ARGONAUT ROWING CLUB MINUTES OF October 15, 2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING In attendance: Raissa Espiritu, Judy Sutcliffe, Martha Coffey, Jason van Ravenswaay, Joel Burgon, Pierre Campeau Regrets: Nanci Smith, Natalie Patterson, Latham French QUORUM: The meeting had quorum. Call to order at 6:41 PM AGENDA APPROVAL: The agenda for the meeting was reviewed and some items were added. It was: MOVED and seconded that the agenda be approved as read. Campeau/van Ravenswaay Carried PREVIOUS MINUTES MOVED and seconded that the minutes of the September 17, 2014 meeting be approved as read. van Ravenswaay/Coffey Carried Review of Action Items from previous minutes Natalie will bring forward a written proposal showing a proposed schedule of support fees at the October Board meeting. OUTCOME To be added to the November agenda. Signage Judy Sutcliffe will follow up with the City and Jason van Ravenswaay will connect with Joel about a sign on the fence, or a different fence/wall. OUTCOME Jason advised that prior to taking any changes with signage, some trees on our property need to be removed. There is a water pipe, 6 inch sprinkler and gas line that need to be avoided with wall installation. Judy will contact Bruce Tree Experts about removing trees along the property line and connect with Jason about arranging a time. Need to light up the sign. ARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 15, 2014 PAGE 1 OF 10
Stani Slavova to bring a recommendation to the September Board meeting about boat acquisition. OUTCOME Nothing from Stani. Mike has made suggestions but we aren t in a position right now to afford boat purchase and it might be the responsibility of the new Head Coach. It is definitely a priority to get rid of the wooden boats and get more 4Xs and 4+s. Natalie Patterson will calculate the membership capacity for the September meeting. OUTCOME Natalie was not able to address this issue and it has been moved to the agenda for November. Raissa, Latham and Jason to finalize the survey prior to November AGM. OUTCOME Raissa will get all the email addresses as far back as possible. Suggestions were made about revisions to questions. Raissa and Jason will analyse for presentation to the AGM. Pierre Campeau will follow up with Nuit Blanche and potential rowing participants. OUTCOME No-one replied because it conflicted with the Head of the Trent; Pierre advised the City two week in advance. Unfortunately, the Club missed out on $800 potentially. Jason van Ravenswaay will obtain a quotation and plan from the engineer for the front step replacement. OUTCOME Jason has called the engineer several times and has not heard back. The engineer s voice mailbox is full. Jason observed that he may need to get another engineer. Martha Coffey will secure a date for the Immunocal event and invite the provincial Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. OUTCOME Martha reported that Peter Shakespear from RCA and Jen Martins (athlete) came on September 28, 2014. Try-it day was organized by James Mulcahy for juniors. Total of 32 people showed up, some were out on the water and got coaching. Presentation was great. Discussion about getting Peter to come back in early May, to talk again to ARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 15, 2014 PAGE 2 OF 10
members and coaches. Judy will complete and submit an application to SAO for the SIDF. OUTCOME Judy needs a fund-raising letter as part of the application and Raissa will write the letter required by the SIDF, by Saturday October 19. Raissa Espiritu will get a quote on black carpet for the foyer, and bar in the Banquet Facility. Jason van Ravenswaay will measure the square footage. Raissa and Jason will ensure that the carpet is replaced by October 21, 2014. OUTCOME Jason got a quote, carpet is being installed on Friday. Judy will be here to let them in. The carpet comes with a manufacturer s lifetime warranty. Raissa Espiritu will follow up with coaches about unpaid fees, and with Barbara Schneider to ensure no-one is registered to race at Welland or Trent without being fully paid up. OUTCOME Some work was done prior to Welland and Trent to collect fees from the summer. After the HOCR there will be another analysis to see whose fees are outstanding. There will be a concerted effort to monitor this prior to the beginning of next season, and no-one will be allowed to join next year unless they have paid their outstanding fees from this year. Martha Coffey will arrange for a note of congratulations to Evie and Sydney and a gift for Jenn and Bob Blunt in appreciation of their support for athletes this past summer. OUTCOME Martha was unable to get to this, but will do it prior to the next meeting. ELECTRONIC VOTES SINCE LAST MEETING The following e-votes took place since the last meeting. On September 29, 2014, It was: Moved and seconded that the Board approves the Travel Policy as submitted. Sutcliffe/ van Ravenswaay Carried The Board ratified this. ARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 15, 2014 PAGE 3 OF 10
