Official Minutes

POTOMAC VALLEY SWIMMING
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
MEETING NOTES

 

7:00 PM -- WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2007
McLean Community Center
McLean, VA


 

Attendance:  Board Members:   Jim Garner, Chair; Austin Auger, Mark Faherty, John Hirschmann, Dan Jacobs, Bill Marlin, Don Riedlinger, Bill Stephens.  Non-voting Board members:  Janet Auger, John Ertter, Jim Van Erden.  Guests:  Peter Clark (USA-S Eastern Zone Sport Development Consultant), John Cyganiewicz. 

 

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order at approximately 6:58 pm by Jim Garner, General Chair.

 

Agenda:  Jim provided the Board with a proposed Agenda.

 

Approval of Minutes:  A motion was made, seconded to approve the minutes of the December 13, 2006 meeting.  After accepting the need for one correction, the motion passed with one abstention by Don Riedlinger.

 

General Chairman Items:  The General Chair, Jim Garner, began the meeting by reporting on the status of VSI’s participation in the 2007 Swimposium.  While expressing interest in jointly participating with PVS, VSI’s House of Delegates meeting is scheduled to occur on the same weekend.  Garner has explained to VSI that PVS was locked into that weekend, had scheduled its meets so as to keep that weekend clear and thus PVS could not reschedule its Swimposium .  Jim indicated that he was awaiting a final decision from VSI.  He noted that, in the event that VSI does not participate, Paris Jacobs believes that Georgetown Prep would be a suitable location to hold the Swimposium.

 

Turning to the matter of the sanction fee reciprocity agreement, Garner informed the Board that VSI had passed the same language that the PVS Board had approved in December with an effective date of January 1, 2007.   Since then, PVS had learned that the Board of Directors of the Maryland Swimming Inc. had also agreed to enter into the same agreement with PVS.  In order to have this agreement go into effect, the PVS Board needed to formally agree to it as well.  Therefore, it was moved, seconded and unanimously approved the following “Sanction Fee Treaty” be entered into with Maryland Swimming: 

 

When meets are held by Maryland Swimming in PVS territory (and vice versa), the sanction fee assessed by the LSC in which the meet is being held will be $100 when all of the following conditions are met:

 

Thus, the “Sanction Fee Treaty” is now in effect with both Maryland Swimming and VSI.   The PVS General Chairman was to inform the Maryland LSC General Chairman that the PVS Board has also approved it.  As a footnote, it was also reported to the Board that Maryland Swimming and VSI had also entered into the same agreement between those two LSC’s.

Prior to the meeting, John Ertter had provided all members of the Board with a proposed Statement of Principles on Ethical Behavior and Conflict of Interest.  Noting that Art Davis had expressed opinions on the proposal and could not be present at this meeting, Riedlinger requested that the matter be deferred until Davis could be present.

 

Garner’s final item was to establish the date for the 2007 House of Delegates Meeting.  Noting that the Eastern Zone Meeting was set for Saturday May 12th and that the Competition Committee Meeting was set for Tuesday, May 15th, the Board agreed to the date of Wednesday, May 23, 2007.  Time and location were to be investigated and announced at a later time.  [Subsequent to the meeting, the location was announced as McLean Community Center with a start time of 6:30pm.]

 

Athlete Representative:  Auger reported to the Board that he had received no emails from athletes and otherwise had nothing else to report.

 

Competition Division:  Riedlinger presented to the Board for their review and approval various recommendations from the Competition Committee meeting on January 14, 2007.

Riedlinger reviewed Competition Committee's endorsement at its January 14th meeting of six club meets to be held between April 1, 2007 to August 31, 2007:

 

 

With the exception of the FISH bid for the Swim Like a Fish Invitational, all bids committed either with their bids or at the meeting to run the same meet this coming year as they had conducted last year.  Riedlinger explained that FISH had requested, via e-mail, to add the 800M Freestyle to their event lineup, limiting it to 4 heats of girls and 4 heats of boys.  The e-mail provided as justification of this request the observation that the Speedo Eastern States Senior Invitational Meet, which was held the same weekend as the PVS January Distance Meet, had included the 1650 Freestyle.

 

A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved that all the above meets be sanctioned.

Riedlinger next reviewed Competition Committee's endorsement of four club meets to be held between September 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007:

 

 

Riedlinger pointed out that the Harvest Moon bid was for one week later than in the past due to the 2007 Swimposium and that all bids committed to run the same meet this coming year as they had conduced last year.  He also explained that this was not the final opportunity to bid on this schedule.  A motion was made and seconded that all meets be sanctioned.  The motion was amended to state that the FAST Qualifier meet was being provisionally sanctioned awaiting the determination of any impact on the 2007 PVS November Open once the NFL schedule is released.  The amended motion passed unanimously.

