GULF WINDS TRACK CLUB Business Meeting Minutes

Board Members Present: Alyssa Terry, Zack Scharlepp, David Yon, Mary Jean Yon, Mark Priddy, Chika Okoro, Herb Wills, Kristin Halley, Tom Biance, Laryn Flikkema, Tom Perkins, Judy Alexander, Wayne Thumm, Chris Stanley, Tsige Tadesse, Tec Thomas, and Vicky Droze.  

Others Present: Bill Lott and Keith Rowe

Both the president and vice president were unavailable; thus, the immediate past-president Zack Scharlepp called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m. and a quorum was established.

The Board approved the minutes from the February meeting without objection.

Officer Announcements

Due dates – Alyssa Terry, Secretary
Alyssa requested that all reports from board members for each board meeting be submitted to her no later than 12:00 p.m. on the Saturday prior to the meeting.

Old Business

GWTC Events One Checking Account – Bill Lott
Bill reported that further inquiry with the bank determined that no debit card had been issued for the Events One Checking Account. Laryn will know if Vince Molosky has the checkbook. Bill asked the Board to determine if a member should be appointed to be responsible for that checking account. Laryn Flikkema stated he is o.k. for now.

Corporate Governance: Conflict-of-Interest Statements and Ethics Policy – David Yon
David reminded GWTC board members to please sign the Gulf Winds Track Club Conflict-of-Interest Policy and turn it in to him.

Policy for Reviewing and Signing Contracts – Tom Biance 
Tom stated the newly appointed committee responsible for developing a policy on reviewing and signing GWTC contracts met last Sunday. This committee consists of David Yon, Tom Biance, and Nancy Stedman. At the meeting, these committee members came up with specific suggestions and a framework for developing a policy. They will meet again this month to begin to formalize the policy for reviewing and signing contracts.

New Business

Flash 12K/6K Wrap-up – Keith Rowe
Keith presented the wrap up for the 2019 Flash 12k/6k. This race resulted in a total revenue of $6,678.03 and a net profit of $2,616.52. Keith requested that $2,022.21 be donated to the RonStrong Foundation, which included one-half of the net profits plus separate donations made to the RonStrong Foundation. A motion was made for this donation; however, an additional motion was then made to increase the donation by $21.05 to make up for the Eventbrite processing fees for those separate donations; both motions were seconded and approved unanimously.

Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Certification Course – Chris Stanley
Chris reported that he continues to explore to possibility of GWTC hosting a Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) coaching certification course. He has had a discussion with Leigh Davis, the Leon County Parks and Recreation director, who has suggested multiple locations where the course could occur, including Chaires Community Center, Woodville Community Center, Miccosukee Community Center and Ft. Braden Community Center; these locations are typically rented in 4 hour blocks (10 AM – 2 PM; 2 PM – 6 PM), but Leigh would be open to exploring a special arrangement to be sure we can have it for the full two days (8 AM – 5 PM). Typically, it costs $35/per 4 hour block with $50 deposit, which would be well within the $500 stipend RRCA could pay to offset facility cost. Moving forward, we would need to look at the calendar for a two day sequence which would make sense for our community, but also has community center availability (particularly for the 8 AM time). Of note, RRCA also provides a food stipend for the event in the amount of $30/person (breakfast, lunch, and snack). Moreover, the cost of the course is $325.00 per person. RRCA likes to guarantee at least 15 people would attend, although by all accounts Florida courses fill up without issue. Chris is considering creating a Facebook poll to gauge interest. GWTC members would be given first chance to register for the course. A discussion regarding the possibility of offering scholarships to potential participants occurred; however, board members expressed concern that these scholarships would most likely not be feasible nor beneficial to GWTC.

Extreme Challenge’s Event Director – Mark Priddy
Mark Priddy stated that Mark Tombrink has stated that he would be willing to take over as the Extreme Challenge’s Event Director and handle the administrative details; a motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Springtime Budget – Zack Scharlepp
Zack presented the proposed budget for the 2019 Springtime 10k. This budget included estimated expenses of $26,878.29 and estimated net proceeds of $12,121.71. Zack will request that 50% of the overall proceeds go to GWTC and the other 50% of the overall proceeds go to Big Brothers Big Sisters. A motion was made to approve the budget for the 2019 Springtime 10k budget, which was seconded and approved unanimously.

Tri-Club Facebook Page – Wayne Thumm 
Wayne stated that there has been discussion about posting workouts to the Tri-Club Facebook page that includes a logo of a paying sponsor. Of note, the only mention of the paying sponsor is the small logo on the picture, and there is no cost to members or solicitation from the sponsor. There was discussion about this topic at the previous Tri-Club meeting, and the members voted unanimously that these posts are fine. Wayne asked the board members whether this conflicts with any GWTC bylaws. The board all agreed that they did not see any problem with these posts.

SMIRFS – David Yon
David stated that the SMIRFS summer running camp will be back this summer. Specific times and places still have to be finalized, but running camp will start the first Monday in June. The city hires the coaches for this event, and GWTC funds it. The city has given the okay for SMIRFS to take place at two different locations this summer, including Maclay School and Tom Brown Park, if both places can be properly staffed. SMIRFS will probably propose a budget of $5,000 for this upcoming year this year.

Eventbrite/RunSignUp and Website Report – David Yon
David reported that the last event that GWTC will utilize Eventbrite will be the Palace Saloon 5k. Races after that one will need to operate using RunSignUp.  The first GWTC event to utilize RunSignUp will likely be the Sickle Cell 5k. RunSignUp will allow families or groups of people to save money when they register for GWTC events by allowing members to sign multiple people up for an event without having to pay multiple processing fees. As for the website report, David and Peg are looking into hiring a company to redesign the GWTC website. The first company to bid would likely charge well in excess of $20,000.

