Regular Meeting -- May 3, 2008
The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 1:22 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. Executive Director Robert McGarey, Past President Pam Latham (Oceanna) and member Chris Grigassy were also present at the meeting.
The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the March and April 2008 meetings were read aloud. The following changes were suggested: for March - none. For April - Remove statement that minutes were read aloud for the previous meeting. Minutes were approved as corrected.
Kathy is working with Maxine to arrange all the camping gear so that it can easily be gathered in 30 minutes when preparing for a trip.
We have about $10,000 in the savings account, and in other various accounts we have approximately another $10,000, primarily due to bingo. It seems like Bingo is continuing to do pretty well, even though during the summer we normally earn less.
Self-Esteem Class. Registration is going really well, and didn't seem to be negatively impacted by the increase in the price.
Habibi's Hutch. They might move in by this summer.
Conflict of Interest Policy. Bob read the policy, and Robert and Leslie signed it. The other Board members have signed it in the past.
Mini-Split A/C Unit. Bob has asked that Wansley Refrigeration sell it to us at wholesale cost and install it for free.
Ning.com. Bob created a social network on ning.com. Oceanna responded to one of the questions he put out there, but otherwise response has been slow.
Morgan. Bob shared that he let Morgan go last week. She has to move out of the apartment by May 24th. One of the utilities is still in Bob's name and he doesn't know whether he will get reimbursed for that expense.
Volunteer Manager Position. Bob got the approval from the Board to offer Robert Gardener an official, paid position at $10/hr., 30 hrs per week. This is a very important position and there is a lot of excitement on all sides, and the board believes that Robert will be very effective in this position. Robert stated that he's still working with the chiropractic office, but he's not enjoying it as much as working at the Center. But instead of quitting the chiropractic office altogether he's planning to offer them temporary work as needed. This will give him more flexibility to work with the center and on his own business that he's trying to grow (at the moment it's a little slow, but he's expecting that to change).
Task List. Bob mentioned that he feels overwhelmed by the amount of tasks he has that have not been getting done. He needs a lot of computer help.
GoodwheelChairs. Chris Grigassy reported that he went to a Health Fair with our corporate sponsor, Home Respiratory, to represent GoodwheelChairs and the Human Potential Center. Chris said it was a good experience to get exposure in the community. Bob is still sending out emails for donation requests to CraigsList. Chris is trying to work with Larry Spector to figure out what our true inventory is at the warehouse as records have not been very good in the past. Leslie reported that she has made a contact with Larry Turner at St. David's Wheelchair Fitness. They have a lot of wheelchairs and parts they want to get rid of. Leslie gave Chris her notes and the contact information and Chris will follow up on the lead. Chris also shared that since things didn't work out with Morgan he needs some help getting volunteers. Robert Gardner said he will help get the word out.
Gardening Projects. Robert Gardener reported that the project last Saturday went really well. Many tasks were worked on like chipper shredding, composting, and general yard work. Bill Edelbrock was a huge help. Going forward he will continue to work on the big projects that have been put off, and once that gets to a maintenance level he can move on to other projects. Robert is trying to get the Master Gardeners (a group that certifies people as 'Master' Gardeners) to come out and do their required volunteer hours here. Robert is also jazzed about Permaculture (self-sustainable urban farming), and he plans to infiltrate this group by taking a class and learning how it can tie in with the garden here.
Roof Repair. Robert contacted Rick about the leaking roof. Rick said his opinion is that the entire roof will need to be replaced. The portion of the screws and around them has worn away and it's more likely that the same will happen in neighboring areas. Easier to replace the roof than to make a lot of smaller repairs. Robert is going to try and get bids from professional contractors.
Prather family history. The Prather family at one time owned the land the Center is on as well as a total of ~600 acres surrounding it. The Center is at 'the center' of that land. Chris Grigassy is trying to make contact with members of the Prather family who still live in Austin. The desire is to collect old family photos and historical stories and perhaps put a display here to share that history. The challenge is that there is a lot of potential volunteer work that would go into that, and we would have to consider priority usage of our volunteer resources.
Cultural Heritage Event. Oceanna suggested the idea that in the fall we do the Cultural Heritage Awareness event in Smithville.
Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:30pm.
Minutes submitted by Leslie Harvey, Secretary, May 3, 2008.