Onondaga Ski Club

Board Meeting Minutes

April 1, 2008

Present: Tom Button, Mark Bidwell, Dick Butler, Jan Carr, Mary Clay, Lloyd Howse, Kay Kotwas, Jack Lancette, Marian LaPierre, Marvin Patnode, Neville Sachs, Allan Smith, John Sonne, John Whelan

Excused: Christa Foster, Scott Foster, Leo Naylor, Scott Severance, Doug Zamelis

President Tom Button called the meeting to order at 7:10pm.

Secretary’s Report: March board minutes accepted as submitted electronically. Neville asked if previous month’s minutes could be e-mailed to board members at the same time meeting notices were e-mailed so that board members would have a copy to bring to meeting.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer’s report was received and filed. John corrected mis-posted Lodge fuel oil item.

Committee Reports

Elections: Dick reported on behalf of Joann, the Nominating Committee chair, that ballots are ready and candidates will give a brief presentation at the general meeting. Tom will present the candidates and then go to other club business as votes are being counted.

Membership: Membership stands at 546. Jack reported that we have more members now than we had at this time last year. We gained 20 members over the month; 5 out -of -state and 2 new junior members. Tom said Kudos go to Jack and Chris for recruiting new members at the ski areas’ warm-up for ski clubs and we should be looking for volunteers to cover club table at next season’s warm-ups. Jack said he received an e-mail from Sugarbush requesting verification of membership status of two people, so be sure to have the stickers on your membership card when requesting OSC rates. The stickers are good through ’08.

Schusboomer: May Boomer deadline is April 15. Election candidates’ pictures and bios are in the April Boomer.

Lodge: Al said the Lodge entry combination has become an issue. The combination changes periodically and Lodge users must contact Dave for current combination. The Lodge Committee is working on a solution to the issue of room switching by persons taking rooms other than the ones they reserved. Al will contact Debbie Kimberly regarding the status of the Lodge “garden party” event and will advise board of dates. A work weekend is planned for the last weekend of April. And the committee will look at insulating later in the summer. John Sonne said the Lodge ski weekend was a great success and no damage done by ice sliding off the roof.

Trips: Tom said 16 members enjoyed the Tremblant trip. Two of the 16 were new members. Leo rented two vans, one for skiers and one for equipment, and he and Karen did the driving.

Biking: Jan said biking ready to start April 16 and first weekend event is Saturday, April 19. John Sonne will conduct a bike clinic again this year at his house on April 26 around 12:30pm.

Highway Clean-up: April 26, 9:30am at Burger King, Tully. Contact Neville or Mary Jo.

Social: Mary announced April Happy Hour will be listed on the Club’s website. The March Happy Hour at Colorado Mining was attended by 20 members, including 4 new members, and 13 stayed for dinner.

Old Business: Mary had suggested whether a waiver was needed for non-members participating in club events such as biking. Mark recommended guests register at each event on a sign-in sheet containing waiver and, after participating once or twice, would likely join the club. Tom suggested Mary and Jan develop a waiver for non-member event users. John Whelan and Marv said our membership application has waiver and release form that can be used for all participants and Neville will make forms for all activity chairmen.

New Business: In Doug Zamelis’ absence, Marv stated that to resolve the legal issue of renting the Lodge to non-members, Doug had researched Vermont lawyers and found one who specialized in Vermont property usage. The lawyer suggested at issue was the use of the Lodge prior to 6/1/1970 when Vermont initiated land use law. Mark suggested we first take a look at Lodge historic documentation. Neville suggested checking our Vermont insurance policy first. John Sonne said membership should be primary to Lodge use; a benefit of membership. Dick said all members subsidize Lodge. Al said if we take money from non-members to use Lodge, we may have to start paying taxes. Marv suggested the rental fee include membership dues for all renters. Dick recommended establishing a time slot for rentals. After much discussion, Mark made a motion that membership be required for Lodge rentals and that the Lodge Committee set rental rates, set and publish rental blackout dates, and set terms for groups. The Lodge Committee would then present their proposal for Board approval at a date to be established after the Lodge Committee has had a chance to meet and work on this issue. Mary seconded. All in favor, motion carried.

John Whelan said the POST STANDARD would be publishing a special calendar in May of club events and activities and the deadline for entry is April 19.

Marv discussed possible affiliate membership between organizations.

Lloyd announced a Ride to the Rescue fundraiser will be held on July 20 and hoped to organize a team from OSC.

Dick suggested we offer Scott a free ad in the Boomer for one year in recognition of his contribution of the use of his office for board meetings. All in favor.

There being no further business to discuss, Mark moved to adjourn, seconded by Dick. The meeting was adjourned at 9pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Marian LaPierre

Corresponding Secretary