Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes

February 2007 Minutes

Date: February 11, 2007

Attendance

Felicity Pickett, Cathy Perkins, Simon Delekta, Fred Schoeps, Granger Macy, Bob Scheier, Sue Baldauf, Guy Thompson, Martha Molpus

Minutes

A motion to accept the minutes of the previous meeting was made by Fred, seconded by Simon and passed.

Director’s Report

Felicity reported that Doug was working on the catalog and could not be here. She handed out the 2007 spring/summer schedule and the attendance report for the last 10 years.

A used truck has been purchased for maintenance. There are also new windows for the old section of the farmhouse.

Plans for the Orchard Guest House are moving forward, and the project could be starting soon. It has been decided to go with a full basement excavated under the building, rather than moving the building, and future use will be taken into consideration when designing the space. Felicity and Deb are awaiting estimates and selecting a contractor.

Replacement of siding for the chapel was put out to bid, and there was a good response. However, the grade of wood shingles we need is costly. A retired electrician in town has offered to be contracted for the electrical work in the chapel.

Vanessa Carlisle has been hired to co-direct Junior High Camp, but a co-director has not yet been found to work with her. The new process for hiring camp directors has been working very well. The structure of a committee with Felicity, a board member, and members of the camp community, allows great vision with different viewpoints.

Camp directors have been hired for the Labor Day Gay Men’s Retreat. Doug received a number of responses to his letter with suggestions. A consultant for food safety from the community will begin work in April.

Andy, the Associate Chef, will be leaving in early April. However, he will continue to serve at times as a hired cook.

Treasurer’s Report

In summary the staff is on target in managing Rowe income and expense.

Total income year to year increased by 6.25% while expense decreased for the same period by 5.64%

Total development income is outpacing previous year's development income and contributed to year to year growth in total income through January.

Conference and Labor Day retreat income rose year to year (2.75% and 5.4%). At the same time overall expense for the Labor Day retreat rose by more than 10% as did conference food and honoraria.

A mild winter through January reduced utility costs by more than 25%. Lower depreciation, mortgage interest and P&L insurance reduced General Expenses through January by close to 40%

Some recurring expenses previously accounted for at this time will come later in the fiscal year, e.g., accounting fees and the Rowe Zone and contributed to lowering expenses through January.

When these variables are factored out staff still reduced year to year expenses resulting in year to year improvement in net income through January.

Request:

In reviewing current assets and long term liabilities the staff is asked to update the finance committee prior to the next Board meeting on the following:

a) cash flow - how much cash does Rowe operations require monthly to cover operations and how does Rowe utilize various short term securities such as CDs and the Money Market to manage its short term requirements.

b) loans – should Rowe pay off some long term debts such as private loans

Respectfully submitted,

Fred Schoeps, Treasurer

A motion was made by Cathy to empower Felicity to set up a special bank account for short term investment and to move up to $70,000 in cash for that purpose. The motion was seconded by Fred and passed.

Felicity reported that conference presenters are raising their fees, and asked who has the authority to raise our fees. It was determined that the directors have the authority to use means to meet the costs within the budget passed by the board/corporation, and no motion/vote is necessary.

Investment Committee

A proposal put forth by Max Greendale was handed out. Granger reported that things are going well, and the committee is moving in the direction called for by the finance committee.

Long Range Planning Committee

The committee had originally been established to address a slump in attendance that couldn’t be explained by any obvious change. Doug had talked with other conference center executives and found they were experiencing the same phenomenon. We also wanted to find a way to attract people who have strong connections to Rowe from their youth camp days, but don’t seem to be attracted to the conferences.

Cathy reported she had been searching for a new LRPC chair since Holly’s departure. Failing to find a volunteer, Cathy took over chairmanship last fall. The committee had been stalled. The focus groups went well when they happened, but it was hard to get people to come. The committee had discussed trying surveys of people who attend conferences. Joe Zoske and Granger Macy had each volunteered their expertise in survey design. However, that wouldn’t reach the people who aren’t coming, which is the population we want to attract. After a conversation with Doug, Cathy learned that the slump was over, and attendance is back up.

Felicity observed that we learned a great deal from the focus groups we did run, and that some of those ideas are being researched and/or implemented. A request for family programming topped the list of wants. The week between Christmas and New Year was reprogrammed as a family camp, and went very well. Childcare was another big item. While there were activities aimed at kids during the winter vacation week, this really requires a place, staffing and age appropriate activities; something that will require planning and resources to do right.

Given the change in attendance levels and the ideas already identified and in need of further planning, the LRPC has been suspended.

Strategic Planning

Results from our strategic planning retreat were handed out. See attached.

Nominations

Simon reported on recruitment of new board members. He introduced Sue Baldauf and Martha Molpus who are joining us for today’s meeting. Outreach for prospective trustees is continuing. Margaret Woodside has agreed to join the Nominating Committee.

Stewardship Committee

Guy reported that things are pretty quiet right now. He has been working on the continuing maintenance database, which Deb will update as work is completed. Things are going well, and more work will be done in the spring. There is some discussion of straw bale housing at Rowe in the future.

Development Committee

Bob reported that the Development Committee has been working hard. A meeting was held in Worcester on 1/12/07 (see attached minutes) and yesterday was dedicated to those board members and prospective board member who wanted on-site support while making their phone calls.

Felicity gave a presentation on continuing board efforts to create a major giving program.

A move to adjourn was made by Simon, seconded by Granger and passed.