Voting Members Present:  Jerry McDaniel, Jennifer Hay, Jeanne O’Kon, Peg Griffin, Mary Jean Yon, Mark Tombrink, Jo Lena Pace, Robert Skrob, Mark Priddy, Eric Trombley, David Yon, Tom Perkins, Chris O’Kelley, Judy Alexander, Debbie Peters, Lisa Unger.  Voting Members Absent:  Allen Blay, Tina Bahmer.  Non-Voting Members Present:  Bill Lott, Carter Hay, Marc Weeks, Paul Guyas, Ainsley Hay.

I.  Opening and Introduction:  

Jerry McDaniel opened the meeting at 7:02 p.m.  A motion was made to approve the minutes of the April 12, 2023 meeting, Motion was seconded and passed.  

II.  Old Business:

Springtime Closeout:  Jerry McDaniel reported that $18,711.93 was cleared.  The City and County paid for their employees to run—more than 80 runners total.  They raised $6500 in race sponsorships. The city administrative surcharge was waived.  Net revenue of $18,711.53 to be split between GWTC and Boys & Girls Club.  In addition, direct donations in the amount of $849.51 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Big Bend were received. Motion to approve was seconded and passed.

Palace Saloon 5K Closeout:  Tom Perkins reported that there were 1037 registered and 880 finishers this year.  He indicated that the net revenue was $7450.83.  He requested that the amount going to each of the two charities be rounded up to $3,000 and GWTC receive the remainder—slightly more than the typical 50/50 split used by many club races.   Bill Lott presented the two closeout proposals with the two different amounts going to charity.  Tom also requested that the amount going to GWTC be donated to the Chenoweth Fund.  Motion was made and seconded to approve the proposal of $3,000 to each charity.  Some discussion ensued about the amount of the earned funds going to charity.  The initial budget brought to the table was far exceeded by this year’s participation.  It was pointed out that race directors in the past have sometimes asked to round up the amount going to charity.  Jerry pointed out that the debate was over the amount of $900.  Motion passed 7-5 to split the race proceeds of $3,000 to each charity.

Dempsey Mayo Road Extension update:  David Yon, Eric Draper, and Jane Fletcher met with Rick Minor, County Commissioner, on May 3 to make sure that he was aware of the concerns of park users regarding the extension.  Minor expressed his concern and said he’ll make sure there are additional opportunities for input.  The group hopes to meet with all County Commissioners, especially Commissioner O’Keefe whose district includes the extension.

Training Coordinators and Group Runs:  Jennifer Hay recruited four women who are club members and are willing to work as a team and work to develop group runs:  Emily Webster, Kendall Meikenhous, Joi Savery, and Ashlee Blake.  Jennifer will get feedback from them and will announce the group runs on the Facebook page.

GWTC 365:  Paul Guyas reported on a motion tabled by the Board in December.  The motion was for the Club to fund the members of GWTC 365 with custom tank tops.  The program was voted on and began in November 2019.  Each unit was $45.00, and Paul was told to come back with a lower price.  Now the tank tops are available at the price of $35.00.  There were nine members in the “club within the club,” but the program is closed right now.  It’s a one-price fits all race registration.  The runner pays $300 and gets registrations for all GWTC races for the coming year.  It’s valid whenever the runner starts the year.  It was based on the fee for the no-shirt registration fee.  Those who joined supported more races than they ran prior to being a member of GWTC 365.  Paul believes this is a winner for the club financially.  The program made about $1423 more than it would have with regular race registrations.  Paul keeps track of the runners, the date they started, how many races they ran, and other details.  Board members asked why the special shirt was needed for participants, and Paul said it was a type of advertisement for the program. The registrations are pro-rated to go to the individual races that the runners register for.  A motion was made and seconded to restart the program with the shirt order not to exceed $500.  Motion passed.

III.        New Business:

Reopening high school tracks:  Marc Weeks reported that the Leon High School track was shut down for public use three years ago.  Godby High School shut down their track as well.  Now, none of the local high school tracks are available and open to the public.  He reported that taxpayer money is being used to pay for the resurfacing of the tracks.  He is on Facebook as “Marc Anthony Weeks.”  He asked Board members to Google “Re-open Leon County Track and Field” to sign the petition there on www.change.org.  More than 20,000 signatures are needed for a referendum.  He requested that club members support the effort as well.  The concern has been that some people vandalize the tracks.  There are also health concerns because of materials that have been used in maintaining the tracks. 

Women’s Distance Festival 5K Proposed Budget:  Lisa Unger presented the budget and indicated that the charge for the use of the park will be waived.  The expected revenue is $4,416.54 with expected expenses of $3231.29.  She may identify an additional nonprofit that may be a charity for a 25% split, with 25% to Brehon Family Services.  Motion to approve was made, seconded, and passed.

