Unit 112 Board of Directors
Minutes – September 8, 2007

Present:
Arlene Bristol    Norma DeAmbra   Ruth Fornell    Walt Gable   Larry Kidder  Laura Krauss  

Fran LeBeouf   Alice Le Roy  Marsh MacMillan     Warren Marsland   Mary Miller   Billie Ohlbaum   Paul Ohlbaum   Mary Quiggle   Roy Quiggle       Lois Sanders   Anne Scharmach   Robert Simard   Pat Vitanza  Tom Vitanza   Margie (Proxy Jim Bridges) and guests Diane Laurent Craig Robinson
                

Meeting called to order at 10:10 A.M.by Warren Marsland.
 
Secretary’s Report – Bob Simard 

Bob read the report from the last meeting.    Minutes accepted as read without comment.  .
 
President’s Report – Warren Marsland

Warren stated he wants to keeps the objectives of the Unit before us. Achieve the objectives or redefine them. We should be open to change. We should focus on how we run our organization, we need to agree on this, and we need to formalize a set of procedures that are published with access for our members.

He mentioned we will consider a proposal by the District Director on sharing our regional.

Mark McDermott will review our governance and make recommendations concerning by-law changes to bring us into compliance with ACBL policies. Playing areas are an issue as we have set up our representatives by playing areas. We do not have representative voting by the number of people in each playing area.

He has asked Marsh MacMillan to review procedures for awards. There were problems this year brought on by Bob Cofer’s untimely death. We should consider discarding some of the trophies replacing them with plaques and recognition on our website. 

He wants to establish a committee to name a Business Manager. There is nothing in the Unit by-laws regarding this issue. The last two were named by the President and little is known of the process before that by the current board. There is some mention in the District by-laws and Mark has indicated he will help with this and would appreciate any help.

Warren believes we should consider working committees willing to work on issues, publish their conclusions and bring recommendations back to the board. He,also believes we should focus on how we run our organization, we need to agree on this, and we need to establish a set of procedures that are published and accessible.
  

Treasurer’s Report – Laura Krauss

         Laura states that we are plus $5.00 for the year. We should be plus for the year as most of the honoraria has been paid for the year. The STAC made less than $75.00. Motion to accept, seconded, carried.

Regional Update – Lois Sanders

               Lois thanked the workers from the Unit and in particular the chairs.  She reported a profit of $3,400.
  
District Director’s Report Craig Robinson

Craig asked the Board to consider a split regional with Harrisburg. There is no great benefit to Unit 112, but for the District it would bring bridge to more people while generating more revenue. All of the Districts surrounding ours charge less for their events, thus we do not want to raise dues. The Upstate Regional would lose some tables, but it appears to be less than 15. This is, as noted by Mary very hard to verify the impact beyond this. Warren noted he has attendance records on his laptop from the ACBL for the last five years, which he will make available. It was asked why the District has to come to Unit 112 for permission to split this regional? Warren responded there was, apparently, a lawsuit in New York State in the early 1970’s that gave Upstate New York exclusive use of this regional. Ruth noted she was on the board, that there was a settlement, and that she guessed it might be filed in Buffalo, but that no one knows. After much discussion, Tom said if there is a lawsuit, he could locate it, if he knew the County and year filed. Tom stated that, assuming we own the rights to the regional, it is his motion that if we enter into any agreement with District 4 to split the regional, we have  a written agreement that we are willing to split to split the regional but in no way are we abrogating our ownership of it. Seconded by Norma, Carried.

Trophy Committee Marsh MacMillan

Warren stated he has asked Marsh to form a committee to look at the procedure for the awarding of trophies. There is not much common knowledge regarding the process. Fran, Anne, Margie and Bob volunteered to help Marsh.

Warren stated he feels we need a Policies & Procedures notebook. That without knowing the procedures, how can we function effectively as a board?

Rainbow Tournament

Warren stated the Rainbow might not be held in Syracuse as there is no site available. That perhaps we should move this tournament to the end on March if Rochester moves their Spring Sectional to a later date. Perhaps the STAC could be in February. There was discussion about approaching the District to run the STAC on a shared profit basis or to combine with other Units to increase the size.  Craig reported that ACBL might be providing a director available by phone for all StaCs during a week.

Nominating Committee Ruth Fornell

Ruth stated the committee has nominated Warren Marsland  President, Mark Mc Dermott  Vice-President, Bob Simard Secretary, Laura Krauss Treasurer, Mary Miller Executive Member At-large. No nomination were received from the floor. Anne made a motion to accept the nominations, seconded by Mary. Carried.

New Business

Billie Ohlbaum stated she has $189 from the ACBL for donation to a charity which must be in one sum. Mary suggested that to honor Bob Cofer, we should consider selecting a charity that was of interest to him. If we cannot find one in his name, we will use the Alzheimer’s organization.
  
Meeting adjourned at 12:01 by Warren Marsland.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
 
Robert Simard 
Typed – September 13, 2007