Attendance - Jim Garner, Chair, Ethan Bassett, John Hirschmann, Donald Riedlinger, Bill Stephens, Jim Van Erden, Ron Whalen, and Greg York. Non-voting Board Members: John Ertter, and Linda Klopfenstein Guests: None

Call to Order - The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:05 pm by the General Chair, Jim Garner.

Jim had provided the Board with a proposed agenda prior to the meeting and had incorporated additional items into the agenda as a result of input from the Board.

Approval of April BoD Minutes - The minutes of April 28, 2004 Board of Directors minutes were approved as submitted.

General Chairman --
House of Delegates Action Items -- Garner proposed that the Board defer taking any needed actions resulting from the May 25th House of Delegates meeting until after the minutes of the House meeting were available. Any needed action items will be added to the agenda of the July Board meeting.

One item raised as a possible action item was the motion made by Mark Eldridge to have PVS resume its prior policy on verifying athlete registrations and fining clubs for entering unregistered or improperly registered athletes. There was some discussion regarding the exact intent of the motion - whether it was to implement all provisions of current PVS Policy and Procedure, C-9. Verification of Athlete Registration, or simply to reinstate the fines and protocols related to having unregistered swimmers compete in a meet. Further discussion will likely occur at the July Board meeting pertaining to implementing this House of Delegation motion.

USAS Convention Reimbursement Rules - Linda Klopfenstein distributed a proposed revision to PVS policy for reimbursing PVS members attending the convention. A revision to the policy had been requested at the October 2003 Board meeting.

A motion was made to adopt the proposed policy There was discussion as to how it would apply to individuals in various circumstances. As a result of the discussion, the motion was amended to include as an additional requirement that in order to receive reimbursement for attendance at convention, you must now also come to any meetings called by the General Chairman at convention (unless excused due to conflicting obligations.)

The amendment to the motion was adopted and the Board then approved the amended motion. A copy of the approved motion as amended is attached to these minutes.

The Board next addressed what should be the approved travel share for the 2004 convention. Linda provided the Board on what expected Round Trip air travel to Orlando would be as well as hotel costs based on the cost of one half a room for 5 nights. Based on this information, a motion was made and the Board APPROVED making a share value $250 (Delegates attending may be entitled to receive one, two or three shares.)

Treasurer's Report/Finance Division -- The balance sheet, profit and loss statement and associated reports regarding club and PVS sponsored meets were distributed to the Board early in the month. A copy of the FY 2005 PVS budget as approved by the House of Delegates was also provided. The Board had no questions on either of these items.

PVS's current assets on hand as of May 31, 2004 were $511,774 including $4,461 in the Dave Davis fund.

Hirschmann informed the Board that he was proceeding with arrangements with the auditor to conduct the FY 2004 audit - once the PVS fiscal year is over on August 31, 2004. It is being proposed to use the same audit firm as last year - Sarafino and Rhodes. No objections to doing so were raised.

Hirschmann also highlighted for the Board that there were several situations where bills are past due to the LSC. These include sanction fees and equipment rental charges, including some situations from last summer that may have never been invoiced. John Ertter has just sent follow-up letters to the organizations responsible for paying them. John Hirschmann stated that if these remain past due at the time of the July Board meeting, he will seek additional guidance from the Board regarding additional collection efforts.

Ertter also made the Board aware that he is concerned he has not been be able to get the insurance broker who arranges for coverage on PVS equipment to issue a new policy, binder or invoice for the current calendar year. [However, an e-mail was received shortly after the meeting stating that coverage is in place, but the policy has yet to be priced.].

Senior Division -- Riedlinger reviewed with the Board the recommendations coming from the May, 2004 Competition Committee meeting which require Board approval.

The following five meets were recommended to the Board and APPROVED to receive a sanction:

It was brought to the Board's attention that that last two of these meets would be occurring on the same weekend as PVS Sponsored Meets (PVS January Distance and PVS Senior SCY Champs) and that the December 4-5 meet being requested by MAKO would be on the same weekend as a meet already awarded to MSSC.

The Board was also informed that VSC is no longer requesting to hold a meet previously sanctioned -- the Winter Challenge Mini Meet (by invitation) on February 12-13 at Madeira. Accordingly, that meet is being removed from the approved schedule.