MATTERS FOR DECISION 1. Treasurer s Report: Jason van Ravenswaay reported that September P&L membership is up by $35,000, year over year (YoY). Pierre asked how many members this is and the Board agreed to ask Natalie Patterson to provide this information. Natalie Patterson is asked to provide the Board with a year-over-year comparison of membership numbers in all categories, including LTR, Dv and Camp Argo. OUTCOME LTR/Dv is up 50%. Total income is up $85,000 over last year. Boat parts costs up 500% and also over budget. Significant increase in coaching stipend out to coaches for recreational and competitive crews. The banquet s return on investment is very disappointing. It was: Moved and seconded to approve the financial report for September 2014. Coffey/Campeau Carried MATTERS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Update on Head Coach Hiring Raissa Espiritu reported that the Committee of Raissa Espiritu (Chair), Milan Sreckovic, Carol Love, Susan Kitchen and Judy Sutcliffe (Secretary), met by teleconference to review the applicants after the closing date of October 9 th. Each member ranked their top six applicants of the 11. Another conference call is being scheduled to discuss the rankings. The first round interviews will take place with the top six. Raissa expected it would be mid-november before the Hiring Committee was in a position to make a recommendation to the Board. There are some very good candidates. 2. AGM Preparation Raissa Espiritu asked Board members to prepare a report for posting on the website by October 31, 2014. She advised that Natalie Patterson is not going to stand for re-election, but will remain available to participate in planning, if no-one has stepped forward. Joel Burgon advised the Board that he will stand for reelection, as will Raissa. There was a discussion of potential members to invite to be nominated for a Board position. There are five vacancies and three people running. Various people were identified to be targeted by a Board member. Judy Sutcliffe will deliver a report on the activities of ARCA. ARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 15, 2014 PAGE 4 OF 10
Docks out will be November 8 th. November 1 will be the day for washing boats. Raissa will contact coaches to ensure boats are washed on or by November 1. 3. Planning for 2015/16 Raissa Espiritu we have the strategic plan, December Board meeting will be the first Board meeting after the AGM. January planning meeting will be held on January 11, 2014. 4. FrostBite Sprints Judy Sutcliffe will contact the other clubs again to remind them to submit entries, especially Welland. 5. Approval of 2013 AGM minutes Moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the November 2013 AGM. Coffey/Jason van Ravenswaay Carried Judy Sutcliffe will post the 2013 minutes on the website. 6. Winter program for Dev There was a question as to what should happen to the Dv program members should they be provided with access cards? The Board agreed to provide these members with access cards and not to charge them extra for the gym/winter membership. 7. Banquet The Board agreed to post an RFP for the Banquet Manager position, aiming for November 23, 2014 for the positing date. The first draft of the RFP will be circulated to the Board on November 8, 2014. Raissa Espiritu and Jason van Ravenswaay will develop an RFP for the Banquet Manager position. OUTCOME 8. Upcoming Dates Clean up day November 1 st, 2014. Docks out November 8. The Annual General Meeting will be held on November 19, and the Double Blue Gala November 22, 2014. Next Board meeting is December 9 th. The Board members will target specific people for potential Board positions. Martha, Pierre, Jason and Raissa all agreed to contact people. ARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 15, 2014 PAGE 5 OF 10
At 8:35 PM the meeting was adjourned on a motion from Joel Burgon seconded by Jason van Ravenswaay Carried Judy Sutcliffe Secretary ARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 15, 2014 PAGE 6 OF 10
ARC Portfolio Reports ~ October 2014 Introductory support Portfolio Latham French Rowing All LTR classes are now complete for the season DEV program has raced at Welland and Trent, some good results and overall positive response from athletes General work taking place at the moment 2015 schedule being worked on to be completed before the AGM DEV 2014 programme to be evaluated and recommendations/plans put forward to streamline the process for next year. Updated web content to be provided once this is completed Have LTR "gift certificates" / ability to purchase sessions available before end of November. Action items - Latham Issuing 2 refunds from last session Deciding on winter training program fees for DEV/LTR members taking into consideration how much they have already spent Issuing refunds to cover DEV coxies out of the program budget as without them we couldn't run the program Camp Argo Judy Sutcliffe Camp concluded and the final report was submitted to the Board. Invested in OurKids for next year - $1500. Determined to increase the fees to $395 per full week. Rowing/Coaching President's report Raissa Espiritu Events Judy Sutcliffe (Acting) Frostbite Sprints organizing meetings have been held September 18, 30 and October 9, 2014. FBS is on October 26, 2014. Branksome Hall - Nanci Smith Branksome has two regattas remaining to conclude the fall season of rowing; Head of the Charles and Head of the Fish. Results were good at the Welland regatta with 5 medal finishes. On September 21 Branksome held a BH Alumnae row for a crew of 8 who met in the Henley room for a social following. 11. Page 7 of 10
