FICRA BOARD MEETING MINUTES (DRAFT)
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Board Attendees: Jim Braden, Naomi Grant, Miguel Martinez, Rob Moore and Howard Stapleton were in attendance. Hal Goodell and Chad Gottschalk were absent and excused.
The meeting was called to order at 8:06 pm by Howard Stapleton.
Minutes from the April 12, 2018 FICRA Board Meeting were approved with no changes.
Public Comment: Dave McHugh offered three comments/observations: 1) He used to play softball on the NCC field every Sunday and would like to see something like this get started again. Miguel Martinez assured him that these types of event were currently being planned to take advantage of the new field. 2) Dave is concerned about the lack of attendance, which has been steadily declining, at meetings. There was additional discussion on this topic by the Board and meeting attendees. Jim Braden noted that public meetings tend to have sparse attendance when there are no major issues. Lisa Stapleton and Miguel Martinez discussed a proposed Membership Event a couple weeks after most memberships renew (at the FICRA Fair) that would talk about what FICRA and the Trust do and encourage involvement/volunteers. Howard noted the potential for collecting input on specific issues via online questionnaires before meetings. 3) Dave would like to see the Treasurer report on interest earnings each month and have the Boards explore options for increasing interest earnings, such as CDs. Jim Braden indicated that the Board has been looking into increasing earnings while managing cash requirements for expenditures.
President’s Report: Howard noted that volunteers are looking at planning FICRA events for every month and that alternatives to volunteer provided food and beverages are being considered to simplify event coordination. This could potentially impact the FICRA budget and we may want to consider an item on next month’s agenda to reallocate funds from surplus. Naomi Grant asked if there was an amount being considered. Howard responded that there are not specific numbers yet, but it is likely to be in the $1,500 range.
Treasurer’s Report: The financial and membership information for the month of April, 2018 were reported by Hal Goodell at the FICRA Building Trust Meeting preceding this meeting:
- FICRA Checking Beginning balance $21,775.80 Ending balance $18,606.36
- FICRA Money Market Beginning balance 28,667.51 Ending balance 18,671.78
- FICRA PayPal Beginning balance 57 Ending balance 662.48
- Membership 364 for 2017-2018 as of 5/9/18, 138 from 2016-17 not renewed
$10,000 erroneously recorded in FICRA Money Market rather than Trust accounts was removed.
Unfinished Business:
- Appointment of Members to Social Activities Standing Committee – Chad Gottschalk, Miguel Martinez, Chrissy Gottschalk and Lisa Stapleton were appointed to the Committee.
- Appointment of Members to Membership Standing Committee – Miguel Martinez, Hal Goodell, Naomi Grant and Lisa Stapleton were appointed to the Committee.
- Status of Publicity Committee – Lisa Stapleton and Jim Braden will continue as members of the Committee. Jim noted that Lisa does an outstanding job of publicizing events to all available online sites. Miguel suggested that we may want to include advertising costs in our event planning.
- Online Membership Search – Howard distributed a sample screen print of a revised online membership website search screen intended for FICRA members to see the current status of their membership renewal. Naomi stated that it will may down on some of the inquiries, but we should still expect to handle questions about membership in the manner we do right now. The Board consensus is that requesting 2 pieces of information to display membership status is a reasonable approach and that the information should be put on the website. Jim suggested that we advertise the availability prominently; Howard can include a highlighted link on the left side of the web pages.
Committee Reports:
- Social Activities – Miguel reported they had a great meeting to discuss the Summer Solstice event coming up June 24th 1pm-4pm. They have arranged for a food truck (BBQ) with no dollar commitment on our part. An otter pop or ice cream stand is also being planned. Beverage providers are not finalized. Thirst Responder is a “drink truck” which can be hired, and their quoted price may be acceptable, but the cost of drinks seems high and Chad is working to address this. A DJ is hired, and will emcee the event. A Kickball game is also planned. Help will be needed setting up a Corn Hole game. They would like to set up a tournament and have participants register ahead of time. Volunteers have already agreed to make the game boards for Corn Hole, but the toss bags are still needed. Jim has agreed to set up the donated soccer goal (currently disassembled PVC construction) and will ask for volunteers at the Men’s coffee event on Wednesdays. Parking and a shuttle from church parking lots has been suggested and we are looking at costs. The Gig Harbor Trolley (Pierce Transit PT01 route) is currently subsidized by businesses as well as Pierce County Transit. The local School district does not rent out buses/drivers as some areas of the country. Jim will contact Susan at FIAC to ask about using church parking. Howard is obtaining pricing on shuttle services.
- Membership – Miguel needs to discuss process and planning with Hal. Howard suggests that, at a minimum, FICRA needs to send a welcome/thank you letter/email to new and renewing members, and make them aware of ongoing events and volunteer opportunities. Dave McHugh suggested posting membership lists on the website, as he feels most people might like to have their name listed. Howard indicated that we have considered this before, but that some members have expressed concerns about online publicly available lists. Another option might be to identify them as members via an icon/graphic symbol in the annual island directory. Ed Burroughs suggested a contest that if a person brings in the most members a year, there may be a reward, like a dinner/gift certificate.
New Business: None
The meeting was adjourned at 9:07 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 14, 2018.
Respectfully submitted by Gina Olson for Chad Gottschalk