POTOMAC VALLEY SWIMMING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
MEETING NOTES
7:00 PM –
TUESDAY, September 11, 2007
River Falls Community Center
River Falls, MD
Attendance: Board Members: Greg York, Chair; Austin Auger, Riley Eaton, Mark Faherty, Boots Hall, Dan Jacobs, Virginia Ratcliff, Bill Stephens, Jim Thompson, Ron Whalen, Cassidy Wolfe. Executive Director: John Ertter. Non-voting Board members: Janet Auger, Kerry Ellett, Jim Garner, John Hirschmann, Linda Klopfenstein, Jim Van Erden. Guests: Tim Husson, Paris Jacobs, Brian Pawlowicz
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:00 pm by Greg York, General Chair.
Agenda: John Ertter provided the Board with a proposed Agenda.
General Chair Items: Greg York’s first order of business was to recommend the appointment of John Hirschmann as Special Assistant to the General Chair and Jim Thompson as Strategic Planning Committee Chair, fulfilling the vacancy created by Bill Stephen’s election as Finance Vice Chair. As an interim appointment, Jim’s term will end August 31, 2008. The appointments were presented in separate motions and both were unanimously approved.
York next thanked those who had helped ensure an orderly transition for the new Board. Stating that the organization remains strong, his hopes for the future were that all available resources be utilized and that all recommendations and programs be fully implemented. Noting that a large cross section of clubs are currently represented on the Board, he reminded all members that club affiliation was to be dropped when discussing and deciding Board matters.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the July 24, 2007 were approved with one abstention, Ron Whalen.
Presentation on Future of PVS Website: At York’s request, Tim Husson had been invited to make a presentation on the future of the PVS web site. Husson provided all present with a handout, “PVS Web Site – Present and Future,” outlining his opinion as to what makes a good web site, previously made improvements/upgrades and potential future improvements and upgrades. He stressed that it was his view that the website was an important mechanism for PVS leadership to communicate with its membership – the role of a Webmaster is to facilitate that – not to decide what the message should be.
In response to Husson’s request for additional ideas to improve the website, it was suggested that both a Parents page and an Athletes page could be developed. Husson expressed his willingness to do so asking that he be provided with the relevant content. In an effort to determine what should be addressed on the Athletes page, York requested that the Athlete Representatives poll their constituents and provide a report to the Board at its November meeting. Establishment of an RSS feed was suggested; however, no decision was rendered. It was also recommended that the website’s address be added to the header of at least all PVS sponsored meet sheets to promote the site’s availability.
Improving the website’s content and usability was deemed to be an excellent means of serving the stated goal of improving PVS’s communication with its members. York informed the Board that the Compensation Committee had met the night before and was recommending to the Board that Husson be hired on a contract basis to serve as PVS’s Webmaster. This recommendation would be presented later in the meeting during the Compensation Committee’s report to the Board.
Executive Director’s Report: Prior to the meeting, all members had received via email John Ertter’s “Report from Executive Director.” After reviewing all items, the Board did the following:
Committee Reports:
Athletes: The athletes had no report to give. York reiterated his request that the Athlete Representatives poll their constituents regarding their use of and suggestions for the PVS web site. He asked that they submit a written report of their findings to the Executive Director seven to ten days prior to the November Board meeting.
Administrative Division: In preparation for his unavoidable absence at the meeting, Art Davis had submitted, via e-mail, his comments on two Administrative matters. The first item involved a request for PVS membership by Best Times Swim Club (BTSC). Noting that approval for the club had been granted by USA-S on July 30th, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to grant BTSC’s request.
The second item involved an apparent discrepancy between the recently approved Bylaw amendment (PVS by law 2.1.2.D.) and USA-S Rules and Regulations regarding the permitted duration of Seasonal Athlete registrations. At its 2007 meeting, the House of Delegates adopted the proposal to state that the duration would be “April through August.” USA-S rules state that the duration may be no more than 150 days. Due to Davis’ absence, on a vote of 7-1, resolution of the matter was tabled.
Finance / Treasurer: Financial results for the periods ending July 30, 2007 and August 31, 2007 had been provided to the Board prior to the meeting. PVS’s current assets on hand as of July 30, 2007 were $720,682 and as of August 31, 2007 were $673,964. In his transmittal of the August 31, 2007 results, John Hirschmann, in his capacity as the out-going Treasurer, emphasized that the results were preliminary and that a final set of statements would be forthcoming once final postings for the fiscal year and annual accruals of accounts payable, unearned income, accounts receivable, etc had been performed..
Bill Stephens informed the Board that he planned to order PVS business cards and asked to be notified by those individuals who wished to request them. Turning to PVS’s financial health, Stephens reaffirmed the LSC’s excellent position, but cautioned that, while spending can be controlled, income cannot and that, if all planned and proposed initiatives are executed, the approved budget deficit would grow based on the budget deficit approved by the House for 2008. He also noted that as a result of a recent decision by USA-S regarding assignment of a new team to VSI, over 200 athletes registered in PVS in 2007 would likely be registered with VSI for 2008. In response to a question asking if the Board’s prior year budgetary philosophy was being reexamined, York responded that it was not.
Age Group Division: In advance of the meeting, Bill Marlin had provided the Board an update on the planning for the 2008 EZ Long Course meet and a copy of Head Coach John Cyganiewicz’s Report on the 2007 EZ Long Course Meet.
Mark Faherty, 2007 EZ LC Outfitting Coordinator, provided the Board with a write-up summarizing his experience, including the matter of a delay in receiving some items.
