TPPC Board of Directors Meeting March 8, 2020, 1pm
The meeting was called to order at 1:00 by President Knowlton.
Present: New TPPC Board Members: Marie Knowlton, Deb Howard, Dave Dwyer, Bev Crane Former Board Members: Tom Asbel, Bruce MacLean
Knowlton stated the meeting was called to include the TPPC retiring and newly elected boards as a follow-up to the Election of TPPC officers on March 4. Knowlton thanked Asbel and MacLean for meeting with new board members to help create a smooth transition. She identified items of common interest for discussion.
Bash. All commented on the success of the BASH. Briefly discussed was whether to hold next year’s Bash in the Lodge or explore using the PAC. Issues included ways to increase space at the Lodge including using the Porch for displaying food to free up space in the main room. Although the PAC has more room, it does not have refrigeration. Immediate actions needed include: set dates for annual meeting and Bash and reserve rooms. Discussion is needed on ticket sales and providing preference for members over guests (e.g., member sales only for first two weeks).
Tournaments. Discussed 2020 Fall tournament in early November, Christmas Day Fun Day, and two tournaments in early 2021. In August check tennis and golf tournaments in order to set tournament dates for pickleball on old and new courts.
Play schedule. Need to set up meeting in April with Patti Yost to create summer pickleball schedule to start May 1 on Jonas. Create Fall pickleball schedule, meet with Yost to put schedule on Jonas to start in November. Provide written schedule and emphasize all day schedule starting at 7 am on Lodge Court 2 with reserved Court 1 morning hours for tennis sign-up on Jonas. In September discuss with Yost blocked TPPC hours on Jonas for new courts.
Instruction. Asbel indicated he would continue to lead lessons and Drills for Skills instruction. Currently, he noted six member helpers are helping the leaders (Asbel, Rooks) for both sessions and that lessons are drawing approximately 20 players, some of whom sign up for membership following the lessons.
PARC Committee. It was suggested that Asbel as previous liaison, TPPC member Bonnie Morgan with a background in construction, and Dwyer from the current Board liaison with the TP Board on the pickleball courts. MacLean noted that new TP President Murphy favored 12 pickleball courts as currently proposed. He said the RFEs in March should commit to 12 courts so construction could be started. It was suggested that a meeting be requested with members of the TP Board to update information on the pickleball courts. A current list of wants/needs should be compiled for discussion with the TP Board.
Club banking and treasurer duties. Dwyer thanked MacLean for sending the Club banking information. Dwyer said he would review the information and contact Sun Trust Bank used by TPPC to update all banking information. MacLean also said the TPPC Website has been renewed to 2022, as well as the domain date aligned to 2022. Procedure for approval of bill
paying under $50 needs no approval and over $50 needs Board approval. He also reported that due to a low supply of balls, 100 pickleballs had been recently purchased. Asbel indicated that court nets and frames were in poor condition and need to be replaced.
Special Event Subsidies/Donations. Discussion of donation philosophy offered several points of view: donations through TP Charity Club and direct community donation. MacLean listed two donations that had been given: Kathi’s Canines and St. Vincent DePaul. It was noted that further discussion on donations was necessary. Currently, the Volunteer Committee, headed by Cathi Ellingson and Helen DeGirolamo, is tasked with finding candidates to receive donations with the amount of donations yet to be determined.
TPPC By-law. It was recommended by the retiring Board that the By-law be reviewed and revised as it was created in 2016.
Upon completing items for discussion from the current and former Board Directors, Asbel and MacLean, left the meeting.
Discussion by current board members
The meeting continued and the current Board reviewed issues discussed at the transition part of the meeting and additional points.
List of mentors for lessons and drills sessions. Knowlton suggested that Board members recruit members both from the volunteers who signed the instruction list at the Annual TPPC Meeting and others who might be suitable. She noted that mentors not only must know the game but be quite mobile since they would need to chase down balls during the lessons.
Website. Discussion ensued on removing email addresses and phone numbers from the website for privacy purposes. Although it was deemed a good idea, it was also noted that it is the one place members can go if they want to communicate with other members especially to gather players for particular play times on the courts. Knowlton reported that Steve Fortin had agreed to manage the TPPC public website and also work as one of the administrators on the Den site, along with Knowlton, Dwyer and Crane. Fortin would begin updating the website in several areas. Crane was to update the 2019 Club membership form and have Fortin put the new form on the website. Fortin also planned to create a section for photos of TPPC events.
Facebook. Knowlton stated that Fortin had suggested using a Facebook site to post TPPC photos since The Den did not have this capability. Crane noted that the Club already had a Facebook site that could be used and that Bonnie Morgan had offered to take the lead on monitoring the site. The question to check is whether a member can access the TPPC Facebook site without having their own Facebook page.
Treasurer duties. Board members discussed who would have check signing privileges and determined Dwyer, Knowlton and Howard would be authorized to sign TPPC checks. Dwyer would arrange a time to complete these transactions, and the debit card would be closed. Also to be explored was using the Payment Status function on the Den for membership renewal.
Donations. Ideas discussed included the philosophy of giving, amounts, recipients, sponsorships, and amount to remain in treasury. Howard suggested that TPPC donations be given through the TP Charity Club. Other suggestions were to form an outreach committee with chairs of the Volunteer Committee tasked to review potential recipients. Dwyer suggested that a specified amount be used to benefit Club members. Community donations and procedures for giving included money made from tournaments (e.g., tournament registration, food sold, 50/50 raffles) be used for charitable donations.
The next meeting was scheduled at 4pm on Thurs Mar. 12.