 

Noting that John Cyganiewicz and Petra Martin had previously been approved by the Board to serve as Head Coach and Assistant Head Coach, respectively, for PVS’s 2007 Eastern Zone Short Course Zone team, Riedlinger informed the Board that ten coaches had requested to be on the ballot to serve as PVS Assistant Eastern Zone Coaches at the upcoming Eastern Zone SC Meet in Buffalo.   A motion was made and seconded to approve Competition's election of Shelley Gesker, Peter McDonough, Blair Piddington and Yuri Suguiyama.

 

Following the motion, Bill Marlin advised the Board that Paris Jacobs, Zone Team Coordinator, was now requesting that the Board approve an additional assistant coach so that the Head Coach does not also have to take responsibility for one specific group assigned to him; thereby allowing him to focus on the duties of  the Head Coach..  While not objecting to the concept, several Board members expressed its concern about the timing of the request since elections had already occurred. Since the coaches had been instructed to cast exactly four votes, it was also felt a reasonable inference could not be made as to who would have finished fifth had coaches been instructed to vote for five.  It was confirmed that Jacobs would be in attendance at this year’s Spring SC meet as Zone Team Coordinator. Marlin noted that at the most recent summer zone meet, Jacobs had filled in for the Head Coach when he was unavailable.  Garner called for a vote on the motion and the Board approved Competition’s election of four coaches.  

 

The Board next voted to approve Competition's election of John Cyganiewicz as 2007 EZ LC Head Coach and Mike Kraeuter as 2007 EZ LC Assistant Head Coach.

 

Turning to the matter of qualifying selection times for consideration for selection to the 2007 PVS Short Course Eastern Zone Team, Riedlinger reminded the Board that at its September meeting it had approved Competition’s recommendation that relay lead-off split times would qualify.  He reminded the Board that at the time of its approval, the Board realized that further clarification was needed and had suggested that Competition address the acceptability of using intermediate relay lead-off split times and intermediate event split times.  Competition did address the issue at its Winter meeting and was now recommending to the Board that relay lead-off intermediate splits and individual event intermediate times achieved at the PVS 14/Under JO and PVS Senior Championships meets not be permitted to be used as qualifying selection times for the PVS Eastern Zone Team.  A motion was made and seconded to accept Competition’s recommendation.  There followed considerable discussion, the highlights of which included:

 

 

After re-reading the motion, the Board voted to accept Competition’s recommendation by a vote of 5-2.

 

Riedlinger next asked the Board to consider two additional clarifications regarding qualifying selection times for SC Zones:  (1) the previously approved use of relay lead-off split times occurring at the Championship meets and (2) the eligibility of times that are achieved at out-of-LSC meets occurring on the same weekend of the appropriate Championship meets.  He pointed out that Competition and the Board had previously approved the former – PVS has not taken a position on the latter.

 

A motion was made and seconded to re-visit the Board's September 27, 2007 decision to allow full leg relay lead-off splits at the PVS 14 & Under JO Championship and PVS Senior Championship meets to be permitted to be used as qualifying selection times for the PVS Eastern Zone Team.  The motion failed on a vote of 3-3; consequently, the Board's previous vote decision stands. Some Board members indicated their vote was influenced by supporting Competition’s position on matters of this nature, regardless of their personal position.     

 

A motion was made and seconded to prohibit the use of all out-of-LSC meet times that are achieved by 14/Under athletes on the weekend of the PVS 14 & Under JO Championship and for 15-18 athletes on the weekend of the PVS Senior Championship.  One member spoke against the motion explaining that, since these meets are not selection meets, times from other meets occurring during the time period should not be prohibited. It was also pointed out that this would mean who had the fastest eligible times would not be known at the conclusion of the meet.  Others noted that given when PVS entries would be due – this would not be a problem this year. The motion passed on a vote of 4-3.

 

Riedlinger informed the Board that the Competition Committee had recommended that the Board accept Fairfax County Park Authority's offer to make Oak Marr available for rental in July 2008 suggesting that either a PVS sponsored meet or PVS sponsored camp could be scheduled.  The Board took no action on the recommendation since, subsequent to the Competition Committee meeting, FCPA had indicated to PVS that it might wish to reconsider the specifics of its initial offer. Some Board members indicated at this point the only practical solution was to have a small group from PVS meet with Oak Marr/FCPA staff and find out if there was something of mutual interest.

