DRAFT

Minutes Board of Directors Meeting

American Contract Bridge League Of Santa Cruz Unit 550, Inc.

March 6, 2009

 

Call to Order: First Vice President John Hadley called the meeting to order at 2:35 pm at the Santa Cruz Bridge Center.

 

Present:   John Hadley, Pam Benz, Jeanne Boss, Wayne Boss, Bruce Dau, Joanne Nelson. Barry Samuel, and Ken Llacera   Absent: Hal Rodgers   Also attending:  Teri Handzel

 

Approval of Minutes – Moved by Pam Benz, seconded by Wayne Boss to approve the minutes of the February 6, 2009 meeting.  Approved unanimously.

Treasurer’s Report –  The Treasurer report showed that there was currently $14,000 in the Vanguard Money Fund account, which is earning less interest than the Vanguard GNMA and Vanguard Total Bond funds.  After discussion, it was moved by Wayne Boss, seconded by Joanne Nelson to direct the Treasurer to retain the dividends from the GNMA and Bond funds in their respective accounts and to transfer $10,000 from the Vanguard Money Fund account to the Vanguard GNMA account.  7 Approved, 1 Opposed

Old Business

Letter from Nancy Driscoll: John Hadley  read a letter from Nancy Driscoll concerning: 1. a request for reimbursement of 25% of the cost for advertising in September 2008 for lessons conducted at The Bridge House, Nancy Driscoll’s bridge club; 2. a request for a copy of the monthly ACBL membership In-and-Out report and 3. the ability of the Unit’s website to show the results of games not played at the Bridge Center.

  1. Advertising:  ACBL will reimburse a club owner for 75% of the cost of advertising to promote bridge lessons.  Nancy Driscoll has received this reimbursement from ACBL for advertising she placed in September 2008 for lessons conducted at The Bridge House.  She is requesting that SCBC reimburse the remaining 25% of the ad.  In January 2008 SCBC approved reimbursement to a club owner for advertising for lessons conducted at the Bridge Center.  It was noted that   “Any future requests for advertising subsidy will be considered on a case-by-case basis.” In January 2009 the Unit Board approved a subcommittee recommendation to not contribute to advertising expense of any SCBA game owner or any other director.   It was moved by Pam Benz and seconded by Wayne Boss to not reimburse Nancy Driscoll for the remaining 25% of her September 2008 advertising expenses.   Approved unanimously
  2. ACBL monthly In-and-Out report: This report contains status change information for Unit 550 ACBL members (new or transferring members, address/phone number/email changes, ACBL numbers, dues reminders, suspension notices) some of which the Board considers confidential.  It is not a report on the number of master points a player has earned. It was noted that there is a program that club owners can obtain from ACBL that downloads current status of master points earned that would probably provide the information Nancy Driscoll is seeking.  The SCBC has this program and receives this report for the computer at the Bridge Center for ACBL members who play at the Bridge Center.  It was moved by Wayne Boss and seconded by Joanne Nelson that the monthly In-and-Out report be provided to the President, Webmaster and Membership Chair only.  The motion was amended to give direction to Ken Llacera to determine if the Bridge Center needs to have the In-and-Out report or portions thereof to update the Bridge Center computer or if the information downloaded from ACBL is adequate.  If this is problematic, Ken will bring the issue back to the Board.  Approved unanimously.
  3. SCBC website:  Webmaster Ken Llacera explained that when the website was designed an architectural decision was made that the website would only support one location. Therefore it cannot support multiple locations.

John Hadley will contact Nancy Driscoll and respond to her letter.

Rules of Contest for Extended Team Games:   A copy of the rules of contest was provided by Pam Benz to Wayne Boss and Nancy Wainer who updated them and reviewed them with the club owners for approval and submitted them to the Board.   It was moved by Bruce Dau and seconded by Ken Llacera to accept the Unit Game Rules of Contest.  Approved unanimously.

Town Hall Meeting Results:  The Board reviewed the results of the February 14, 2009 Town Hall Meeting to address the Unit deficit.  A copy of the summary is attached. Teri Handzel presented the board with some suggestions for fundraising options.  After discussion, it was moved by Ken Llacera and seconded by Wayne Boss that the Unit take the following steps to reduce the deficit:  Conduct an upscale rummage sale, date(s) to be determined; invite voluntary monetary donations; and review the financial situation at mid-year to see if these actions have eliminated the expected deficit.  If not, the board will explore the necessity of raising table fees. The motion was amended to include approval of estimated expenses of $300 for costs of promotion of the rummage sale and food for volunteers for the two-day period. The rummage sale will require access to the Bridge Center on a Friday and Saturday. The Unit will reimburse the club owner for the cost of not having a regularly schedule game on that day, based on what that game has produced in the past.  Approved unanimously 

Rummage Sale:  Teri Handzel has volunteered to organize the upscale rummage sale and will give the Board a proposal with timelines, steps, etc.  Bruce Dau was appointed liaison to work with Teri on the rummage sale project. 

Fundraising Subcommittee:  A subcommittee consisting of Bruce Dau, Ken Llacera, Pam Benz and Barry Samuel will consider other fundraising options and will report back to the board at the next meeting. 

Wayne Boss will prepare a letter to SCBC membership to post on the website and on the bulletin board thanking the members for their participation and announcing the results of the Town Hall meeting and the actions adopted by the Board

 New Business

Mini-McKenney Medallions:  It was moved by John Hadley and seconded by Ken Llacera to authorize the Membership Chair to order the Mini McKenney Medallions to be awarded in April.

Approved unanimously

Second Quarter Unit Games:  The dates were selected for the Unit Games for April, May and June, as follows:  April 11th, April 18th, May 9th, May 16th, June 13th, June 27th.

Committees Reports: 

Club Owner Liaison:  Joanne Nelson reported that club owners asked about updating the SCBC telephone directory.  Ken Llacera will do this.

Membership Chair:  Joanne Nelson will send new members a welcome letter.  Ken Llacera will send Joanne a copy of the letter that was used in the past.

 

Jeanne Boss announced that Diana Schilling will record the minutes of the April and May board meetings.  Thank you, Diana.

 

The meeting adjourned at 4:45 PM.       Next Meeting:  Friday, April 3, 2009, at 2:30 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Jeanne Boss

Recording Secretary