Minutes Approved at the November Board Meeting

POTOMAC VALLEY SWIMMING

Board of Director’s Meeting

Overlee Community Center

6030 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA

October 12, 2009

• Dinner:
• Attendance: Greg York, Jim Thompson, Bill Stephens, Yuri Suguiyama, Riley Eaton, Art Davis, Dave DiNardo, John Hirschmann, Bob Vincent, John Ertter, Tim Husson, Jim Garner, Jack Neill, Brian Pawlowicz, Linda Klopfenstein, Terri Marlin
• Call to Order: Greg called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm

• Approval of August 3, 2009 Meeting Minutes: A motion was made to approve Aug. 3, BoD meeting Minutes, it was seconded and approved.

• 20 Year Volunteer Service: USA Swimming recognized Kerry Ellet, Steed Edwards & Don Reidlinger for 20+ years of service as volunteers on both the LSC and USA Swimming Level by giving them a “20 year pin”.

• 10 Year Volunteer Service: USA Swimming recognized Art Davis, Jim Thompson, Dan Jacobs & Jim Van Erden for 10+ years of service as volunteers on both the LSC and USA Swimming Level by giving them a “10 year pin”.

• Introduction of “new” board members: Yuri Suguiyama, Coaches Rep; and Dani Schulkin, Athlete Rep. Jack Neill attended as the new Official's Chair. Welcome to all.

• HyTek MM 3.0 Licenses: Jim Garner had previously offered to contact HyTek about renewing the PVS license and upgrade to Meet Manager 3.0. HyTek has altered the way they sell licenses and it has been more difficult than expected to find the best license option(s) to fit our unique needs. PVS has asked it’s member teams not to use MM3.0 until this matter is resolved due to the differences in the old and new programs. The Board hopes to resolve this matter quickly and remove this restriction.
• The most attractive option so far appears to be for PVS to purchase on license for Administrative purposes and then ask all teams who run meets, club or PVS hosted, to purchase their own license.
• All teams should be aware that they will need to purchase the scoreboard option if they plan to run any meets at PGS&LC.
• The Board has asked Jim Garner and Tim Husson to present a final recommendation at the November Board Meeting, as to the best way to proceed.  An Admin license will be purchased right away.

• LEAP Project Update: LEAP is the USA Swimming LSC recognition program. It is intended for LSC to use as a “self evaluation” tool for how well their organization is running. There are 44 items that must be submitted to achieve Level 1 recognition. John Hirschmann has been asked by the General Chair to work on this project and submit all necessary information to USA Swimming. He is doing this by collecting additional information from other Board Members as needed. A report has been submitted by John Hirschmann.
• 29 items have been completed out of the 44.
• Of the 15 left, about 8 should be able to be completed using input from individuals, without the need to have the item on the Board’s agenda.
• There are still 7 items that will require Board assistance and input.
• Vision Statement: Jim Thompson and Jack Neill will work on this and report back
• Report of Occurrence: Normally the Safety Chair would handle this item, but the position is currently vacant.
• Safety Chair: Greg is asking Jack Neill, Brian Pawlowicz & Dave DiNardo to find/prepare a job description & attempt to recruit a candidate for the Safety Chair position and to report back at the November Board meeting. John Ertter will be listed as the acting Safety Chair and listed on the forms and PVS website/contact person.
• Description on how we sanction meets: this is currently in the P & P – it needs to be reviewed so it can be submitted as current policy.
• How PVS authorizes Approved meets and Observed swims: this is not currently addressed in the P & P and only to a limited extent on the application form.
• A current version of Policies & Procedures is needed in order to respond affirmatively for two of the items in LEAP. Art Davis is currently working on a plan to get the P&P updated and posted to the web site (see below)

• PVS Policies & Procedures Project Update: Art Davis reported that the posted P&P were last updated in December 2003. Even though there have changes made since 2003, he finds that PVS is operating within all the currently approved Policies & Procedures. Art stated that all of the Board and HOD minutes from 2003 have been printed out, and a red line version of the P & P with all amendments will be completed by the November Board Meeting. Art would like to take a look on doing a complete structural overhaul and believes that there are several different approaches that can be taken to complete this task, see example (Art has).
• John Hirschmann commented that he feels that there are 3 distinct steps to complete the P & P update process. The first step is to add in all the new information from all minutes from 2003 so the P&P will be current as regard HoD and Board actions. Then if we want to change it organizationally do that as a second step. The third step would be to look through all the P &P and determine where there are topics that need to be revised, updated, deleted or added. He recommends given the number of Board or House actions needing to be reflected in the P & P that the steps not be combined.
• There is a general consensus that the P & P should be written and published in such a way that a “general member” can read and understand the content. If there is anything more specific that needs to be added then an attachment or addendum can be created and added.
• Art stated he will proceed with making all redline changes to the current P & P and bring it to the November Board Meeting.
• Resident Records: This is an issue brought forth by a coach as it applies to how a swimmer should be recognized who sets a PVS resident record while swimming for their HS or college and how they should receive their recognition. PVS policy currently permits any swimmer who participates in an Observed or Approved High School or College meet and is a PVS registered swimmer at the time to set a “Resident Record”. The issue is whether the swim should be credited to their club or show as UNAT. Time swum as observed swims appears as UNAT to comply with NCAA and some states HS representation rules. All HS times must go into SWIMS as unattached to keep the “playing field” level for the Virtual Club Championship program.
• Riley, Bill, Manga and Yuri have been asked to discuss this issue and talk to other coaches to get their opinions and report back in November.
• Hirschmann asked that the pragmatics also be part of this discussion as SWIMS is normally the primary source as to who is entitled to earn PVS records as well as being recognized for the annual fastest distance swims.He indicated that we do not want to create eligibility issues for any of our athletes.