Early morning practices have run smoothly and will wind down following the Saratoga regatta. Dryland training for senior rowers and novice will begin mid-november in the current Branksome facility. Rowers and coaches are looking forward to moving dryland to the new Rowing Centre in the Athletic and Wellness Centre that is scheduled to open in early January. Fundraising Director Report Martha Coffey Merchandise Members/Coaches Sales for September were very slow, however Frostbite Sprints is coming up at the end of October, and anticipated sales should be reasonable. Based on MC s merchandise tracking figures, sales to date (net of HST) are $4,546. As reported last month some coach gear remains on hand. For the Immunocal Event, both RCA NT attendees received a hat and top as a small thank-you for coming. MC will work with Jason to bring the balance of this inventory into the merchandise line item on the P&L. Corporate LTR No Corp LTR inquires or initiatives this period. GWN Dragon Boat Coach Boat Rentals Payments for all the GWN coach boat rentals should be received. MC will return the $5,000 damage deposit as soon as possible. Grants RCA - Immunocal Club and Coach Grant Although RCA was late confirming the date and the RCA attendees, the day was a huge success! We were fortunate enough to have Peter Shakespear, RCA s Talent Identification Director and RCA s national rowing team member Jennifer Martins. Due to the late notice from RCA we were unable to promote the event as well as we had first hoped. The majority of participants were Juniors some who had rowed during the summer, and some youngsters from Humberside CI who were interested in learning about the sport. The weather was spectacular and the experienced rowers had the opportunity of having some on-water coaching from Peter Shakespear. Many thanks go to Pierre Campeau for helping with organizing day and for getting the word out to the press. Also to many thanks to the hard work of James Mulcahy for running the try-out sessions. As a result we are hoping to have a number of Humberside students come for a Try-it-Try-out day at the end of October. Service Canada/HRDSC Grant Final report has been submitted and to date no queries regarding the report have been received. Facilities Joel Burgon New windows and carpet are going to be installed. A lot of small things have been repaired, hot water pump head, bar fridge fan, 2 new outdoor lighting fixtures, women s toilet, exhaust fan hose in women shower. Have to setup an appointment for the fire alarm. 11. Page 8 of 10
Furnace and hot water inspection. Membership Report Natalie Patterson Media and Communications Report Pierre Campeau Accomplishments : - Website Redesign o Homepage, banquet facility, and programs page are now up on the development site. - Social media: Not much going on. - Media Relations o A few (2) mentions in local media with the RCA/Immunocal event. - Ad purchases o Ad space purchased in the City of Toronto FUN guide. Will be working to get artwork completed by Oct. 31 st. - Brochures for Henley Room o Designed and printed. o Currently with Lou. Goals for the next month: - Review all forms on current website and only use those that are currently valid. o Dispose of all others - Get the remainder of the site up. - Start looking at festival/events where we can have a booth to promote the club and our programs over the winter - Send a congratulations letter to the new Mayor and possibly new councilors. o Objective: to congratulate them and state that we look forward to working with them. Possibly set up a meeting to discuss the club s plans. Treasurer Jason van Ravenswaay August and September P&L results are attached. Matters for discussion outstanding regatta fees waiting for update. Audit Results tax papers submitted to CRA. Audit complete, and results to be shared at AGM. P&L Overall good. Membership and LTR showing good results. Clothing sales up big time great job to Martha and the team. Other big changes are investment in coaching and banquet hall income. Note beverage sales are down relationally to beverage costs. Overall net income on the year is up 29% (40K). On the balance sheet the net change YOY is essentially flat. 11. Page 9 of 10
Banquet Judy Sutcliffe (Acting) Please see attached report from Lou Molinaro covering the period September 2014. Open house will be held on October 21, 2014 with free food, wine and beer supplied, to target hotels that host meetings in the downtown core, as well as wedding planners, caterers and florists. Revitalization Judy Sutcliffe A meeting was held with the Group of 41 on September 15, 2014. Minutes were sent to the Board. Next meeting is November 10, 2014. 11. Page 10 of 10