Board of Directors

Regular Meeting -- February 19, 2012

The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 2:30 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Kathy Lee, Vice President Tamara Vogt, Secretary Pam Chambers, Ann Carson (by phone) and Laine Morales. The following directors were absent: Treasurer Penny Chambers. Robert McGarey (Executive Director) was also present at the meeting.

Reading of Mission Statement and Approval of Minutes

The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the previous meeting were read aloud and approved as read.

Executive Director's Report

Financials. Bob says we did very well at the end of last year. We paid off about $3,500 of credit card debt at 21-24% interest, including a credit card that would otherwise have taken us 15 years to pay off due to the interest charges.

Repairs. Green Collar, the weatherization company, came and sealed up all of the leaks in the ductwork, doors and windows.. They found one large hole leading directly to the attic, which has been bringing 150 or 200 degree air directly into the A/C system in the middle of the summer. They sealed that, and this will make the air conditioning more efficient. So we have taken several steps to decrease our future expenses.

Bob plans on getting insulation in the attic in the future. Before we do that there is old electrical wiring which needs to be replaced He has an electrician coming out to check it out. We will be paying two men $75 an hour which is really good. Bob is struggling with getting the wiring in the attic done as it will not be giving back as big a return financially.

The Wansley refrigeration guy increased the size of the ductwork and added a new vent in the office to get more heat and A/C into the room., and repositioned a vent in the Imaginary Room to do the same. Bob is also thinking of putting a gas heater in the wall of the cottage, since last winter our electric bill increased due to the use of electric heaters in the cottage.

We decided to go ahead with the electric work. And we are going to try to keep a reserve of $2,000 in the bank.

Rent. Since the the cost of electricity is probably going up, and the price of rents around town have also risen substantially, the board decided that we are going to have to increase the rent for the cottage. (The center pays the electric for the cottage; the tenant pays for the gas.)

Survey. Stella who used to volunteer here as an administrative assistant is now at St. Edwards University. She did a survey of the Center's membership as a class project. We as a board are going to go over the survey she worked up and sent out to all members. We may work on this next month at the board meeting.

Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at around 4:28 pm.

Minutes submitted by Pam Chambers, Secretary, February 19, 2012.