JTC Running BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Location: Mediterrania Restaurant; 3877 Baymeadows Road; Jacksonville, FL
President Larry Roberts called the meeting to order at 6:40 p.m. Directors present for the meeting were Doug Alred, Jane Alred, Christy Astorga, Bonnie Brooks, James Bryant, Angela Harris, Dennis Harrison, Franz Lerch, Todd O’Donnell, Ty Payne, Larry Roberts, Larry Sassa, Paul Smith, Douglas Tillett, Stuart Toomey and Jim Van Cleave. Directors absent were Nicole Andress, Errol Daniels, Susan Haag, and Stan Lambert. Linda Bryant attended as a guest.
Approval of 8/6/19 (August meeting) minutes: On a motion by Ty Payne and seconded by Stuart Toomey, the August meeting minutes were approved as submitted. We did not hold a meeting in September because of Hurricane Dorian’s close proximity to Jacksonville.
Vacant Seat on board: Paul Smith made a motion that we fill the vacant seat on the board and proposed James Bryant as an outstanding candidate for the job. James has been vetted by the Executive Committee and has worked two of our track meets. Paul knows James from the Wednesday Bolles Track Workouts that he has been attending for the past two years. James is eager to have a seat on the JTCR board and said he will be a dedicated worker for our club. The question was called and James Bryant was unanimously added to the board of directors. James wife, Linda, was also in attendance at the meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Bonnie Brooks distributed copies of the Balance Sheets and the Profit and Loss Detail Statements for August and September, 2019, since we did not have a meeting in September. Bonnie reviewed the report line by line for the board and there were no questions for her following the review.
OLD BUSINESS:
Emerald Trail Plan Update – Larry Roberts told the board of a City Hall event recently where several JTCR board members attended. The event celebrated financial support for the Emerald Trail Plan by VyStar for $200K, by the Pajcic and Pajcic Law Firm for $250K, and a donation-matching commitment from the Weaver family. The mayor of the city spoke and the event got some TV News coverage. It was another positive “thing” for the Emerald Trail Plan.
Where to Run in Jacksonville on JTCRunning.com – Paul Smith has made considerable progress on the Where To Run effort which is posted on our website. He plans to continue working on this.
Summer Camp Scholarship Program Project – the Project Committee held its first meeting, discussing the things we could do to highlight our Summer Camp Scholarship Program on our website and elsewhere. The goal is to have the program available online by early in 2020.
Runner Friendly City – no new progress but it is still our goal to achieve Runner Friendly City status through RRCA.
Fall Half Marathon Training Class – we have 71 registrants and although that number is a little lower than past classes, the class attendees have great enthusiasm. We had a hurricane delay for the kickoff but it’s running well now.
NEW BUSINESS:
No “New Business” Items Raised –
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Tijuana Flats Summer Beach Run – Race Director Doug Alred distributed a final report which compared this year’s financial results with last year’s results, side by side on one sheet. The report also included entries year by year for the last 5 years, which has steadily been decreasing every year. Our numbers were off this year compared to last, showing that our contribution to Just In Queso would be a lot lower. Doug made the case (and a motion) that we should instead donate $9,000 to Just In Queso in an effort to keep Tijuana Flats happy with us and our race. Franz Lerch seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
A discussion, which was partly a brainstorming session, broke out, being led by Larry Sassa. We explored ideas that could lead to getting more runners for the SBR. Doug was disappointed that we didn’t draw in more of the fastest local runners. Perhaps it is because they don’t like running on the beach – but maybe not, as Franz and Todd see lots of runners on the sand all the time. We all believed that the rainy weather “in town” and the proximity of a tropical storm, kept runners away. Ironically, we got the coolest weather for this year’s race than we have in a long time, maybe ever!
Guana Trails Race – the race will be Sunday, December 1st. Franz Lerch said the caps are here and the tops are going to be really good. Stuart said we have 116 entrants signed up so far. As usual, we will have the post-race party (a hit every year!) at Reef Restaurant and we will have mugs for runners. Preparations are going well.
Last Gasp – The race will be Saturday, December 28th. The price is only $7
Race Committee / Track Meet Committee – no report.
Classes & Clinics – Jane Alred updated the board on the San Marco Social which will be inside 1st Place Sports on Dec 14 after the Festival of Lights. She then told the board that Dick Beardsley contacted us to see if we would hire him to be our featured athlete and speaker at this year’s GRR. He would like a 4-day visit for our price of $6K. We talked about the price and discussed where we would have him make appearances. The board did not reject having him here, nor did we make a commitment to hire him. Jane said she would go back to them and discuss price, terms, and possibilities.
Community & Public Relations – Larry started thinking about what we might be able to do to get the city involved in the Summer Beach Run, considering its history as the oldest race in Florida, and considering JTCRunning’s good and historical standing in the city.
Larry talked about our Finance Committee meeting and said our next focus would be with Downtown Vision.
Finance – Bonnie Brooks first discussed the request we received from JU, asking us to continue paying the Kinesiology and Running Performance Lab for a new student to get educated there. The Finance Committee determined that this would not be our direction at this time.
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (with Dennis Harrison) asked us to repeat the assistance we gave them last year for their relay of marathons by providing the club’s finish line arch and a $500 donation. Bonnie Brooks made the motion which was seconded by Todd O’Donnell. The motion passed.
The Beaches Chapel School asked us to sponsor their race. During the committee meeting earlier, it was determined that we don’t sponsor others’ races.
Bonnie had included a copy of the proposed 2020 budget with the other reports at the beginning of the meeting. She reviewed the budget completely with the board. Doug Tillett made a motion, seconded by Stuart Toomey, that we accept the proposed budget for 2020. The motion passed.
We have been talking with the Downtown Vision Alliance and their proposal that we pay for a counter that will be professionally installed in the corkscrew area of the Northbank Riverwalk for $25K. The counter would count every pedestrian (runner) and every bicycle that passes by and display the count on a noticeable display. The counter would include credit to JTCRunning for placing the counter. We will not be responsible for ongoing maintenance. Doug Tillett made the motion which was seconded by Dennis Harrison and the motion passed. We think our video should be edited to include a look at our counter after it is installed.
It was noted that the East Coast Greenway meeting will be here in April.
Membership – Membership is currently at 1,335.
Merchandise – No report.
Communications: Newsletter, Social Media – It was noted that our next issue of the newsletter is “in the can.”
Vision & Planning – Doug Alred told the board a few things about the 2020 Gate River Run. The “launch” is planned for tomorrow. The TPC is now the sponsor of the expo. The start line is moving to Duval Street but the finish will be the same. We lost one sponsor, the Times-Union backed away from naming rights for the 5K for Charity. Synovus is taking over instead.
NEXT MEETING – The next board meeting will be Tuesday, November 5, at 6:30 pm in the Mediterrania Restaurant.
The October meeting was adjourned at 8:01 pm. Douglas Tillett, substituting for Errol Daniels, has written and submitted these minutes.
