POTOMAC VALLEY SWIMMING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
MEETING NOTES
Attendance: Jim Garner, Chair. Board Members: Jim Garner, John Hirschmann, Bill Marlin, Don Riedlinger, Bill Stephens, Ron Whalen, Greg York. Non-voting Board members: Janet Auger, John Ertter, Ward Foley (ex-officio).
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at approximately 6:40 P.M. by Jim Garner, General Chair.
Agenda: Jim provided the Board with a proposed Agenda.
Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the February 8, 2006 meeting were approved.
General Chairman Items:
Jim Garner reported that he has been in discussion with the USA-S Counsel regarding an apparent discrepancy between Section 3.7 of the PVS Bylaws and USA–S Rules and Regulations Section 203.6 regarding non-payment of fees to member clubs. Since we have been advised
that USA-S Rule 203.6 overrides the PVS Bylaws, Ward Foley suggested that this discrepancy be brought to the attention of the House of Delegates.
Open Committee Assignments: There was no discussion of this item and thus no decisions were made.
House of Delegates: The date for the House of Delegates meeting was tentatively scheduled for either May 23rd or 24th, pending location availability. This will permit the meeting to follow the Eastern Zone meeting (May 13th) and the Competition Committee Meeting (May 16th) as has been past practice. River Falls and the McLean Community Center were discussed as possible meeting locations. The possibility of having a light dinner and refreshments at 6:30pm followed by the formal meeting at 7:30pm (as was done in 2005) was discussed and it was agreed it would be desirable to continue this practice. [The meeting was subsequently confirmed for Wednesday, May
24th, 6:30 P.M. at the McLean Community Center.]
At Large Appointments for HoD Meeting: Jim Garner recommended to the Board that the following individuals be designated as the 10 at-large delegates to the PVS House of Delegates as permitted by the Bylaws: Art Davis, Riley Eaton, Steed Edwards, Kerry Ellett, John Ertter, Ward Foley, Boots Hall, Tim Husson, Linda Klopfenstein and Jim Thompson. The Board concurred with the recommendation to make these appointments.
Nominating Committee: The Board reviewed what Board positions stand for election this year: Administrative Vice Chair, Age Group Chair, Operations Vice Chair and Strategic Planning, four Board of Review members. The incumbents of the Administrative Vice-Chair and Age Group Chair are not eligible to run for that position due to the term limits in PVS’s Bylaws. The Coach and Athlete Representatives are the responsibility of those bodies to elect. The Board approved the
formation of a Nominating Committee comprised of Jim Garner, John Hirschmann and Linda Klopfenstein.
Administrative:
DCJT: Bill Stephens stated that there was nothing new to report on the status of the Dale City Jets’ (DCJT) application to join PVS. The matter is primarily being handled between DCJT head coach and USA Swimming staff. The team’s athletes are registered here as unattached (UN-PV).
Coaches’ Certifications: Bill then circulated a list of those coaches whose certifications have expired. While the number on the list is much smaller than in previous years, he stressed the importance of making sure these coaches complete the recertification requirements. The PVS Registrar has been following-up as appropriate.
Athlete Registrations: Bill Stephens informed the Board that PVS has approximately 7500 registered athletes for the current registration year— with males comprising
about 44% of registrations – that is higher than the national average. The retention rate of 80% is almost double that of last year.
Format of Board of Directors Minutes: At the request of Bill Stephens, the Board discussed the merits of modifying the current format of the Board of Directors Minutes. Bill proposed that the Minutes reflect Board actions only. It was agreed that the additional information found in the Minutes is a valuable way of communicating with the broader membership; however, reporting of those discussions should be unofficial in nature and should not be interpreted as reporting of formal action or discussion by the Board. and be supplemented by a separate document entitled “Meeting Notes.” Jim Garner reported that he had sought guidance on the matter from two attorneys and had received conflicting advice.
A discussion ensued on the merits of “formal” versus “informal” Minutes. It was
stressed that, in suggesting this modification, the Board did not wish to reduce the flow of information previously reported to its constituents via the Minutes; but merely wished to conform to normal business practices and be clear as to what were formal Board actions. By preparing a document entitled, “Meeting Notes,” and linking it to the Minutes, the flow of information would be unchanged. A motion was made, seconded and passed (3-1 with 3 abstentions) to modify the format of the Board of Directors Minutes to reflect Board actions only, supplemented by “Meeting Notes” beginning with the March 8th meeting.
Age Group Swimming: Greg York posed the idea whereby PVS would rent a pool for an entire day and allow different teams to hold short 2-hour meets aimed primarily to serve our younger swimmers. While acknowledging the potential merits of his idea, the Board felt that his proposal should more properly be made to
the Competition Committee.
Reporting on the upcoming 14&Under JO’s, Greg reported that a mix-up had occurred in one instance of reporting a 50 Free cut time (where the tighter QT had inadvertently not been reflected in the .hyv file used by teams to prepare entries.) This results in 4 to 5 swimmers being removed from the event. The Board supported this action being taken and that it was more appropriate to place reliance on the QT’s posted since last October and the Meet Announcement that has been posted since last December.
He also informed that Board that he and Paris Jacobs (Zone Coordinator) had decided to place an informational piece regarding Zones in the Meet Sheets of Senior Champs and JO’s. It was agreed additional costs, if any, may be requested for reimbursement by the host clubs. A final matter that he wished to bring to the attention of the Board was the presence of USA-S coaches on the deck at some high
school meets and their refusal to vacate at the Meet Referee’s request. He stated that he was bringing this issue to the Board at the request of some high school swimming coaches. Some Board members expressed the view that PVS could probably not take any formal action since they did not appear to be violating any USA-S rules. That did not preclude providing guidance on “meet etiquette.”
