OPCL Board Meeting Minutes – 12/08/09

OPCL Board Meeting Minutes –

 12/08/09

Meeting was held at Bayside Recreation Center due to the flood damage done to the OPVRS building.

Brian Ledwell, President of the Executive Board of OPVRS and Stephanie Robbins, board member were in attendance to update us on the status of the building. All furniture was destroyed from the flood waters and drywall and paneling had to be removed. Firefighters from outside the area came in to help with the clean up bringing in dehumidifiers and fans. The first priority is getting estimates for roof repairs and then for the interior work. Nationwide Insurance is claiming the damage is not covered which they will contest but they also have flood insurance. Fortunately all operating vehicles and equipment are fine and they are operating out of the new Shore Drive and Great Neck Fire Station.

We inquired about the plans for replacing the old building but the cost for the proposed new building from 8 years ago was for $2,500,000 so is currently an unattainable near term goal. The current focus is to make the necessary repairs now. We asked for a list of items they need so we may assist with donations and soliciting offers from others. They already have a commitment from Haynes Furniture to provide the needed beds and bedding.

Mike Wills updated us on the new volunteers that will be coming on board in the New Year. We have a number of new volunteers for the social committee and Laurie Rogers will act as our Welcome Wagon and will cover as Citizens Advisory Council liaison for now. Mike will be the liaison to SDCC and Vickie Schiano will work with him on the zoning committee. Jason Dodzik and Dove Payman will work on the membership committee. John Gardner will coordinate the Newsletter distribution.

There was then discussion of the Newsletter distribution and whether we should continue to distribute them to Aeries on the Bay where we only have 10 members and are distributing over 250 newsletters. We could distribute them via email if we can increase our database and only distribute the hard copies to members.

Discussion of the repairs to OPVRS after their representatives had left addressed how we should help them monetarily. Since the new building is not expected to proceed anytime in the near future it was suggested by Carol Collins that our pledge of $50,000 for the new building might be partially used for the repairs. After we hear what their needs are we can again address this issue and for now we will put forth a motion to give them a contribution of $2500.

New business included a suggestion from Laurie Roger to develop OPCL sweatshirts for us to sell. New President Rick Mercadante is working on membership cards that will feature 5 advertisers who will offer discounts to card holders. We are trying to get the word out to applicants of the Scholarship we have assumed responsibility of from the OP Women’s Club. We discussed the possibility of a licensed fireworks display on July 4^th and Alan Gaskins will look into it. Discussions ended with the question of where the January meeting would be held, and decided that BayVista meeting room be used if available with the Recreation Center as a backup.

Carol Collins

Secretary