HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 05 Friends MinutesFriends of West University Place Parks Fund, Inc. Board Meeting Minutes May 7, 2014 11:30 AM Friends of West University Pl ace Parks Fund, Inc. (Friends) B oard met on Wednesday, May 7, 2014 at 11:30 AM at Allusion, 3810 Law Street, Houston, Texas, 77005. The following were in attendance: Board Members Executive Director Kristine Martinez Donna LaMond Ting Bresnahan Christina Milligan Staff Christi Young Tim O’Connor Michelle Huth Susan White Kara Schaefer Christine Parker City Council Sara Edgec omb Ed Heathcott Megan Morris Joan Johnson Matt Foytlin Dick Yehle Grace Eba ugh Susan Sample Amanda McGee Mark Prescott Advisory Board Members Sue Hanna Guests Debora Connelly Piccolo Judy Cheng Maria Elena Herbst Dee Dee Gilder Leah Ragiel Ash ley Gumbert Kim Wilson Drew Morris Nancy Kate Prescott Kara Sanders Robin Murray Steven Murray Call to Order (Amanda McGee) The meeting was called to order at 11:40 AM. Welcome, Opening remarks and A pproval of the April 9 , 2014 Meeting Minute s (Amanda McGee) Amanda opened the meeting with a w elcome and a special thank you to Allusion and Corner Bakery Café for hosting and underwriting today’s board meeting and luncheon. Thank you also to Donna LaMond and Tim O’Connor for arranging the meeting and lunch.
Amanda called for a motion to approve the Board meeting minutes of April, 9, 2014; Christi Young moved to approve as presented, the motion was second ed by Mark Prescott and the vote was unanimously approved. Treasurer’s Report (Christine Parker ) Profit and Loss Statement for January – April, 2014 was distributed along with Balance Sheet as of April 30, 2014. No additional report . Fathers & Flashlights 201 4 (Judy Cheng ) “Save the Date” emails have been sent to all 2013 campers. We have met with the C ity staff and registration dates have been set. All activities are book ed . We have already received several verbal commitments from previous sponsors. We are working on finalizing our committees, underwriting letters, and contracts. We propose an in crease to the F&F registration fee to $70 for both fathers and children. This is a change from the last year’s $64 fee for children and $52 fee for fathers. The board agreed to this price increase for registration. Park Lovers ’ Ball 2015 (Christi Young ) We have recruited a lot of great people for our host committee. We are continuing to recruit committee members and hope to have the group finalized by mid -May. We met with the 2014 PLB chairs and they were helpful, providing insight into pitfalls and oppo rtunities to make the event even more successful. We our working with a designer on the event logo and invitations and are on target to mail auction solicitation letters in June. Under consideration for entertainment is a DJ rather than a band, in an effor t to prov ide broader entertainment appeal and enthusiasm /participation . The board was in favor of this new idea. Our Kick -Off Brunch for PLB 2015 is scheduled for May 22 at the home of Michele Still, 2711 Quenby, 10:00 AM. Parks and Recreation (Tim O’Con nor) We are moving forward with the Parks Master plan. Judson Park tennis court repaving is progressing after a n unexpected delay due to the shortage of licensed commercial drivers available for concrete delivery. Results of the Parks Citizen Survey will b e presented at the upcoming City Council meeting May 19, 2014 at 6:30 PM. Other Reports and Announcements (Donna LaMond) Thank you again to Allusion for hosting and helping to underwrite today’s board meeting and luncheon, and for providing valet parking. Thank you also to Corner Bakery Café for providing lunch . Fathers & Flashlights is up and running as you heard in their report today. Judy and Comfort Cheng and Dee Dee and Jamie G ilder are preparing for registratio n in August and for the underwriting an d sponsorship solicitations.
Friends participated in the Parks and Recreation Department’s Spring Festival held on Saturday, April 12. Thank you to Christina Milligan a n d Kara Schaefer for wor king at the Friends table during the event. T hey did a great job representing Friends. As you also heard from their report today, Michele and Charles Still, Adrienne and William Vanderbloemen and Christi and John Young are getting after it on PLB2015 . Anna Stewart and I met with Yvette Webb and others with Frost B ank on April 30 to discuss areas for improvement with check -in and prescanning of credit cards and their involvement in the 2015 ball. They provided helpful observations and suggestions and the meeting was very productive. We appreciate and are excited ab out Frost sponsoring this part of the 2015 ball for us again. Christina Mill igan is working on completing promotional banner s for both pavers and stork sales. She has been diligent about this project. We will coordinate a campaign with paver sales and s tork sales committees in conjunctions with Parks and Rec to rotate the banners between our parks once or twice per year. I am working with BKD CPAs and Advisors to prepare the Friends 990/tax return for 2013. The return is requiring more of my time this year in order to pr oduce additional information that has not previously been required . The return is due May 15 and y ou will each be email ed a PDF of the final return. Thank you to Debora Connelly Piccolo for assistance in the Friends office. Thanks also to Katie Hill for helping to assemble and order photo books for our PLB2014 chairs, honorary chair, and Steven Murray. Please continue to refer to the weekly reports that you receive via email for an ongoing update on other Friends activates as well as al l Parks and Rec activates. Adjournment The Board will not meet again until September, please watch for the 2014 -2015 meeting schedule. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 PM. Respectfully submitted, Debora Connelly Picc olo Advisory Board Member