Commodore's Summary of the Trustees Meeting, Thursday, November 17, 2011

Trustees Meeting, Thursday, November 17, 2011

Commodore’s Summary

We had our first meeting of this season. I hosted a commodore’s chat with 6 members at 1815. We had an open discussion about meetings – the importance of running them in an organized fashion and making sure that they are held in a regular and predictable schedule. We also talked about membership involvement, how do we engage the club members and get many different people involved in the club and its mission. It was mentioned that members can provide a lot of benefit to the club beyond the traditional work party structure. We also talked about how important the history of the club is, and ways in which we could document some of the history that is not written down. (Also we can add to what we do have documented) An underlying theme was the need to improve our communication to the membership and within the membership. It was nice to have a variety of members who chimed in on the topics at hand.

The meeting saw a small group. Scott Dyer from Custom Floats did a presentation on the new float design we are using. Tom Dobbins has worked with them to develop a design for replacing our floats over a period of years. This new system will have pilings within the run of the dock, not at the ends. This will make the gaps between docks smaller (about 2-4 inches) and the whole dock system should rise and fall with the tide together. It is a stronger system structurally and should do us quite well. Tom will continue to work out the details, we expect to build our first two floats next spring.

The treasurer reported that we had finished the season with a small surplus (around $800) this will roll into the contingency fund. The dues will be going out shortly, when they go out it will be announced. Members are reminded that they have 30 days to pay their dues before a late fee is added.

The Launch Committee reported that the two outboards are nearing the end of their predicted life span. They submitted a request to purchase one new engine and sell one of the old ones, this was approved by the Trustees. We are currently planning on keeping all three boats with an eye to possibly selling one after the season, presuming all works out with the inboard launch as our primary vessel.

The budget was presented and there was discussion about the expenses around heating the club and maintaining it through the winter. It was noted that closing it down last year for the months of January, February and March saved some money but also led to the freezing of the plumbing system. The Trustees decided to close the clubhouse during these months again and requested that the Rear Commodore do what is needed for this. The Commodore will locate a suitable meeting location for those months. The subject of social member dues came up with a request to increase the dues this year. It was noted that the past few years has seen increases in boating membership dues and that the rate has not changed for social members.  Then the discussion went into the history of social membership dues, a proposal was made to increase the dues to $200 a year. This was passed by the Trustees and will go into effect this season.

The meeting wrapped up with a short informational discussion about the changes to communication methods. The plan is to create dedicated email formats for our different messaging. The Centerboarder will remain a newsletter, going out once a month to inform the membership about what is happening at meetings and what will be occurring in the future.