Unit 364 Board Meeting

April 29, 2017

Meeting called to order at 1:50 pm at the Plaza Inn, Glenwood Springs, CIolorado.

Directors in attendance: Helen Bledsoe, Jerry Brown, Karen Kribs, Diane Morgan, Keith Nichols, Sharon Snyder, Bert Soloman,. Directors absent: Pam Elsner, Don Squires.


Keith said that since everyone had read the March 22, 2017 minutes as distributed, he would waive the reading and asked for any edits or corrections. There were none and the minutes were approved unanimously.


John Van Ness, Tournament Chair for the Doc Holliday Sectional, provided an interim report on this year’s tournament. John indicated that attendance was significantly up from 2016. He referred to the problems people have been experiencing with the hotel such as water leaks, no heat, no hot water, an inadvertent fire alarm that interrupted the games for about 30 minutes, and attributed them to the changeover from a Ramada Inn to a La Quinta Inn. He mentioned that the room rates and the venue charge haven’t changed for several years, but he wasn’t sure yet whether that would change under the new management. He hoped that in the course of the next year, the “new” La Quinta property would get its act together.


The Treasurer’s report from Sharon indicated a balance of $23,191.19 less $290.25 in outstanding checks, giving a net balance of $22,900.94. Expenses for the last month were $619 for tables, flyers, Doc Holliday ad, and a new member free play reimbursement.


Equipment: we have five new tables. Sharon distributed an updated list of supplies on hand and what appeared to be necessary for this and other tournaments. She was concerned about our supply of Boards. We have 3 complete sets and 2 partial sets that might be able to be combined. The board agreed that we should purchase another set at this time. Sharon’s concern was that the Tournament Director asked for a total of 6 sets of boards for the Swiss team day and that the Unit is obliged to provide that.


Keith updated the Board on ACBL statistics for the Unit: the Unit has 357 members, the average age is just over 72 years old, we pick up about 20 new members each year.


Karen & Bert gave an update on the Unit Championship Game they are organizing and distributed an estimated budget that suggests a profit. The game will be at the Glenwood Springs Community Center on Saturday, June 17. Karen noted that Marcia & Tom McCalden have offered to direct the game at no charge to the Unit. They estimate 24 tables, or 12 per session. Several Directors indicated that they plan to attend.


Sharon, as Tournament Chair, said the plans for the Peach Sectional Tournament in Grand Junction are moving along on schedule.


New Business: Keith bought up the steps necessary prior to the annual membership meeting. He first asked whether anyone had any suggestions for the three nondirector nominating committee and no one did. Bert suggested sending an email blast to the Unit asking for committee participation. Keith said that he’d be sending out a request for director nominees to the directors of the 11 clubs in the Unit.


The board discussed the possibility of eliminating the nominating altogether and/or eliminating the ability to nominate someone from the flow of the annual membership meeting. Both present problems but to change will require a bylaw change, which must be voted on my the membership.


Sharon suggested putting together a job description and responsibilities for directors in writing so we can explain what would be required. Keith said he’d work on a first draft.


Keith asked how many people will be able to attend the Durango tournament. If 5 Directors plan to be there, we’ll schedule the next board meeting for Saturday, June 10, between the 2 sessions of the 4-corners tournament that day. Keith will keep track and decide in a few weeks whether we’ll have a quorum.


The meeting was adjourned at 2:45.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of Pam Elsner, Secretary
by: Keith Nichols