AS APPROVED at the May 2008 House of Delegates Meeting

MINUTES
2007 PVS HOUSE OF DELEGATES
McLean Community Center
McLean, VA
May 23, 2007 --- 7:00 PM

 

Call to Order:  The meeting was called to order by the PVS General Chairman, Jim Garner at 7:05 PM. 

 

Attendance:  Jim Garner, General Chairman; Austin Auger, Art Davis, Mark Faherty, John Hirschmann, Dan Jacobs, Bill Marlin, Don Riedlinger, Bill Stephens, Ron Whalen, Board Members; Evan Stiles, AAC; Robert Walker, ASA; Tim Kelly, CUBU; Manga Dalizu, FAST; Mark Murray, FBST; Mike Kraeuter, FISH; John Cudahy, HACC; Christian Doud, MACH; Niels Moore, MAKO; Arvydas Barzdukas, NVSL; John Cyganiecwicz, OCCS; John Mason, PEAK; Terri Marlin, PM; Mark Eldridge, RMSC; Teresa Pliuskaitis, SNOW; Shelley Gesker, YORK; Riley Eaton, Steed Edwards, Kerry Ellett, John Ertter, Ward Foley, Tim Husson, Paris Jacobs, Linda Klopfenstein, Jim Thompson, At-Large Delegates; Janet Auger, Ed Dona, Sumie Emory, Greg York, non-voting delegate.

 

Approval of 2006 House of Delegates Meeting Minutes:  A motion was made to approve the minutes of the May 24, 2006, House of Delegates meeting as they had been posted to the website prior to the meeting.  The motion was seconded and the minutes were approved unanimously.

 

Approval of Agenda for 2007 House of Delegates Meeting:  A motion was made and seconded and the House approved without change the agenda that had been prepared by the General Chairman and circulated prior to the meeting.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 

Presentation of ConocoPhillips Outstanding Service Award:  Garner presented the ConocoPhillips Outstanding Service Award to Tim Husson noting his contributions over the years as having redesigned several portions of the PVS website, posting all meet results, loading data into SWIMS, establishing and maintaining the PVS on-line database, and serving as key lead official (Meet Referee or Admin Referee) at several PVS championship meets.

 

State of Corporation:  Jim Garner as General Chairman gave a brief report on the status of the Corporation.

 

Jim reported that PVS’s financial condition, as reflected in the financial statements that were provided in advance of the meeting, is very strong.  Much of the improvement this year can be attributed to increased athlete registrations and meet attendance, as well as increases in investment income.  Expenses are running lower than expected primarily due to lower than anticipated costs for athlete travel reimbursement, zone costs and some approved programs not being fully implemented.  Jim commended both John Ertter and John Hirschmann for their efforts that resulted in the favorable audit and auditor’s report for PVS’s FY06.

 

Jim stated that there is a looming problem with renting pools and noted that he had asked John Hirschmann to provide an update later in the meeting.  While building a pool would provide a solution, he indicated that he did not believe it to be financially feasible.
 

Commenting on the status of PVS Officials program, Garner noted that there had been a large influx of new officials in the past year and attributed the increase to the Board of Director’s newly implemented PVS Officials Requirement

As to the USA Swimming Background Screening Program, Garner indicated that he believed all PVS coaches were in compliance and that the process from PVS’s perspective had gone smoothly.

Jim concluded his remarks by reporting that the Strategic Planning Committee was proposing the creation of an Executive Director position and that later in the meeting John Ertter would be presenting an abbreviated version of a presentation that had been made to the Board of Directors at its February 2007 meeting.

