MINUTES

SENIORS OUTDOORS! BOARD MEETING

July 30, 2008

Present were: Bill Cagle, Co-President; David Wright, Co-President; Mary Ann Bryant, Secretary; Dick Reitz, Treasurer; Clark Lagow, Outings Co-Chair; Dorothy Bregar, Outings Co-Chair; Lyle Hancock, Webmaster; Nancy Meade, Membership Chair; Tricia Bayless, former Program Chair; Becky Rodefer, Program Co-Chair; Letha Cagle, Hospitality; Carol Milliet, SOS Representative; Dell Manners.

The meeting was called to order at 6:50 pm. Minutes of the previous meeting (April), which had been circulated to Board members, were approved.

Clark Lagow would be the voting member for the Outings Committee at this meeting.

Old Business:

• Summary of Decisions followup: Clark presented his update of the Trip Rules. The issue of the trip leader determining a hiker’s ability was discussed. It was agreed to use Dick’s suggested wording (via his email) for this issue. Clark will make this change to the Trip Rules document and email the changes to Mary Ann and Lyle.

New Business:

• Carol and Dell raised a concern regarding the easy level of Wednesday Wanderers’ outings and trip leaders responsibilities for these outings. It was agreed that all trip leaders need to do four basic things: 1) have all non-members sign a waiver; 2) keep track of all hikers; 3) be sure someone has a cell phone; and 4) rate the hike appropriately. The emergency contact list shall be kept in the duffel (in a red folder). Clark reiterated that the satellite phone is programmed for county emergency numbers; trip leaders need to know their location.

• Mary Ann stated that the SO! Procedure Manual has been updated with information people have provided thus far. David will obtain the updated section for Circulation Chair from Carroll Groeger and will forward this to Mary Ann for inclusion in the document. Mary Ann will remove any other references to specific names and use position titles wherever possible in the Procedure Manual. Once these final updates are made, Mary Ann will distribute the document to Board officers and administrative positions via email.

• Mary Ann asked if there were further changes to the New Member Information Packet. Dick noted that we included the “sm” superscript (Service Mark) to reflect our registered Seniors Outdoors! name. Mary Ann will incorporate Nancy Meade’s changes, Clark Lagow’s documents on difficulty ratings and trip rules, and will add “personal identification” and “emergency contact information” to the hiking packing list document. Mary Ann will distribute this document via email when final.

• David reported the By-laws were approved by membership vote; 196 for, 3 against and approximately 50 abstained. Dick will send the final document with approval date to Lyle for uploading to the SO! website.

• Dick presented the proposed budget for fiscal year 2009. The financial report for fiscal year ending June 30, 2008 indicates a carry forward amount of $4,391.18. Dick will adjust the budget to break out the Secretary/Treasurer/Membership costs by expense type. The amount budgeted for SOS mailings will increase to $220/year. After discussion regarding liability insurance and attorney services, the Board agreed to budget $375 for liability insurance and $400 for attorney fees (see discussion below). It was agreed that Nancy will send a dues reminder out September 1 to the members who have not yet renewed their memberships. Clark motioned that the revised budget as noted above be approved, David seconded, and the motion was carried. Dick will make these changes and send out to the Board and administrative volunteers.

• Clark reported his findings regarding general liability insurance for SO! members. This policy is for trip leaders’ coverage, not the Board. The policy is from Wolcott Insurance and is for $1M/occurrence not to exceed $2M total. The annual premium is $375. Clark expects to receive the policy in the next two weeks and will email it to the Board for review and comment. Dick provided information he received from a local attorney including potential legal advice fees. Dell suggested Jim Welch, an SO! member, could review the relative issues. Discussion followed regarding the need for legal review of the insurance policy itself and our potential overall liability issues. The Board agreed to purchase the insurance policy with the understanding that we can cancel it at any time. Dick motioned to work with local attorney, Geoff Craig, to review the SO! waiver form with recommended wording improvements, and the applicability of the new insurance policy for the protection of SO! for no more than a $400 fee. Dick will contact the attorney and get back to the Board if the cost is estimated to exceed $400. Mary Ann seconded and the motion was carried.

· Lyle presented for Barb Hancock regarding her observations and ideas to improve membership involvement in SO!. Discussion followed regarding the need for a membership survey to gather input from members regarding the Club operations and what process could be used. Bill motioned that a membership survey be done; Clark seconded and the motion was carried. It was agreed that all Board members and Committee chairs review their section of Barb’s draft survey, send their comments to Barb and she will collate the comments into an updated survey document. The Board will then review the updated document at the next Board meeting in October and discuss how to implement.

The timing for this plan is:

1) Board and Committees review their sections and submit comments to Barb Hancock by September 1.

2) Barb collates all input, creates an updated survey document and emails back to the Board by September 15.

3) The Board does an additional review by October 15. Discuss at October Board meeting.

· Bill brought up the appropriateness of emails sent to SO! members. The group agreed that emails should not be for business, political, solicitations or controversial subjects. While there are some grey areas, generally classes, recreational or outdoor related activities are acceptable.

Committee Reports:

• Hospitality Report: No issues to report.

• Programs Report: Becky Rodefer and Lani Graham are the new Co-Chairs. Tricia will handle the August meeting speaker introduction. Becky will handle reserving the Rec Center for 2009. Speakers are in place until December 2009.

• Membership Report: Nancy stated as of the end of July there were 286 members including 69 Singles. Members not yet responded were 167 including 49 Singles.

• Outings Report: Clark will update the trip rules per the discussion tonight and will send to Mary Ann for inclusion in the New Member Information Packet. Dell mentioned concern regarding the different paces and ability levels of outing participants. Clark agreed that the trip leader has to allow for that in conducting the outing and assure the return of all participants.

• Website Report: Lyle reported he lists volunteers for hospitality on the web but hopes he isn’t missing anyone. He will load the final by-laws to the website. Mary Ann will send Lyle the final Procedure Manual for possible consideration for the web.

• SOS Report: Carol reported the SOS monthly mailings are being done.

The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 22, 2008, at 5:30pm and will include a pot luck dinner. Location will be at Dick Reitz’s home.

Dick motioned to adjourn; Clark seconded; the motion was carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Ann Bryant, Secretary