 

Riedlinger informed the Board that Manga Dalizu had made a presentation to the Competition Committee outlining the potential formation of a PVS Diversity Team.  A show of hands by those in attendance had indicated their support.  It was pointed out at Competition that the PVS Board had discussed the topic and had indicated it would welcome a presentation and specific request asking the Board to provide support, including financial assistance.. [Such a request was submitted and was discussed by the Board at this meeting under New Business.]  Concluding the matter, the Committee recommended to the Board that PVS strive to have an active Diversity Committee.

 

Noting the number of committees that are currently vacant or inactive, Riedlinger proposed to the Board that the Nominating Committee for Board members be additionally assigned the task of reviewing committees. Hirschmann suggested that the Nominating Committee this year would likely have a significant workload as several key Board members could not succeed themselves and new people would have to be identified to run for several positions.  He also suggested that the review of committees at this point might best be assigned to the new General Chairman, incoming Board of Directors or a committee they might wish to form.  Jim Garner stated that he would confirm the current Chair's desire to continue, as well as to investigate the interest of four other individuals to join the committee.

 

Riedlinger reported to the Board on two items arising from Competition that required no Board action:  (1)  A committee was formed to investigate restructuring PVS Open meet events (not dropping or adding any events, merely modifying the order of events).  The same, or different committee, was also planning to investigate the structure of Championship meets as they related to the IMX Challenge and (2) the decision to utilize the resources of USA-S as opposed to strictly ASCA level presentations in the Coaches’ Track at the Swimposium.

 

Competition’s final request to the Board was that it approve funding for a proposed PVS camp to be held on April 29, 2007 at Fairland.   Bill Marlin provided the Board with specifics regarding the camp:

 

 

A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to provide PVS funding of up to $2,000 for a PVS Camp to be held on April 29, 2007 at Fairland.  The Board also endorsed the holding of the camp and authorized its Administrative Assistant to issue the necessary sanction.

 

Riedlinger next presented the bids that had been received to host PVS sponsored meets for the 2007-08 Long Course season.  The following bids were presented for approval:

 

  •        PVS Senior and Age Group 1 - June 10, 2007, Lee District to Machine Aquatics

  •        PVS Senior and Age Group 2 - June 24, 2007, Lee District to Potomac Marlins

  •        PVS Senior LC Championship - July 12-15, 2007 at University of Maryland to Curl-Burke

  •        PVS Age Group LC Championship  - July 19-22, 2007 at GMU to Machine Aquatics

 

The Board voted to approve all of the awards   It was noted that no formal bids had been received for the Fairland sites for both the PVS Senior / Age Group 1 or the PVS Senior /  Age Group 2 meets, nor for the PVS Distance Meet and PVS Junior LC Championship . The Administrative Assistant was requested to re-advertise for more bids.

 

Prior to the meeting, Hirschmann had provided a proposal to adopt a policy regarding the observation of high school meets to all members of the Board. Hirschmann explained that his proposal had been precipitated by an informal request that had been received to observe a Virginia high school District meet, changes in the Maryland High School Federation Championship program as well as the change, starting this year that now permits the observation of meets where the primary timing system is watches or buttons.  PVS historically has observed the last two meets in the championship progression which amounts to approximately eight to nine meets.  Adding a third level in the progression could result in an addition of approximately nine meets bringing the overall total to eighteen.  Coupled with the college meets that occur during the same time frame, the resulting workload would be tremendous since loading observed swims is at least tenfold greater than loading PVS sanctioned meets.  Hirschmann noted that what he was proposing was consistent with VSI’s policy on observing high school meets in its territory -- the proposed language regarding observing districts where there is no regional came from their policy.     

 

A motion was made, seconded and passed (7-1) to adopt the following policy regarding the observation of high school meets:

 

When a meet is scheduled to occur in its territory, Potomac Valley Swimming will normally agree to observe the Ultimate (last) and Penultimate (next to last) meet that athletes from each school can achieve as part of their high school championship season.  Therefore, up to two levels of High Schools meets will be observed.  Normally this will be the State Championship Meet in both Virginia and Maryland and their respective Regional meets.    If a school participates in a district meet and has no Regional meet between that and the appropriate State Championship, the district meet may be considered for  observation   A similar approach will be applied to determining which private school championship meets will be considered for observation.

