Board Minutes for January 9, 2009
The meeting was called to order by Bill Ringbom, President, at 4:00 p.m. Present were Board Members Gene Edgerton, Mary Neal, Bill Ringbom, Dolores Soll, and Jean Wilson, as well as Barbara Weiss, Manager.
Minutes of the December 5, 2008 meeting were reviewed and approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Mary reported a total income of $1,476 for the month of December with expenses totaling $4,090.14, resulting in a minus net income of $2,614.14. The table count for the month was only 79 because of holiday closures. The expenses included Christmas party expenditures as well as the usual year- end bonuses for the directors and manager. (A one-session director’s fee overpayment was made to the manager and will be adjusted in January.) The bank balance as of December 31 was $1,975.93. The Board was reminded that we had deliberately not raised fees this year because of the substantial funds on hand at the beginning of the year. Total gross income for the year was approximately $22,000.
Club Manager’s Report: (1) The new calendar system on the website is working well. (2) Each game needs to average six tables for the club to come out evenly on expenses - except that a newcomer game can start with 2 ½ tables to encourage new members. Kandi wants to run a beginner game with the open game on Monday afternoons and keep the Monday evening 199er. Barbara feels there is a problem with substitutes when Kandi is not available. (The problem with obtaining substitutes will be resolved by Kandi taking responsibility for the Monday evening game – getting a substitute, or calling the game off, when she is not available. Barbara will arrange substitutes for Monday afternoons, as in the past.) Our Website lists a 0 – 20 afternoon game as well as the Monday night game. (3) Barbara suggests we pay director fees on the basis of the number of tables in a session. (4) No charity games, which are expensive for the Club, are scheduled for 2009. (5) The Ludwick Center will be open and available for a game on January 19, Martin Luther King’s Birthday holiday.
Old Business:
Christmas Party Review: We did not know in advance that the Bingo group had the Ludwick Center until 12:00 and we scheduled lunch for 11:30, making the Bingo group very unhappy with us. We need to start our party later next year. The food was fine except the lasagna was overdone because of the delivery delay of 45+ minutes. We will serve the leftover pasta, which Mary froze, instead of pizza the last Friday of this month.
Game Fees Revisited: It was agreed that a reserve of $2500 is reasonable for the Club. As we had anticipated last year it will be necessary to raise fees in 2008. We pay $.74 a table plus $1.25 a game for regular games, $4 a table for NAOP games, $6 a table for STAC games and an additional $1 a table to the Senior Center for all games. After much discussion it was moved and seconded that regular game fees remain at $4 and that fees be raised to $6 for STAC games and $5 for NAOP or other special games. The motion passed unanimously.
Other Old Business: (1) Bill asked Gene Edgerton to chair the effort to establish newcomer games. Gene will work with Bill, Kandi, and Barbara on this. (2) It appears we will not return to the Senior Center until May.
New Business: (1) We have paid directors additional for a game with more than one section because of Wednesday evening games. However, there are no longer two sections on Wednesday evening. Barbara recommended additional pay for 14 or more tables. Following discussion, a motion was made and seconded to pay directors $75 for directing a game of 14 or more tables with pay for fewer tables remaining at $60, without regard to the number of sections in a game. The motion passed unanimously. (2) Bill and Barbara will collaborate on the schedule for the remainder of the year. (3) There have been complaints about players making "unconventional" bids or using "unconventional" systems. We were informed that a director has a right to ban a system and players have a right to appeal the director’s decision to the Board. (4) Website changes will be discussed next month.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m. The next meeting will be after the game on Friday, February 6.
Respectfully submitted,
Dolores Soll, Secretary