March Board Meeting Observations

The BBC board had its March meeting this past week. It was the first board meeting for new president Jim Schroeder and new vice president Dan Fowler. Secretary Kathy Cummins prepares official minutes that are approved by the board at its next meeting. Here I'm trying to convey in an informal way some of what goes on at a board meeting. by the way board meetings are generally posted on the club calendar and open to any club member to attend as an observer.

Present were elected officers Jim Schoeder, Dan Fowler, Kathy Cummins, and Jerry Arveson, and committee chairs Tammy Berger, Allan Edmonds, John Connell, Ron Brown and observers Sylvia Schroeder and Glenn Berger.

This meeting was in part designed to get the new officers up to speed on some of the unresolved or continuing issues facing the club. There was lots of discussion and only a few firm decisions (beyond approval of past minutes). As you can see there is a lot going on!

Chair Reports:

1. RAIN – John Connell. Things seem to be proceeding smoothly. The committee is now fully staffed. In particular Mark Villanova is handling rest and lunch stops. I believe the other main players include Jen Miers and Keith Bobay registration, Tammy Berger jerseys and t-shirts, Ron Brown finish line, Jim Schroeder handling the route and maps.)
2. Touring Ride Coordinator – John Bassett (out town, so we briefly discussed the most recent club rides of the new season that has just started)
3. Advocacy – Ron Brown. Main focus on advocating for a bicycle bridge over I-69 on the Bloomington west side.
4. Membership – Tammy Berger. Things are proceeding smoothly with 2013 membership renewals beginning to trickle in.
5. Media – Allan Edmonds. Briefly discussed the blog. A longer report appears as the preceding blog post.
6. Grants – Janice Arvesen. In her absence we briefly discussed this year's grants. Jerry shared a few thank you letters received from recipeient organizations. Expect another post soon about this year's grants.
7. By-Laws Ad Hoc Committee. This committee needs to meet soon and discuss the primary issues involved before moving on to writing. The committee includes John Bassett, Jerry Arveson, Allan Edmonds, and Keith Vogelsang. Jim Schroeder has communicated some of his ideas on the subject directly to John Bassett.
8. Treasurer’s Report – Jerry Arvesen. Relatively low activity. RAIN registration income is starting to come in. Strong balance sheet.

Old Business :

1. Financial incentives for RAIN committee. Brief discussion of pros and cons, no conclusions. Discussion focused on smaller amounts less than $600 (so as not to trigger income tax issues for the club and for the recipients).
2. Financial incentives for Website and Photo work.  Brief discussion of pros and cons, no conclusions as above.
3. By- Laws Revision. See above.
4. Meeting Location. Where should we have board meetings? In restaurant back rooms? In condominium club house? In office conference room? In public library? We discussed pros and cons of each choice. There is a possibility we can meet in the conference room at Jerry's downtown office.
5. Social Chair. We discussed having three social events per year: summer picnic (not too close to RAIN), fall end-of-season party, and winter banquet (perhaps not too close to the beginning of the official ride season?)
6. 2013 Budget. There being no significant new expenditures proposed, Jerry will prepare a budget based on numbers from the last two or three years.
7. Bike for Barns. We awarded a small grant to the Local Growers Guild for this ride that promotes local farms. Jim discovered that they are not open to club members riding multiple routes for a single registration.

New Business:

1. Fullerton-Gordon-Rohrer input from BBC? Jen Miers, who lives in the general area has attended meetings and represented some bicycling interests.
2. I-69 Alternative 7 versus 8, Section 5 – Affects Wapahani Mountain Bike Park and homes west of I-69. Shall the BBC submit a letter similar to one by HMBA?
3. SPIN – Bicycle Indiana Summit tomorrow and Saturday. The BBC will pay registration for any club member who attends.
4. BBC Liability Insurance with McKay. Rates are going up.
5. Waivers on all BBC Rides. Insurance is requiring that we get waivers signed by non-member riders on club rides. this is primarily an effort to limit insurance liability in the event of an accident on a club ride.
6. Additional Committee Chairs in the future. Brief discussion of possible additional committees, such as Marketing, Mountain Biking, Commuting
7. Should we combine Advocacy and the vacant Safety position? BBC would pay expenses for anyone taking League of American Bicyclists ride safety/leader courses.
8. National Bike Month. The City promotes this. What if anything should the club do to support it?