The meet must also satisfy the other requirements to be observed which includes having sufficient USA Swimming certified officials present, having applied to have the meet be observed in a timely manner, payment of the observation fee to PVS, etc.

Note: In the case of Montgomery County schools since they are not participating in the State Championship Meet, their last two meets will be considered to be Metros and Counties."

 

The Board next turned to the matter of travel reimbursement for PVS athletes participating in the 2006 US Open.  Riedlinger advised that requests had been received to provide travel assistant support to four PVS clubs on behalf of four athletes within the specified time frame.  All athletes had satisfied the requirements in order to be eligible for reimbursement.  None was submitted on an appeal basis.  The Board approved payment of $250 per athlete to the appropriate clubs on behalf of these athletes.  A fifth request was received via mail on the day of the Board meeting.  A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to reject the request as it was submitted after the deadline for submitting applications.

 

Treasurer’s Report / Finance Division:  Financial results for the period ending December 31, 2006 had been provided to the Board prior to the meeting.  PVS’s current assets on hand as of December 31, 2006 were $777,824.  With his transmittal of the financial results , Hirschmann had reported that (1) the audit of the 2006 Financials was complete and were posted on the PVS website -- see http://www.pvswim.org/2006_pvs_audit_financials.pdf; (2) the Form 990 for last fiscal year was expected to be filed with the IRS that week; (3) copies of the audited statements and Form 990 were being filed with USA Swimming; and (4) insurance coverage was being reviewed.    

 

The Board next addressed John Ertter’s proposal to modify Policy & Procedures to impose fines and levy interest for PVS sanctioned meet entry fees and club sponsored meet splash fees that had been provided to them prior to the meeting.  Ertter explained to the Board that the procedures currently in place were not being enforced for a considerable period of time and, as a consequence, clubs feel they face little, if any, ramifications for late payments.  He continued by noting that late payments are becoming an increasingly common problem involving a few specific clubs that required significant effort to track and follow-up with the clubs to obtain payment.  In addition to the requested modification, Ertter requested that the PVS Controller be granted the authority to impose the fines and interest and also to waive fines and/or interest if, in his opinion, such action was warranted with the understanding that he would keep the Board informed of his actions.  A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to adopt the proposal with an effective date of 30 days following FLASH mail notification.    [Since the FLASH notification occurred on January 24, 2007, the effective date will be February23, 2007.]  The Board also agreed that any amounts currently outstanding would also have an effective date 30 days after general notification via Flash Mail. 

 

Riedlinger posed a question regarding PVS accountant’s Management Letter’s recommendation that more effective controls to reconcile the number of individuals registered with revenue received be instituted.  It was emphasized that comparisons have been for several years and PVS and its auditors have been able to satisfy themselves that the values are very close – if not PVS would not have received a clean audit opinion.   What is needed is to put a formal reconciliation process in place,  John Ertter indicated he believed he could put such a process in place if he were granted access to SWIMS. Jim Garner agreed to contact USA-S to grant access to John Ertter.  {As a footnote, he is to also have full access granted to Janet so that she can serve as back-up to Registrar.]

 

Age Group Division:   Bill Marlin reported to the Board on the hosting of the 2008 Eastern Zone Long course Meet.  Marlin explained that he had received an e-mail from VSI proposing to have PVS handle all the financial arrangements for the GMU/Fairfax site while VSI agreed to handle all the financial arrangements for the GMU/Freedom Center site and do reconciliation at the end to split the total proceeds equally.  The Board expressed its desire to more clearly understand VSI’s definition of “proceeds” and to be able to see what would be the likely financial impact on both LSC’s of any specific financial proposal. Additionally, Riedlinger reminded Marlin that the Board was still awaiting a presentation of costs estimates so as to prepare for its presentation to the House of Delegates in May.  Marlin and Ertter agreed to present to the Board at its February meeting a cost estimate for hosting the meet and a cost estimate for the PVS Zone team.  It was noted we had access to the financial results of the 2006 LC meet in Buffalo and had access to likely pool rental costs at the two GMU pools so a credible financial projection could be made.

 

As to the matter of a replacement Zone Team Coordinator, Marlin informed the Board that no interested candidates had been identified to date.  He indicated that he would ask the current coordinator, Paris Jacobs, to write-up a job description to be sent out by FLASH mail and perhaps post on the website. The Board concurred that it was time to take the search public and urged it happen as soon as practical.

