JTC Running BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Location: Zoom Video Conference
President Douglas Tillett called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m. Directors present for the meeting were Doug Alred, Jane Alred, Nicole Andress, Christy Astorga, Bonnie Brooks, James Bryant, Amiee Cords, Errol Daniels, David Farraday, Robert Jones, Amy Kisz, Todd O’Donnell, Jeff Palmer, Larry Roberts, Larry Sassa, Jeremy Smith, Douglas Tillett, Jim Van Cleave, and Marilyn Young. Will Dunlap, Dennis Harrison, Franz Lerch, Sean McCormack, Paul Smith, and Stuart Toomey were absent.
Approval of February (2/7/2023) meeting minutes: On a motion presented by Todd O’Donnell and seconded by Jeremy Smith, the February minutes were passed and approved by the board.
Treasurer’s Report: Amiee Cords reported the club’s financials and discussed in detail the Balance Sheet through February 28, 2023, and the Profit and Loss Detail Statement for February. She reported the club’s current bank balances in our accounts. She discussed in detail various line items including income earned and expenses.
OLD BUSINESS:
2023 Track Series – Douglas Tillett reported that the Track Committee plans to meet to organize the track meet scheduled for April. They are currently working to come up with a more detailed schedule for the meets and events.
Board Polo Shirts ($50 x 24 each) – Douglas Tillett mentioned that many of the board shirts were given out at the Gate River Run expo, but Nicole Andress still has some of the shirts that were not picked up.
Intellectual Property Case – Larry Roberts reported that the club may end up having to pay $1,400 for using 3 copy written photos. It was mentioned that the funds would come out of already budgeted funds for issues like this.
SORBA Sunbeam Trail Project – Douglas Tillett spoke on some of the details that were discussed during the Finance Committee pertaining to the project. Doug Alred said he spoke with SORBA again and they will be needing money and donations to assist with the project. The owner of the property has given SORBA the rights to the property for use. Larry Roberts spoke about if SORBA was still providing free labor. More information needed to be gathered and processed by the Finance Committee regarding the Sunbeam Trail Project.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Counter (Fuller Warren) – Larry Roberts spoke about the interest for another Eco Counter. It will probably come down to cost estimates if the board wants to get involved in this project. He mentioned that the city and FDOT are interested in adding another bicycle and pedestrian eco counter to the Fuller Warren Shared Use Path.
NEW BUSINESS:
USATF – Florida, JTC Running Donation – Douglas Tillett spoke about USATF-Florida and the club’s annual donation. On a proposal presented by Douglas Tillett to donate $660 to USATF-Florida that was seconded by Nicole Andress, was passed by the board. Todd O’Donnell mentioned that the organization does a lot and is very deserving of the donation and funds. Doug Alred asked about the status of the Gate River Run 15K championship regarding the USATF championship versus the USATF-Florida championship. He wanted to make sure that it is known as the championship race.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Bolles Wednesday Workouts – James Bryant reported that things are going well and attendance at both the morning and evening sessions are increasing.
Gate River Run Training Class 2023 – Nicole Andress reported that the training class went well, and she would get some pictures from the training class and the finish line of the group. Jeff Palmer spoke highly about the class and how well the class was coached. Aimee Cords mentioned that the coach had been paid for the class.
Winter Beach Run (Jan 21, 2023) – Doug Alred stated that he did not have anything new to report, however he would report the financials at the next meeting.
Gate River Run – Doug Alred reported that registration was up by 2,000 with 1,300 more finishers in the 15K this year. We took in more money this year for registration. He stated we owe a great deal to Todd, Stuart, and Jim for all they do for the race, and he thanked them. The race is presented at a high level and is a top notch produced race. He mentioned that the weather wasn’t our friend this year. The race is a several days process to set up, operate, and break down the event. We may need to get more people involved with getting volunteers and other assistance for various aspects of the race. Overall, it was a great race. We cut the equalizer down from 6 to 5 minutes. Gate as the corporate sponsor is so good to us and they bail us out when needed, as their volunteers were the ones handing out medals and beers. Moving on to next year, which may be the last year for the fairgrounds, we need to start looking to have it elsewhere in which could possibly cost about $50,000. Costs are going up so most likely all line items going up. He stated he was happy with the way the race went and it may be our most successful in a while. Jeremy Smith inquired about other means of advertising and promotion. Doug stated that there were 4,000 runners that had never run the race before. He said that we pay $20,000 to rent the parking lot area and the city had events going on and charged and used parking space that we paid for usage. It was mentioned that we put the refresh video to use and use it as a tool for promoting JTC and Gate to city officials as it mentions the projects we do and what we do with the money we get from Gate River Run. Nicole mentioned that we could reach out to the Donna Association to see how they hooked up with the Jags and other city organizations. Douglas said Doug did a great job in which Doug said it is a labor of love. There were 97 JTC Running registrations during race signups.
Elite Field: Jim Van Cleave reiterated Doug’s point regarding the importance of having volunteers. He stated that they had several people help with airport and bus transportation and elite check-in and their overall experience. He stated that we try to give the elites an experience they wouldn’t normally get at a big race like this. We had 52 elites (28 men, 24 women) compared to last year with 78. The decrease in elite runners could have been due to the recent championship races held a few weeks prior. Emily Sisson won the women’s race for the 3-peat, which she won with her slowest time of the 3 wins. The women’s 2nd place finisher was a surprise as it was her first big time championship race, and she was from the Atlanta Track Club. Jim thanked the volunteers for their assistance and dedication. Todd stated that the athletes speak very highly about Jim and his attitude, and he also mentioned that everyone should make sure to get involved. Christy Astorga also mentioned that the athletes spoke highly of Jim.
Expo Volunteers: Nicole Andress thanked those who worked and volunteered at the booth and for giving up their time to help and assist the club during the expo.
Tijuana Flats Summer Beach Run (Aug 19, 2023) – No Report.
Emerald Trail 5k/10k (Sept 30, 2023) – No Report.
Finance – Amiee Cords reported that the actual versus anticipated budget is available.
Community & Public Relations
Communications: Social Media/Newsletter – Christy Astorga spoke about working with Amiee to create an advertising tool to assist with club events and promotions. Larry Sassa spoke about the hospitality tent and thanked all those who helped with bag check, wrist bands, and food. He thanked James and his wife for assisting with tent entry and Stuart for helping with the tent setup. Todd reiterated that Stuart is a tremendous asset especially when it comes to setting up and breaking down the tent and other race-related structures. He mentioned that he worked with Trish (TLK) and Channel 4 on the JTC video refresh, which we should use it as a tool with community groups and local officials. Errol Daniels reported that there were several updates and posts that needed to be made to the website. Marilyn Young spoke about the upcoming newsletter in which she mentioned her favorite article is on a down syndrome runner that is running his first Gate River Run and he may be the first down syndrome runner to complete the race.
Membership – Nicole Andress reported that membership is currently at 982 households and will be just under 1,000 after she finishes adding the newest members, which she believes will put our membership at 995.
Classes & Clinics – Jane Alred stated that we would need to determine if we wanted to have the awards banquet this year.
Vision & Planning – No Report.
NEXT MEETING – The next board meeting will be Tuesday, April 4th, via Zoom meeting.
The March meeting was adjourned at 7:59 pm.
Minutes submitted by Errol Daniels, Secretary
