Attendance -- Jim Garner, Chair Board Members: John Hirschmann, Don Riedlinger, Bill Stephens, Jim Van Erden, Ron Whalen, and Greg York. Non-voting Board Members: John Ertter, Ward Foley and Linda Klopfenstein. Guests: Paris Jacobs, Dan Jacobs, Michaela Meehan, and Eric Moore.

Call to Order -- The meeting was called to order at approximately 6:50 pm, by the General Chair, Jim Garner. Jim had provided the Board with a proposed agenda prior to the meeting.

Approval of Minutes -- A motion was made to approve the minutes of June 6, 2005 Board of Directors minutes as circulated. It was agreed to make two editorial corrections in the Treasurer's Report/Finance Division portion of the minutes. It was also agreed that there had been no plans to propose a new travel policy for athletes attending high level USA Swimming competitions and the fact this discussion had been deferred had been included in the minutes in error.

The minutes of the June 6 Board meeting as AMENDED to reflect these three revisions were APPROVED,

Garner informed the Board that the coaches had recently elected Dan Jacobs as the Junior Coaches Representative to the Board. His term of office will officially start on September 1, 2005 and run to August 31, 2007. He replaces Todd Benedick whose term expires August 31, 2005. He was welcomed to the meeting.

The Board was also informed that the Board of Review recently held elections and Ward Foley was chosen as Chairman. Boots Hall was selected as Secretary of the Board.

The Board was also advised that David Kraft was selected as the Age Group Coach of the Year. He will be recognized at the annual ASCA convention in September and have his expenses paid to attend as previously agreed to by PVS.

Discussion of PVS Eastern Zone Long Course Team -- Don Riedlinger introduced Michaela Meehan who had been in contact with PVS regarding the changed requirements and costs for being on the 2005 PVS EZ LC team. She explained her purpose in coming to the meeting was to give the Board the benefit of a parent's perspective regarding the arrangements for this summer's PVS EZ LC team.

She had been speaking to other parents at recent meets about the cost of participating on the team this summer. She noted that she was aware of several talented swimmers who would not be participating on the PVS team for this reason.

Separately, the Board was advised that it currently appears about 67 PVS athletes had signed up to be part of the team and were intending to make the trip. This was down somewhat from what had been anticipated a few days ago and the 123 we had sent in 2004 and the 170 in 2003.

The budget for the team had been set on the basis that about 140 athletes would sign up and that three buses would be needed and the full permitted compliment of 8 coaches should be sent. The number of rooms rented and the number of meals needed can be adjusted to closely reflect the number of athletes sent, however since busses hold 45 to 55 passengers, it is harder to adjust that number (and therefore the expected cost per athlete) to the exact number of swimmers that will make the trip. PVS did not want to transport its swimmers by other than commercial rental bus.

Ms Meehan also inquired why there had been no refund made when the actual costs for the spring PVS EZ SC team were less than expected. It was clarified that the initial report that the Board received at its early April board meeting - which was only a week after the meet concluded - was that the expenses would be substantially less than expected. The Board at that time voted to approve a refund - but voted to defer the exact amount until a final accounting was known.

By the time of the June Board meeting, more accurate and complete information was available, As a result, the actual cost per swimmer on the team was less than $50 below what had been expected. At that point the Board concluded the amount to be refunded was no longer such a significant amount - given the substantial administrative burden involved. It was noted the cost to make the trip is based on estimates made prior to the trip - PVS was not planning to ask for an additional payment if expenses exceeded the estimate. An inquiry was made whether it would then be possible to apply the excess as a credit for a future trip.

It was also explained that the PVS House of Delegates at the May 2005 meeting had voted to make the 2005 PVS LC Zone team subsidy $11,500 - equal to what the actual subsidy for the 2005 PVS SC Zone team actually was (it had been proposed and budgeted to be $15,000.) Given that, it was more difficult for the Board to revise the amount than it would be under circumstances.

It was also noted that given how the cost estimate was made, if as it now appears PVS will only have slightly over 1 bus load over which to spread costs, the expected actual "net cost" to PVS will almost certainly exceed $11,500 by a considerable amount.

Greg York as Age Group Chairman explained that how the team is being organized this summer in a different manner was based on input and a formal recommendation from the Competition Committee. - The proposal has been brought up for two years at Competition Committee meetings - many expressed the view they wanted to send a team to LC zones on the same basis PVS had done for SC zones for many years. .The idea was again discussed in September 2004 based on experience from the 2004 LC meet. They were anxious for a team concept, knowing who would be available for relays, etc. The concept was put in the form of motion that was previewed at the special November Competition Committee meeting and formally adopted in January by both Competition and the Board. As a result of a special request, it was reviewed again and formally modified in May by both Competition and the Board

Members of the Board expressed the view that since Competition is charged with making recommendations to the Board regarding what they think is best for competition, as Board members they are reluctant to "second guess" the recommendation without there being a basis for finding that the recommendation was not in PVS's best interests. Nobody at the time had addressed what would be the likely cost of the trip under the new concept.

