April 2013
Minutes from Board Meeting on April 11, 2013
Attendees
Ronald Wimer, Andy McNab, Tracy Keblish, Karin Keith, Catherine Cunningham, Nicky Wisher, Martha Corneck, Whitney Lenoce, Sydney Hunter, Cheryl Smiley, Megan Loffredo, Diana Coyne, Mark Sedlak, Kathy Santarella, Adrienne Williams.
Approval of Minutes – from March 5, 2013
Cheryl Smiley moved to approve and Kathy Santarella seconded. Motion was approved unanimously
PET-WRAT Report
PET-WRAT manager Kathy Santarella reported that the volunteerism was up from this point last year. She said 77 of 166 families had completed their volunteer requirements; 89 were working toward completion; and 40 (23.5%) had not volunteered to date. At the end of the short course season, it looks like the PC may levy $2,200 in fines this summer. That would be less than half the amount levied last year.
USA Swimming Report
Chris Gannon could not attend tonight’s meeting, but she told Adrienne by email that she is up to date in deducting meet entry fees from swimmers’ escrow accounts. She will soon begin to notify parents who need to top up their children’s accounts (because they have competed more than the average number of events).
Reports from Practice Groups Reps
The age group swimmers will have a social this spring at the Sportsplex in Norwalk or at Nutmeg Bowling.
Meet Coordinator Report
Nicky Wisher said that this year’s Senior Spring Invitational was be managed by a small committee, who will assure a meet manager at every day of the meet. The SSI typically is the team’s most lucrative meet and it already is highly subscribed
Coaches’ Report
Ellen was out of town following Y Nationals. Mark reported that she would present Y Nat expenses to the Club treasurer upon her return. Mark said that Team Unify was set up and he was testing the new system. He wants to link to a copy of the live website. Ronald suggested that he work with Y staff and/or the web designer to run tests on the site. Summer meets are now posted.
Some teams want complete entries earlier than the originally posted deadlines. He plans to ask parents by email to opt out sooner than the posted deadlines. If the Water Rats have trouble entering any of the meets on the spring/summer schedule, Mark may change the age group meet schedule a bit. Mark urged parents and swimmers to attend the Connecticut Swimming Symposium, which Mark helped organize.
Treasurer’s Report
Martha Corneck reported that she had begun working with the PET-WRAT coordinator on this year’s PET-WRAT fines and refunds. More important, she said she thought that we would have a bump in income during the long course season. Revenues are tracking above budget thanks to better than expected fundraising (Citrus Sale); better than expected payments on last year’s noncompliance fines; and fewer swimmers attending Y Nationals.
Co-President’s Report
Fundraising – At Adrienne’s request, Tracy Keblish proposed that the swim team link to swimoutlet.com, which will give a certain percentage of sales back to the team. The board liked Tracy’s proposal but asked her to work with Ellen to determine if the proposal would cause any problems with the team’s association with Speedo. The board also asked Tracy to discuss the proposal with WWFY executives to determine if the team was authorized to make an arrangement with swimoutlet.com.
Recognition Night – Adrienne reported that the Club was going to spend less money on awards than in previous years (mainly because there were few graduating seniors getting personalized trophies). The food has been ordered and confirmed. RSVP numbers are in line for this time in pervious years. David Blansfield has agreed to be the master of ceremonies. Adrienne stressed the importance of maintaining a sense of decorum in the school. Bedford Middle School had told her that it did not want kids running around. Last year, the school representative saw kids jumping form a balcony into the school garden. The Westport Weston Family Y wants to take photos of swimmers and families for the photo mosaic. The board agreed that this was a good idea and asked Adrienne to invite the Y’s communication director Scott Smith to set up a photo area at the front door or in the school cafeteria.
Nominating Committee – The nominating committee proposed changing the Club treasurer’s job to make it a two-person job, i.e. co-treasurers, much like the PTAs in Westport. The proposal was discussed at length and the board agreed with nominating committee. Adrienne moved to change the Club bylaws to create co-treasurers with staggered terms. Karin seconded the motion, which carried unanimously.
The nominating committee requested a job description for the practice group reps. The board agreed that it would be useful to have a written description. Sydney Hunter agreed to form a committee with Andy McNab, Whitney Ross and Ronald Wimer. The committee was told to report back at the next monthly board meeting.
Coaches Gifts – Andy and Adrienne reported that the WWFY had asked the Club to do away with coaches’ gifts, which require the filing of 1099-Misc reports with the IRS. Ronald explained the Y’s fear that large gifts would be viewed as income from a subsidiary rather than an independent company. This could put the Y at risk of an expensive and unnecessary audit, not to mention possible fines. Andy and Adrienne told the board that they had agreed to do away with large gifts that must be reported to the IRS.
Earmarked Gift to Y’s Capital Campaign – Adrienne and Andy told the board that the Y had decided to use metal railing in the viewing balcony of the new Y at Mahackeno. The Y did not have the money to install glass, which could cost as much as $30,000. After much discussion, the board instructed Adrienne to contact the Y to determine the actual cost to see if the Water Rats Parents’ Club, Inc. could afford to pay for the wall. The following week Adrienne told the board by email that the actual cost would be $11,023. The board voted unanimously by email on April 22, 2013 to donate this sum to the Y’s Building What Matters Capital Campaign. The Y accepted the gift at its monthly board meeting on April 22, 2013.
The meeting adjourned at 9:25 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ronald Wimer
Ex-Officio
