HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 09 Friends Minutes Friends of West University Place Parks Fund, Inc. Board Meeting Minutes Wednesday, September 10 , 2014 Friends of West University Place Parks Fund, Inc. (“Friends”) Board met on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 at 6:30 P M at the West University Place Recreat ion C enter, 4210 Bellaire Boulevard , West University Place, T exas . The following were in attendance: Board Members Amanda McGee Ting Bresnahan Katie Hill Christina Milligan Megan Morris Christine Parker Christi Young Mark Prescott Kristine Martinez Kar a Schaefer Susie Boyce Robin Murray Jeth Jones Anna Stewart Guest: Judy Cheng Executive Director D onna LaMond Staff Tim O’Connor Council wo man Susan Sample Advisory Board : Joni Fi chter I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:40pm . II. Welcome , Opening Remarks and Approval of Minutes (Amanda McGee ) APPROVAL OF MINUTES A vote to approve the May 7 , 2014 board meeting minutes was called by Christine Parker and seconded by Mark Prescott . It was approved by unanimous vote. OPENING REMARKS Hope ev eryone had a great summer! Many thanks to the board, Donna, Tim, the Parks Board, the Mayor, City Council, Joni and Leah for their support and help throughout my time as Chair. At this time, I am resigning my position as Friends Chair due to accepting a n ew full time teaching position. At this time I would like to have a nomination for the new chair. Mark Prescott was nominated by Megan Morris as the new chair effective September 15, 2014 . Jeth Jones seconded the nomination and the motion passed by unani mous vote. Megan Morris was nominated by Katie Hill as the new vice chair (who helps the chair , but does not necessarily move into the role as chair). Ting Bresnahan seconded the nomination
and the motion passed by unanimous vote. Over the summer, Donna a nd I have been meeting with Mark to help prepare him for his new role as chair. Welcome to two new board members: Anna Stewart and Robin Murray. Sara Edgecomb is rolling onto the advisory board. Many thanks to her for her years of service as Fathers & Flashlights chair for two years , her support for this year’s Fathers & Flashlights event and her time as the vice chair . We are all saddened by the news of Jamie Gilder’s passing this summer . We are working on a way to honor him at this year’s Father s & Flashlights . Many thanks to the people of our community who have stepped up to help with the event. Historically Tim O’Connor present s a proposal to Friends for fund ing projects for our parks at the beginning of the meeting year. However, we are wait ing until after the Parks Master Plan is presented to fund any more significant projects which is estimated to be in mid -march of 2015. Mark Prescott will now report on the news from the Parks Board Meeting he attended : Mark reported that t he City of We st U has accepted a proposal from the Aurora Picture Show. Look for a movie on the lawn of Colonial Park in October or November. The sod at Colonial Park has been replaced. Unfortunately , it was inf ested by army worms which were in the egg stage and unkn own when the sod was placed . The city has worked to eradicate the problem and we are currently at 65%-70% recovered. It is important to note that the browning of the grass is not due to under -watering and that it is properly hydrated (despite its appearanc e). We except a full recovery of the sod. III. Treasurer’s Report (Christine Parker ) It’s been a slow summer, but things are gearing up now that the school year has started. See attached reports , profit and loss and balance sheets . IV. Fathers & Flashlight s 2014 (Judy Cheng and Dee Dee Glider) Online registration for Fathers and Flashlights went smoothly with Christi Young's help. At this time, w e have 254 dads and 500 children registered for the event and 78 families signed up for Century Club. F&F is 2 w eeks away on 9/27 and 9/28 this year instead of the typical October date. We still have sponsorship and underwriting money coming in . Currently, the underwriting and sponsorship amount , including in -
kind donation s, is around $71,000 and the registration i ncome is a little over $60,000. Thanks to Sara Edgecomb who helped us or der all the promotional items. Promotional items are here and ready for the campout . We are meeting with the city staff next Tuesday and are ready for another great camp out. V. Park Lovers’ Ball 2015 (Michele Still, Adrienne Vanderbloemen, Christi Young) Underwriting and Sponsorships: -Finalized host committee. Thank you to the Board members who are on the host comm ittee . -Finalizing underwriting letters and supporting materials -Fi nalizing sponsorship documents and the underwriting team is reaching out to last year’s sponsors next week -Yard signs are ordered and should be delivered any day. Thank you to Kristine Martinez for sponsoring the signs again this year. -Board member packe ts...we ask that each of you do the following to support the ball: Underwrite, put together, or sell at least one table Solicit underwriting by sending letter(s) or making phone calls and following up with at least three underwriters Secure a minimum of five (5) auction items (each with a minimum value of $100) or donate $500 Help set up the day of the PLB Attend ball Participate in auction checkout night of ball as needed and/or otherwise help close down event Photo Contest: -This is new this year ...Must be photos from West U Park s or S outh S ide Park -Will launch next week -2 cate gories (nature and with people) -2 ages (17 and under; 18 and over) -The board will choose the winner -Grand prize winner will get a $500 gift card, category winners will al so receive prizes -Winners to be displayed at PLB and on Friends website -Will promote in community publications, flyer in F&F bags, email blast, local school and university photography teachers -Thanks to Matt and Jeth for reviewing the rules from a legal standpoint for us -Debbie Crow of Greenwood King is sponsor of the Photo Contest Acquisitions: -Have received some auction items, meeting with acquisitions team at Tiny ’s No. 5
