FICRA BOARD MEETING
July 5, 2012
Board Attendees: Jim Braden, Jeff Goodwin, Patty Metzger, Mimi Miller, Tony Moore, Hal Goodell, Lynne Goodwin.
President Jim Braden opened the meeting at 7:31 pm with the pledge of allegiance and then introduced our youth board member, Cheyenne Wong, a senior at Gig Harbor HS.
Minutes from June 7 will be reviewed an d reposted on FICRA.org with more detailed information. The Board will approve them next month.
President’s Report:
- Continued concern regarding the communication lines for CrimeWatch with the goal to post actual events in a timely manner on FICRA.org.
- Title for building is moving quickly.
- The Audit Report states the finances are essentially fine but included several recommendations which the Board will review.
- Phase 1 of the water-in-the –basement project is completed.
- Tom Taylor, our insurance rep, is trying to secure lower rates based on no claims for the past year. (Traveller’s dropped FICRA due to claims in 2010.)
- Currently putting together a contract based on a PenLight contract for the repeater station for KGHP. We need to be sure the contract includes a statement that it is mutually revocable.
Treasure’s Report:
- FICRA Beginning Balance $4566.61
- Deposits 840.54
- Expenses (2842.12)
- FICRA New Balance $ 2565.03
- Money Market Beginning Balance $20761.32
- Interest 2.56
- Money Market Ending Balance $20,763.88
- FICRA Trust Beginning Balance $12,813.96
- Donations 37.00
- Drain and rock (1076.69)
- Dividend 1.50
- FICRA Trust New Balance $11,775.77
- Current Family Memberships: 251
The complete treasurer’s report is attached to these minutes.
Committee Reports:
CrimeWatch
- Stan Weston reported that there were no burglaries in June and 1 act of vandalism. There have been some domestic violence calls to the sheriff. Tickets have been given for speeding on Island Blvd.
- Crime continues to be very low on Fox Island particularly compared to the rest of Pierce County.
- Residents are encouraged to call 911 if they observe a crime, then to call CrimeWatch at 549-7744. Please leave your name and phone number.
- The deputy tries to talk/work with families with a “Community Policing” policy for issues involving youth.
Building Committee
- Carolyn reported they are working to get the garage painted (hopefully to begin this month.)
Nature Center
- Phil Craven reported the committee has nearly finished their approved project for removal of non-natives.
- The Nature Center has been evaluated as having approximately 50% wetlands.
- 43 volunteer hours in June with 5 hardworking volunteers. The committee could use help in the nature Center booth at the FICRA Fair.
- Committee meeting will be July 18: work party will be July 21.
- Huckleberry and salmonberry are ready to pick!
Social Activities
- Karen Craven reported the low tides walk was very successful with Dr. Ernie Karlstrom leading it. Over 50 attended.
- Committee has been reviewing events that have been successful and wants more events for teens.
- Upcoming events:
- July 22 Kickball and ice cream social
- July 28 Astronomy night with Terry Mace
- September ?: political round table being planned for local candidates by Carolyn and Terry Wall
- Beer Fest in the fall for members only
Publicity
- There was no publicity report.
Fundraising
- Sue Spencer shared her impressive list of donators for the FICRA Fair raffle. Should we pass out donation flyers at the fair?
- Jeff Goodwin suggested calling people who haven’t rejoined to get them up to date on their membership. We should develop a script for making our phone calls. There are about 1350 households on Fox Island and 251 are members.
- The Board is trying to coordinate phone calls for the membership drive, the directory, the FI Survey and the FICRA Fair to not overlap efforts. Rennie suggested focusing on families with children. No decision was made.
- FICRA Directory:
- George Weiss has the information for the directory. He will need a week to get it printed. Judy Wilson is calling to get advertisers. Carolyn Braden will give names of companies that have donated to FICRA to Judy so they may have a free ad.
- The bridge sign will tell residents to get their info in for the directory. Maybe we could have a drop box at the P.O. for the directory info.
- Residents expect to receive their directories at the Fair when they pay their dues, so we need to have it ready.
- Several groups will get write up into George to include in the directory (Nature Center info, general FICRA info, etc.)
Special Committees:
- Audit Committee:
- Ray Kittleberger reported that the short version of the audit which includes the statement that the financial statements are fair and accurate can now be published in FICRA.org. The audit committee and FICRA board still need to meet together to discuss the committee’s recommendations.
Unfinished Business:
- Rental Checklist: a cancellation clause needs to be added to the rental agreement.
- Fox Island Survey:
- Rennie reported that the goal of the survey is to increase membership.
- There is no cost to FICRA.
- Survey will be sent to all email addresses that we have.
- Jeff will set up several computers during the fair for residents to take the survey.
- A link will go in the FICRA Flash to the survey.
- Rennie will send the survey for comments to the Board and “VIP’s” immediately.
- Survey will be available from the fair through September, then results will be analyzed.
New Business:
- Youth focus:
- Jim encouraged Cheyenne to meet with Max Reetz, our other youth board member, to brainstorm ideas for more youth involvement. Cheyenne suggested involving high school seniors to create various events involving FICRA in their senior projects. She suggested maybe a battle of the bands.
- Scholarship:
- Tony Moore reported that the Scholarship committee (Tony Moore, Mary Francis and Patty Metzger) had analyzed the applications and the winner is Jasper Vaughn. Scholarship will be awarded at the FICRA Fair.
- FICRA Fair:
- Lynne Goodwin reported we need more vendors.
- Arletta Sound Band would like to play again (they performed last year gratis) but would like to be paid $100. Lynn “passed the hat” for donations to pay the youth musicians.
Meeting adjourned 9:15pm. Next meeting August 2.
Respectfully submitted,
Patty Metzger