Onondaga Ski Club

Board Meeting Minutes

January 5, 2010

Present: Tom Button, Mary Clay, Dave Devendorf, Christa Foster, Scott Foster, Garre Krayenhof, Jack Lancette, Marian LaPierre, Leo Naylor, Marv Patnode, Neville Sachs, Scott Severance, Allan Smith, Art Toll, John Tuttle, Bob Wiley, Marilyn Woyciesjes, Mary Ann Zeppetello

Excused: Mark Bidwell

Guest: Ken Robbins

The January OSC board meeting, held at DeWitt Community Library, was called to order at 7:07 pm by President Marv Patnode after determining that the required quorum was present.

Secretary’s Report: The December minutes were e-mailed to board members and posted on the OSC website. John made a motion to accept the minutes, Scott seconded. Motion passed.

Communications: Distributed. Marian asked about a donation to the Friends of Dewitt Community Library of $50. John made motion to give $50, Scott seconded. Motion passed. A motion was also made by Bob to support the Corner School Resource Center of Granville with a $50 donation to renew the building. Neville seconded, motion passed.

Committee Reports

Membership

Bob reported that current active membership is 558, compared with 519 at the same time in 2009. There are still 208 non-renewals and invoices were mailed to them in December. Scott S talked about retention and finding out why we have almost 20% that didn’t renew. Marv tabled the discussion until later in the meeting.

Finance

John’s treasurer’s report emailed to board members consisted of Quicken financial statements, including YTD comparison with prior year, balance sheet, and December 09 vs. December 08 comparison. Also included were the December Citizen’s Bank statement and the Vanguard Portfolio Summary. The treasurer’s report was received and filed.

Lodge

John’s December lodge occupancy report indicates that bed occupancy in December was 50. We’re running a little behind for the year as of December. So far 104 people signed up for January. A group of 12+ from the North Country group will go in February or March. No sign-ups yet for family week in February. Ken mentioned that he had contacted the phone company about the availability of DSL service for the lodge.

Lodge Subcommittee

Art pointed out again that most people using the lodge are from out of state. He feels that availability of rooms should be published. To make family weeks work we need a sponsor, but no one has stepped forward. Since Allan and his family will be at the lodge around Presidents Week, he’ll check if they can be leaders and then promote it.

Marketing

No report. Reduced lift ticket prices should be posted online, on e-mail, in Boomer. Dave has the pdf file of the tri-fold brochure designed by Donna and Scott S. offered to print out a larger number of copies. MaryAnn suggested asking ski areas to list our meetings on their web sites; Leo suggested targeting area special events to market the ski club.

Trips

January 15 Gore trip can take up to 24 people. Garre moved that the club will pick up the difference of expense on the off chance that the trip doesn’t fill. Dave seconded. Motion carried. The Garnet Hill weekend has an opening for one male. Mt. Tremblant trip is all set, rooms are booked; 30 people signed up.

Scott S. made motion for the trip committee to review the existing regulations on Boomer ads for announced trips versus sponsored trips. Dave seconded. Motion carried. Leo will investigate and report at the next meeting.

Social

Night on the Town, January 22, 6:30 pm, at Wegmans in DeWitt.

Happy Hour, January 28, 5:00 pm, at Copper Top Restaurant.

Unfinished Business

-- Erie Insurance cancellation: The current policy, at an annual cost of approximately $900, is not a good fit with who we are now, since it doesn’t protect us against a lawsuit from members involved in any sport-related activity. Scott S. made a motion not to renew the policy, Scott F. seconded. Motion passed. Discussion followed on how we best protect the officers of the club. One suggestion was to set ourselves up as a limited liability corporation. Dave motioned that the board approve getting advice from a lawyer on how to best proceed. Garre seconded. Motion passed. John asked that our accountant, a CPA, takes part in the meeting to make set-up simple for the treasurer.

-- $500 check writing limit and treasurer control: The issue of treasurer control will be brought up in Marv’s discussion with the lawyer.

-- Finance Committee strategy: Marv suggested another meeting of the committee and tabled this issue until next month.

New Business

-- Mike McCabe on Finance Committee: John as chair of the finance committee appointed Mike and Mike accepted the appointment.

-- Core and Sustaining Members: Dave showed a PowerPoint presentation that (1) outlines the two kinds of OSC members, core and sustaining, and (2) how the club can be moved into the 21^st century. It points out that core members, approximately 20% of the membership, are usually long-term members who are willing to take on leadership roles. Sustaining members join for specific activities or to take advantage of deals available through the club. Most of the annual approx. 25% turnover comes from this group. In order to expand the club’s sustaining membership, steps suggested are: Increase non-traditional use of the lodge during the off season. Offer the capability to purchase lift tickets, handle membership transactions, and make lodge reservations online through available technology, such as: Paypal, Volusion (to sell tickets, collect dues), ReservationKey (bookings). Neville made the motion that Dave should continue to look at the use of technology that would streamline operations of the club and decrease the work of the treasurer, membership chair, and lodge reservations chair. Garre seconded. Motion passed.

There being no further business to discuss, Garre moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Allan. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm. The February 2 board meeting will again be held at the DeWitt Community Library.

Respectfully submitted,

Christa Foster

Recording Secretary