tomorrow to motivate -Have secured a photo safari. 12 -night trip for 2 valued at $28K. Stipulations is no other hunting trips in Live (except possibly Argentina Dove hunt). 100 percent donated. -Have Colorado Fly Fishing (T hanks to Kristine Martinez)). Working on figuring out other live trips. Whiskey Pull -Monday Night Footba ll on October 27th at the M arquis on Bissonnet . Will have BBQ sandwiches and drinks for guests . Wine Pull Instead of a traditional Wine Pull harvesting event , the wine pull committee (headed by Kristine Martinez, Susie Boyce , Angela Johnson and Tricia Ho ffman ) will be dropping off wine collection bags and tags to past and prospective new donors. Then they will pick them up later. There will be a possible harvesting event in January. We will also collect at the annual Friends holiday party in December. VI. Pa rks and Recreation Report (Tim O’Connor) Nothing new to report other than the comprehensive updates that are emailed to the board weekly. A proposal is on the way to fence in the playground on the West side of the rec center (as well as a gate to c lose th e opening onto Bellaire). Judson Park Tennis Court is now reopened after a very wet summer. VII. Other Reports and Announcements (Donna LaMond) Thank you again to the Cheng and Gilder families for co -chairing Fathers & Flashlights for the second consecutive ye ar. They have been amazing and easy to work with. I have no doubts that the campout coming up will be a wonderful and memorable event. As you also heard from their report today, Michele and Charles Still, Adrienne and William Vanderbloemen, and Christ i and John Young have not been letting any grass grow under their feet. They have been busy all summer long. We are so fortunate to have these hard working co -chairs. We can expect great things from them. Speaking of Park Lovers’ Ball, please come to me with any suggestions for chairs for PLB2016 which is the 25 th anniversary of the ball. Over the summer, I’ve been meeting with board members, prospective board members, and advisory board members to keep things grounded and everyone on track. I am de lighted to have Anna Stewart and Robin Murray join the board. I have submitted articles for City Currents and West U at Your Leisure as well.
Friends has been approached by Connections West U homes about a media partnership. Connections is one of the ma gazines delivered to West U homes. They have provided us with a proposal for our consideration. This is the magazine that is published by Sara Barbatano and Jamie Mock. I have the proposal here tonight for your review and comment. I will pass around a few copies. If you have any additional comments, you can call or email me outside of this meeting. It was the general consensus of the board to not form a media partnership. Back in May I met with Yvette Webb and Michelle Huth to talk about Frost Bank opportunities with Friends. We explored sponsorship possibilities going forward, particularly in light of the fact that we were not sure if Direct Energy would be continuing their Corporate Sponsorship. Frost has been a tremendous Friends supporter and b efore we approached anyone else, they were our first ask. While they do not think they can do a $50,000 Corporate Sponsorship, they continue to step up and support Friends as much as they can. Frost is big in the community and they are always helping out various not for profit organizations. Friends is happy to be one of them! This brings me to the 2015 Corporate Sponsorship. Direct Energy has opted not to be our sponsor for 2015. While this is not great news for Friends, we still have a lot to be than kful for. They were our corporate sponsor for three years in a row and that’s $150,000. That’s huge! John Young has the Friends corporate sponsorship opening on his radar and is exploring other possibilities for a prospective sponsor. If we cannot find a company to do the $50,000 sponsorship, we will consider breaking it down per event…$30,000 for PLB Lead Sponsor, $10,000 for the Party on the Patio sponsorship, and $10,000 for Fathers & Flashlights. We are looking for prospects and need the Board’s he lp. Please contact me if you have some suggestions. Since our last meeting in May, we successfully submitted our Friends 990/tax return for 2013. A PDF of the tax return was emailed to the board. Thanks to Christina Milligan’s efforts, we have two ban ners for Friends to promote paver and stork sales that have been rotating between our parks. We are seeing our sales increase as a direct result. Our stork committee, Michelle Huth, Grace Ebaugh and Katie Hill, have been taking turns handling the recent orders. We could not do it without the help of our Parks and Rec staff who install and pick up the storks for Friends. We have a great team in place. Please continue to refer to the weekly reports that you receive via email for an ongoing update on ot her Friends activities as well as all Parks and Rec activities. This concludes my report. VIII. Adjournment The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for Wednesday , October 8 th at , 2014 at the Rec Center Board room . It will begin at 11:30am. There being no further business, the
meeting was adjourned at 7:23 PM and a reception followed honoring Amanda and her service . Respectfully submitted, Katie Hill Secretary