 

Registrar’s Report – Art Davis:  Prior to the meeting, Art Davis had provided summary registration information.  He reported that PVS currently has 8139 registered athletes (including 102 outreach), 681 registered coaches and other non-athletes (primarily officials) and 36 clubs.  Referencing a chart included in the Administrative Division Report, Davis highlighted that the increase in athlete registrations increased by 375 from 2005 to 2006 while nationally all LSC’s combined only increased by 144.  Thus, PVS is doing better than the overall national trend in attracting new athletes.  It was clarified that the number of Officials reported in the Registrar’s report are those who register with USA Swimming that way.  Since they can self declare, these people are not in all cases recognized by PVS as certified officials.  The number of certified PVS certified officials is determined by the PVS Officials Certification Officer.

 

Nominating Committee Report – Jim Garner:  Garner gave a report on behalf of the Nominating Committee.  A report of the Nominating Committee had been sent out prior to the meeting.   

 

Garner indicated that one Board position had two candidates and that the Committee had decided not to make a recommendation.  The current candidates are Greg York as General Chair, Riley Eaton as Senior Chair, Bill Stephens and Ron Whalen Finance Vice Chair / Treasurer.  All terms will run from September 1, 2007 to August 31, 2009.  Additional nominations from the floor were sought.  There were none.  The candidates for General Chair and Senior Chair were elected by acclamation while the election for Finance Vice Chair / Treasurer was to be decided by ballot.      

 

Garner then announced that there were four nominations for the Board of Review and that there were three vacancies to be filled.  The nominees were Tom Early, Steed Edwards (incumbent), Marie Beth (“Boots”) Hall (incumbent), and Brian Pawlowicz.  Additional nominations from the floor were sought.  There were none.  Ballots were distributed to eligible voters.

 

Proposed By-Law Amendments – Don Riedlinger:  Handouts explaining the proposed By-Law Amendments had been provided prior to the meeting.  The amendments were broken down into three categories:  (1) items required by passage of legislation at the 2006 USA-S HOD; (2) items recommended by the PVS Board of Directors; and (3) housekeeping items based on the USA-S by-law update. 

 

In response to a question, Riedlinger clarified that if all Category 2 amendments were passed, there would not be a need to increase the number of athlete representatives since the By-Laws differentiate between members who have a vote and those who do not (e.g., at-large members and ex-officio members).

 

In response to a question regarding the manner in which the Officials Committee Chair is selected, Riedlinger explained that the individual is appointed by the General Chair based upon a recommendation from the Operations Chair.   Following this explanation, a discussion ensued as to the merits of creating a Board position for the Officials Chair as opposed to creating a Board position for an Officials Representative elected by the Officials. Some felt the officials should be able to elect their representative to the Board in the same manner as the coaches and athletes already do.  Others felt given the importance of this position – the process of selecting the Officials Chairman should not change.  It was observed the Officials Chairman and the Officials Representative to the Board need not be the same person.  The former would continue to have line responsibility while the later would represent the Officials and have a vote at Board meetings.  A motion was made, seconded and approved to create a voting position on the PVS Board of an Officials Representative elected by a popular vote of the PVS Officials.  The Board of Directors was granted the authority to develop the specific language for the By-Law amendment.  The Officials Chair would also continue to exist and continue to be appointed and approved in the same manner.

 

There was no discussion on the remaining by-law amendments.

 

A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to adopt the balance of the proposed By-Law amendments, as modified to include an Officials Representative, and to submit them to USAS for approval. 

 

Results of Election – Linda Klopfenstein:   Linda announced that Bill Stephens had been elected as Finance Vice Chair / Treasurer and that the following individuals had been elected to the Board of Review:  Steed Edwards, Boots Hall and Brian Pawlowicz.  A motion was made, seconded and approved to destroy the ballots.

 

Presentation to Jim Garner – Art Davis:  Art Davis expressed his appreciation to Jim for his eight years of service on the Board (4 as Senior Chair and 4 as General Chair) and for his support to PVS in many other capacities both before and during his service as a PVS Board member.  He praised Jim for his considerable restraint and patience and equanimity in meetings and proceedings that allowed all the opportunity to articulate their views.  Bill Stephens then requested an opportunity to comment on Jim’s service to PVS.  Stephens described Jim as a fine gentleman with a massive amount of self control, who is nationally recognized by USA-S for his quiet, confident leadership style.  Under his leadership, PVS has experienced a forty percent growth in membership and is now recognized as one of the leading LSC’s in the country   Following Stephens’ remarks, Davis presented Jim with a crystal bowl commemorating his outstanding service to PVS after which the delegates honored Jim with an extended round of applause and a standing ovation.