• PVS Meet Director Post-Meet Reports: The General Chair made a motion to consisting of 4 items give the PVS Board the authority to fine PVS meet host clubs if they failure to comply with administrative & financial requirement in a complete, accurate and timely manner. Prior to the Board meeting Executive Director, John Ertter, submitted a report that contained his recommended language regarding this issue, see report.
• The motion only applies to PVS sponsored meets (including all Open Meet and PVS Championship meets both Short Course and Long Course).
• Ertter informed the Board that all too often some Meet Directors fail to turn in their post meet financial reports in a timely manner or the financial information is incomplete with money not collected in full, deck entries are not recorded properly and/or deck entry money missing.
• This causes the Controller to spend hours researching and reconciling the meet reports.
• John Ertter explained that the meet manager does not even have to collect all of the entry money under his proposed policy in order to avoid a fine being assessed. If the money is not in, the Meet Director just needs to report who still owes. Ertter knows how to collect the money.
• The motion was seconded and approved 5 yes-0 no-3 abstained.

• Travel Assistance Grants for US Open, Junior Nationals & the Paralympics Can-Am Meet:
• Junior Nationals: 18 athletes could have possibly applied for assistance. Of those 15 turned in applications and it was recommended to approve13 athletes at $250 each. A motion was made to grant the 13 athletes travel assistance, it was seconded, approved.
• A request was made at CCM that we find a way to notify coaches when an application is turned in. Tim has helped to develop a process that can be placed on-line
• Paralympics Can-Am Meet: One request was made and it was recommended for approval. A motion was made to grant $450 in travel assistance for this athlete, it was seconded and approved.
• US Open: 11 athletes could have possibly applied for assistance. 7 applications were received and it is recommended that only 4 receive travel assistance. Three of the applicants also received World Trials funding. Therefore, they were not eligible due to the no double dipping clause. A motion was made to grant 4 athletes $450 each for travel assistance, it was seconded and approved.
• Maccabiah Games: There was one request from a swimmer and one from a club in the spring of 2009. It is required that both clubs make the official requests following the competition, however; in this case the clubs have yet to make the request for the swimmers, nor has the swimmer returned any of the information she was asked to complete in order to receive assistance. As of this date no formal paperwork has been turned in by either swimmer or the clubs, therefore Board is formally approve payment. Riley Eaton and Greg York will attempt to contact the teams involved to see if any requests are to be made. If no formal paperwork is turned in before the November Board meeting then this matter will be dropped.
• World Championship Trials: There were19 possible athletes who could apply for assistance. 12 requests were received and it is recommended to approve all 12 athletes for $450 each. A Motion was made to grant travel assistance to 12 athletes for World Championship Trials, it was seconded and approved.
• A motion was made to increase hospitality reimbursement from $200 to $250 per session for all PVS meets except Distance Meets. Distance meets will remain at $200. The motion was seconded and approved. This is effective as of October 1, 2009.
• Actions from 2009 Fall Competition Committee Meeting: see report submitted.
• The following recommendations from the Fall CCM meeting require Board approval:
• A Motion was made to authorize the sanctioning of additional club sponsored meets during the period of January 1-March 31, 2010 as endorsed by Competition. The motion was seconded and approved.
• A Motion was made to authorize the sanctioning of additional club sponsored meets during the period of April 1-August 31, 2010 as endorsed by Competition. The motion was seconded and approved.
• A Motion was made to approve the Competition schedule for the PVS sponsored meets during the SC 2010-2011 season as recommended by CCM on September 27, 2009. The motion was seconded and approved.
• A Motion was made to approve to keep Travel Assistance and Zone Selection process the same in 2009-2010 as it was in 2008-2009; the motion was seconded and approved.
• A motion was made to accept the selection of the 2010 SC Zone coaches as Mark Faherty (CUBU), Head Coach and Emily Felker (HACC), Assistant Head Coach; the motion was seconded and approved.
• Zone Budget: Greg had asked the question at CCM to put a budget together for Zones. The CCM recommended that we continue to hold charges to athletes to a minimum and have PVS pick up the rest. It has always been difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the overspending. The budget is frequently set before the location and therefore the cost of the meet is known and in particular for the LC meet – the number going can vary significantly. CCM recommends that we spend what we spend. It was recommended that CCM come up with a PVS provided Zone Team Outfitting package that can be set from year to year to help control the budget.
• The last two year Ertter has calculated the athlete fee based upon a best estimate of the number of athletes that will participate using historical experience. The athlete’s contribution has remained between $425-500.
