The minutes were approved at the January BoD meeting.
Potomac Valley Swimming
Board of Director’s Conference Call
December 19, 2012
7:00 pm
· Attendance – This meeting was a set up as a conference call, those who called in were; Voting members; Riley Eaton, Bill Marlin, Paris Jacobs, Bob Vincent, Mike Rubin, Jim Garner, Tim Husson, Manga Dalizu, Scott Bryant, Miriam Lynch, Emily Menard. Non-voting members; John Ertter, Kurt Thiel and Terri Marlin
· Call to Order – The meeting was called to order by General Chair, Riley Eaton at 7:10 pm by phone conference.
· General Chair Comments – There were no general comments made.
· Action Items –
o Proof of Quorum to Conduct Business – Administrative Chair, Paris Jacobs, confirmed that 11 voting members were present on the call and therefore a quorum was present.
o Approval of Non-binding November 12, 2012 Board Meeting Minutes – Motion to approve the non-binding minutes from the November 12, 2012 BoD Meeting, seconded and approved by acclimation.
o Motion to approve new swim club, Lowell Lionfish Swim club – Paris Jacobs noted that Lowell Lionfish Swim Club, has been approved by USA Swimming and that all paperwork has been properly submitted to PVS.
§ Motion to approve Lowell Lionfish Swim Club as a new club in PVS, seconded and approved.
o Fines for 2011-2012 Insufficient Officials – Updates and Actions – As of today, December 17, 2012, 10 clubs have been sent notices regarding fines due for not having the sufficient number of Officials assigned to their team. There have been 5 clubs that have paid their fines, they each asked a few questions; however the end result was payment in full. Of the 5 remaining, one club has sent in a formal letter of appeal (addressed to the board, three have sent emails expressing their dissatisfaction of the fine, indicating that they “have a lot of swimmers that don’t swim in PVS meets”, feel the fines are unfair and would like the fines to be waived. The final club has not yet responded at all. The total amount of the fines due was $3000, at this time $1400 has been collected and $1600 remains outstanding.
§ In the past a fairly complicated formula was used to determine the appropriate number of officials required in comparison to the number of athletes. However policy states that the number of Officials is solely determined on the number of registered athletes on the club, not the number who participate in meets.
§ There is a secondary insurance policy that can be used for swimmers who do not compete, they can be at the same practice at the same time, but must be in different lanes than those will regular USA S insurance coverage.
§ It was noted that one other club did respond and commented that they did have four certified Officials; however two of them just recently switched to different teams.
§ Should we reject the appeal and offer to have them send this to board of review?
· It was recommended that no fines be waived. If there is a club that disagrees they can take the issue to the PVS Board of Review.
· PVS Executive Director, John Ertter, will send the remaining five clubs a letter stating the board has reviewed the fines and decided that no fines will be waived and if they are still not satisfied they can go to the BoR.
o Approval of $5,000 PVS Equipment Purchase Subsidy for MSSC – November 30, MSSC purchased timing equipment including a full set of pad. They have sent a complete invoice for a total of $17000 to the Executive Directors for review and to request the PVS subsidy package from PVS.
§ Motion to approve the $5,000 PVS Equipment Purchase Subsidy for MSSC, second and approved.
o Termination of Attorney of Record Agreement with Artabane & Belden – PVS has paid for Artabane and Belden to be on retainer for a number of years. The General Chair, Riley Eaton, informed the Board that having a retainers states that if PVS are in need of an attorney Artabane & Belden are contracted to represent us; however the money we pay them, does not go towards any fees that they will be charging. Over the summer when we needed an attorney for some guidance, we went to an outside source and experienced great results.
§ This seems like an expense that we just don’t need to spend each year.
§ We pay them $2500 per year as the retainer. The only thing we have used them for was a letter to the auditors. But this can be dealt with by other means.
§ Current term expired on Sept 1, 2012, but the invoice has not yet been paid; therefore we still are able to release them.
§ If the GC doesn’t want to use this firm, and he has the power to use whatever representation he feels will be best.