 

Administrative Report – Art Davis:  Davis opened his remarks by highlighting the second page of the Administrative Division Report to the PVS House of Delegates that illustrates the historical growth in Athlete Registrations from 2004 to 2007 and upon which the proposed FY08 budget is in part based.  Highlights of his report were summarized as follows:

 

·        The Administrative Division’s oversight of the new USA Swimming background screening program for coaches was highly successful

·        Initial calculations as of May 1, 2007 of the new PVS Officials Requirement have been prepared with potential penalties to be imposed of $10,000 total on 17 clubs.

·        Revisions and updates to the PVS By-Laws and PVS Policy and Procedure as posted on the website will occur this summer.

 

Davis stated in response to a query that the clubs who appear to owe a penalty have been notified and given an opportunity to review the findings.  Once they have done so, the information on which clubs were/were not in compliance would be made available.

 

A request to discuss revising the PVS Officials Requirement was postponed until the New Business section of the Agenda.

 

Webmasters Report – John Hirschmann:  Citing the fact that, prior to the meeting, the Report from the PVS Webmaster had been made available to the delegates,   he highlighted that PVS was one of the first LSC’s to have a website and it has now been formal existence for almost ten year. Hirschmann chose to highlight and thank both Tim Husson and Janet Auger for their efforts in keeping the website up to date in order to maximize its value for the membership and many other visitors to the site.  He noted that as a result, he has been able to reduce his role substantially regarding the day to day demands of keeping the website current. 

 

Age Group Chairman – Bill Marlin:  Marlin briefly summarized the items included in the PVS Age Group Report for 2006-07

 

In response to a question regarding the necessity of ASCA membership for the PVS Age Group Coach of the Year, Marlin indicated that he did not believe it to be a requirement, but would confirm his response. 

 

It was clarified that it was still expected that  PVS and VSI would be co-hosting the 2008 Eastern Zone LC Meet and that, while Freedom Center and Pohick Bay had approved the meet, GMU Fairfax has not and negotiations are continuing.

 

Senior Chairman – Don Riedlinger:  Don indicated he had no report to present to the House.

 

Operations Division – Ron Whalen:  At Garner’s request, John Hirschmann provided an update on the status of pool rentals.  Hirschmann explained that the process has been particularly challenging this year.  Due to safety concerns, Fairfax County Park Authority is now more strictly enforcing its building occupancy maximums, which has forced some club and PVS sponsored meets to be modified.  GMU/Fairfax is expressly reducing the number of non-college meets on its 07-08 schedule by approximately fifty percent from what is was during the current year (06-07).  At PGS&LC, we must work around the Redskins’ schedule which this coming year has impacted the 2007 PVS November Open.  In addition, while the pool was built to support long course meets, the hydraulics floor remains inoperable, meaning it cannot be lowered to permit LC competition.  Finally, at University of Maryland, we have yet to receive a confirmation of availability for any summer LC 2008 meets.  In the interest of maintaining excellent working relationships with all venues, Hirschmann emphasized the need for PVS’ athletes, coaches and spectators to remember that we are guests at all facilities.

 

Ron Whalen next informed the delegates that he had received a request to explain the hardware expenditures included in the proposed FY08 budget.  He began by stating that three factors drive PVS’ equipment expenses:

 

1.      The Number of meets where is equipment is used and the number of concurrent meets where equipment is requested.

2.      The conditions of pools (temperature, humidity, etc.) where equipment is used.

3.      Statements from many teams that use PVS equipment that they expect for the equipment to have no problems.

 

He then listed the planned 2008 expenditures as follows:

 

 

Whalen concluded the equipment budget overview by indicating that the currently proposed budget does not allow for all of these purchases and that choices will need to be made.

