The membership and the Board of Directors held their annual meetings at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 1:20 pm. The following voting members (constituting a quorum of the full voting membership, currently comprised of 11 people) were present at the meeting: Pam Latham (Oceanna), Pam Chambers, and Robert McGarey. There were two board positions coming up for renewal (Places 1 and 2), and it was unanimously agreed that Leslie Harvey and Robert Gardner should continue to fill those positions. Since there was no further business, the Annual Membership Meeting adjourned at 1:26 pm.
The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the annual Board meeting, which started at 1:27 pm: President Pam Latham (Oceanna), Vice President and Treasurer Pam Chambers, Secretary Kathy Lee, Leslie Harvey 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 previous meeting were read aloud and approved as read.
Intern. Pam expressed that she is still concerned about Morgan's performance and about how much work it is to keep her on track. Morgan's accomplishments are good, but she's still not able to work independently without a lot of supervision. Though her schedule is technically 4-5 days/week, Morgan is only working 2 days/week. Pam is considering scaling back Morgan's schedule even further to 1 day/week. Then Morgan can mainly do just gardening work for the Center.
By unanimous vote, the following people were elected as officers: President, Kathy Lee; Vice President, Leslie Harvey; Secretary, Leslie Harvey; Treasurer, Pam Chambers.
Mortgage Refinance. Bob has been working with Owen to determine if this is a good time to re-finance as it could lower the monthly payments by as much as $1,000. However to do this the 2007 taxes must be completed.
Income Focus. Bob mentioned that we have very diverse sources of income which is a good thing. The challenge is that we don't have a strong focus on just one area, which makes it harder to describe to others what the Center is about.
Grants. We're still researching grants, but they're slow right now.
GoodwheelChairs. Chris Grigassy is ramping up on GoodwheelChairs, and he's been checking the phone messages daily. This is very good as we've missed some opportunities to pick up inventory in the past because no one responded to them in a timely manner.
Bookkeeping. Colleen is still doing a great job of helping with bookkeeping, which will be very helpful for filing the 2007 taxes.
Habibi's Hutch. Habibi's is still setting up shop and may be open soon. Bob wants to connect with the owner, Andrew, and go to lunch to discuss opportunities to work together.
Block Party. There's an idea on the table to have a party in the cul-de-sac with other vendors and residents in the immediate area.
Cottage. Rick (the gent that replaced the roof of the art barn) closed up an opening in the cottage through which squirrels were stealing pink insulation.
Advertising. Bob is has asked Steve Dodds to re-design our flyers so the info board won't be as empty. Bob has also been doing a lot of online listings of Center events on various web sites. It's going faster as he's getting the hang of it. He may also create a social networking site on ning.com.
Oceanna's Room for Rent. Bob has been talking with Robert Gardner about renting the room to use for teaching yoga and/or doing massage. Robert might also come to work for the Center to pick up on the tasks Morgan isn't handling, particularly Volunteer Management.
Retiring. Oceanna read her resignation letter to the board. Bob recommended we create a new position of Past President. The board voted unanimously to have Oceanna serve in this position, and Oceanna accepted.
Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:55 pm. Minutes submitted by Leslie Harvey, Secretary, March 8, 2008.