JTC RUNNING BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Location: Zoom Video Conference
President Larry Roberts called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. Directors present for the meeting were Doug Alred, Jane Alred, Nicole Andress, Christy Astorga, Bonnie Brooks, James Bryant, Errol Daniels, Susan Haag, Angela Harris, Franz Lerch, Todd O’Donnell, Ty Payne, Larry Roberts, Larry Sassa, Paul Smith, Douglas Tillett, and Stuart Toomey. Directors Dennis Harrison and Jim Van Cleave were absent.
Approval of December (12/7/2021) meeting minutes: On a motion by Douglas Tillett and seconded by Todd O’Donnell, the December board meeting minutes were approved by the board.
Election of 2022 Officers – Douglas Tillett explained that we always elect our executive board at the beginning of the first meeting of the year. The election of the 2022 executive board was held.
For the office of President, Larry Roberts was nominated by Jane Alred. There were no other nominations. The vote was called, and Larry Roberts was unanimously elected President.
For the office of Vice President, Larry Sassa was nominated by Franz Lerch. There were no other nominations. The vote was called, and Larry Sassa was unanimously elected Vice President.
For the office of Secretary, Errol Daniels was nominated by Jane Alred. There were no other nominations. The vote was called, and Errol Daniels was unanimously elected Secretary.
For the office of Treasurer, our rules call for the president to name the candidate they deem best to serve as Treasurer, then the board approves the nomination. President Roberts named Bonnie Brooks as his choice for Treasurer knowing this will be her last year. The board unanimously approved Bonnie Brooks for Treasurer as Bonnie accepted the position.
Treasurer’s Report: Bonnie Brooks reported she had spoken with Eric from Smoak Davis & Nixon. She mentioned that our 990 must be completed by the end of January, which should be done this week. She mentioned that there wasn’t a completed Guana report yet as there was a delay on a shirt reorder, but it will be included in next month’s race report. Looks like we’re going to make about $500. When it comes to Last Gasp we are currently showing income of $2,727 and expenses of $3,243. She presented and discussed in detail the club’s Balance Sheet through January 3, 2022. She experienced some technical issues and said she would present the rest of the financials during her finance report.
OLD BUSINESS:
2022 Track Series – Douglas Tillett reported that the winter track meet is January 29th at Bartram Trail and will start at 10am. The date should be good to go for a preseason track meet and the beginning of high school track. He mentioned that we will need some volunteers, which Paul Smith, James Bryant, Angela Harris, Franz Lerch, and Bonnie Brooks indicated they would assist. He also mentioned that we are aiming to do 4 other meets that would be at Bolles. Currently the tentative dates for the following events are March 19th, April 16th, May 14th, and June 11th. We currently have enough medals for the proposed events; however, we need more ribbons for the young participants who do not earn a medal.
JTC Running Race Team: Expectations – Christy Astorga reported that Kathy Murray sent out a team letter to the team, which was well received by the team members. She also mentioned that she did see race team members volunteering at Last Gasp.
New Treasurer Needed – Bonnie Brooks spoke about the treasurer position and that hopefully the next person comes from the board and is someone with current knowledge of the club. She reiterated that she would remain on the board and assist with the training and transition for the next treasurer. A list of treasurer responsibilities was displayed, which was previously sent along with the meeting’s agenda. She mentioned some of the basic needs and responsibilities of the position like using QuickBooks. Larry Roberts mentioned that he would like for someone with a vast knowledge of the club to take over and hopes that it could be someone currently on the board.
New Editor For Starting Line Needed – Larry Sassa spoke about the applications and interest that he’s received for the position as well as the general inquiries. He mentioned that we do not currently have a frontrunner candidate. We want someone who is a member of the club and/or is a runner with experience in running and such activities. He mentioned that if members knew of someone who exhibits the listed qualities to let him know. Jane Alred had mentioned several people that had expressed interest to her. The next newsletter was mentioned, which Douglas Tillett stated that currently they would be preparing the issue. It was also mentioned that we should do an article on the 20th anniversary of our 1st statue.
New Club Officer Position – Larry Roberts spoke about creating the new Events & Membership Director position that he previously detailed at our last board meeting. A motion was presented by Franz Lerch and seconded by Doug Alred to create the Events & Membership Director position. Franz spoke and asked about the list of duties and responsibilities of the position. A discussion about the duties, tasks, and expectations was had. Larry mentioned that we have step by step tutorials on how to make the updates and changes in Wild Apricot and other systems we use. Larry Sassa spoke about change and needing those who will want to do the jobs and have the skillsets to perform the tasks. Todd O’Donnell also spoke about the position being an important role. The number and limit of board members was brought up, which is currently capped at 20. Jane mentioned several individuals that have inquired about being a board member. Nicole Andress and James Bryant also made suggestions about ways to gauge our members to see what skillset and interests they have. It was mentioned that it should be a labor of love type of job and commitment. We want to create an office level position. The motion was unanimously passed by the board.
