ACBL Unit 503 Minutes, Tuesday October 4, 2011
Present were Board members Susan Griswold, Mike Atherton, Bev Nuding Valerie Baldwin, Steve Barasch, Keith Burnett, Lu Isaacs, John Mattis, David Crosley and Allen Wolman. Alan Templeton, Alan Cummings, John Prior, Roy Robinson, Margo Livenspargar, Kevin O’Leary, Elinor Tanck, Marolyn Imaoka-Yancy and Lori Spaeth also attended.
Sue called the meeting to order at 3:48 PM.
Update on the new Bridge Center. Mike Atherton reported on the permit, telling the board that the hearing with the City of Mountain View would be held on October 12, 2011. The CUP (Conditional Use Permit) should be approved with some conditions. It needs to be acceptable to the neighbors and IFES. We will have to meet with the neighbors and IFES. The City of Mountain View Zoning Administration needs to file a “finding” by October 19, 2011. There is a ten-day waiting period where an appeal may be made. Mike said we might be able to get on to the city council agenda by mid December. Mike said we might be able to put some of the games into the main IFES hall when the CUP is approved. John Mattis asked about individual game owners renting the main IFES hall by themselves. Mike said that this might violate the CUP application with the City and could jeopardize our 20-year lease. Alan Wolman moved that we proceed with the present permit process.
Alan Templeton reported that the two noise studies on the IFES main hall passed all of the tests, but there may be a problem with low frequency noise. Alan said that we need to get the new electrical drawings approved by the City. John Mattis provide Duane with the electrical requirements for the dishwashers. Alan said the Duane told him that the construction could be completed by the end of November 2011.
Temporary Locations John Mattis suggested that Mike Atherton approach Twisters with the idea of our paying more rent to stay in the present location for an additional period of time. John then made a motion to authorize Mike to negotiate our present rent amount to stay for a longer time. The motion was seconded by Keith and passed.
Alan Templeton and John Schwartz spoke with the JCC and we may be able to put our Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday games there. We would have to use the Unit bidding boxes, since John Schwartz doesn’t want us using his. The JCC will get back to Alan Templeton.
Roy Robinson presented information about using the Los Altos Lutheran Church. The costs of the room rental were in the range of $325. There are some potential parking problems and we would have to ask our players to car pool. Alan Templeton said that the Lutheran Church has some of the same neighbor difficulties as the IFES.
John Mattis visited the Unity Church and reported that the “YES” room could be available on Monday, Thursday and Friday. The Monday game would have to be an afternoon game. John will mail out the Unity contact information to the owners and teachers in the unit.
Following some discussion on how to conduct votes on board matters prior to the next board meeting, John Mattis made a motion that voting be conducted by E-mail. Keith seconded the motion, which was approved.
Alan Wolman inquired about using Cubberley and was told it was a no go.
Kevin O’Leary said we may have to move out on Friday, October 14th instead of Saturday. Kevin said that he has volunteers for the packing and un-packing of the Unit supplies, tables etc. He plans to keep all of the supplies, Unit boards and such out of the moving van. The moving trailer will be parked either in San Jose or at the IFES location and anything in it will not be accessible.
Lori Spaeth said the she and Sue Johnston may cancel their Wednesday games until we move to the new location.
Alan Templeton will put the information regarding the games onto the Unit 503 web site when he receives it.
Following some discussion it was decided to move the phone to the IFES location on Monday, October 17th.
September Minutes were approved.
Kibitzer and Unit Games Report Elinor Tanck said that the board was mailed copies of the QUIP report, which shows we currently have 965 members, up 7.1 percent from a year ago. Our average member age is 68. The Kibitzer dead line is Friday, October 14th.
Margo Livenspargar has taken over the Monday night Swiss team game.
Keith said that the Sunday, October 16th Unit game may have to be canceled.
Valerie Baldwin suggested that a phone tree could be used to get information out to our members. Lori said that she and have E-mail lists of their players. The Unit should use E-mail to contact our members on the on the status of the games as well as the information on the web site.
Treasurers Report Bev has been mailing out the complete treasurers report and said that we have $150,016 in our bank account.
Bridge Center Manager John Mattis reported briefly on the possibility of a San Jose/Palo Alto challenge match to be held next spring.
John also reported on the new dishwasher search for the new Bridge Center.
Firecracker Steve reported that we may need to move the Firecracker to the last week in June next year. The board agreed to move the date of the Firecracker to the week before the July 4th week. David Crosley said that the District 21 president praised how well the Firecracker was run this year.
Goodwill Member Sue discussed the goodwill member of the year, with the board agreeing on the selection. David Crosley will do a write up based on information from Mike, Lori and Sue.
Owners License Agreement David Crosley said that the only change to the Owners License Agreement will be the new address.
The location of the next board meeting will be determined.
Allen Wolman discussed reimbursing the game owners for the extra expenses they may incur by having to rent at other locations. Following some discussion he made a motion to that effect, which would include the classes taught by Kathy and Lori. The motion was seconded and passes.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:43 PM
John Mattis
Acting Secretary