Senior Division: Don Riedlinger reported that the PVS Senior Short Course Championship Meet would be comprised of only PVS athletes. He indicated a team from the VSI LSC had been invited but subsequently decided not to attend. A team from NC had requested an invitation just prior to the meet and a decision had been made by others in his absence not to extend an invitation.
Coach’s Representative: Bill Marlin presented a proposal for “Adaptive Swimmer of the Year.” As
background, he explained that he has been contacting other LSC’s for information on the selection criteria for their “Swimmer of the Year” programs. In doing so, he learned that one LSC does have a program for adaptive swimmers and wished the Board to consider his proposal. Others asked if there were sufficient athletes in the LSC eligible for the award to make earning it meaningful. It was noted that several athletes in the LSC would probably be eligible for the award. Don Riedlinger explained that USA-S does make this type of award as does Virginia Swimming. He offered to work with Pamela Starke-Reed, his co-chair of the Adapted Swimming Program, to develop a selection criteria proposal. A motion was made, seconded and passed 7-0 for Don Riedlinger and Bill Marlin to prepare a proposal for selection criteria for the potential adoption by the Board of an “Adaptive Swimmer of the Year Award.”
Treasurer’s Report/Finance
Division: Prior to the meeting, John Hirschmann had provided the Board with copies of the 2005 Audited Financial Statements and Audit Committee Letter, in addition to the 2005 Form 990. It was also agreed these documents should also be posted to the PVS website as they were documents that either should be made available publicly or are required to do so by law. He reported that the accounting firm saw no need to issue a Management Letter as a result of any matter that came to their attention while conducting their audit. He further stated that John Ertter was to be commended for the outstanding work he continues to do that allows the accounting firm to continue to have confidence in PVS’ procedures.
John Hirschmann had also provided the Board with financial statements as of February 28,
2006. Those statements showed that PVS had $702,971 in current assets on had as of that date. The Board was also provided with reports regarding financial activity for PVS sponsored meets, club sponsored meets sanctioned by PVS as well as activity pertaining to meets authorized by PVS as observed or approved meets.
John Ertter reminded the Board that it is time to begin work on the draft FY 2007 Budget PVS Budget that will be presented to the Board for their adoption. There was discussion of PVS’s strong financial health and the potential implications it has for preparation of the 2007 budget. This included discussion of whether PVS should be proposing new initiatives for next year. While discussing various potential initiatives to incorporate into the draft budget, a proposal was made to schedule a Budget Planning Workshop on Saturday, April 8th, 9:00 A.M. Bill Stephens agreed to determine if the McLean Community Center would
be available. John Ertter agreed to create a baseline budget in advance of the meeting. [The workshop was subsequently rescheduled to Saturday, April 15th, 9:00 A.M., at the McLean Community Center.]
Funding Outreach Meet Entries: The Board addressed the mechanics of how best to implement the motion passed at the 2005 HoD Meeting to waive the entry fees into PVS sponsored meets for athletes registered under the Outreach Program. John Ertter voiced his preference that meet entry fees be collected by the meet host and then refund requests be submitted by the individual clubs to the Treasurer for reimbursement. This procedure would best maintain the anonymity of those athletes registered as Outreach athletes. He agreed to create a simple reimbursement form to be made available to clubs. Said form would indicate that refunds will be made for events entered. A motion was made, seconded and passed 7-0 to require that
clubs submit entry fees for Outreach swimmers’ entries to host clubs and then submit requests to the PVS Controller for reimbursement.
Operations Division: A request was made to waive the fees for the Lindsey J Miller Invitational Meet that was held on March 3-4, 2006 and hosted by SDS. Without further discussion, a motion was made, seconded and passed 7-0 to waive sanction fees for the Lindsey J Miller Invitational Meet, a meet hosted by SDS on March 3-4, 2006 where all fees are donated.
Ron Whalen requested authorization from the Board to purchase two Colorado System VI’s at a cost of approximately $4500 each. A motion was made, seconded and passed to authorize this expenditure. John Ertter indicated he would handle placing the order.
Old Business:
Review of PVS Bylaws: Bill Stephens explained that he is currently reviewing the PVS Bylaws for clarification and updating with the goal
of amending certain sections at the HoD. As an example of a modification, he stated that the Bylaws currently defines Ex-Officio Members as: ”The Immediate Past General Chairman of PVS and the current Chairman of the Board of Review, if Individual Members in good standing, shall be ex-officio members of the Board of Directors during the time period in which they meet the defined status.” He would like to see this definition expanded. Ward Foley suggested that Bill consult with Mark Eldridge regarding the Bylaws since he was the lead person involved in the prior update. Bill also pointed out that some portions of the PVS Policy and Procedure Manual that would recommend be changed cannot be changed until the Bylaws are amended to permit it.
Travel Reimbursement for USA Swimming Convention: The Board returned to the matter of how best to reimburse expenses for the USA-S Swimming Convention. As had been discussed at the
February 8th BoD meeting, it was reiterated that it would be best to base reimbursement on actual costs. A motion was made, seconded and passed that travel reimbursement is to be made on an actual cost reimbursement model in lieu of a stipend. Guidance would be provided on maximum reimbursements that would be provided. Continuing the discussion of the USA-S Swimming Convention, one member raised a question regarding the various levels of funding received by attendees. A motion was made, seconded and passed that the General Chair make annual recommendations regarding who should be reimbursed and at what level to the Board as to funding levels for PVS attendees.
Next Board Meeting: The Board agreed to hold its next meeting Wednesday, April 19th, 6:30 P.M. The practicality of having it at River Falls or McLean was discussed. [It was determined after the meeting to have it at the McLean Community Center.]
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted by:
Janet Auger
PVS Administrative Assistant