ACBL Unit 503 Minutes, October 6th, 2009
Present were Phyllis Gaffney, David Wheeler, Elinor Tanck, Alan Templeton, Steve Lubeck , Nita Girand, Betsy Steele, Eric Mayefsky, Mike Atherton, Grant Spaeth and Susana Krulevitch. Also present were Alan Cummings, John and Linda Mattis, Lori Spaeth, Terry Lancaster, Steve Barasch, Claire Coleman, Susan Griswold and John Prior. Cameron Cotton joined the meeting later.
Bridge Center Rehab Update – Alan Cummings informed the Board that Safeco (the Insurance Company) has agreed to reopen the mold issue. They have assigned a new adjuster to oversee the work. Representatives from the Bridge Center gave Safeco the names of three air testing companies. Safeco is now working with one of these three companies and we are awaiting further developments.
There have been some players’ complaints of slow reporting of game results on the Internet. It seems that Walter had some problems with his computer. Steve Lubeck and Alan Templeton are helping him to get things up and running again.
Nomination for District Award for Goodwill has to be submitted by December 1st. Board members were asked to submit the name of a nominee by the next Board meeting, with a brief description of the candidate.
Last month’s Minutes were approved.
Elinor gave a report on the Kibitzer – 350 copies were printed in September, with an overage of about 70. This month’s issue will have 6-8 pages.
Treasurer’s Report – Alan Templeton explained the three different entities on the report for the benefit of the new nominees. He uses Quicken software for the report. The Education Program showed a profit of $7647 for the month. The Firecracker deposit for next year was paid at the same rate as this year. Unit games made about $2000 profit for the year and the Directors’ course netted $1500. The Unit was up $2892 this month, $14,397 for the year. Unit has $62,886 in assets. The Bridge Center made $7041 for the year but is down $949 for the month. Bridge Center has about $40,142 in assets, of which $15,000 are held by Twisters. The table count is still 5% below last year’s because of the closure during water damage. We have $1418.51 in the Education Fund with another $11,296 being held by the ACBL.
John Mattis inquired if the Directors can hold a Charity Game to benefit the Education Fund.
The Assessor’s Office has sent the Bridge Center a $6000 property tax bill which Alan T. will pay to protect our credit rating and which amount he expects to get back.
2010 Firecrackers – Steve Barasch seems to be in full control of the situation. He handed out the proposed schedule which is basically the same as last year’s. There was some discussion about changing stratification points, a 9 o’clock game on Thursday, July 1st, less time between the morning and afternoon games and raising fees. It was ultimately decided not to make any changes. Steve will get the schedule approved by the ACBL and have flyers printed in time for the January Monterey tournament.
Unit Games – The September 9th game had a low turnout. There was some concern among the 99’er players about being incorporated in the general game. Eric Mayefsky stated that Unit games will operate a separate limited section (usually for 99ers) whenever at least 5 teams are interested in participating, unless there is a compelling logistical reason for not doing so. Directors are expected to adhere to the master point limitations advertised in advance unless changing the limits is necessary to create an event of adequate size. Sunday Unit Games are going well. Could use more advertising. Monday night games involve a lot of work the 99’ers are eager to come on Monday nights but the Open game might be dropped in the future.
November 1st pot luck. Unit provides turkey with trimmings. Pot luck starts at 11:45, game at 12:45.
Cameron’s Table Limit – there was a great deal of discussion re Cameron’s table limit and reduced fees in general. Ultimately the Board affirmed its prior decision to eliminate the 20 table limit for payment purposes from Cameron’s game. A motion was made, seconded and passed. There was agreement that the rates for all clubs should be the same and the prevailing opinion was that it was not appropriate to give the larger games a discount at the expense of the smaller clubs.
The issue of reduced rent for I/N and Educational purposes was raised. The consensus of club owners and Board members present is that the Educational discount should likewise be eliminated. There are two primary reasons for this decision:
There was a limited discussion whether the Unit/Bridge Center should provide incentives for new games/sections as it did for EZ Bridge and the Doubleton I/N section (and other games in the past) These should have a time limit and/or be eliminated when the game/section becomes large enough to be self supporting. After a decision is made on the future of the Educational rate, the Board will examine finances, given the change to Cameron’s game and potential change to the Educational rate and determine whether an adjustment of all table fees is appropriate.
Board election – Ballot boxes will be out November 1st – with a two week deadline.
Unit awards will be announced at Unit game in December. With nomination, give some reason for meriting award.
David mentioned that the warranty on Bridge Pads is ending. Should we extend warranty? Will get cost of extending same.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:00 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Susana Krulevitch
Secretary