 

Continuing Operations matters, Whalen noted that Peter Nichols was the current Safety Chairman, having replaced Dave Macedonia following his resignation after the implementation of Dive-Over starts.   While no Safety Report was provided, Whalen indicated that there had been a slight increase in the number of Occurrence Reports; however, he attributed the increase to reporting compliance and not an increased trend of injuries.  In response to a question regarding incidents involving dive-over starts, he reported that there were none and that approximately 75% of the reported injuries had occurred during warm-ups.

 

Referencing the Officials Committee Report that had been provided prior to the meeting, Whalen highlighted that there are currently 254 certified officials with a valid certification through CY2007, however, 57 officials have allowed their certifications to lapse.   Additionally, despite the increase in training, the overall number of certified starters and referees has decreased.

 

In response to a question regarding the reductions in Officials’ line items in the proposed FY08 budget, Whalen explained that there would be no impact on clubs and that the rationale for recommending the reduction and/or elimination of funding for the programs was that the programs were either not being utilized at the current funding limit or had yet to be implemented.     

 

Coaches Representative -  Dan Jacobs and Mark Faherty:  Jacobs and Faherty  highlighted several items for the delegates, including:

 

 

Faherty concluded by noting that Jacobs’ term expires this year and that elections for his position will be held at the LC Championship meets in July.  While several nominations have already been received, he asked that additional names of coaches wishing to run for this  position be submitted to Bill or him.

 

Athletes Representatives –  Frani Hess and Austin Auger:  No report was given as Frani Hess was not present and Austin Auger had departed the meeting prior to this point in the agenda.  Jim Garner asked for nominations for Athlete Representatives, however, none were offered.  He asked that nominations be emailed to him.  Jim also indicated that he had already received one nomination.   However, two athletes will be elected this summer as a result of the just passed by-law amendment to increase the athlete representation on the Board from two to three.  Election will occur during the PVS LC Championship meets.

 

Board of Review – Ward Foley:   Foley indicated that he had nothing to report since PVS was fortunate that no cases were filed.

 

Age Group Development Committee  - In addition to his report, Ward Foley announced that the committee was planning to propose a National IMX Championship meet to be held in 2009-10.

 

Strategic Planning Committee – Bill Stephens:  Prior to the meeting, Stephens had provided a Strategic Planning Report and a Description of Proposed Executive Director Position.  At Stephens’ request, John Ertter gave a presentation entitled, “Potomac Valley Swimming – Racing into the Future,” that addressed three strategic goals:  (1)   the proposal to create a PVS Executive Director Position; (2) a proposal to create a Communications Plan, and (3) a discussion on the need for more pools.

 

Following the presentation, Stephens explained that an extended version of John’s presentation had been made to the Board of Directors in February.  This was  followed by a Strategic Planning retreat in April at which time a general consensus was reached on the desirability for PVS moving from a volunteer driven organization to a staff driven structure.  He proposed a resolution authorizing the “Board of Directors to create the staff Position of Executive Director that would permit the incumbent to perform as chief of staff, to speak for PVS and to make business decisions on behalf of PVS.  The Board would retain the right to limit the authority of the Executive Director and to establish the details regarding the relationship between the Executive Director and the Board, General Chair, Board of Review, House of Delegates, staff, committees, clubs, coaches and volunteers.” 

 

Ward Foley, who had attended the Strategic Planning Retreat, indicated his general support for the concept of PVS creating the position of Executive Director, but suggested that the motion be tabled pending clarification of both the responsibilities of and the compensation for the proposed Executive Director position.  He suggested that PVS consider retaining outside expertise (from individuals not involved with the current proposal) to advise the PVS Board on the best approach to take.

