Arlington Board Minutes
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Arlington Association, Inc.
Board of Directors
Minutes of July 17, 2007 meeting
Arlington Main House, 3rd Floor Board Room - 8:00 p.m.
Board Members Present: Allen Ault, Margaret Baxter, Don Calitri, Jackie Collier, Jim Conneely, Keith Daniel, Ron Durham, Debbie Newsom, Rodney Piercey, Judy Ridings, Robbie Robertson, Donya Smith, Tim Stephens
Board Members Unable to attend: Rich Middleton, John Flanagan, Joanne Glasser, Judy Ridings, Mark Sandy
Others present:Cheryl Harris, University Counsel; Joe Foster, Interim VP for Advancement and Foundation Board representative; Jim Marsh, Manager; Tim Reynolds, Melanie Reynolds, Shane Lakes, Linda Meeker, John Burford, Samantha Burford, Phil Thompson
Meeting called to order
Don Calitri called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m. Calitri updated the Board members of the process of the current deferred maintenance/renovation project. He discussed the entire process beginning with the Master Plan (a dream plan of the Board) that was presented to the membership several years ago. The deferred maintenance/renovation has taken longer than originally expected due to the fact that the process has to go through. Originally the cost of the Master Plan was $4 million and that is what the board planned for financially. The $4 million grew to $5 million with the Commonwealth guidelines and the fact that the main house is a Historical Building and renovations have specific guidelines. With this, the board had to scale back.
Calitri said his objective for this past year has been to take all of the deferred maintenance/renovation project information into consideration and do the best job possible with what the Board had to work with in dollars for the project. It was a goal not to pit the tennis players, swimmers, golfers, and users of the main house against one another as the project was revised. It was extremely important to look at all the needs.
There is a planning committee that meets every Friday morning to work towards keeping the project on track.
Because of the number of people in attendance at the meeting to address the pool renovation, Calitri and Marsh discussed the pool renovation/deferred maintenance. As the planning committee talked to the pool experts and architects, one thing they were told by them was for every $1 that is spent in renovation, $.75 of that is underground and not for the eye to see. Donya Smith asked about what will be done to the pool for renovation/deferred maintenance. Marsh reported we would have artist renderings soon on the pool. The footprint of the pool will not change but that is basically the only thing that will not change. There will be all new equipment/interworkings of the pool which will assure proper chlorination and water maintenance of the pool. Currently we lose an enormous amount of water each day. There will be new stainless steel gutters, new deck covering, umbrellas for shaded areas, new fencing, additional areas for seating. The locker rooms will be repainted and updated internally.
Donya encouraged all Board members to walk into the locker rooms to see that the smell is bad, toilets don’t work… basically they are not in good shape.
There was a good deal of discussion and questions from the member visitors who were in attendance. The guests in attendance were mainly those whose children are swimmers for Arlington’s swim team. They discussed how the team is the best in the conference, even with one swimmer probably going to make it to swim in the Olympics.
There were questions about the equity of the assessment fees and whether or not they benefited everyone. Due to the fact the board did not want to pit users of the facilities against one another, everyone was charged the same assessment fee except dining only. There was discussion about the dues we pay as members compared to other places in central Kentucky.
There were concerns expressed from some who said they felt like they have originally been led down one road and then down another one, didn’t feel like EKU and the Foundation were helping out as they should. It was explained, by Cheryl Harris, that the Foundation is tremendous asset to Arlington in that the House and Property are leased for $1 a year thereby allowing Arlington to exist without a financial burden. All Arlington is required to do is maintain the property.
Debbie Newsom reminded the group that Arlington is totally separate from EKU and tuition and state appropriations are what funds EKU. These cannot be used to support a private place like Arlington.
The Foundation dollars go to support students and faculty and are invested accordingly.
It was also brought to the attention of the members present that EKU pays fees to use the facility for the golf teams and for the PGM program.
There was discussion about the fact that a city pool will be going in at Gibson Bay and we will probably lose members because of this. Membership at Arlington has declined since 2002.
All swim parents agreed that the program at Arlington stands above all others in the conference and beyond. The quality of the program and the Coach are outstanding.
Discussion followed concerning the need to move into Phase B of the renovations. Newsom asked the question of how we address deferred maintenance. We do not want the property to fall into further disrepair. We need to move forward.
The pool and main house are the priorities right now. As members begin seeing things being down, they will probably see that their assessment fees are being put to use.
Don Calitri reminded those present that we are committed to staying within the budget.
Election of Board Chair for 2007-2008
The floor was opened for nominations for Board Chair. Margaret Baxter nominated Don Calitri to serve another year. Seconded by Allen Ault. Elected by acclamation.
Appointment of Vice Chair for 2007-2008
Ron Durham was appointed to serve as Vice Chair.
Managers Report – Jim Marsh
Jim Marsh reviewed the reports included in Board packets for April, May, and June. April was down 10%, May down 11% and June 5% from the previous year.
Pool Locker rooms do need some cosmetic work done in addition to the plumbing and lighting. This should be done during the fall.
Treasurer's Report – Debbie Newsom
Debbie Newsom reported that the preliminary figures show overall we have a deficit of $150,000 for the year. A detailed report will be dispersed to the board after she has the opportunity to break down the operating costs.
Secretary's Report – Jackie Collier
Jackie Collier reviewed the report in the packet. At the end of June we had a total of 1056 members. At the end of June 2006 we had a total of 1422 members.
New Business – Don Calitri
Don Calitri asked for volunteers for the various committees. If you are interested in serving on one, please contact him.
There was some discussion on how to further market membership to Arlington.
Next Arlington Board Meeting
The next Arlington Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 16 at 6 p.m.
Respectively submitted by Jackie Collier, Arlington Board Secretary
July 24, 2007
