Minutes of Board of Directors’ Meeting 1/15/14

The January 15, 2014 meeting of the Parkwood Garden Club (PGC) Board of Directors was held at 471 W Parkwood Rd, Decatur, GA. The meeting was called to order at 7:11 pm. The following officers and committee chairs attended: Tom Bell, Christina Carter, Joe Dicks, Steve Elmore, Frances Finegan, Jim Paulino, Patti Paulino, Bob Stewart.

1. Consent Agenda
   1.  Approve November 12, 2013 Board minutes (attached).  All approve.
   2. Approve December 2, 2013 Board minutes (attached).  All approve.
2. Treasurer’s Report  – Treasurer’s Report and 2014 Budget (attached) –
   1. There are three items still outstanding (committed) from the 2013 budget (Fall Street Party, Directory Printing, Neighbor Care) that have not been paid.  Discussed closing these items in the 2013 budget to close it out and move them to the 2014 budget.  Christina to follow up with Nicola Smith on Fall Street Party expenses.
   2.  Steve presented an alternative format for the budget.  With his proposal, the Special Park fund (DHCA, fundraisers, etc.) will be separate from the approved budget, and the budget numbers at the end of the year should balance to zero.  For 2013, some Park Special funds had to be moved to the budget account to cover a shortage caused by the expanded park maintenance.  There was some discussion about usage of the DHCA funds and Frances confirmed that the DHCA funds are for general use in the Park and not restricted to tree maintenance.  For 2014, Steve is again proposing 20 Ground Maintenance visits compared to the 13 in the proposed budget.  If additional funds are needed to cover the increased number of visits, they will be paid from the Special Park fund.   Steve to update his spreadsheet and send it to the Board.
   3. Motion:  The PGC Board will defer making a final decision on the budget until the February meeting.  All approve. 
3.  President’s Report
   1.   Old Business
      1. MedPay for General Liability Policy – update (estimate attached).  The estimate of $500 would be for Liability plus Medical (for visitors, not volunteers).    We currently pay $250 for just General Liability.  Steve suggested bringing this issue to the membership for possibly raising dues.  Bob asked if the $250 that we already paid would be recoverable if we bought the $500 policy.   Frances to check. 
      2. PGC Website update.  Frances asked Bryan to create a tab for the Annexation/Cityhood.  Patti mentioned changing the landing page to “Welcome to PGC” instead of the blog page.  All agree that this a good idea and Frances to update Bryan for changes.
      3. General Liability Policy for the Park and city hood and annexation initiatives – policy remains the same regardless of city.

 B.  New Business

1. A Confidentiality Policy – The Board did not endorse a confidentiality policy.  We will all be cognizant of what is said at Board meetings and how it is relayed to members.
2. Opening PGC Board meetings to membership – If PGC Members would like to attend the Board meetings, please contact a Board member for more information.
3. Identify Board vacancies as of May 31, 2014:
   1. President
   2. Vice President
   3. Secretary – Proposed is Christina unless another PGC member would like this position.
   4. Treasurer
   5. Social Chair/Membership Chair – Vacant.  Currently the Paulinos serve on both positions.  There was discussion about splitting the positions for June 2014.
   6. Parkwood Park Committee – Proposed is Sheri Kennedy and/or Steve.
   7. Civic Committee – Proposed is Tom Bell.
   8. Webmaster – Proposed is Bryan Bell.
   9. Neighbor Care – Proposed is Anne Dicks.

4.  Committee Reports

1. Civic Committee
   1.  COD Annexation

Tom calls for the motion from the 12/2/2013 meeting to be revisited.  The main revision from the 12/2/2013 meeting’s motion is that Parkwood Park’s acreage is now included in the land acreage mentioned below in the motion.

 “At the point in time that the Decatur Annexation Group can demonstrate to the Board, by providing copies of our annexation tracking list, that they have collected 60% of registered voters in unincorporated DeKalb County currently residing within the Parkwood neighborhood as described area in the petition, and 60% of the unincorporated DeKalb land acreage within the said boundaries, the PGC Board will then sign the petition on behalf of the PGC membership to have Parkwood Park included in the petition for annexation into the City of Decatur”.

 After lengthy discussion revealed some were in favor of the motion, some were opposed to the motion, and others wanted to honor the earlier e-mail indicating there would be a meeting with neighborhood before voting.  Since the annexation group informed the board that they had the percentages needed in both land mass and signatures to move forward with the petition, some felt the PGC should continue to try to remain neutral by not signing the petition or annexing the Park only if the surrounding areas were annexed.  This approach would also obviate the need for legal advice, which some thought was still important.

Frances calls for the vote:  Ayes (Tom, Steve, Christina), No’s (Frances, Jim/Patti, Joe, Bob).  The motion does not pass.

Tom rescinds the offer of $600 for legal advice that was offered to the Board, via e-mail on December 11, 2013,to help with making its decision.  An attorney will not be hired as the neighborsseeking annexation into COD will not ask the Board to make this decision again.

2. From 11/12 Meeting Minutes:  PGC Board to investigate if the Park may have covenants on it that need to be explored with regard to cityhood in Briarcliff, Atlanta or Decatur.  The Board may revisit this issue in the future if the Park becomes annexed into an existing city or is included in a new city.  

 Parkwood Park

1.  Status of the PGC Board meeting with COD – Steve reported that b/c the Park is not a 501(c)(3) organization, funds would most likely not be available for Park projects so it was unnecessary to meet with the COD.

 Membership

1. Membership Directory – To be completed by the end of January.
2.  Winter Social – March 1 at the home of Jane Carriere.  It will have a Mardi Gras theme.
3. Meeting with the membership to talk with neighbors about the “vote the Park” decisions– Frances to schedule.

 Member at Large

1.  Audiotaping PGC Board Meeting – discussed and remains optional at the discretion of the Secretary.

Meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for February 11, 2014.

ADDENDUM

On January 27, 2014, Frances held a special meeting of the membership regarding the annexation of the Park into the COD.

From February 14 thru February 17, the Board unanimously approved the 2014 Budget via e-mail as each member had agreed to do so in lieu of attending a meeting in February