HomeMy WebLinkAboutFBMINUTES040203Friends of West University Place Parks Fund, Inc.
Board of Directors' Meeting
Municipal Building Conference Room
April 2, 2003
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:17 P.M. Those in
attendance were: Joni Fichter, Ross Frazer, Danielle Kernell, Mark Mailes, Karin
Dubose, Donna LaMond, Maria Elena Herbst, Lynne Goddard, Sue Hanna, Leah
Ragiel, Charles Henke, Chris Simon, Whitney Walsh, and CeCe McCann.
President's Report: Joni asked Board Members to update their Chronologicals
and get it to Danielle as quickly as possible. Everyone was asked to start
thinking about any term expirations and to let Joni know whether or not anyone
will continue to be on the Friends Board. Joni provided a Friends update to City
Council at their last meeting.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the March 2003 meeting were approved with
the exception of adding Chris Simon as being in attendance at that meeting.
Treasurer's Report: (Usually presented here in the order, but actually
presented towards the end of the meeting.) Ross Frazer reported that
Friends may let the City keep its books or that we need to acquire Quicken or
QuickBooks. He also reported that the Parks Board has some things that need
to be put back in Colonial Park that were taken out. See reports distributed by
Ross. He said that Friends need to come up with a dollar figure to give to the
Parks Board. We need to decide how much we need to keep in our fund to
"float." It was suggested that we keep 10-15k in the bank. The total cost of the
wish list from the Parks Board is $100,000 as reported by Joni. There was much
discussion. A recommendation was made that we fulfill obligation for 2 spring
riders at $718 each plus 1/3 more. Leah Ragiel made a motion to release $2,500
to install the spring riders to fulfill our commitment made to donors. Maria Elena
Herbst made a second and all were in favor. It was stated that we can revisit this
issue later if dollars come in sooner and may be able to release more. Ross also
presented some reports about PLB proceeds for 2003.
Board Reports:
E-Store: Cheryl is gathering information on pavers that have been
ordered and will get them done as soon as she gets back. She is also
talking to Julie Leguarda at Trademarks about golf shirts and will get
these all set up to sell.
Foundations, Large Gifts & Planned Giving: Danielle has two
grants that we are applicable for.
Website: The Rec Center wish list has been added and Colonial Park
pricing is being updated. The Pocket Parks wish list will be added as
soon as we have a plan for the park. The new Stork Market has also
been added to the website.
Membership & Marketing: The newsletter is six pages long and the
Stork Market is the featured cover story. It will be distributed through
City Currents. It will also be mailed separately to actual Friends
Membership as a membership benefit. $10,960 is membership income
total to date. Membership packets going out, Shannon is helping with
this.
Special Events: Whitney Walsh reported that the Stork Market is in
full swing Bev Jurendo and Linda Lewis's daughter both had storks
land in their yards. Special thanks to Beverly J. who helped with
painting the storks. A board rotation for taking care of stork
coordination was discussed. It was also suggested that we need a tool
called an awl for helping get the stork planted in the ground. Leah
Ragiel suggested that we have "stork cards" to hand out. Flyers
should be distributed to all stores in our area. It was also suggested
that we request help from local boy and girl scouts to help distribute
the storks.
PLB: 2003 auction results were distributed. Leah Ragiel announced
that February 7, 2004 is the most likely date of the next PLB. She has
a "theme" meeting planned for next week and May will be the first
official 2004 PLB meeting to form the host committee. Leah is
considering different venues for the ball, including the Aquarium. She
will have more details for the May Friends meeting. Shannon Gardner
is the Underwriting Chair for PLB 2004 and Lynne Goddard and Karin
Dubose will co-chair the auction. Leah is searching for a co-chair for
the ball for 04 who will commit to chairing the ball in 2005. There was
some discussion about coming up with an alternative to PLB, such as
a family event. Everyone was in favor of discussing this further at
another time. It was suggested that we enact a strategy of dedicated
funds from PLB 04 to be in honor of all WU parks, not just one specific
park. We could expand Parks Corner for any special needs from each
park. Chris Simon made the motion to propose this strategy to City
Council and there was a second from Ross Frazer. It was discussed
that we would wait until 2005 for Rec Center specifics. It was
suggested that we keep the master plan in mind in pursuing our goals
and not to be specific in an untimely manner.
PLB recognition and Follow Up:. Danielle said that auction donors
need to be thanked and Cece offered to head up this effort with Karin
Dubose. Sue Hanna reported that all thank yous for underwriting have
gone out and the database is almost all updated.
Giving Tree/Wish List: See detailed designation in budget.
Business Partners: No report
Block Captain Liaison: No report
Council Report: Mike Farley
Parks & Rec Report: Mark Mailes presented a monthly update. The next
meeting for TAMU students to come back and present their reports will be on
April 14 at 7:00 p.m. in the board room.
Old Business: Joni, Donna, Cece, Leah, and Linda Lewis will meet regarding a
matching grant for the rec center.
New Business: Joni read Danielle Kernell's letter of resignation. Joni
asked for volunteers to form an interview committee and said to email her
if interested.
Adjournment: Due to time running out, several other new business issues will
be discussed at our next meeting and the meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna LaMond