Board_Minutes_March

2)Master Plan - Steve Moese. Fairly good responses have been received to the information and AJ helped put a new format together in the form of a calendar. Clubs not responding were not included. The special games are identified on the new calendar. The key events, however, will also be highlighted on the front page. Steve passed around the original Master calendar which indicated when CBA events need to be announced in advance by posting, email, etc. so that members will be aware in plenty of time if they wish to attend.

3)Relationship between Unit 124 (Cincinnati Bridge Association) and our Sanction holders. Last month we listed challenges and problems and AJ grouped them into categories. It will be a year-long process (or whenever it gets done) to discuss them with an eye towards a long-term plan of where we want to be in 5 years. AJ feels we should have an open-ended discussion on the items we have now, whether there are any missing, what we think about them. Our initial goal is not to focus on solutions but rather brainstorm starting next month. Right now we should focus on what we want to address and/or solve while going through the process. Steve commented that increasing the positive experience of the members and increasing the table count are two different points. AJ asked if any one thing stood out and Mike mentioned the demarcation etween the CBC and CBA. Susan suggested she do some financials on the two categories.

AJ gave us a District Meeting update. There are 8 units in our district and all should be informed about what the district is doing. We voted on a new youth - under 21 years of age - policy whereby those members will play at 1/2 price at the 4 District Regionals and the district-wide events which are the NAP and GNT. It was suggested that Sectionals apply the same policy to the youth. There is the ongoing saga of the Midwest Monitor - Brad Bartol editor. Problems involve method of publication - hard copy vs electronic and monetary compensation. There will be a committee meeting to discuss this issue at the Columbus Sectional in April.

Our Attempt to run an International Fund game Thursday afternoon March 13th did not fare well. Three tables was very low attendance. John suggested we have some information at the front desk about upcoming events as well as director announcements.

The annual Awards Party will be on Wednesday evening April 9th. In choosing this date it was forgotten that Northern Kentucky holds a regular game on Wednesday evenings. We will be aware of this in the future. As a result, AJ spoke to the directors and all new NKY honorees will be in attendance at the party. In addition, Al Fultz’s wife and sister will be present to accept his award. It was suggested that a way to give back to our members would be to make the event free to members. Ron made the motion and Mike seconded to do same. Attendees will need to be paid ACBL members and reservations will be taken either in-person by AJ or on the website. AJ will volunteer his director services that evening.

There is a lingering issue about the two discretionary awards. We have found no written rules concerning the Sternagel Award. It appears to be traditional for former recipients of the award to convene an ad hoc committee to select future winners. No one is aware of any such meeting nor is any planned. The last one was presented in 2009. The other discretionary award is the Patty Eber Award. We do know that this award is not required to be presented annually. Other unit awards are non-discretionary and are masterpoint related.

The finance committee composed of John Meinking, Susan Wisner (treasurer) and Tom Mess has met. A draft of unit 124 investment policies and standards for board review was sent to the board for review.The CBA has approximately $140,000 which is at present earning less than 1% interest. The finance committee have suggested that we invest the money very conservatively but depending how it is done, we can expect to earn $4000 - $7000 a year. The money will probably be invested over several months rather than all at once. Mike asked about cash on hand and it was agreed to hold $30,000. The decision of how to invest will be the unanimous consent of the finance committee or the majority consent of the board. Steve was concerned about accountability. The following statement was made by Steve and seconded by Ron: The investment portfolio of the CBA shall be administered by the unit finance committee and governed by the CBA Board of Directors. The finance committee is a committee of the board and ultimately answereable to the CBA board. A brief report will be given each month with a more in-depth report presented quarterly. A formal policy was presented and signed by all members of the board.

Susan’s report was approved as sent. The purchase of our new duplicate machine was partially paid for by the money obtained from the defunct Pasteboard checking account. Susan was in contact with our landlord. There was an adjustment in the common area fee because we were charged with snowplowing fees that were not used.

The Flying Pig Regional will have an additional game on Monday evening to benefit The Longest Day campaign. It will involve making sure the room is set up on time. Patti English is the Chairman of the Tournament. Adrienne Netherwood will be Partnership Chair. Hospitality will be similar to last year which was wine and cheese in between the afternoon and evening sessions. Joyce Tedrick will be in charge of Hospitality. We talked about naming games in honor or memory of players and this will have to be considered by the Chairperson. While our Regional is in progress, we will be renting our CBC space for part of that time to the ABA for their use. It was suggested that although we usually have the carpets cleaned during this week ,we forego it this year and we concurred. One other point was brought up that we need to try to get our local players to increase their attendance at the tournament.

The former Middletown Sectional will now become the Northern Kentucky Sectional chaired by Cordell Coy and Elaine Jarchow. We have requested several times that the excess funds left from the Middletown Sectional be turned over the Northern Kentucky but have had no luck so far.