Regular Meeting -- January 3, 2009
The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 1:35 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Kathy Lee, Vice President and Secretary Leslie Harvey, Treasurer Pam Chambers, and Robert Gardner. Robert McGarey (Executive Director) was also present at the meeting.
The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the December meeting were read aloud and approved as read.
GoodwheelChairs. Website has been updated and looks great. Steve Dodd hired as delivery and repairman, however he hasn't been as available as much as had been expected. We may have to look for someone else to help fill this role. Robert will call Chris to get more details about the job and will post an ad on Craigslist.
Habibi's Hutch. Kathy still plans to contact the owner now that the holidays are over.
Shabby Chic. Still working on finishing the office and starting on the old office area next.
Tumblebus. Robert proposed to put a time limit on how much longer we will try to sell the bus WITH the business ($15K). The board agreed to try selling them together for another 6 months. After that time we will revisit whether to try and sell the bus by itself or post it all for less money. Placed another ad for the bus, but would like approval to take less money for it than listed. Before we move forward we need to talk to Habibi's Hutch. Pam will do some research to find out exactly what the bus could be worth by itself.
Art Barn. Andrea and Casey and Lynn have proposed to use the art barn as an artistic rental space.
Garden/Landscaping. Dylan helped Robert complete the mulching and planting preparation, and they are still working on the flower beds and ornamental gardening in the front.
Volunteers. Robert is trying to focus on getting volunteers for more clerical and infrastructure tasks to free Bob up to do other things.
Thai Massage Class. Robert offered a free class in Thai Massage. It was very successful class - he had 10 students and they were very interested in what he had to offer. Now he wants to take a greater role in teaching at the Center.
AHP Conference. Bob will be heading to the board meeting of the Association for Humanistic Psychology in Cancun, Jan 15-21st. He's hoping he will be able to mingle with possible good connections that could help us later on. Bob is transitioning to a new role of getting out to more conferences to represent the Center.
Combined Charities. The Board approved applying to the Community Shares Federation. The Center will have to pay a one-time fee of $750. We will also have to have a CPA review the books once a year. We have to do a financial review before February 1st which will cost about $800.
Clerical Volunteer. We got an inquiry from someone responding to the ad on Craigslist for clerical volunteers. Robert is checking this person's references.
Old Intern. Chris Martin of Design One Decking (www.designonedecking.com) left owing $1100 in rent, $450 in unpaid utilities, and ruined a $450 water heater due to his negligence. There was also an axe left stuck in the wall and left the apartment in very poor shape when he left. Should he actually pay the $2000 we will notate that in future board minutes.
New Intern. Rachel Pierce has been approved as a new intern and is moving into the garage apartment for $600/month, with 3 hours per week volunteer time, and attendance at least 2 events per month. She has already paid first and last months rent.
Garage Apartment. Wanda and Edwin stayed at the garage apartment between renters in exchange for help around the Center. They did a wonderful job of cleaning up the apartment. When Rachel moved in, they were allowed to move into the Imaginary room until the end of January. In exchange they provided additional help to the Center by moving things around the property and repairing the Center's car.
Cottage. Bob reported that he decided to end the rental agreement with INACS which has been renting the cottage for $500/month. They have been paying regularly, however they were not actually using the space. Instead we will rent the cottage to a new intern for $600/month. INACS was not very happy about the decision, however they said they will move out by January 31st.
New Intern #2. Edwardo Reyes has been selected to rent the cottage for $600 per month, with 3 hours per week volunteer time, and to attend at least 2 events per month. All his references were glowing, however he currently does not have a steady income. He is not due to move in until February 1st.
Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:10 pm.
Minutes submitted by Leslie Harvey, Secretary, January 3, 2008.