Ms Meehan complimented PVS for how well the coaches had handled things on the SC zone trip, including some challenging situations that arose during that trip. She also complimented PVS for its transparency and the amount of information on its website regarding how its zone team would both be organized and financed.

She advised the Board that several other LSC's in the EZ were charging considerably less to be on the team It was however noted most other LSC's were not traveling as a team to the meet and that information was not available on other LSC websites as to how much financial support the LSC is providing the team. PVS is providing each athlete with a high quality competitive bathing suit, the fact that Buffalo is farther than GCIT and the need to provide lodging and food for 5 rather than 3 days/nights is why the cost per swimmer needs to be so much higher than for the recent SC trip.

It was noted that the amount of LSC support to both the zone team and travel assistance paid to clubs on behalf of PVS swimmers going to USA Swimming meets has always been an item of high interest and discussion as part of the annual budget process and approval.

It was proposed that PVS reduce the cost per swimmer for this upcoming LC Zone trip from $590 to $500. It was noted that this would cause the net cost to PVS (based on approx 65 swimmers now going) to increase by almost $6,000. The Board also indicated that if the cost were reduced, the opportunity to join the team needed to be reopened in order to allow families to reconsider their decision. Mark Faherty was contacted and confirmed that he could handle additional entries provided the deadline was not later than 5pm Thursday, July 28. Information needed for team outfitting would also need to be known by that deadline.

It was agreed that having benefit of Ms Meehan's input and suggestions were very useful. It was also agreed that it could be helpful to the Board in the future to have the benefit of parent input in addition to coaches input when future decisions about the Zone teams are made. She appreciated the need to make a decision that was both in the best interest of our athletes and made good business sense.

At the conclusion of this discussion, a motion was made, seconded and approved to reduce the amount to be paid for each athlete participating from $590 to $500. In light of the price reduction, the deadline to be apply to be on the team was extened to 5pm Thursday, July 28. If more athletes apply than can be accommodated on the two busses currently rented, they will be accepted on a "first-come, first-served" basis. The uniform outfitting application will be due by Friday, July 29. The MOTION PASSED with one abstention.

Administrative Division --

Registrar's Contract -- Bill Stephens informed the Board that Sumie Emory had signed the contract earlier that day to serve as the PVS Registrar. Its terms will be retroactive to September 1, 2004.

Bill also requested that the Board approve the purchase of a laptop computer for her use as PVS Registrar at a cost of approximately $2500. He noted that Sumie was currently using her own computer for PVS business and that the PVS computer that she had been provided several years ago no longer had sufficient capability to satisfy current needs. Several Board members questioned the need for computer in that price range and noted that a computer to satisfy the needs of that position at today's price levels should cost considerably less. There was further discussion regarding the prices of current computers. A motion was made, seconded and APPROVED to authorize the purchase of a laptop computer for the Registrar at cost not to exceed $1300.

Athlete Registrations -- Bill Stephens informed the Board that PVS has 7405 registered athletes for the current registration year - this represents an increase of several hundred from the prior year. There were no registrations under Art Lopez's outreach program. These athletes are expected to register for first time for the 2006 registration year.

PVS Administrator -- Bill Stephens informed the Board that the ad-hoc Committee appointed at the June Board meeting had met in late June to review the duties currently being performed within PVS with the view to identifying those duties that an Administrative Assistant/Administrator would need to be able to perform. Jim Garner said he would provide the entire Board with the list of tasks the ad-hoc Committee had been discussing. Several members the ad-hoc Committee expressed the view that as they became more familiar with the needs of the organization, that an Administrator rather than Administrative Assistant was needed.

Bill also advised the Board that he had informally interviewed at least 4 people for the position - he also stated that 4 people are currently interested in the position and all have either had part time involvement with teams within PVS or are otherwise involved in swimming. All these individuals had been referred by Board members to him. He also indicated all were interested in part-time rather than full time responsibilities. He stated several individuals had encouraged to go this route. The Board discussed whether it was important to fill this position on a full or part time basis.

The Board felt it was important before this position(s) are filled, the opportunity to apply be publicized on the PVS website for at least a couple of weeks to determine if there are others in the PVS community who are capable or interested. It was agreed it was not necessary to advertise it more widely via monster.com or something similar.