§ The Board agrees to terminate the attorney agreement with Artabane & Belden.
o Diversity Committee –
§ “Going for the Gold” event - Last year the Diversity invited Anthony Ervin come into PVS to give a clinic for about 130 attendees. The Diversity Committee would like to offer a similar program again. This year they would like to invite Sabir Mohammed, and are asking for $2000 from the Diversity budget to help cover the expenses for Mohammed.
· It is planned to hold the clinic in the May/April time frame, at PGS&LC.
· Paris would like to have a set date and facility before approving the money; however Miriam expressed that the committee wanted to confirm the approval for the money before asking the athlete to attend and lock in dates. .
· Motion for approval of funding of $2000 to bring in Sabir for the Going for the Gold, with the acknowledgement that the date and facility all work out, seconded and approved.
§ PVS Diversity Chair/Eastern Zone Diversity Chair – Miriam Lynch recently participated in the Eastern Zone Diversity workshop in Chicago (see report submitted). This is a new position for the Eastern Zone and Miriam was elected into the position in September at the Eastern Zone meeting as part of the USA Swimming Convention. Because this work is fairly extensive; the Eastern Zone has determined that the EZ Diversity Chair cannot also hold a position on their LSC Board of Directors simultaneously. A new Diversity/Inclusion Chair will have to be appointed by PVS.
· Paris Jacobs indicated that she has spoken to both Marcy Callahan, immediate past EZ coach Director, and Ed Delhert, EZ Coach Director, and other GC in the Eastern Zone and yes it was approved at the Eastern Zone meeting, no one else realized there was a caveat that you cannot hold both positions and this will be addressed. Paris feels that the person can be both (similar to Paris as Admin and EZ Director). Ultimately it is up to Miriam as to whether or not she wants to do both.
o Miriam expressed her appreciation and the confidence expressed by Paris and Riley that she can do both jobs; however she knows the EZ job will be a lot of work and doesn’t want PVS to fall behind. She feels that finding the right replacement is in the best interest of PVS and will continue to support and participate in the Board activities when possible. recommendation of a replacement
· It is the job of the General Chair to make the appointment of a new Diversity Chair.
· Miriam has done a terrific job and we thank her for all that she has done for PVS and will be supportive and helpful in the transition time.
§ PVS Diversity Travel Team – This will be the 3rd year of the Black Heritage Meet in Cary NC. Last year 125 athletes from 17 PVS teams participated in this meet. This year they are expecting more to be interested, but will have to cap it at 130 based upon the coaches who have indicated they can go. The Diversity Committee is asking for financial support to help pay for two buses which will enable them to keep the costs low.
· It was asked if this was a PVS or a Zone event? Miriam explained that this meet would be similar to the PVS Zone team that competes each Spring and Summer. All participates come together as on team, regardless of their club affiliation and compete as PVS. In many cases this is the individuals first travel meet, and Miriam feels it is a “stepping stone” to Zones. She also commented that PVS was the first to send a “LSC Team” and now the New England LSC is creating a similar team, and the Central Zone is trying to put together a meet for all Zones to participate in.
· There were concerns expressed indicated that at the conclusion of last year’s events, there were emails and phone calls from the parents, vendors, expressing their concerns with some of the facilities used, the catering options and other trip related details. If this is going to be seen as a PVS travel team and is supported by PVS, then we do not want anything to impact this team/meet in a negative manner. It was also asked; Who is in charge? What is their role? Who has control of the financial issues?
o The bottom line is that if this is a PVS event it should be treated as such, with proper checks and balances, appropriate financial procedures in place and a coordinator that can be the liaison between the PVS Board and the team.
o Miriam indicated she is aware of the issues and strives to make things better. There is currently a committee working on this meet/team and while Miriam is not “in charge” she has been included on the calls. Riley asked if they (the committee) will be willing to go with checks and balances with PVS, and Miriam indicated that yes, they will coordinate with PVS.
o It was suggested to create a small group, with the new Diversity Chair, to discuss the appropriate procedures and then move forward. There needs to be more information gathered and then brought back to the board.
o Winter Classic/National Evaluator – A National Evaluator was brought in to PVS to observe and certify PVS Officials on a National Level. There were 84 Officials who worked and 14 evaluated. As this was a club meet and the host club paid for the hotel expense for the National Evaluators (Wayne Shulby from North Carolina and Elizabeth Jester from PVS), the Officials Committee is asking that the funds for Wayne’s travel expenses (mileage) come out of the Officials Committee’s budget. The PVS Officials Committee feels that PVS should pay for this because the entire LSC benefited from this meet being an OQM not just the host club.