• This matter is tabled. The budgeted 2010 SC and LC PVS subsidy was set by the House in May 2009, it can readdressed when next year’s budget is prepared in the spring of 2010.
• Proposals Regarding PVS Investments:
• Motions were verbally proposed by the Finance Chair, Bill Stephens regarding PVS investments. Before discussing possible changes in PVS’s investment policy, Bill stated he agreed with the observation of the Audit Committee that initial investments in excess of $100,000 have been placed in a single financial intuition – contrary to PVS’s current policy. However, PVS policy has been adopted when the federal insurance limit was $100,000, it has since been raised to $250,000. A recommendation was made to change PVS’s limit to $250,000. However since there was no longer a quorum present, no vote took place. There was also discussion on the exact wording of the amendment, regarding how the $250,000 limit would be applied. Stephens and Ertter were asked to develop exact wording for this motion.
• Bill then made a proposal to both move management of PVS’s mutual funds from Dain Raucher to First Western and to increase the holdings in PVS’s mutual fund account from the current level of about $95,000 to $250,000. A lengthy discussion followed regarding both parts of the proposal.
• In November Bill Stephens will bring forth the formal proposals regarding the above items. Please read over Financial Report and send any questions to Bill.
• The General Chair has asked that Bill Stephens, John Ertter work with the Audit Committee and report back with pro and cons as to the advantages and disadvantages of following USAS and moving management of its Mutual Funds to First Western from Dain Rauscher.
• Update on PVS Equipment Operations: John Ertter reported that he is working with a Commercial Real Estate agent to find a space with room to store PVS meet equipment. Our requirement includes that the space has electricity and a work space.
• Both Greg and Ertter have spoken with the current equipment manager, Jake McGrail about the job requirements and they will continue to work help him gain and better understanding of what the job entails and how to provide a better service to those clubs running meets in and for PVS.
• Dave DiNardo will be rolling up his sleeves and will see if he can assist in getting a location for storage of PVS’s equipment. He will work on the inventorying of all equipment.
• Old Business
• September financial statements went out this morning to the Board. The final Swimposium numbers are not yet finalized, but it looks like PVS will come in about $7,000 under budget for the Swimposium. Paris Jacobs did a great job setting up the event. More people actually attended then were expected.
• Sean Link (DCPR) and John Ertter will be attending the USA Swimming Diversity Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• The detailed financial information necessary to audit PVS’s financial results for the year ending August 31, 2009 will go to the auditors in the morning.
• Miriam Lynch has been busy working on the seminar for prospective college students at Howard University. The information has been sent out and the event is set for Saturday October 31.
• New Business
• IMX report from Bill Marlin (as reported on by Terri Marlin)
• Bill has been in touch with Sean Link from DCPR and Link has offered the availability of Takoma for the Eastern Zone IMX meet. They are looking at the weekend of February 27 & 28, 2010. Bill has also been in touch with Tony Young from USA Swimming and is working on getting a Meet Announcement together. Decisions on the meet host and meet manager still need to be made. Bill will give more details regarding this meet at the November BoD meeting. This includes in particular whether PVS or the Potomac Marlins will take financial responsibility for the meet.
• There was a request to discuss the bidding process of the meet.
• At the Harvest moon, a situation came to attention of the Meet Referee of a Secret Service Agent on the deck fulfilling his duties in protecting a swimmer. This is a situation that will continue to come up at meets within PVS and meet managers should be aware of this possibility.
• There was a death in the PVS Swimming Family; nothing had been posted to the website for several days. The family was contacted by PVS and was asked for permission to post something on the website. At this point we have not heard back from the family. However on the Friday prior to the Board meeting, after the funeral was over and the death had already been published in the Washington Post and on the website “reachforthewall,” an “In Remembrance” was posted to the PVS website. It was observed that the swimmer was a minority and the absence of PVS publicly extending it’s condolences via its website was being misinterpreted by some. Situations like this are very sensitive and need to be handled as such.
• Jack Neill announced that the November 2009 Maxwell Excellence Award recipient was announced by USA Swimming’s Officials Committee. Congratulations to Tim Husson, a PVS Official for his outstanding contributions.
• Reports
• Athlete Representatives: no report submitted
• Executive Director Report; no report submitted
• Administrative: no report submitted
• Webmaster Report: see report submitted
• Finance/Accounting: no report submitted
• Operations Division: no report submitted
• Senior Division: report on CCM as stated previously.
• Age Group Division: see report submitted
• Coaches Representatives: no report submitted
• Officials: no report submitted
• Strategic Planning: no report submitted
• Next Board Meeting: November 9, 2009 at Overlee. 6:30 dinner, 7:00 meeting
• A motion was made to Adjourn, it was seconded and approved at 10:15pm