The Board APPROVED a request to move the Senior Circuit Meet at PGS&LC from October 30-31, 2004 to October 23-24, 2004 due to conflict of pool availability resulting from the Redskins home schedule.

The Board also APPROVED placing the calendar the following 2005 PVS Sponsored Meet during the 2005 Long Course season:

Don R also advised that Competition (when meeting in May) had requested that the setting of dates/format for PVS Senior/Age Group I and PVS Senior/Age Group II be tabled until September in order to first see how the new format would work out and how well the meets would be attended. They did however authorize arrangements to proceed if it was felt to be imprudent to wait and take undue risk on pool availability. The Board was advised that -- given reports a pool used frequently for competition during the LC season might not be available due to construction in the summer of 2005 -- might make it imprudent to wait.

The selection of three Assistant Coaches for the 2004 Eastern Zone LC Team was APPROVED by the Board. They are: Mark Faherty (CUBU); Mike Kraueter (FISH) and Breanne Smith (SDS.) Based on a recommendation from Competition, the Board also agreed that the final position will be filled by approaching the coach with the most swimmers (as listed on the Zone Team application form) until the position is filled.

The Board also addressed the criteria for Receiving Travel Assistance Funds for (a) the 2004 US Open in San Antonio -- a total of 4 swims during the 2004 PVS LC season of which at least 2 must be in PVS sponsored meets and the (b) the 2004 USA Swimming Disability Open -- a total of 4 swims during the 2004 PVS LC season of which at least 2 must be in PVS sponsored meets. The former is continuation of what the requirement has been in the recent past and the latter meet is a new meet being added to the USA Swimming Championship level competition schedule.

These recommended criteria for receiving travel reimbursement were APPROVED by the Board.

Don also made the Board aware that two task forces were proceeding - one is chaired by Peter Karl and the other is chaired by himself. The objective of the first committee is to address what is the competitive purpose of various meets (i. e., what do we want out of various meets/what purpose are they intended to serve on the competitive calendar, etc.) The second is to address the philosophy of how time standards should be set -- starting with the PVS Senior Championship meets.

The quality of the meets being held in PVS is another dimension the task force is addressing. The number of meets on the annual schedule and whether it is putting too much pressure on the officiating community, other volunteers, etc will also be considered.

Don noted that the two task forces are working closely with each other - given their shared interests and overlapping memberships. The coaches have been working the issue actively and are having various discussions.

The status of the PVS Eastern Zone LC team was discussed briefly. Questions were raised as to whether Linda Crudup was going to remain involved in the process as well as to whom else the LSC might get involved to start learning the process and take over responsibility. Possible persons to assume this role were discussed. Greg said he would follow-up on the status of making preparations.

Greg advised that the intent was to keep outfitting simple as was done for the 2004 SC Zone meet. Basic outfitting would continue to just provide 3-4 T-shirts, swim caps and a simple swim bag. Optional items would presumably continue to be available for purchase.

Since no new program for selecting the PVS LC Eastern Zone team was considered by Competition at its most recent meeting, the Board approved to form and manage the team in the same way as was done for the summer 2003 PVS EZ LC team.

There was discussion on the need to work on reestablishing a pass down sheet that would be used both to evaluate how well meets are conducted to both provide feedback and provide a more objective basis for assessing whether the same clubs should continue to receive meet awards.

The Board also reviewed a request for travel reimbursement to the 2004 USA Swimming Disability National Championship held in Minneapolis in June. The Board was advised that an application had been received and reviewed and satisfied the requirements for reimbursement. The Board APPROVED making a payment to the PM on behalf of Anna Johannes.

Administrative Division -- Bill Stephens reported that PVS athlete registrations are approximately 100 ahead of last year. He also reported that PVS's Male/Female ratio is now about the same as the national ratio - others noted that this differed from the past when PVS had a higher percentage of men than the national average.

Bill noted they are continuing to address how to deal with unregistered swimmers and swimmers entered with their name and/or DOB different than how they are registered with USA swimming ("noise.") He also noted he planned for the PVS Registrar and the Administrative Division to have meetings with the club Registrar's and all Meet Directors at the end of September to go over registration and meet entry procedures.

Others observed that it was important for the Board to be comfortable with these procedures before they are disseminated as PVS policy and/or practice - they also stressed that these policies and procedures need to be committed to writing and made available widely so that everybody has the same understanding of what these policies are. It was agreed that it would be important to have procedures that include fining clubs when they are not cooperating with the process.

