ACBL Unit 503 Minutes, Tuesday July 6th, 2010
Present were Mike Atherton, Susan Griswold, Terry Lancaster, Steve Barasch, Phyllis Gaffney, Lu Isaacs, John Mattis, and David Wheeler, while Eric Mayefsky, Grant Spaeth, and Betsy Steele were absent. Claire Coleman, Alan Cummings, Sue Johnston, John Prior, Roy Robinson, John Schwartz, and Elinor Tanck also attended.
NEW BUSINESS:
Bridge Center Rehab, Status Report – Mike Atherton reported that a testing company will be at the Bridge Center on Thursday, July 8th to help determine the required remediation work to be done. It appears likely that the Bridge Center will be closed this fall for approximately 2 months to make the necessary repairs.
Bridge Center Temporary Relocation – Roy Robinson gave a very detailed report on the use of the Los Altos Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall as a temporary bridge center. The hall is suitable for our purposes with space for about 40 tables for all of our games with a few minor exceptions and adequate parking (approximately 80 spots). A wide range of issues including kitchen usage, cleaning, garbage, noise, internet access, table storage, restrooms, volunteers, and costs were discussed. The hall could also be a potential future permanent location for the Bridge Center.
John Prior Concerns Regarding New Monday Morning Game– There was a lengthy discussion over John Schwartz’s decision to start a new Monday morning game at the Jewish Community Center beginning Monday, July 26th. John Prior was strongly opposed and is worried that his existing game will lose players to this new game. Other directors, Claire and Sue, also voiced concerns over this new development. John Schwartz also presented his views of the benefits of having a new Monday game. While there is no legal power to prohibit this game, the Board urged further discussion among the directors and with 3 board members missing, decided to table the discussion until a future meeting.
ADMINISTRATIVE:
June’s Minutes were approved.
Kibitzer Report – Elinor indicated that the July issue will contain 8 pages and pictures from the Firecracker Sectional and a standard 350 copies will be printed. The Unit has been discarding approximately 50 issues for the past few months. A suggestion was made by Linda Mattis to use the extras from February through May for marketing purposes at future Firecracker Sectionals.
Treasurer’s Report – The Bridge Center had income in June of $1.8K, bringing the year to $8.5K. There were no significant items for the month. Assets were $42.2K, up $2.2K from May. In the Unit, $12.1 of Firecracker expenses were paid during the month. Total assets for the Unit were $50.3K. (Note that assets were overstated in the Treasurer’s report, and are now corrected.) After an investigation of options, the maturing Unit CD was rolled over at Washington Mutual for a term of 13 months, at a rate of 1.01%, a significant increase from the prior rate. There also was a Board request to have Tom Stevens audit the accounts for the first time since 2006.
Unit Games Report – The upcoming schedule for Sunday Unit games includes August 29th – Swiss Teams, September 19th – Open Pairs, October 10th – Mentor/Mentee, November 21st – Pot Luck Swiss, and December 19th – Holiday Party. Still to be decided is whether the September Monday 199er Swiss Team game will be played on the 13th. There was also a reminder of the rescheduled constitutional vote to be held on August 29th.
Phyllis also provided the Board an update on health issues regarding several Unit members.
Firecracker Sectional, Preliminary Report – Steve reported that the event was very successful thanks to a big Monday turnout. According to preliminary number there were over 1,080 players and 1,040 tables played, down only 10 tables from 2009. The biggest reason for this drop appears to be the loss of beginning players. This needs to be addressed for 2011’s tournament. Financial results also fell slightly due to increased salaries for tournament directors.
ITEMS INITIATED BY BOARD MEMBERS:
Peninsula Challenge – John Mattis noted the need to schedule and plan for the home September leg of the Peninsula Challenge. Eric needed to review the schedule of upcoming sectionals before he set a date.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:45PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Terry Lancaster
Secretary