August 2015

President Jody Williams called the meeting to order at 3:50 pm. Present were Board members Leslie Altick, Paul Davis, Kevin O’Leary, Todd Makler, Jim Harris, and Dave Puryear. Also in attendance was John Prior.

The minutes from the July 7, 2015 meeting were approved.

A brief discussion of the duties of the Unit Recorder concluded that in cases where a pattern of behavior is a concern, it is the Recorder’s responsibility to provide written documentation to ACBL. The Board is not involved except to make sure the Recorder understands this responsibility.

The Board voted to adopt the revised policy regarding free plays, making the Treasurer solely responsible for tracking these coupons.

The Board voted to authorize Valerie Baldwin to move forward with another Larry Cohen seminar next May. This year’s seminar netted the Unit $9,000.

The Board voted not to renew the license for the Saturday game, giving John Prior 90 days notice, as required in the license agreement. Last year the Board had placed the Saturday game on notice that table counts were too low and needed to reach an average of 20 tables per month. This level was not achieved. Until such time as another license is granted for Saturday or another use of the Center on Saturdays is established, John Prior may request an event license to run the game on a week to week basis.

The Board also voted not to renew the license for the Sunday game, run by Will Watson, for the same reason. Will would like to continue to use the Bridge Center on some Sundays to run sanctioned youth games for SiVY and the Board is happy to consider a proposal for that activity under an event license.

The Unit is still in negotiations with IFES regarding the 2016 Firecracker. We have the dates reserved. The Board will soon send out an appeal for a volunteer to organize the event. The Board recognizes that hosting the event at our own facility will mean a great deal more volunteer work with uncertain attendance at the event. Therefore the Board is leaning toward holding a 3-day Sectional in 2016 as we learn the ropes of the new venue. Expansion back to 4 or 5 days would still be possible in future years, depending on the availability of enough volunteers and enough demand from participants. No decision will be made until the next Board meeting at the earliest.

Jody Williams reported that the Technology Committee will soon hold its first meeting. Members include Jody, Alan Templeton, Bill Bailey, and Mona Foley.

Leslie Altick reported that the skills survey is unlikely to generate the data we seek. Some people feel it is intrusive to have a relatively insecure database with such personal information about their skills and training. Some may also feel like they are semi-volunteering without knowing what they are volunteering for.

Paul Davis mentioned that Alan Templeton is willing to include volunteer recognition on the webpage, but has other priorities also. Roy Robinson is willing to take some photos, but perhaps not as many as we have volunteers. When he has done photos in the past, he has contacted each individual to set a time at the Bridge Center for the photo. That would be a huge task with so many volunteers, so perhaps we will need to find a better way to facilitate this process.

Paul Davis reports that the Education Funding Committee is asking ACBL if they have any advice or guidance for Units which want to set up their own 501(c)3 status.

David Puryear reports that the Member Communication Committee still needs to find a way to get extra help for the Kibitzer, even with our bi-monthly schedule.

Jim Harris reports that table counts at Unit Games are up 10% over last year, but revenue is up only 2%, reflecting the increase in youth play at half-price.

A member has complained that the ramp to the parking lot has no lighting. This is a potential safety issue and we will ask IFES about it.

Kevin O’Leary, as our Unit Manager, reports that we needed a plumber to fix a sink blockage, we had some phone issues and the PC is occasionally acting up.

Finally, Todd Makler, Treasurer reports that the $9000 in revenue from the Larry Cohen lectures was anticipated (budgeted), so it doesn’t help our fiscal position. Year-to-date, we are just below our budget, mostly from the Firecracker loss. Table counts are up for the year, but we are not building any surplus. Overall, the Unit remains in good fiscal health.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:25 pm.