The Board of Directors held its regular meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, Texas, 78704, starting at 1:30 pm. It began with a reading of the mission statement. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: Vice President Pam Latham, Secretary Owen McAleer, Treasurer Tommie Reeves, board member Miles Lewis and Executive Director Bob McGarey. Board members who were absent include Matthew Riley and Doug Mullins.
Minutes of a previous meeting (August 14, 2003) were handed out and approved with minor changes to the new business section regarding the title of the peace conference.
In Matthew Riley's absence, Vice President Pam Latham (Oceanna) presided over the meeting and called it to order. No president's report.
Matthew's Resignation: Bob announced that Matthew Riley has informed him that he is resigning as President. As a result of the president's resignation, the board discussed replacing him as a member of the board and filling the president's position. It was unanimously
RESOLVED, that Pam Latham (Oceanna) will became the new President of the Board of Directors, and Lynne Thompson was appointed to Place 1 on the Board to fill Matthew's slot until the Annual Meeting in 2005.
Financial Statements: Bob handed out copies of the new Profit & Loss (P&L) statements and walked the board through a few examples in order to familiarize the board with the format. A discussion ensued regarding the question of making the P&L statements public or making them available only for members. Pam suggested she would do some checking and no decision was made at this time.
Peace Conference: Bob reported that not much was happening on the peace conference.
New Administrator: Bob discussed the new administration position filled by Elaine Dove as an independent contractor for $10 an hour. Elaine has been working on the property tax exemption and answering the phone. Bob described how much is getting done now compared to how it was going before she came on board.
Property Taxes: Travis County denied our property tax exemption request, but we are appealing.
Environmental Options: The HPC is signing up for Green Choice Energy from the City of Austin.
Insurance: Directors and Officers Liability Insurance is being sought and it will cost $100 per month. As a requirement of the insurance company, the HPC needs to adopt a Non-Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy.
Renovations: Gordon Placette has proposed to renovate the art studio.
Board Visioning: Bob invited the board to get more involved in the center to develop long term planning and a vision for the future. In response the Bob's invitation, Oceanna suggested that the board bring written ideas about future development to next month's meeting.
New Policies: The board read templates for Non-Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policies. It was unanimously
RESOLVED, that both policies be accepted as written with one addition: adding the word "Beliefs" to the Non-Discrimination Policy.
Christmas Bonus: Tommie discussed a Christmas bonus for the bingo workers. It was unanimously
RESOLVED, that we award the bingo workers a Christmas bonus equal to one session's pay. (Tommie abstained from voting on this matter.)
Anomaly Archive: Miles reported that the Anomaly Archive has agreed to house the Jung Society's library, effectively doubling the collection of books now housed on the HPC premises.
Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm.
Minutes submitted by Owen McAleer, Secretary, January 6, 2004.