Committee Reports

Treasurer’s Report – Laryn Flikkema
As of February 28, 2019, Gulf Winds Track Club’s Statement of Financial Position reads as follows: total assets of $259,822.82. GWTC’s Statement of Activity from July 1, 2018 – February 28, 2019 includes a gross profit of $263,361.41, total expenditures of $217,177.38, and net revenue of $46,184.03. GWTC’s monthly statement of activity for February includes a monthly gross profit of $49,671.70, total expenditures of $57,892.63 and net revenue of -$8,220.93.

Equipment Report – Bill Lott & Tec Thomas
Tec reported that he still needs an equipment assistant; Vicky Droze volunteered to help. Tec then explained that there are two past equipment rental deposit checks that cannot be located and requested assistance in determining the best course of action in how to handle the situation. The board decided that it would be appropriate to let these two individuals know and ask them to void the checks while also offering to pay to void the checks. Tec stated that he would contact the two individuals who wrote the checks to propose this solution. Tec then stated he would like to create a fee schedule for renting out equipment, and the board stated that Tec has the power to create it since he is the equipment manager.  

Triathlete Report – Wayne Thumm
Wayne reported that there are 106 individuals who have registered to date for the St. Marks Duathlon on March 24, which is approximately the same amount who registered at this time last year. This will be Charlie Johnson’s last year as the duathlon’s race director, so the triathletes are now searching for someone to direct the race next year. The next GWTC Triathlete meeting will take place next Monday at Momo’s. It will be considered a social rather than an official meeting since it will take place during spring break. 

Membership Report –Mark Priddy
Mark reported there are currently 1,028 GWTC members from a total of 507 households. Mark then distributed a Membership informational spreadsheet that showed the number of GWTC members and the number of households reached from 2001 through 2018.

Training Report – Thomas Biance 
Thomas reported the Springtime Training group has been meeting every Monday at 6 PM to run through Myers Park. This group will continue meeting through March 24th.  The group so far has had about 30 to 40 people come out every week.  After Springtime Training ends there will be a Sunday morning interval group that will start up and be held through Breakfast on the Track.

Education and Lecture Coordinator Report – Chris Stanley
This report was given during new business.

Race Director Coordinator Report – Mary Jean Yon 
Mary Jean reported that the GWTC race directors met on February 17 and had a very productive meeting. Discussion topics included: a review of Run Sign Up, quality time with GWTC Treasurer Laryn Flikkema, and equipment discussions with GWTC Equipment Manager Tec Thomas. The group also revisited the GWTC Sustainability effort and agreed to test out a brand of paper cups that are made from a plant-based material that is more readily biodegradable. Mary Jean will work with Rachel & Zack to test the cups at the Springtime races.

Trail Coordinator Report –Jim Halley
Kristin Halley provided the Trail Coordinator Report to the board. The new trail work committee met and decided to name the committee the “Trail Care Committee.” This committee would like to organize a clean-up at the location of the first Summer Trail Series race prior to the race in June. Kristin added that she and Jim are looking someone to take over the Trail Blazer program.

Chenoweth Fund Report – David Yon
David requested an additional donation of $1,500 to Coach Harry Jacobs at Jefferson City High School in Monticello. These funds will continue to help buy equipment and help with travel expenses. A motion for this donation was made, seconded, and approved unanimously.

Clothing Coordinator Report –Laura McDermott and Sherri Wise
Laura and Sherri reported via email that the website is complete with all colors and sizes of GWTC merchandise. They will be receiving monthly inventory sales reports from LogoExpress and can use this data to determine whether or not it would be beneficial to order certain products in bulk and keep on hand locally. Moreover, the Bibclips have arrived. They will be sold for $5.00 each. Laura & Sherri are still working on a good logo for a visor. Boco will sell the club a minimum of 35 per color for $13.50 each. They may start with 2 colors just to see how they sell.

Timing Committee – Peg Griffin
Nothing new to report.

Social Report – Joseph Petty & Vicky Droze
Vicky gave a review of the recent and future GWTC social events. While the social for February was cancelled due to the Tallahassee Marathon and the Super Bowl, GWTC held the annual awards ceremony in January and a game night and card making at Momo’s on Market Street in March. At the March Social, the club purchased pizza and sodas and participants played the card game titled “You’ve Got Crabs!” A fun time was had by the 5 members in attendance. A grand total of $81.13 was spent at this social, which included the cost of card making supplies. Vicky originally was thinking of sending cards of encouragement out to club members; however, after reflection, she decided to change gears and choose members at random to send postcards to “just because.” Vicky asked the board for their thoughts on whether she should include a prize in these postcards, such as a $5.00 off for a GWTC race entry. If 10 postcards were sent out each month, the postcards alone without any prize would cost $5. While the board believes that this is a great idea, it was stated that Vicky would have to get the race director’s approval in order to offer a discount for that race. Vicky stated the next social is scheduled for April 7, 2019.

Newsletter Report – Fred Deckert 
Fred provided the board with a newsletter update via email. Currently, 507 GWTC members are receiving their newsletter via email and 279 GWTC members are receiving their newsletter via mail. GWTC currently has two yearly half page contributors at $225 each. Of note, each full page ad in the GWTC newsletter is $50 and each half page ad is $28 with the exception of club ads which are free.

A motion to adjourn was made, seconded and passed. The meeting adjourned at 9:12 pm.

Alyssa Terry, Secretary