Registrar's Contract -- Bill reported that Sumie is ready to sign her contract as Registrar. She would like a couple of items in the description of work to be performed revised.

Bill also noted he was attempting to identify potential volunteers to help PVS in various capacities. He noted that one way that he was finding effective was to make this need known when conducting briefings for officials, timers, etc.

Bill informed the Board that Lyn Hellman is now the designated PVS Deputy Registrar and is available to backup Sumie when she is not available and the services of the PVS Registrar are needed on a time sensitive basis.

As a result, Jim indicated that Lyn and Bill Stephens as Administrative Vice-Chairman would be given access to the USA SWIMS database so they may act in the absence of the PVS registrar

There was discussion of buying a new laptop computer for the PVS Registrar and the need to make sure critical data is backed up.

Athlete Representatives -- The Board responded to questions from Ethan Bassett on how to get more involved in USA Swimming.

Garner reported that while there have been some expressions of interest, no individuals have yet been nominated to run as PVS Athlete Representative. It was agreed that something should be prepared to post to the website. It was agreed Board members should seek possible good candidates who have the time and experience to be effective athlete representatives.

Bill Stephens as the Administrative Vice-Chairman will be responsible for conducting the elections.

The Board was also reminded that anybody attending convention who is under age 18 will now need to sign special permissions in order to attend.

Strategic Planning -- Jim Garner said he would like to schedule a separate meeting to discuss the Strategic Planning report that Jim Van Erden had authored. It addresses the role of PVS versus its member clubs in sponsoring meets and other related issues. He proposed either the weekend of August 21/22, 2004 or August 28/29, 2004.

It was agreed to have the meeting on Sunday morning August 29, starting at 9 or 10AM. The location will be announced. Greg indicated that River Falls would probably be available.

Age Group Division -- Greg York reported he had no items that needed Board attention. He advised that a non-PVS athlete who will be training in our area this summer has requested an opportunity to participate in our PVS 14/U LC Championship meet. An invitation has been extended - she may or may not be given an opportunity to swim finals if she makes them.

Coaches' Representatives -- The Board was provided with a version of Bill Marlin's proposal so that the criteria and selection process for the PVS 14/U Outstanding Coach at ASCA could be finalized.

It was agreed that more than one person should be involved in the selection process. The proposal was that the selection committee would consist of the two Coaches Representatives to the Board and the Age Group Chairman. This was modified and it was agreed that it would be desirable for a non coach Board member (to be selected by the General Chairman) to also be part of the selection process.

It was also agreed that Bill could tweak the exact dates in the proposal before it is formally distributed, so the end of the evaluation period coincides with the last days of LC Zones.

It was agreed it would be highly desirable to get a package out in the few days so that coaches will know about the opportunity and process in advance of the PVS Long Course Championship meets.

A question was raised whether implementation of this proposal should start with the 2004-05 season, since it will not be known this opportunity exists until the 2003-04 season is almost over. Several others pointed out that the HofD approved funding in the 2003-04 winner to receive the award at the ASCA convention in October 2004.

It was felt that further modification of the program might still be needed, particularly the scheduling if the ASCA convention returns to its normal practice of meeting the week after Labor Day and the need to allow for the selection process to occur and provide the winner sufficient time to make plans to attend the ASCA convention to receive his award.

Accordingly, the Board agreed it was approving this proposal for one year only and would review and possibly modify it before approving it on a more permanent basis.

Bill Marlin had also sought the Board's view on the use of underwater video cameras at PVS and/or club sponsored meets. He had noted that many PVS clubs are now making use of them at team practices in order to help evaluate swimmer's techniques. Hirschmann has sent to Bill some items that would have to be considered before approval might be given -- issue such as equal access, who runs/owns the equipment, doing so in a manner that it will not interfere with the meet, clearance from the pool facility we are renting.

Others noted that there were potential privacy issues and that it needs to be emphasized that such video cannot be used to call a DQ or determine whether a DQ should have been called. The Board deferred any action on this request.

Operations Division -- There was a brief discussion of some equipment performance and delivery issues that has arisen the prior weekend at PVS Senior/Age Group I Meet at PGS&LC and Lee District.

Ron Whalen reported he was recommending proceeding with putting out for bid the equipment manager contract. The current contactor would be eligible to bid for the contract.