Bill agreed to develop something appropriate for posting to the website. It would include a summary of the duties we expect the successful applicants to be able to perform. It was also agreed that at least the ad-hoc Committee (if not the entire Board) should have an opportunity to review the proposed posting before it is actually posted.

There was also discussion that this effort had been on-going on an intermittent basis for quite some time and that it was important progress be made so that the position(s) would be filled in the near future.

The Board discussed whether the individuals would be contractors or employees. It was agreed if they are employees, no benefits other than FICA and Medicare would be paid.

The potential applicants were not identified to any members of the Board nor was possible (likely) compensation discussed.

Status of Ashburn Swim Team -- Eric Moore attended the Board meeting as a guest. Eric stated he came to the Board meeting to assure that the Board knew he intended to re-register the Ashburn Swim Team Inc. (AST), which he owns, for the 2006 registration year with PVS.

He stated he is aware a new team is being formed which will train at the Ashburn Swimming Pavilion. He stated that it his view that does not impact where the other team registers. He has no views whether this team registers with PVS or VSI - that is for others to decide.

The Board noted this information. It also agreed it would follow the agreement reached with VSI last January regarding where any new club should be registered.

Swimposium -- Paris reported briefly on the status of the Swimposium. All speakers have been confirmed. She stated that the flyer had been provided to a mailing firm about two weeks ago. They were supposed to have completed the mailing by July 15th. She stated they should have been in the mail by now. It is being mailed all parties registered with PVS as members as of approximately June 1. [It was subsequently reported that copies of the flyer were received by PVS members thru the mail on about July 28th.]

Paris reported most registrations received to date had been for the Officials Track. Over 30 had been received. Paris noted she had learned about some interest in the other tracks, but it has been difficult to get people to focus on making plans for October when they are busy finishing up the LC season, summer league swimming, etc.

The low registration fee of $20 and preference for people registered with PVS remains in effect through August 5.

Paris indicated that when USA Swimming reviewed the proposed plans for the Swimposium and the related brochure, no objections were raised to PVS charging a modest fee to attend.

Transfer Athlete Funding for the USA-S Disability Meet to the U.S. Paralympics Meet -- Discussion about this item had been deferred from the June Board meeting so that Don Riedlinger could be present. In reviewing the situation, Don pointed out that jurisdiction of this meet is now under the control of the US Paralympic Committee, which is also a governing body reporting to the USOC. This would allow this meet to be differentiated from the Junior Championship Meet supported by NCSA. A letter was shared from Randy Julian of the USA Swimming staff, which recommended that those LSC's who had been providing travel assistance for the USA-S Disability Meet transfer their funding support to this meet.

A motion was made, seconded and PASSED that PVS support funding for the IPC sponsored meet which had been held In Portland, OR on July 15-17 on the same basis that it has previously planned to provide financial support for the meet USA-S had been planning to sponsor.

There was further discussion regarding what should meet participation requirement in order to eligible for reimbursement. Riedlinger advised the Board that no more than three athletes would be eligible to receive reimbursement. The Board decided that since this requirement was being established subsequent to when the meet occurred, the requirement should reflect that fact. It was proposed that the participation requirement be the same as the 2004 Olympic Trials that were held early in the LC season. This was a requirement for at least 4 swims in PVS sanctioned meets, at least two of which must be in PVS sponsored meets during the entire 2004-05 season. Also, since this is being approved after the meet occurred, the application deadline would be 30 days after these requirements were publicized. A motion was made, seconded and APPROVED to provide travel reimbursement for this meet on that basis.

PVS Senior Championship Meet -- Don Riedlinger gave a report on the recently completed PVS Senior Championship meet including the number of new National (4) and Junior National (54, irrespective of age) time standards attained, the degree of participation by non- PVS teams, the number of entries and the size of the preliminary sessions.

He also advised the Board where discussions stood with VSI regarding conducting some sort of joint championship LC meets in the summer of 2006.

PVS Sponsored SC Meets 2005-06 -- The Board was advised that after it awarded the hosting of 9 of the 13 meet sites needing hosts during the 2005-06 SC season, that bids had again been solicited for the 4 remaining meet sites needing a host. These are two sites of the PVS November Open (both at PGS&LC) and the PVS January and February Distance meets. The Board was advised that a bid had been received from one club to host the PVS November Open and PVS January Distance. They had however not hosted any meets for PVS for a considerable period of time and therefore there was concern about their capacity to do so. Accordingly, they were requested to provide PVS with information about their plans and capability to staff these meets. To date, they have not responded to the inquiry. Accordingly, the Board decided to defer making these awards.