 

Don Riedlinger stated that he did not support the creation of the Executive Director position and cited as his reasoning that:
 

·        While the Strategic Planning Report discusses the desirability of moving from a volunteer driven organization to a staff drive organization, PVS currently has contracted with 4 individuals (Registrar, Equipment Manager, Controller and Administrative Assistant) who perform functions that are specific and provide tangible benefits to the LSC.  Contrasting these four positions with the duties defined as the role of the Executive Director (e.g., “improve coordination and “expand communication”), he was opposed to approving such a position with such a lack of specificity.

·        While Southern California Swimming has an Executive Director, Riedlinger pointed out that the LSC is comprised of 142 clubs organized into 6 geographic regions in contrast to PVS’s 35 clubs.  He stated that his review of the Board minutes of Southern California Swimming indicated that it continues to focus on the same or similar issues as the PVS Board.

·        While the Strategic Planning Report states that the proposed Executive Director will serve as the Chief Operating Officer, as staff director, and as primary point of contact for all programs and activities, Riedlinger reminded those present that the PVS Bylaws delineate responsibilities to the various Board of Director positions and no change in those aspects of the Bylaws had yet been proposed.

 

He concluded by requesting that those who saw benefit in creating the position weigh the overall value to the organization.  Citing the proposed budget, he noted that $50,000 had been included to primarily support the creation of the position and that the overall budget was proposing a deficit of $45,000.  Coupled with the $10,000 budgeted to produce newsletters, Riedlinger indicated that the cost equated to more than $7/year for each athlete and would necessitate an increase in what he already considered to be overly high registration fees.

 

In response to a question, Bill Stephens explained that the Board of Directors had not considered the creation of the Executive Director position as a formal motion.  Whalen expanded by stating that, while the Board had not passed a formal motion, it had voted to include funding in the proposed budget.

 

In response to an inquiry as to whether or not the entire $50,000 included in the budget was for the Executive Director position, John Hirschmann explained that the decision the propose adjusting the budget by that amount had been made in Executive Session.  He did however state that the PVS Board could at a subsequent date use these funds as pay for an Executive Director, adjust compensation to the current four contractors, add additional contractors, reduce contractors, or any combination thereof.

 

After confirming with Arvydas Barzdukas that approving the motion to table the creation of the Executive Director position would end all further discussion of the matter at the current House of Delegates meeting, Ward Foley then made a formal motion to table discussion, which was then seconded.  A vote on the motion to table was then taken and approved on a vote of 18-15.

 

Treasurer Report – John Hirschmann:  The House had been provided in advance of the meeting the proposed 2007-08 budget as recommended by the PVS Board at it April 25th meeting as well as a Report from the PVS Treasurer

 

Hirschmann reported that the 2005-06 financials had been audited and PVS had again received a clean opinion for the fourth consecutive year.  The audited financial statements are available on the website.    

 

Hirschmann reviewed the summary list of increases/decreases as found in the introductory summary page to the budget submission and noted that it included a deficit of approximately $45,000.  He also pointed out that the difficulties in obtaining pool rentals (some situations about which PVS has learned since the budget was prepared) may have a negative impact on the budget if there are less swims in the LSC and/or pool rentals for PVS sponsored meets increase. 

 

Hirschmann moved the budget be adopted for the purposes of allowing discussion.  Following a seconded motion to adopt the 2007-08 proposed budget, Hirschmann asked if there were any specific questions.  In response to Mark Eldridge’s question regarding a new initiative of $7,000 for a Diversity Program, Manga Dalizu explained that PVS was planning to emulate the goals and objectives of United States Swimming and confirmed the existence of a PVS Diversity Committee responsible for utilizing the funding.

