HomeMy WebLinkAboutFBMINUTES100307Place Parks Fund, Inc-
Friends of West University Minutes
Board Meeting 2007
at the
October 39 2007 at 11:00 a.rn-
Wednesday ° Oct 3,
Parks Board met on
Place 4210 Bellaire Blvd.
est University center,
Friends of W place Recreation
West Univers• ~tY
were in attendance: others "
The following utive Dire Chuck Gulley
ctor Counc►~ Kaldis
Exec and Dorothy
hers Donna LaM Diane Cain
Board Mem
Joni Fichter
Sue Jensen
Judy Bouillion
Lynne Goddard
Sue Hanna to order at 11:40 a.m.
meeting for their
Joni Fichter called the committee
e ort _ Joni Fichter Leah, Cece, and the rest of the an
president s R went great! Thanks to
Cece s •n rogress! Dedication details a
Guild meeting at but we re seeing Pr
construction word and thank
hard work! s to this
read the
Friends Park is still undsoon. and mailed
• idea com►ng e spots available s° sp written notes,
momento ;s still has so' at new tradition! We,Ve signed,
Fathers & Flashlights together a g hard at work and rotection.
• for putting been n for our board's p tickets.
committee mittee have purchase
PLB chairs and com be ready soon for all to fl ou Would like to and noting
should LaMOnd Y Task Forces,
the first set of letters. 1020, contact Donn Friends, Parks Board,
Conflict of Interest documents
held ents on explaining memory of Grayson,
in
' Party 11 will be will be tlone Spooky water bill stutter line. a tree in the Friends Park
parks.
• A year end be sent at anytwill place regarding
• donation can od family and
that tloto the Cuen died. survey that will be out soon W e talked who recently munity
year old son fete the coin cCracken who was PLB
their 14 y lease comp to honor Ayse M
press. on October 1 9cn
k W etch for and please
• W e received good attending luncheon
• I \N111 be September 5, 2007
Donna and Sheet _ .1ud B Tion rove the Chair 2000- b Lynne Goddard to apP
Si n-In Sh
ade onded
of the Mi bY t Seen nsen sec
royal y
m
A motiona sent. The motion carried.
Minutes OConnor - No Repoh.
ort _ Tim
parks & Rec Re
Executive Director's Report - Donna LaMond
• Continuing efforts to close out books for PL1307. We have $3,286 in receivables from the Auction.
All underwriting funds have been received. Recruiting assistance from PLB07 chairs to collect.
Another round of invoices with personal notes is next step.
• Continuing to work with Parks & Rec Department and Event Chairs, Daryl Hoover and Jennifer
Gatto on the Fathers & Flashlights event, including underwriting, public relations, brochures,
registration materials, website updates. Met with chairs and other key people involved in the
event on Sept. 10. Registration is currently at 140 Dads and 210 kids as of Monday, Oct. 1. This
amounts to $9,100 in registration fees. The registration deadline was extended from Oct. 1 to Oct.
10. 1 have a copy of the latest underwriting results today for anyone to review.
• PLB08 - Assisting Dorothy Kaldis and Diane Cain with getting underwriter letters out to past
supporters. Two batches have been mailed out, approximately 300 letters. Follow up will begin
and additional letter campaigns will be launched. Vicki Grams, Penny Grams, Diane Cain,
Dorothy Kaldis and I met on Sept. 19 for the official passing of the torch so to speak. Vicki and
Penny shared their comments and advice with Diane and Dorothy. It was a very productive
meeting. Vicki and Penny agreed to write personal notes to some of 07 sponsors to be included
with the underwriter letters. The personal note cards Diane and Dorothy had printed are a great
idea.
Continuing to support Leah Ragiel on the new Friends Guild, along with Susie Boyce. Attended
the first Guild coffee on Sept. 14 at Cece McCann's home. A special thanks to Cece for opening
up her home for this inaugural event. Approximately 40 people attended and there were many
new faces in the crowd. Congratulations to Leah for getting the Guild launched! Thanks also to
Susie Boyce who is handling the membership for the Guild. Leah and Susie cannot be at the
meeting today. However, they both called this morning to be sure highlights can be provided to
you. The Guild is functioning and serving its purpose already. It is not only providing a resource
for help with projects, but also serves as a forum for publicizing Friends events such as Fathers &
Flashlight and Spooky Party. Three people showed up on Tuesday morning from the Guild to
help with the underwriter letter stuffing at Diane Cain's house. One person has come forward with
an auction item from Cavendars. The next Guild coffee will be held on Oct. 191' and NOT Oct. 12
as originally scheduled. It will be held at the home of Sue Jensen, 3714 Plumb beginning at 9:30.
Tim will deliver a report on West U Parks and in particular, on the new Friends Park. The ball
chairs will also provide a report on what is going on with the ball. The Guild will also work on
stuffing goodie bags at this coffee for the Fathers & Flashlights event. Susie Boyce has requested
that you all email her your email contact list so that she can be sure to send evites to as many as
possible to join and attend Guild meetings. Her email is susieboyce@yahoo.com. A print out
showing Guild members is available to review here today.