The Board addressed further the absence of bids for these meets. It agreed to publicize to its member clubs that if bids are not received by August 31, 2005, it will be necessary to cancel these meets. it also agreed that in the eventuality, it would not be appropriate to continue the one site of the PVS November Open that had been awarded since it clearly would not be able to handle all likely entries. That would not preclude converting this one meet site to a club sponsored meet.

Strategic Planning -- No items were discussed.

Age Group Division

Age Group Coach of the Year -- The Board had been informed earlier in the meeting that Dave Kraft had been selected as Age Group Coach of the Year.

PVS Eastern Zone LC Zone Team Progress -- Discussion of this matter had occurred earlier in the meeting when Michaela Meehan could be present.

Approval of Assistant LC Zone Coaches - The Board was informed the six coaches had requested to be on the ballot to serve as an PVS Assistant Eastern Zone Coach at the upcoming Eastern Zone LC meet in Buffalo. Since PVS had agreed to send 2 additional coaches (for a total of 6 assistant coaches) in anticipation the team would be larger this year, it was determined no election was needed. All were declared elected. They are Eric Adams, Cheryl Bauman, Dan Jacobs, Mike Kraeuter, Gian Poliganno, Jennifer Verser. The Board voted to APPROVE their selection.

It was also agreed that since it is now clear the PVS team will be substantially smaller than was anticipated, if up to two coaches no longer wished to serve or did not perform their pre-meet responsibilities, the Age Group Chairman could reduce the staff to a total of 4 assistant coaches.

Coaches' Representatives -- The election of the Junior Coaches Representative had been announced earlier in the meeting.

Athlete Representatives -- No Athlete Representatives were present to give a report. There was no discussion regarding how to replace the upcoming vacancy on the Board when Ethan Bassett's term expires on August 31, 2005.

Treasurer's Report/Finance Division -- There was no discussion at this meeting of the June 30, 2005 financial statements. These financial statements and reports on the financial aspects of PVS sponsored and club sponsored meets as of June 30, 2005 had been distributed to the Board in advance of the meeting. They showed that PVS's current assets on hand as of June 30, 2005 were $610,564 including $4,481 in the Dave Davis fund.

John Ertter reminded people that the PVS fiscal year ends on August 31, 2005 and requests for reimbursement should be submitted before that date so they may be properly recorded in this fiscal year.

Operations Division -- Ron Whalen had advised the Board in advance of the meeting of purchases he was considering pertaining to additional starters, harness cables and printers. It was agreed that further Board review and approval was not needed so long as the amounts to be spent remained within the approved amounts for the appropriate budget categories.

Old Business

USAS Convention Attendance Reimbursement -

Klopfenstein reviewed with the Board the names she currently had regarding what PVS members planned to go to convention. She reminded people that names and registration fees needed to be submitted by August 6th in order to get the preferred registration rate. Therefore, she need to know who would be attending by Saturday, July 30th. If PVS delegates register later, they will responsible for the additional registration fee.

A question was raised regarding what would be the reimbursement rate for PVS members attending the 2005 United States Aquatic Sports Convention in Greensboro, NC September 13-18, 2005. It was initially agreed that PVS should follow the same practice as last year when the reimbursement was $750 per attendee. [Subsequent to the meeting, it was agreed that the reimbursement rate was to be reviewed annually based on anticipated expenses in accordance with A-5, USA Swimming Convention Representation of PVS's Policy and Procedures Manual.]

New Business -- Van Erden and Stephens asked that PVS consider whether the association should assume responsibility for hosting PVS sponsored meets. They stated that PVS should do so since many of the clubs currently hosting PVS sponsored meets are not doing that much to warrant the income they earn from these meets. This includes the fact PVS takes responsibility for officials staffing at some of these meets. At other meets, the quality of meet hospitality has been very limited. It was suggested that in lieu of having a club host these meets, PVS pay specific individuals to perform the pre-meet responsibilities including processing meet entries, account for meet entry payments, provide meet hospitality, etc.

It was noted that except for the 4 PVS sponsored meets discussed earlier in the meeting, all PVS sponsored meets during the 2005-06 SC season had been awarded. Others noted that PVS may not be doing that good a job of stating its expectations of what it expects a host club to do when it hosts a PVS sponsored meet.

There was discussion whether the current P&P provision that allows a club having hosted a meet in the past to get first preference to host that meet so long as they have done so in a satisfactory manner in the past should continue to be PVS policy. It was also noted that PVS very rarely receives multiple bids to host the same meet.

There was some discussion of the matter. The Board took no action on the proposal.

Next Board Meeting - The Board did not set a date for the next Board meeting. Many Board members will be in attendance at the United States Aquatic Sports convention in Greensboro, NC September 13-18, 2005

Adjournment -- The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:45 pm.