American Contract Bridge League Unit 522 – Fresno, Inc.

A Non-profit Corporation Serving Fresno, Madera and Mariposa Counties

2415 East Clinton Avenue, Fresno, California 93703

January 14, 2007

 

DIRECTORS PRESENT:  Richard Meffley, Margaret Mahaffey, David Shuster, Mary Lou DaCosta, Paul Boyd, Kay Chrisman, Dora Gostanian, John Oakshott, Bert Rettner, Antia Penny

DIRECTORS NOT PRESENT:  Howard Reed

 

RICHARD MEFFLEY called the meeting to order at 4:51 p. m.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  The Minutes of the November 12, 2006 meeting of the Board were unanimously approved as read.

 

TREASURER REPORT:  John Renna presented the December financial statements to the Board for approval.  Total cash at the end of the year was $164,747 including a cash profit for the year of $24,615.  The 2006 profit was $4,841 higher than the profit reported for 2005.  An increase of $3,793 in interest earned accounted for a substantial portion of the increase in annual profit.  All bills had been paid and all cash received had been deposited as of January 13.    The Board approved the December financial statements as presented.

There was then a brief discussion regarding the tax implications of the cash accumulation and interest earned.  John said that the interest income was non-taxable since the Unit was a qualified IRC 501(c)(7) non-profit entity.  He also indicated that the cash accumulation should not be a problem since the cash was being accumulated for the furtherance of the Unit's exempt purpose.  John briefly explained that "unrelated business taxable income" would be subject to tax and should be considered when planning fund raising activities.

John then explained the required procedures for changing the signatories on the bank account and encouraged the Board to utilize the debit card instead of the credit card.  John returned the checkbook to the Board and offered to assist the new treasurer to facilitate a smooth transition.   

 

After a brief discussion as to who currently had possession of credit cards and debit cards and who should be authorized to use said cards, the Board agreed that:

1.      Mary Lou DaCosta should turn in her Unit credit card and be issued a debit card for her use in purchasing clubhouse supplies.

2.      Richard Meffley is authorized to use a Unit debit card.

3.      Byron Steinert is authorized to keep the credit card currently in his possession to be used for authorized expenses related to the Education Committee.

4.      Kay Chrisman is authorized to use a Unit Debit card for the Unit’s monthly reports to ACBL.

 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS:  Richard Meffley opened nominations for officers

·      Richard Meffley was nominated for President.  The nomination received a first and second and as no other nominations were offered the vote was taken.   The Board unanimously voted to elect Richard Meffley as President.

 

 

January 14, 2007 Minutes continued

 

·      David Shuster was nominated for Vice President.  The nomination received a first and second and as no other nominations were offered the vote was taken.   The Board unanimously voted to elect David Shuster as Vice President.

·      Paul Boyd was nominated for Treasurer.  The nomination received a first and second and as no other nominations were offered the vote was taken.   The Board unanimously voted to elect Paul Boyd as Treasurer.

·      Kay Chrisman was nominated for Secretary.  The nomination received a first and second and as no other nominations were offered the vote was taken.   The Board unanimously voted to elect Kay Chrisman as Secretary.

 

SITE SELECTION COMMITTEE: In the absence of Howard Reed, David Shuster, a member of the committee, gave the report.  At the last meeting of the committee, a realtor was present to report on potential properties.  Also, in attendance was Jay Roll, a Commercial Real Estate Lending Officer, to advise on the feasibility of the Unit obtaining a mortgage if a decision was made to purchase rather than lease.  The committee is not ready to make any recommendations to the Board at this time.

 

EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  Byron Steinert reported as the committee chairman.  Byron first offered a document to the Board showing the number of tables in all games in the last 12 months with the end result being a loss of 333 tables from 2005 to 2006.  This being proof of the need to recruit and teach new players to increase the attendance in all games.  The committee has made several decisions however, recommendations will not be coming to the Board until next month.  Some of the decisions are:

  1. Lessons for beginners will be on Wednesday mornings beginning at 9:00 a. m.
  2. The course materials will be “Bridge for Beginners and Beyond,” by Karen Walker.