§ A concern was express that this would be a precedent setting action.
§ One member asked how is the evaluator selected?
· Typically have 3 meets within the year with an evaluator. In the past several years the third meet is in December and has historically been the Dolan meet. This year the Officials Committee selected the Winter Classic at George Mason.
· Typically Jack Neill, Officials Committee Chair, has been in charge of setting up the evaluators since he has the most contacts within the National level Officials.
· The PVS P & P was examined and according to O-20 Lodging and Travel, “(expenses for meet and admin referees in national certification meets)…this shall be the responsibly of PVS for PVS sponsored meet and the club will pay if it is a club meet.”
· It was noted that this request is coming from the Officials Committee, not the host club.
· Due to the current policy in P & P the host club will be responsible for all expenses for the National Evaluator for their meet in December 2012. If the Official’s Committee feels that the policy should be changed, then let’s look at this more closely, discuss and alter the policy after thoughtful consideration.
· Reports
o Executive Director – see report submitted
o Athlete Representatives – no report submitted
o Administrative – No report submitted
o Inclusion/Diversity – see report submitted
o Webmaster –
§ There was a brief problem with the website in early December, apparently the server went down over night, when they brought it back up it reverted back about 3 months. It was corrected within about 12 hours.
o Technical Committee – By the end of next week we will start looking at the number of swimmers who have qualified for JOs.
o Finance/Accounting – no report submitted.
o Operations – Have we ordered new stripe for Cub Run and Wakefield Park/Audrey Moore? This has not been done yet, but while not urgent, but there is a need.
o Senior Swimming – As an update on athlete travel; There are 3 possible applicants for Juniors, but no applications have been submitted yet. Thirty possible applicants for Senior Nationals, 10 are from GMU and as of the meeting date only one applied for travel grant. About a week ago reminders were sent out by Controller/Executive Director, John Ertter. The final due date is approaching, it is 30 days from end of the meet.
o Age Group Swimming – no report submitted
o Coaches Representatives – no report submitted
o Officials – see report submitted
o Strategic Planning – no report submitted
o Safety Committee – see report submitted
· Round Table Talking Points –
o Safety issues (based upon the recent events in CT) – one area where we are all subjected to is the media coverage and how we handle that. We are an organization that deals with young kids and we are open to the public and anyone can come in. We have been very fortunate that we have a good safety record. Please read the Safety Committee Report. If you are a Meet Director or a Meet Coach, please read and start thinking about how our meets/venues can be safer. We need to make sure the community at large is aware of what we are doing and that the police are informed. We need to investigate an appropriate course in deck marshaling – they must be aware of things to look for. There should be a person at each meet who is solely responsible for calling 911.
§ There is a form/list of questions that the 911 operators wants answers to when they are called. Each meet director should have this list and have the answers readily available.
§ Can/should we try to obtain the safety plans for each facility to link to website for Officials/Meet Directors to review prior to each meet? It was agreed this is a great idea, but still need to address the issue of safety at each venue and each meet.
§ We, PVS, have the responsibility to ensure that the facility and their personal know what they are doing.
· We should also request a meeting with each of the facility directors to ensure that their emergency action plans are appropriate for swim meets and practices.
§ We are now requiring marshals; we need to focus on training for this position and ensuring that all marshal are familiar with the facilities and emergency action plans.
· Old Business Excluding Action Items –
o No old business
· Other New Business –
o Jan Distance and Jan Open – we have to come up with an equipment delivery plan. The first one (most important) is Lee District on Jan 5-6. Riley and Ertter will discuss and plan for these meets.
· Adjourn – we will set the next meeting soon. Motion to adjourn, seconded and approved.