June 2016

President Dave Puryear called the meeting to order at 3:33pm. Other directors present included Leslie Altick, Gill Barsley, Paul Davis, Jim Harris, Marolyn Imaoka, Todd Makler, and Jody Williams.

The Board approved the minutes of the May 12th meeting as submitted.

Tile Flooring Update: Lori Spaeth presented on behalf of Peggy Chen their recommendation for a tile-like material to replace the laminate in the food court and hallway, as well as the directors’ alcove. The material has sound dampening features and a 10-year commercial warranty. The Board approved a motion authorizing the approximately $10,000 purchase/installation.

2016 Firecracker Status: Tournament chair James Stuart-Smith reported that the now signed contract with IFES for use of their hall is less than half of last year’s cost of the Santa Clara Convention Center. Many volunteers have signed up, but more are needed for set-up and take-down. James will be using the blast email feature of Pianola to send notices to 13 nearby ACBL Units and also to Unit 503 members. Flyers will include maps with directions to parking at the Buddhist temple. He has also been reminding members that there is no pre-registration for the tournament; simply show up to play.

Increase use of Bridge Center on the weekends: Dave proposed forming a committee to develop recommendations for optimizing use of the Bridge Center on weekends. Paul, Gill, Jim, Alan Cummings, and Josephine Ventura volunteered for the committee.

Reports

President: Spring Cleaning took place on May 28th. The Unit hired two workers from the Day Worker Center who did all of the cleaning of the kitchen and bathrooms. Some additional volunteers helped with lighter cleaning. It was so successful and cost effective, that Dave asked if the Board would support doing the heavy cleaning more frequently. The consensus was to try to do this quarterly. Dave will recruit a volunteer to head this effort.

Conditional Use Permit (CUP) – IFES has a conditional use permit from the city of Mountain View that grandfathers it to operate in what otherwise is a residential zone. With the Unit’s help and support, IFES has been able to secure its permit without need to have it regularly reviewed. Under the new one, we may have up to 10 events per year of over 200 people. In addition, we may use the patio for eating lunch between bridge sessions and on one night per year we may use the patio until 7:00 pm. IFES is happy that we supported them.

2017 Firecracker Chairs: – 62 new black chairs have been ordered. As a bonus, the extra glides/feet for the chairs were free. Since these must be stored after the Firecracker, Dave will renew the discussion with IFES about our offer to rent “the back room” for storage. As there are no bathroom facilities or other amenities for this room by itself, this room isn’t worth the market rental rates.

Technology Committee: Jody reminded the Board that the plan for rolling out Pianola is to start with the Wednesday night game (a manageable size) to discover any problems in a controlled situation. Lori and Marolyn discovered that the BridgePads have their own database of member names, which is badly out of date and conflicts with the ACBL database. The result is that the game results will not upload. There are some potential solutions that Jody will explore. As for applying any of Pianola’s tools to the Unit’s website, the Technology committee needs to meet to decide what to recommend.

Education Funding: Paul has submitted the online application to the IRS for the Peninsula Bridge Education Foundation’s non-profit status. Because he did it online, the fee was half the usual cost. Indications are that we will hear within 90 days. Paul has also found a new supplier for name badges, modeled after the Board badges, that are at a discount to the old suppliers’. He will start collecting orders again. Paul also asked that the Board discuss volunteer recognition at its next meeting

Unit Games: Gill reported that the number of tables for Unit Games are well ahead of last year’s results.

First Annual 503/507 Championship Games: Jim reported that the October 8-9 dates are set for this tournament. Details to follow.

Treasurer: Todd noted that the financial results for the last month are not fully representative of what has been happening due to timing differences. Expenses have been incurred for events, but revenues have yet to be booked. Nonetheless, with our reserves well funded, the Unit’s financial condition is fine.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm. The next meeting is on July 14th at 3:30 at the Bridge Center.