NEW BUSINESS:
No New Business.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Bolles Wednesday Workouts – Paul Smith reported that track sessions for 2022 begin tomorrow. Larry Roberts reported that we have renewed our RRCA insurance.
Vystar Emerald Trail 5K (October 23rd) – Doug Alred stated that he did not have anything new to report. He has sent the invoice to the club. He mentioned that the expenses were $10,400 as revenues totaled $11,450. He reiterated that entries were down, which was to be expected due to covid. He also stated that he would send an updated and finalized report once available.
Guana Trail Race (December 5th) – Franz Lerch said there was nothing new to report, however the event was a success in which we’ll make money.
The Last Gasp (December 26th) – Larry Roberts reported 250 runners signed up online and 13 signed up at the event. We were also able to get 52 new or elapsed memberships from the event. He said Doug Alred helped with the timing and the social was great. We had a lot of our old timers attend the event. He thanked the board and Herb for all they did to put on the event.
Gate River Run Training Class Kickoff – Larry Roberts reported that the event was held earlier tonight, and we had a huge turnout as this is our largest class since we’ve been doing this. We had 101 registered (98 paid) with 28 new or lapsed members. He gave a shout out for new coach Alex Bowles and stated that she is the type of person we were speaking about earlier as a go getter with a desire to help and step up for the club, like Kaitlin King who is now the director of our track meets. Alex Bowles has taken over for Jennifer Desantis.
Go Green Winter Beach Run 10 Mile (January 30, 2022) – Doug Alred reported that we currently have 200+ entries. The 5K has two times as many as the 10-mile race option. We will be going back to handing out medals again, which were delivered to the store today. Maybe we’ll post the medal to generate some more interest. We are all set with the beach.
Gate River Run 2022 – Doug Alred reported that registration is looking good right now. He said that 2 years ago at 12/31 we had 4,601 and this year we had 6,133, which is the highest number we’ve ever reported on 12/31. We are pretty much set, and we finally got our bid into USATF. Should be good with our bid for the 5-year term. We currently have 18 elite guest runners signed up so far, so Jim Van Cleave is hard at work. The host hotel is Omni-Jax Rivercity Hotel. Currently working on volunteers and we currently have some of the water stations set. He told Larry Sassa to put in the request and information for more space for the hospitality tent area. Using Race Roster helps with all the online registration for vendors and volunteers. We’ve picked up 47 memberships with race registrations. The expo will be 2 days and back to normal as much as can be.
Tomahawk Park project – Doug Alred reported that they started and began work on some root removal. He mentioned that we may want to plan something out there real soon. Larry Roberts suggested that we should get an article with pictures in the next newsletter.
Finance – Bonnie Brooks presented and discussed in detail the club’s Profit and Loss Detail Statement for December. She discussed main line items including income from Emerald Trail, Guana and Last Gasp race entries, memberships, and Gate training class as well as expenses for Emerald Trail donation, club promotions, race team entries, Bolles training, Guana and Last Gasp race expenses, and newsletter costs. Larry Roberts mentioned the donation to Guana regarding the amount from last year and previous years being $1,000. On a motion presented by Franz Lerch and seconded by Doug Alred, to donate $1,000 to Friends of Guana, was passed by the board. Bonnie mentioned our PO Box, which Larry said the box is up at the end of the month and currently costs about $400 for the large size. We will be going with a smaller box to save money.
Website Revamp: Final Payment – Errol Daniels reported that the final payment has been made. The website looks good and can be actively viewed online.
Community & Public Relations
Communications: Social Media/Newsletter – Larry Sassa reported on the hospitality tent and preparation for Gate River Run. We will want more space to accommodate social distancing and more people to attend. He stated he has contacted the caterer, which mentioned that food costs have gone up. We need to reorder some of the bag check clips and other supplies. A lot of the processes are already in place, and we’ll need to make sure to execute when the time comes. Douglas Tillett said that he and Larry Sassa will be acting editors for the next edition. They asked for topics and individuals to contribute some stories and articles. Larry also mentioned that we also have Trish to assist with some of the Gate information and other articles. Jane suggested an article on porta potty etiquette. James Bryant made several suggestions regarding pre and post Gate River Run newsletter editions with specific articles regarding Gate. Nicole Andress also mentioned obtaining articles from our training class members to talk about their experiences with the class and how their races went.
Membership – Stuart Toomey reported that membership was currently at 982 households, which was up 51 from last month.
Classes & Clinics – Jane Alred reported that she recently spoke with Dr. Peter Yu about conducting a foot and ankle clinic. They will be charging $5 for attendance as the event will be held at 1st Place Sports at the Baymeadows store on January 19th 6:30-7:30pm. Masks will be required for attendance and they expect to have 40-50 people in the store.
Vision & Planning – Doug Alred reported he didn’t have anything other than the Tomahawk updates. Larry Sassa mentioned that a lot of the information presented under old business and earlier tonight pertained to vision and planning.
NEXT MEETING – The next board meeting will be Tuesday, February 1st, at 6:30 pm via Zoom Video Conference.
The January meeting was adjourned at 8:43 pm.