Continuing discussion of the zone meet, John Ertter reported that it had been an extremely well run trip with only one athlete leaving early due to a “family emergency.” At his suggestion, and with the endorsement of the Age Group Chair, Bill Marlin, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to provide bonuses of 25% to the coaching staff in the following amounts: Zone Team Coordinator - $375.00, Head Coach - $175.00, Assistant Head Coach - $125.00, Assistant Coaches - $100 each, equaling a total disbursement of $1,385.00.
Senior Division: Riley Eaton informed the Board that he had recently met with former Senior Chair, Don Riedlinger, to review his division’s responsibilities and was meeting soon with Bill Marlin regarding planning for the upcoming Competition Committee meeting. To date, he and Ward Foley had not met regarding the matter of how to determine if home-schooled athletes were eligible for recognition under the PVS Scholar-Athlete program.
Coaches Division: Dan Jacobs announced that a committee comprised of the Age Group Chair and both Coaches Representatives had selected Kent Williams of RMSC as the 2006-07 PVS Age Group Coach of the Year. Due to scheduling conflicts, Williams had declined the opportunity to attend this year’s ASCA convention at PVS’s expense.
Faherty raised the possibility of rescheduling the upcoming Competition Committee meeting explaining that several coaches had commented to him that 6:30pm on a week night was not desirable. It was pointed out that the time and date had been approved by the Committee members at its May meeting; however, York suggested that Eaton discuss with Marlin if an alternate date and time could be arranged.
Faherty concluded by informing the Board that Dan and he were formulating plans for the PVS offering at Lee District on February 22-24, 2008. PVS had previously voted to rent Lee District on those dates and use it for PVS sponsored activities.
Operations Division: Emphasizing the importance of safety at meets, Ron Whalen reminded those present that a Report of Occurrence must always be completed and filed with the PVS Safety Chair regardless of the severity of injury. He continued by stating that PVS was in good shape in regards to its number of certified officials and, thanking the Board for developing its Officials Requirement program, expressed his desire that the program not be modified. Whalen also said that he did not anticipate any major equipment purchases in this coming year, only the usual expendable items such as watches, lap counters and printers.
In response to a question about the status of fines for clubs not meeting the PVS Officials Requirement as of May 1, 2007, York asked that the matter be deferred until the October Board meeting due to Davis’ absence.
Officials Representative: Boots Hall informed the Board that several Officials clinics are now currently scheduled and that more would be forthcoming.
Stephens added that he had recently attended the USA-S Risk Management Conference at which the importance of marshals on deck had been stressed and that the USA-S Rules and Regulations Committee was expected to have on its September agenda a proposal to allow the use of marshals who are not registered members of USA Swimming.
Compensation Committee: Bill Stephens provided a Compensation Committee Report in which he explained that the Committee had met on September 10, 2007 to review the current contracts with service providers, to consider a new contract for John Ertter to serve as Executive Director, and to discuss a possible contract for a webmaster. After receiving and reviewing the PVS “Agreement for Independent Contractor Services – Executive Director, “ a motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to execute the contract with John Ertter for the period September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2008.
Before addressing the matter of a contract for a webmaster, Stephens acknowledged John Hirschmann for his eleven years of volunteer service in maintaining the PVS website. Referencing Tim Husson’s earlier presentation, the Compensation Committee requested the Board approve the concept of hiring a webmaster and authorize the Executive Director to negotiate a contract for these services with an effective date of September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008. Following a motion, and second, the Compensation Committee’s request was unanimously approved.
Special Reports:
Swimposium: Paris Jacobs provided an update on the 2007 PVS Swimposium scheduled for October 6th at Georgetown Preparatory School. She explained that USA-S now supports Swimposiums every three years, rather than every two years (a decision made last May after PVS had started preparation). A consequence of this change is that the presenters of the Coaches and Officials Tracks are coming under their own Divisions. Additionally, while PVS was able to request athletes for the Breakout Swim Clinic, the final decision of who would be sent
remained with Mutual of Omaha.
Due to the necessity of most of the speakers to depart at 2:00pm Saturday afternoon, Paris indicated that, in lieu of a social, it might be prudent to use the afternoon rental period to hold coaches certifications programs. She concluded by stating that she would investigate the matter further.
Convention: Linda Klopfenstein confirmed that all lodging arrangements for Convention had been completed. She briefly reviewed with the Board other arrangements regarding PVS’s participation.
Awarding of 2007-2008 SC PVS Sponsored Meets: Janet Auger informed the Board that only one bid had been received to host the remaining sites of the PVS November Open and that no new bids had been received for either the January or February Distance meets. The Board agreed to award the hosting of both Takoma sites of the November Open to Bill Marlin. RMSC has agreed to host the distance meets in the event that no bids are received.
VHSL Proposal for Registration of USA Swimming Officials: Jim Garner provided a handout and explained to the Board that past General Chair of VSI, George Homewood, had negotiated an arrangement with Virginia High School League (VHSL) to recognize VSI and PVS deck officials at competitions it conducts. As this was a recent development, he indicated that he plans to meet with Jim Thompson and Jim Van Erden to finalize the particulars of the arrangement. This is a matter where VHSL has decided to expand the ways in which VHSL officials may become certified. Accordingly, no formal action by PVS is required. The Officials Committee should cooperate with VHSL regarding informing them of certifications issued by PVS. [Subsequent to the meeting, the process for VHSL Official Certification (2007-08 Season) was finalized and posted to the PVS website.]
Next Board Meeting: The Chair announced that its next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 6:30PM at McLean Community Center. [Subsequent to the meeting, it was determined that the McLean Community Center was not available and the location was changed to Oak Marr.]
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:42PM.
Respectfully submitted by,
Janet Auger
PVS Administrative Assistant