 

Ward Foley proposed a motion that $5,000 be added to the budget to enlist professional assistance in the creation of the Executive Director position.  The motion was seconded.   In response to queries, Hirschmann stated that the motion that he had made to place the budget before the House for discussion was the budget recommended by the Board, therefore the $50,000 increase in it for Contractor and Employee Services was still part of the budget before the House for their consideration.  The motion to table the creation of the Executive Director position had not caused the proposed budget to be amended.  Given this clarification the motion was withdrawn on the basis that part of the $50,000 could be used for this purpose.

 

Hirschmann responded in the affirmative to a question posed by Mark Eldridge as to the permissibility of modifying the budget at a special meeting of the House of Delegates.

 

In response to a question regarding the proposed $5,000 expenditure for two New Year’s Eve Athletes Parties on each side of the river at $2,500 each, Bill Marlin explained that he had recommended the initiative as a way for PVS to give something back to its athletes.  A motion was made and seconded to remove the item from the budget, but failed on a vote of 10 to 13.

 

A motion was made and seconded to eliminate the $10,000 Membership Communications initiative.  Those in favor of eliminating the funding explained that they believed the website means of communication as it could provide more current information than “snail” mail.  Those opposed to eliminating the funding stated that they believed that “snail” mail communication provide a greater guarantee of receipt and/or attention by the recipient once received. It was noted the cost of the newsletter could be reduced if after the first snail mailing, those who wished to receive their newsletter electronically could elect to do so. The motion failed on a vote of 10 to 16.

 

In a response to a request for clarification of the budgeted amount for travel reimbursement assistance for the SC National Championship Meet, Riedlinger explained that he had projected reimbursement of $450 maximum for fifteen swimmers.

 

Garner called the question on the entire budget. It was clarified that the budget to be adopted is the same as what the Board had recommended to the House for adoption, since both motions to amend it had failed.  After a second, the proposed budget was adopted on a vote of 24 to 1.

 

2007 Eastern Zones Meeting – John Hirschmann:   Hirschmann informed the delegates that the agenda at the May 2007 Eastern Zone meeting was comprised of mostly discussion on future Zone matters and that few decisions were made.  Highlights of his report included:

 


New Business: 
John Mason offered a motion to modify the PVS travel reimbursement criteria for the 2007 LC season for PVS athletes -- by removing the requirement that swims occur in PVS sponsored meets and only establishing a minimum of four swims at any PVS sanctioned meet.   [This was the same recommendation that the Competition Committee recommended at its May 15 meeting and which have otherwise gone to the Board for their consideration at their next meeting in June.] The motion was seconded,  There was discussion of why their has historically been a requirement that athletes receiving travel assistance appear at PVS sponsored meets and that was so be PVS’s up and coming athletes could see them and be motivated.  Others however noted that they could also satisfy this by appearing at PVS Senior Age I or II where a smaller percent of PVS athletes would see them swim.   The motion passed on a vote of 20 to 3.

 

Mason next offered a motion to modify the PVS Officials Requirement. The original proposal would both change the requirement for clubs having 51-75 athletes and the ratios of athletes to officials for teams with over 100 athletes from 1 official per 30 athletes to 1 official per 50 athletes. It was noted that ratio of 30:1 was based on national averages of athletes to officials.  The amendment would reduce our requirements below the national average.  After accepting a friendly amendment, the motion just added an additional tier of 51-75 swimmers with a minimum requirement of 2 officials, effective with the calculations to occur on May 1, 2008. The current requirements would otherwise remain unchanged. This was done to avoid a jump from needing 3 rather than 1 official as a result of team increasing from 50 to 51 athletes. Following a limited discussion, the motion was seconded and passed on a vote of 16 to 5.

 

In an effort to induce better reporting on officials working meets, Tim Husson suggested that the Officials report be due along with the Meet Manager’s Report.  No action was taken on his suggestion.

 

The final item of the night was offered by Kerry Ellett who wished to acknowledge expiring Board members, John Hirschmann and Don Riedlinger, for whom this was their final House of Delegates meeting in their capacity as Board members.      

 

Adjournment:  The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,
Janet Auger
PVS Administrative Assistant