1.      Teachers must be Directors

2.      A short game of at least 10 boards will be run directly after the lessons.

3.      Advertising is most important in order to bring in a large number of new players.  Bert Rettner has agreed to be in charge of advertising with help from Jill Wood.

 

Paul Boyd asked for volunteers to assist in the telephone survey that his committee has finalized.

 

FEBRUARY SECTIONAL:  The Sectional is scheduled for February 8, 2007 to February 11, 2007.  Fliers are available at the clubhouse and anyone about to attend a Regional or Sectional within District 21 is asked to take some of our fliers with them to advertise our upcoming event.

 

DISTRICT 21 REQUEST:  After some confusion on ACBL’s part, it is now agreed that the only requirement left for the Unit is to submit an “Opinion Letter” from our Unit’s Board of Directors to ACBL’S Board of Directors.  The Opinion Letter is simply a letter stating that the Unit’s Board of Directors agrees with it’s membership vote to move to District 21 and has unanimously voted to approve the request.  This Opinion Letter must be received by ACBL by the end of January in order for the request to be placed on the agenda of the next ACBL Board of Directors meeting in March 2007.  It appears at this time that ACBL’s Board is already considering our request and a vote will be asked for at their March 2007 meeting.  Richard Meffley will submit the Opinion Letter as required.

January 14, 2007 Minutes continued.

NEW BUSINESS:

1.  Appointments:

·        Hospitality                                                            Dora Gostanian

·        Electronic Communications                                    John Oakshott

·        Education                                                            Byron Steinert

·        Novice Recruitment                                                Paul Boyd

·        Publicity                                                            Anita Penny

·        Recorder                                                            David Shuster

·        Membership                                                            Margaret Mahaffey

·        Judiciary                                                            Kay Chrisman

·        NAP, GNT                                                            Richard Meffley

·        Business Manager                                                Mary Lou DaCosta

·        Clubhouse Maintenance                                    T. Bruce Smith

·        Historian                                                            Verlee O’Neill

·        Parliamentarian                                                Bert Rettner

·        Sunshine                                                            Kim Morris

·        APF                                                                        Richard Meffley

·        Bridge Supplies                                                Mary Lou DaCosta

·        Computer Graphics                                                Charlene Sweet

  1. SANCTIONS FOR 2007 SECTIONALS:  Application for the August Sanction is already applied for and David Shuster will apply for the October sanction.
  2. UNIT GAME DIRECTOR: 

a. Margaret Mahaffee submitted her resignation as the every other Sunday director.

b.      Barbara Thacker has agreed to direct all Sunday games for the Unit.

4.      BRIDGE CENTER USE FEE POLICY:  Richard Meffley requested a revision to the Bridge Center Use Fee Policy as follows:  “Club owners that do not conduct a game at their scheduled day and time, other than those times listed below, shall pay the Unit $30 in lieu of a use fee….”  A new exception was requested for any game that fell on or within a day of any Regional or Sectional in the geographic area from Bakersfield to San Francisco.  The Board unanimously agreed to revise the policy to include this exception.

  1. ESTABLISH DATE AND TIME FOR THE REGULAR BOARD MEETING: The Board agreed that holding the meetings on Sunday after the Unit game would help the attendance of the Sunday afternoon game and therefore, agreed that the regular meeting of the Board of Directors would be held the second Sunday of each month, directly after the game, at approximately 4:45 p.m. An exception will be made for the February meeting of the Board because of the February Sectional.  The February meeting will be held on the lst Sunday of February.
  2. RESIGNATION OF BOARD MEMBER:  Howard Reed submitted his resignation from the Board of Directors.  The Board unanimously agreed to accept the resignation.

THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED BOARD MEETING WILL BE FEBRUARY 4, 2007 AT APPROXIMATELY 4:45 p. m.

 

THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS TO DISCUSS, THE BOARD MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 6:40 p. m.