 

Operations Division:  The Board noted that it was still awaiting a detailed plan for the Officials Education Travel Reimbursement Policy that had been tabled at the November 8, 2007 meeting. However, as an interim step, the Board had approved at its November meeting to award $500 in travel reimbursement, with a cap of $250 per official for officiating at the 2006 US Open meet.  This was based on the expectation two PVS officials were planning to attend. Three PVS officials had actually officiated at the meet.  Since two of the three officials had already submitted requests for reimbursement and had been paid, Garner agreed to notify the third official to apply on an “appeal” basis.  Garner also agreed to contact Whalen to request that a re-draft of the previously presented Officials Education Travel Reimbursement Policy be submitted to the Board for its consideration as soon as possible.

 

Strategic Planning Division:  Bill Stephens provided the Board with an outline of his discussion for Championship Meet Enhancement.  Recapping that $10,000 was budgeted for the program, he informed the Board that the emphasis for the upcoming spring championship meets was to be on Promotion and Pageantry which he outlined as signage, banners, t-shirts, dj’s and announcers.  Stephens was encouraged to work with the championship meet hosts to confirm each venue’s permission regarding signage and banners.  It was also acknowledged that since this requirement was not made known when clubs bid to host these meets for PVS, the host clubs would have to agree to voluntarily support these efforts to the extent doing so impacted their workload.

 

Stephens next provided the Board with a copy of specifically selected revisions to LSC Model Bylaws that were approved at the 2006 meeting of the USA Swimming House of Delegates and need to be implemented by the LSC’s.  He also provided the Board with 4 draft proposals to amend the PVS By-Laws.   Board members were asked to review and prepare comments on the draft proposals to allow for the Board to formally endorse specific changes to the by-laws prior to their formal submission to the House of Delegates for their consideration at their May 2007 meeting.

 

Old Business:  Three items of Old Business were discussed.  The first item was a confirmation that the Board’s decision at its November 8, 2006 meeting to move the entry deadline for the January Open from Tuesday to the previous Friday applied only to the 2007 January Open.   The second item was the status of the proposed selection criteria for PVS Athletes of the Year.   Speaking on behalf of his committee, Marlin explained that the proposal as Age Group Chairman, he was now recommending the proposal be withdrawn after seeing the amount of additional work involved.  The Board recommended that this decision be communicated to the coaching community..  Concluding Old Business, Ertter stated he had been working on a proposed policy with Hirschmann and that they hoped to present a formal investment policy at its February meeting.

 

New Business:  Ertter requested and the Board agreed that he be permitted to make a formal presentation entitled “Potomac Valley Swimming 2020” to the Board during the first hour of its February meeting.

 

Marlin reported that he had visited  the about to be completed Claude Moore Rec Center in Loudoun County  on behalf of PVS to initiate discussions about potential pool rentals.  He indicated that the facility was receptive to having PVS run meets at its site.  Faherty commented on the newly opened Georgetown Prep facility and, while he felt it was not large enough to host a PVS Open, he indicated that it would service other meets of somewhat smaller size very well.

 

As a follow-up to the prior month’s discussion on Fairfax County Park Authority’s (FCPA) 2007 Proposed Rate Fees, Janet Auger provided the Board with the pertinent pages from its proposal along with the potential impact of the proposal.  (attachment)   John Ertter and Bill Stephens, both Fairfax County residents, agreed to draft PVS’s position on the matter to be submitted via e-mail prior to the deadline of February 6, 2007 and/or appear at the Public Hearing to be held on January 31st. 

 

The final item of the meeting was a discussion of Manga Dalizu’s request for funding for a Diversity Team submitted that day via e-mail to the General Chairman.  Copies were distributed at the Board meeting.  Upon reviewing the request, several concerns were raised including: (1) the overall size of the subsidy; (2) the subsidy amount requested relative to what is now provided to the zone teams; (3) the impact on PVS’s relationship with the Black History Meet if a separate team were to be formed, (4) whether other minority oriented meets being held elsewhere in the country should be supported; (5) the lack of evidence that other organizations had been approached for financial support,. (6) what leadership group was prepared to take responsibility for selecting this team, making the necessary arrangements, accompanying this team, etc and (7) how would athletes be selected for participation on the team.  Garner volunteered to relay the Board’s concerns to Dalizu and to request that he address them at an upcoming meeting.

 

NEXT BOARD MEETING:  The Chair announced that its next Board meeting will be held at McLean Community Center on Monday, February 12th at 6:30PM.

 

ADJOURNMENT:  The meeting was adjourned at 10:18PM.

 

Respectfully submitted by,
Janet Auger
PVS Administrative Assistant