Date: November 1, 2008
Location: Camp Chingachgook
Present: Steve Mintz (President), Scott Stewart (Vice President), Don Miller (Treasurer), Becky Bonn (Secretary), Trish McCluskey, George Painter, Marc Carnevale, Rick Irvine, Rebecca Stanley, Rex Moon, Spencer Raggio
The meeting was called to order at 2:25PM
Steve welcomed everyone and introduced Rick Irvine to the board. Steve was not able to reach Bob Flanagan, however Steve believes he is interested in joining the board. Also Rex withdrew his resignation and will try to make as many meetings as possible. Spencer Raggio is also rejoining the board.
The minutes from October 22, 2008 meeting has been posted for all to read.
Treasurer’s Report: Don Miller handed out a financial summary as of 11/1/08. $7194.00 is in the designated fund at this time. Total revenue is $24,336.00 to date. $19,486.00 in Expenses and currently we have an operating gain of $4850.00. Spencer handed George a check for $1000.00, raised from the Ti Race, on behalf of the Corinthians. This year donations, $11214.00, are at a record high along with the number of participants served also. Nyack donated $5000.00 and Steve would like to have the secretary send a special thank you to them.
Committee Reports:
Membership: Jenny was not present to report.
Publicity: Dylan was not present to report. However Steve wants us to know that even though he will be off the board he will still publicize Y-Knot.
Fundraising: Scott will follow up with Pete Hogg concerning the Sandbagger Boats “Bull” and “Bear” with the hopes of having them come to Lake George in 2009.
Regatta: Rex felt the Regatta was a tremendous success. The weather was awesome and he wants to extend his thanks to everyone involved, especially Spencer. George wants to thank Marc Carnevale for his efforts in recruiting the Canadians. Also great job on the prizes Trish!! Thank you to Yankee Yacht and Kam for the use of their boats.
Old Business:
Steve looked into prices for purchasing new sails for the Martin’s. A set on the Martin website is listed for $1325. He checked with North Sails and they are about $260 higher without a spinnaker. Steve believes we only need to purchase 3 at the moment. George feels we should purchase 6 sets but agrees it does not have to be all at once. There was much discussion about the material used and other companies to buy from and f a bigger discount would be involved with a larger quantity. It was decided to let Rex and Spencer look into the purchase of new sails and report back at the January 2009 meeting.
Becky researched pricing on slings and will supply the information to Rebecca to look over and report which sling type might be best utilized for Y-Knot.
George and Becky will look at the current supply of Y-Knot apparel and report on new possibilities at one of the next meetings.
Regatta policy for loaning & transporting boats: Spencer will work on for 2009.
Don Miller was asked to present an idea of a trailblazer, a machine that would allow a disabled person to hike a mountain. The machine would be for 1 person and could cost $4800 to $6900 depending if it’s new or used. This would take the program in a different direction. Rebecca suggests we ask if Pat Standens group could utilize it in their program. The discussion was summed up best that if you could be hiking you could be on the water. There are other adaptive water sports to explore such as kayaking or canoeing, keeping our program on the lake for now. Marc suggested looking for grant money to purchase the trailblazer. Steve motioned to table this discussion for after we found out how much new sails will cost. Scott seconded the motion.
Amendments to Operating Guidelines – Don Miller wants to discuss Section 6, Subsection B of the guidelines:
The following Officers shall be elected by a majority of the Y-Knot membership at the fall general meeting. The terms of office shall be a two-calendar-year term that commences January 1 of the following year. The Y-Knot President and at least one Vice President shall be individuals with disabilities.
Rex motioned to discuss amending the guidelines and Scott seconded the motion.
The motion is should we change the guidelines to allow an able bodied person to be president or not. Steve feels strongly against changing it. Rebecca reminds us that people with disabilities started Y-Knot and the disabled leadership sets us apart. Don said that at the Oct 22, meeting no one felt comfortable taking that role. Discussion brought on other ideas such as an interim president or changing the length of the term or having it mandatory to have 2 of the 4 or 3 of the 4 positions be held by a disabled person, not necessarily the president position. Rebecca agrees that people should not be pushed into a position they aren’t comfortable and that she wouldn’t want an able bodied person making the decisions for the disabled. George believes that change is good and our next leader needs to take us to the next level. The president of the program needs leadership, communication, motivation and organizational skills and if an able bodied person possess these qualities than we should consider changing the guidelines. Steve agrees that we need a great leader and if you have a disability then you will have the report with the audience we are trying to capture. George doesn’t want the choices limited. Spencer feels that a group within the board needs to take the recruitment process seriously to help train the leadership. Rebecca said that this is a fundamental decision and one she feels we are not ready to make. She feels we need to take more time and find out from other programs, such as Shake-a-Leg and Pat Standen’s group. Rex withdrew his original motion and motioned to keep things as they are allowing time to research how other programs are run. All agreed to table this for a future discussion.
New Business:
Board of Elections – Motions were made and seconded for the following and all agreed:
President: Marc Carnevale
Vice President: Scott Stewart and Don Miller
Treasurer: Rick Irvine
Secretary: Becky Bonn
Rex wanted to congratulate Steve Mintz on a job well done as President.
Sailing Calendar 2009 will be planned at the January 2009 meeting.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at the Clifton Park YMCA, 6PM
Meeting adjourned 4:30PM
Minutes submitted by Becky Bonn 11/4/08