A lot of time has been spent on Spooky Party II scheduled for October 20. The host group met on
Sept. 11 and went through the event details. This is a sociable that was offered at PLB 07. We
currently have 171 people signed up to attend and $5,000 is the total from this event so far with
some of those signed up not having paid yet. Once they pay that will increase the funds raised
from this event by another $2,300 for a total of $7,300! Lynette Cone has been very kind to help
spearhead the party along with Vicki Grams. The party is at Blanco's. We will continue to
publicize and recruit more guests. The capacity for Blanco's is 200 and we are close. The cost is
$50 per person, which includes two drink tickets.
No progress has been made on the Membership Newsletter. Margaret, Judy, and I will be getting
together to move it forward.
Received proposal from Fantasy Fundraisers to work the ball for us again. This is the Auction
Tracker people. No increase in fee from last year. Eric Introligator came to my office on Monday
and we spent several hours going over the Auction Tracker and getting my computer uploaded
with the latest version. He helped me get everything set up for the 08 ball. Eric is no longer as
involved with Fantasy Fundraisers as he has been and will be cutting back more and more. He
will maintain a vested interest in the company, but not as active. Renee Jones is assuming the
reins and will eventually be our primary contact there instead of Eric. However, Eric assures me
that he will continue to be involved in Friends' events.
• Received proposal from Northwest Software for the remote access capability for Auction Tracker.
I have the contract and will execute and fax in to them ASAP so that we can go forward with
remote access within a few days. The cost will be $435 to keep the remote access from now
through the end of February 2008.
• Met with Lynne Goddard this week to go over the Business Partners program and what can be
done to generate more funds for Friends through this program. Lynne will cover this in her report.
• The Mission Impossible sociable from PLB07 has been rescheduled from this past Saturday night,
Sept. 29 to January 26, 2008. The hostess group notified all attendees well in advance.
Board Reports
Treasurer's Report - Sue Hanna
Lots of money in the bank! Balance Sheet $788,023.11, most is restricted. This year we have raised
$425,000. Spooky Party and Fathers & Flashlights are proving to be good fundraisers.
Park Lovers Ball - February 9, 2008 - Diane Cain & Dorothy Kaldis
• Auction letters and forms have been printed and mailed (addressed to those who were previous
donors)
• Auction needs items- anything ranging from restaurant gift cards, to sports tickets, to large items-
please contact Dorothy if you have some thoughts on auction. (Board members are responsible
for 3 auction items each) Keep in mind any vendors that you personally support.
• Underwriter letters and benefits have been mailed targeting past supporters; please see Diane if
you have any thoughts on new prospects. The best sources of underwriting are those who benefit
from our community and the use of our parks. (Please get table reservations in ASAP. All board
mebers are expected to put together at least one underwriting table).
• "Commercial Art" Band is booked for the event.
• The decorations committee has been brainstorming- we plan to meet with Maria Elena, Vicki, and
Robin at the Hotel ZaZa in the coming days. Part of this discussion will include table layout and
numbers.
• Please encourage your friends and neighbors to participate- this event will be successful only with
the support of the community.
• Forward names of friends who may not have been to the PLB before, we will send them a letter.
Marketing/PR & Development - Susan Sample - No Report.
Garage Sale to be held in the spring. Looking for a storage unit.
Council Report - Chuck Guffey
• The City has have been asked to contribute a total of $250,000 toward the Star enhancement of
Kirby intersection at Rice and University, not $500,000 as reported by the newspapers. Is Friends
interested in contributing? - Response "No", not within our mission statement.
• The City budget review is underway. We have $3.5 billion of property to tax in West U. $67
million in new property for this year. Last years tax rate of $.42 per $100 will be reduced below
$.38 to keep revenues in line with last year with inflation added.
• Many comments have been received on the Corondo Court property purchase for green space or
a park. The majority is in favor with dissenters concerned with parking problems, transients and
cost.
• The 13% water rate increases has been passed, thank you City of Houston.
Newsletter/Membership - Judy Bouillion - Reviewed draft and forwarded corrections.
Friends Guild - Leah Ragiel - Guild news reported by Donna LaMond in Leah's absence. Next
Guild Meeting - October 19, 2007
Wish Ust/Givinq Tree &Special Events & Projects - V Grams & M E .Herbst - No report
Business Partners and Stork proiect - Lynne Goddard
• GEXA "Power to Parks" program will benefit the Friends. GEXA Energy will donate $25 each time
a new residential customer signs up for service. This information will be posted in City Currents.
Contracts, Nominations and Bylaws BU - No report.
Old Business
• Review of by-laws at some point
• Conflict of Interest Statement
• Thinking toward the 25th anniversary of Friends and a gift to the community
• Donation to WUE after F&F - what amount?
New Business
• Thinking about the Friends Park Dedication, possibly the 1St Tuesday in December. A reception to
follow in the Senior Center. Need to invite underwriters, board, PLB chairs.
Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 11:30 at the West U Rec Center
unless otherwise posted.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Bouillion
Secretary
F1