It was agreed an important dimension of evaluating the contractor would be the capacity to handle multiple sites when PVS has meets at several locations on the same weekend. We should make sure to ask all bidding contractors to address their capacity to handle such a requirement.

It was agreed that Ron Whalen should finalize an announcement that PVS was seeking bids to put on PVS website and otherwise publicize the opportunity as people feel is appropriate.

It was also agreed it would be appropriate for Jim to authorize the PVS attorney to review the contracts PVS has with its Equipment Manager, Controller and Registrar as well as any similar contracts PVS may subsequently decide to enter into.

Discussion on the proposal to have a requirement for hard copy Colorado print out and circumstances under which to authorize use of the HyTek Timing Adjustment was deferred to allow further review.

Whalen reviewed with the Board, a proposed fee schedule for the rental of PVS equipment for meets other than those sponsored by PVS. He noted that the overall fee schedule had been increased by about 5%. Concern was expressed about the recommendation to not charge for renting radios. After discussion, it was decided to include radios as an additional item within Packages #1, #2, #3 and #4. If none of those packages are selected, there would be a rental charge of $5.00/radio. These new rates would go into effect September 1, 2004.

Ron also presented to the Board new proposed Optional Service Rates. There was discussion whether Package #2 was still needed - given the new requirement that if you rent PVS equipment (at least if the touchpads are involved), PVS must provide delivery and pick-up in order to assure safe handling.

Some other issues were raised. It was agreed that Ron would repackage it and consult with Jim Van Erden and Jim Garner. These changes would go into effect September 1, 2004.

A proposal to revise PVS P&P O-21 on Use of PVS Electronic Equipment was discussed. The proposal clarifies the order in which equipment will be rented when there are more requests than available equipment. There was concern about the wording regarding the degree to which parties would be responsible for equipment while it was in their possession. It was generally felt we should strive for wording that makes renters responsible for showing reasonable and responsible care for the equipment versus making them totally and fully responsible for what might happen to it under all circumstances.

It was noted that there have been circumstances where parties have not taken reasonable care of the equipment - either not handling it properly and recognizing that some items are quire fragile or improperly storing it - placing pads in direct contact with other pads, inappropriate surfaces, temperature, etc. PVS wants to make the renting parties in such circumstances responsible. It was also recommended PVS provide training on how to properly handle and store the equipment.

Finally a proposal by Whalen to revise several other sections of the Policy and Procedures manual was circulated. The Board was invited to review the proposal and provide comments to Ron so that possible revisions to the policy could be addressed at the next Board meeting.

Old Business -- There was no old business to come before the Board.

New Business -- Bill Stephens advised the Board that three new clubs have inquired about membership in PVS. They are Maverick Swim Club, which is planning to practice at Prince George Community College; All Star Aquatic which is planning to practice at Stone Ridge; and Upper Montgomery YMCA which is proposing to practice at the existing Y facility in Montgomery Village, MD. UMCY had previously competed in PVS but did not renew their membership about three years ago.

Bill indicated he was more familiar with the first two applications and stated he felt their applications should be accepted when USA Swimming completes their review of them. He was not familiar with the third application - though it was determined after the meeting that USA Swimming was addressing whether they had to go through the new club application process since they had been a registered club with USA Swimming until deciding not to renew their membership a few years ago.

Questions were also asked regarding the membership of JMS, J & M Swim, LLC. It was noted they had apparently joined as a organization (not a club) in April 2004. No information had been obtained as to who they were or why they had joined. It was also noted that their membership had been processed with USA Swimming and as a result we had been billed (and paid) $70 for their membership, but we had apparently not received any membership dues from the club.

There was also discussion of a seasonal club membership - in particular, whether PVS has one and it not, why we do not. Most Board member noted that USA Swimming rules clearly make the decision to permit seasonal memberships an LSC option. Nobody present could recall PVS being asked to consider doing so before this year. Some Board member stated that they thought USA Swimming had the authority to grant seasonal memberships, however most Board members present felt that the authority to do so clearly resided with the LSC Board. They also observed the PVS Registrar in dealing with such matters should be getting her guidance from the PVS Board and limiting the role of USA Swimming in such matters to technical advise.

Next Board Meeting -- The Board agreed to have it next meeting on Tuesday July 27 at 6:30pm. Garner will determine the location and advise the Board.

Adjournment - The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:40pm.