Board Meeting Minutes
Angels Camp Business Association
Board Meeting Minutes
May 20, 2010
Opening:
The regular meeting of the Angels Camp Business Association was called to order at 8:30am on May 20, 2010 at First American Title in Angels Camp by Bob Menary.
Present:
Bob Menary (president), Sherri Smith (vice president), Ron Rivera (treasurer), Janet Soest (secretary), Vivian Danielsen, Jim Turner
Absent:
Veronica Metildi, Steve Hayward, Tony Salazar, Carol Hogan, Linda Tolerton, Erin Wilson, Nick Middleton, Anne Forrest, Michele Lee
A. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the previous meeting were unanimously approved as distributed.
B. Treasurer’s Report
Ron Rivera was unable to provide a treasurer’s report due to a conflict between the bank and the accounting firm in regards to receipt of the April bank statement. He will check back with a report once the issue is resolved.
Bob Menary stated he has billed the city for the 2nd 2009-2010 grant payment in the amount of $2300. He feels confident the association will receive payment shortly.
C. Open Issues
Friends of the Fair Tickets - Bob Menary announced ACBA most likely will come in second for the highest number of tickets sold by an organization, just barely missing the top prize of $500.
June Workshop at the Museum - Anne Forrest submitted an email for discussion of the upcoming monthly workshop to be held at the Angels Camp Museum June 14th. Sherri Smith stated the importance of inviting and having media coverage at the workshop, especially due to the potential national interest in the new Mark Twain exhibit and the plans for the October Mark Twain Festival. There was discussion of putting extra effort into reaching the local businesses in hopes of drawing ample attendance by both owners and their employees. Overall, the board felt this workshop would be an excellent opportunity to educate many individuals doing business with patrons, both local and out of town visitors, to the many attractions available in Angels Camp. Bob Menary suggested scheduling a separate meeting specifically for planning the workshop.
Downtown Planters - Bob Menary announced the completion of the downtown replanting project, thanking the volunteers from the Christian Learning School who came out to help with the planting. He also acknowledged the Bret Harte High School Ag Department and their efforts in growing the flowers. Ron Rivera stated the high school FFA program received the funds in the amount of $500 for the flowers. Janet Soest asked if there was a possible geranium theft since some of the planters did not have geraniums. Jim Turner said there were no geraniums outside Turners Wild West. Bob stated the number of geraniums did not match the number of planters.
S.H.A.R.E.S. Cards - Bob Menary announced S.H.A.R.E.S. cards are still available and reminded the board of Angels Food Market’s program, also.
Farmers Market - Janet Soest reported on the May 17th farmer’s market committee meeting. Theresa Douglas announced the addition of Black Oak Casino as a sponsor and requested additional help in attracting more sponsors. She presented a list of vendors in the process of completing paperwork and felt, due to the nature of the event and her past experience, many of the participants would complete the process near to or on the first day of the event. She is scheduled to attend several farmers markets nearby within the next few weeks, hoping to attract more vendors. She is completing the permitting process with several agencies. Jim Turner suggested the market had little effect on the downtown businesses possibly detracting from potential foot traffic due to product conflicts, especially in the area of prepared foods.
Taste of Calaveras - Bob Menary announced the event planning is going strong. He stated the next committee meeting will be held on May 25th at Camps at 10:00am.
Scholarships Program - Bob Menary reported five recipients will be awarded scholarships on May 26th at Bret Harte High School. Four of the awards will be for $250 and one award will be for $100.
Membership - Janet Soest reported no new memberships since last month. She addressed the issue of the missing decals for 2010 and Ron Rivera will research the name of the company responsible for printing the decals in hopes of tracking their whereabouts. The board discussed new and returning membership procedures. Jim Turner recommended a board member make an appearance, visiting and welcoming new businesses to the association, providing a decal and some sort of document listing the various events sponsored by the business association. Vivian Danielsen and Janet Soest will plan on going out to visit new businesses as well as reaching out to businesses not currently members. Janet suggested the association offer a mid-year reduced price on dues. Ron Rivera felt that would set a negative precedence and Jim Turner suggested businesses would delay membership till later in the year specifically for the discounted rate. Vivian proposed we use the survey approach and report back on the issue of affordability of rates on a case by case basis.
2010-2011 City Grant - Bob Menary presented the associations request for grant money in the amount of $9000, reducing the amount requested over last year by $1000 in accordance with the city’s request for organizations to lower their financial requirements due to budgetary constraints.
Grand Marshal for the Holiday Parade - Bob Menary asked members to offer their suggestions for the position of Grand Marshal for the holiday parade this coming winter.
City Liaison - Bob Menary announced the hiring of a new interim city administrator; Dave Richards, 59 years old who currently resides in Avery, having just relocated from a small town in Alaska. Ron Rivera asked if anything was known of his views.
D. New Business
ACBA Involvement with Various Projects - Both Jim Turner and Sherri Smith felt there was some confusion on the part of the businesses and the public as to the involvement of the business association in both the development of the bike trail along Angels Creek and the Brand Leadership Team. Bob Menary also suggested there was a general misconception that ACBA was somehow connected to the city council. Vivian Danielsen suggested and Bob Menary agreed to put together a press release detailing ACBA’s achievements and current projects while dispelling assumptions of involvement in other projects.
Brand Leadership Team - Jim Turner reported several conversations with local and life time citizens of Angels Camp expressing their disappointment with the direction of the new branding theme. He felt the general consensus was the backpack carrying frog did not represent the history and significance of the frog jump; feeling the frog jump itself was the first thing that comes to people’s minds when asked about their knowledge of Angels Camp therefore making it a significant factor in the history and identity of the area. Vivian Danielsen stated she was on the brand leadership team and would be willing to arrange for a presentation highlighting the group’s focus, goals and efforts to the business association. The board discussed the possibility of such a presentation at the June 14th workshop. Vivian will get back to Bob Menary prior to the workshop.
Business Association Website - Bob Menary and Janet Soest will meet with Linda Gough, our web developer, for instructions on updating the website. In turn, Janet will set up a meeting with the rest of the committee to review procedures.
Newsletter - Janet Soest brought a “mock” newsletter to the board meeting, requesting the board develop some sort of variation in order to provide a means for communication within the membership. In general, the board felt the members were not aware of what the business association did on their behalf or for their benefit. Janet felt the newsletter would be an ideal tool to keep them up to date on the association’s efforts and to create an avenue for communication between the board and the general membership. Bob Menary suggested anyone interested meet to discuss, develop and propose ideas to the board at the next meeting. The newsletter meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, May 25th at 7:00pm at Janet’s home - 320 Mill Court. She requested anyone interested in attending please respond via email to acba.secretary@gmail.com and she’ll have some refreshments available. Bob Menary also stated he would get the new logo file and newsletter to Janet for membership communication and newsletter use.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45am by Bob Menary. The next board meeting will be at 8:30am on June 24, 2010 at First American Title in Angels Camp.
Minutes submitted by: Janet Soest
Approved by: Bob Menary
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