Great Potluck Bash 4M Proposed Budget:  Mary Jean Yon listed total revenues of $5160 at $18 per person.  Expenses are anticipated to be $4559, with a projected net revenue of $601.00.  David hopes to secure sponsors.  Jude Dugas prepares a low country boil, and a covered dish dinner is held.  Scholarships are awarded to outstanding track and cross-country athletes.  They are usually nominated by their coaches.  The award money is usually used for registration at a national track meet or plane fare to travel there.  Motion was made to approve the proposed budget. Motion was seconded and passed.  

Tannenbaum 6K Proposed Budget:  Judy Alexander presented the proposed budget for Herb Wills.  The anticipated revenue is $3,180 with expenses of $2,687.  The anticipated net revenue is $493.00.  Motion to approve the proposed budget was made and seconded.  Motion passed.

Financial Reports/Audits:  Jerry has been reviewing the state statutes that state that an organization that exceeds revenues of $500,000 per year must have a mandatory official audit.  The Club has not exceeded that amount, so an audit is optional at the present time. The Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services states that charitable organizations may need to register with them if they are receiving donations.  As part of that process, financial information is required.  David stated that the Club should do an audit anyway, even though it isn’t required right now.  Robert Skrob, a former CPA, stated that it could cost as much as $10,000.00 to do an audit.  It is not a legal requirement right now, but David feels it is a good idea to do it.  Lisa Unger is a certified internal auditor and indicated that procedural documentation needs to be established first.  A “financial review” is somewhat different.  Robert, Lisa, David, and Peg will come back to the next meeting with a recommendation about this.

Club Officers/Directors 2024 voting application:  Mark Priddy asked for feedback about last year’s voting process using ELECTIONRUNNER.COM for electronic voting.  Last year, the number of club members voting was 371 members.  Mark said a trial run can be held to try it out for this year.  It seemed easy to use.  Mark will move forward with this.

Request for partial funding for hurdles for Chiles High School:  David Yon reported that the Club received a request to provide $2,000.00 in financial support for new hurdles for Chiles High School.  Funds from the Chenoweth Fund may be used for this.  The Chenoweth Committee approved $2,000 for this purpose.  Board members voted to approve this expenditure.

IV.  Announcements:

David mentioned that 50 kids are now signed up for SMIRFS, and it starts the first Monday in June.  He could use some additional adults to help

V.  Reports

Treasurer:  Peg reported as of April 30, 2023 net assets of $239,580.18, and a net revenue to date of $16,260.67.  The treasurer’s reports were sent to all Board members by e-mail, and Peg will be glad to answer any questions about them.  The fiscal year is closing soon, and a budget will be brought before the Board at the next meeting.

Triathlete Club:  Eric Trombley reported that a race was held this past weekend in Defuniak Springs, and several Tri Club members participated.  The Facebook page has been re-done and looks great.

Race Director Coordinator:  Nothing new to report.

Newsletter:  The deadline is May 20 for the upcoming Fleet Foot.

Membership:  Jo Lena Pace reported that there are currently 1181 members (compared to 1258 last year at this time).  Currently, the number of households is 676 (compared to 708 last year at this time).  The Google group has 84 members.

Diversity: No report.  Committee Chair Gabrielle Gabrielli will send additional information if volunteers are needed for the Emancipation Day event.

Education and Lecture:  Mark Tombrink reported that last month, 20 people attended the lecture with Stan Linton and Ann Centner.  Nothing is in the queue right now and he welcomes the suggestions.

Web site:  David reported that the app has been updated and should be reinstalled.

Chenoweth:  Nothing to report.

Merchandise:  No report.

Equipment:  Bill Lott reported there are no equipment issues at this time.

Chip Timing Report:  In April, the Club’s Springtime 10K/5K/1M and Palace Saloon 5K were chip timed.  During May, the only race that will be chip timed will be the GWTC Summer Trail Series 10th Anniversary Race #1 – Red Bug Trail.  In June, the Club’s Great Potluck Bash 4-Mile Prediction Run and GWTC Summer Trail Series 10th Anniversary – Race #2 – Maclay Gardens, and the non-Club Monticello Kiwanis Club 5K Watermelon Run are scheduled to be chip timed. 

Bill Hillison is working on a Timing Guide that is currently in draft form and he should have the final version soon.  The guide will allow those interested in learning the chip timing system to get started with the software (both RFID Server and RaceDay that are free downloads).  Bill expects to have an instructional time to get together for those who continue with an interest in the next month or so.  Jennifer has two individuals from REI that are willing to learn how to work the timing equipment. Ainsley Hay is also planning to learn it.

Grand Prix:  Lisa Unger said that the Grand Prix is currently scored through the Rose City Run.  The Summer Grand Prix is coming up.  This is the Club’s series within the Summer Track 8-week series.  Lisa needs additional volunteers since she will miss some of the weeks.  The volunteers need to record the participants in that week’s event and their times.  Lisa will e-mail the committee members to ask for volunteers.  The newly purchased  feather flag that says “Registration” will be placed in the storage shed.

Social:  No report.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanne O’Kon, Secretary