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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFBMINUTES030106Friends of West University Place Parks fund, Inc. Board Meeting Minutes March 1, 2006 Friends of West University Place Parks Board met on Wednesday, March 1, at 11:30 a.m. at the West University Place Recreation Center, 4210 Bellaire. The following were in attendance: Board Members Joni Fichter Sue Hanna Sue Jensen Diana Brown Lynne Goddard Margaret Wallace Stacey Speier Susie Boyce Katy Holt Executive Director Et West University Parks Staff Donna LaMond Susan White Council Members Dick Yehle Advisory Board Kim Wilson Chairman's Report - Joni Fichter "Thank you" to the City of West University Place for lunch today. Congratulations to the Parks 8t Rec Department on the Award of Excellence in Programming for Diggy Park program last summer. Approval of the Minutes and Sign-in Sheet A motion was made by Sue Jensen and seconded by Lynne Goddard to approve the minutes as sent to all for our last meeting. The motion carried. Executive Director's Report -Donna LaMond Donna opened with an additional thank you to the City for lunch and a comment thanking Tim O'Connor for the complimentary letter he sent the Friend's board. Donna stated that she had submitted post-PLB article to City Currents which recognizes major underwriters, includes pictures, etc. The mail out date is supposed to be March 20. Joni asked that this also be sent to area press. The last Friends article that appeared in Currents was written pre-PLB based on projected mail out date, but unfortunately, Currents was received AFTER the ball in WU households. Donna distributed reports downloaded from Auction Tracker regarding the Ball. She stated that, as of this date, the board is projecting a net of around $130k. Congratulations to Diana and Sue, and to all who worked hard to make this event a huge success. Further, she has sent out invoices the week after the ball to any who did not check out and pay at the ball and most payments have been made. There are still a few to collect on. Vicki Grams and her hosts/hostesses for sociabtes are continuing to sell slots for parties that did not fill up at the ball. So numbers will be inching up as far as total income. She also thanked Susie Boyce who has been working hard to get left behind auction items delivered, etc. Thank you letters for Auction donors have been drafted and will be mailed by Friday, March 3. Cindy Hassler is working on Underwriter Thank You letters. These will be printed and the Board members wilt have the opportunity to hand write any personal notes on them before they are sent. Donna also stated that remote access to Auction Tracker has been discontinued. It may still be out there for a few days until it is taken off their server, but no new information should be added to the remote site. Since there were significant printing challenges this year she will take steps to be sure those same problems do not present themselves next go around. The PLB banner has finally been taken down from its new location over by JMH. Donna is looking for other locations for next year. A date has tentatively been set for next year's ball. Saturday evening, February 10, 2007. The location would be the Discovery Ballroom at the InterContinental Houston Hotel, however no money has exchanged hands. This new ballroom location will save the Batt $10k, and give the Auction the larger hallway outside the Discovery Ballroom for much more space. The Discovery Ballroom will easily accommodate 400 plus people. She indicated that plans are underway for the next ball and hopefully at our next board meeting, the ball co-chairs can brief us on the theme and other preliminary plans. Meet the City Day is rapidly approaching, Saturday, April 8, at Colonial Park. This year for the first day, Meet the City Day is being held in conjunction with the annual Easter Egg Hunt. The time is 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Vicki Grams contacted Natural Expressions and they are scheduled to take photos for us. They wilt offer Polaroid's for $10 each with 100% of that coming to the Friends, and they will also offer professional photography as well, with $10 per order coming to Friends. We need some volunteers to represent the Friends at our booth from 11:00 - 2:00. Donna has submitted press releases to the local papers about this fundraising vehicle for Friends. Donna's other activities included attending the Parks Master Planning Task Force Presentation at the West U Rec. Center on January 4, 2006. In addition she met with Royal Oaks Bank on January 11 along with Cindy Hassler, Joni Fichter, and Tim O'Connor to discuss their involvement and sponsorship opportunities with Friends. Cindy Hassler prepared a proposal to offer them different options for consideration. They were interested in the marquee at the Rec Center and there are issues regarding the West U sign ordinance that must be resolved before we can proceed in that direction. Tim can elaborate more on that situation for us. Finally, she stated that she attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of Royal Oaks Bank on January 13 with Cindy Hassler. Board Reports PLB 2006 - Sue Hanna and Diana Brown They began the report with a big THANK YOU to all of the hard work that everyone provided to complete the Batt this year. Everyone agreed that it was a great Ball, all the attendees seemed to think it was great fun. Several issues with the hotel still need to be resolved and Diana and Sue are taking care of this. There were some negative comments regarding the live auctioneer, which will be taken into consideration as planning for PLB07 continues. The remaining conversation revolved around the Batt for next year. Donna stated that she was negotiating with two people to chair it next year, however they had not fully committed yet. The Board agreed that it is important to begin working on the Batt this spring, establishing committees and starting much of the work before the summer months. The Board agreed to hold a informational/ recruitment meeting at JMH this April. April 12 was given as a good potential date and Donna indicated that she would work on a program for it. Treasurer's Report - Sue Hanna/Sue Jensen, Tres. Total Bank Statements, etc. $ 416,497.85 Blanket &t Golf Shirt Inv. 3,111.00 Total Current Assets as of Dec 31 2005 $ 419,608.85 E-store - Diana Brown Diana stated that we paid for and received several pavers. Thanks to Cheryl Butler for all of her help. Development Committee - StaceV Speier Stacey indicated that he had reviewed the information he received from the previous Committee chair. He asked several questions regarding a Matching List and kickingoff the estate planning/early giving campaign. Donna and Stacey arranged to talk further about the program and report to the Board next meeting. Councilmember Yehle briefly discussed the Bond options that the City was considering. He indicated that the next bond issue would not happen until next Spring - not next November as originally thought. Membership £t Marketing/PR - Katy Holt Donna stated that it was time to kick off another newsletter and membership drive and that she would get with Katy to plan this. Donna continues to check the bulletin board in the Community Center for requests of information about becoming a member. Business Partners, Storks - Lynne Goddard There have been a few storks sold recently. Parks £t Rec Report - Susan White In Tim O'Connor's place, Susan presented the Parks Department Report. She turned the meeting over to Joni to discuss the Pocket Park and the Parks Master Plan process. Joni asked the Board for their opinion on two issues the Master Plan Task Force continue to wrestle with: The need possible location of a Skate Park - the Board discussed several aspects of the security of the park but did not have any strong opinions regarding whether the Plan should include one. The need and possible locations for a water park - on this matter, the Board had strong opinions, primarily regarding the safety and sanitary needs of any water feature. The Board agreed that any water feature needs to be in an area with other facilities (restrooms) and requires significant maintenance to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases. The Board also agreed that it would require restricted access. The Board also discussed the shade issue at Colonial Park and Susan agreed to keep the Board apprised of the work being done on the issue Old Business No old business. New Business Next meeting - April 5, 2006 at 11:30 am. Adiournment: With no further business the meeting adjourned at 1:20PM.