecture series in 2015. The Saturday classes after the New Year will feature Ron Klinger.

Firecracker-James gave a report on the 2014 Firecracker Sectional. The Unit has a “tenancy on hold” for June 25-29. James, Brian, and Steve will meet to discuss table fees, schedule, and any other unresolved matters.

AV Equipment-Val has not received a quote on installing HDMI capability.

Director’s Manual-Lee will have it ready by the December Meeting.

Previous Business

The License Fee was addressed. John Prior gave his opinion on the license fees. Margot moved that the license fees be retained at the same level as this year. James proposed an amendment that would eliminate the $75 reduction in fees for a second director if the game has more than 30 tables. Defeated (Lee, James, Aye; Brian, Val, Bob, Margot, Nay). The original motion passed (Brian, Val, Bob, Margot, Aye; Lee, James, Nay).

Kevin moved for adjournment at 6:10 PM. Carried.

There will be a Special Board Meeting on Thursday, November 21, at 3:45 to discuss and pass the 2014 budget and how any surplus from 2013 should be handled.

The next regular Board meeting will be at 3:45 PM on Tuesday, December 17, 2013.

Respectfully submitted,
Margot Livenspargar, Secretary