Board of Directors Meeting Minutes s1

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes January 13, 2015 – The Varsity – 6:30 p.m.

Meeting Date, Time and Location - Tuesday, January 13, 2015 – 6:30 p.m. – Varsity, Jimmy Carter Blvd, Norcross

Attendance – Bob Morrison, President; Ben Wiechman, Vice President; Gary Mastrodonato, Team Sponsorship/Past President; Ed Davis, Past President; Howard Wilcox, American League Commissioner; Bill Grimes, National League Commissioner; Harvey Schulman, AL Member at Large; Ron King, NL Member at Large/Insurance; Mike Grobman, Treasurer; Doris Warpole, Secretary; and Kathy Walker, Recorder.

Agenda Items

Annual Meeting Feedback (78 members)  Positive – Fellowship; Honoring Veterans; Awards  Negative - Increase break out time; Speed up door prizes; Reduce # door prizes; 2nd pitching machine not needed  Board members discussed the feedback and what might be done to address for next year’s annual meeting. Final decisions would be made at the November Board meeting.  Increase break out sessions to 45 minutes.  Provide league and membership stats but no need to discuss during meeting.  Door prizes – Rather than reduce the number of door prizes, Harvey suggested members be given a door prize based on when they sign in rather than throughout the meeting to save time.  Harvey asked if an American League player’s suggestion for giving out rewards for the most HRs would be feasible.  Board members felt that the stats reported varied too much since not all managers report the stats so they would not be 100% accurate.  Howard mentioned that an American league manager gives out rewards to his players.  This idea can be suggested to the managers at the Draft meeting.  A National League player suggested to have the masks/pitcher’s screen as “optional”. This cannot be done for legal and safety reasons; and it was discussed with the attorney when preparing the waiver.  Harvey stated that the Board keeps the best interest of the league in mind when making decisions and not all members will agree with the decisions.  Bill will tell the national league player this is not open for discussion.  A National League player’s suggestion to not allow a courtesy runner for any player from home plate is a non-issue.  This has been done in the NL for years; and it helps players to “stay in the game”.  Managers are made aware of this at the draft each year and no one has complained except 1 National League player.  Bob stated that an American league player rarely comes out to practice so his comment about not purchasing a second pitching machine was interesting. Even though the pitching machine speeds up practice, a lot of the AL players don’t like it.  League Commissioners will follow up with each member on their comments submitted.

Treasurer Report  Mike went over the 12 months ending 12/31/14 Financial Statement.  League has a balance of $1,178.71 with the CD balance of $5,513.48.  Mike stated all the tax paperwork for the 501c(7) has been completed.  He will file the taxes for the league; and we do not have report anything else to the IRS.  Ron asked about the light fees. Mike said he included them in the Field fees of $3,386.50.  Bob asked Mike to break out light fees separately on the report.  Equipment expenses include the purchase of new pitcher’s masks and Jox Box ($1,200).

Bethesda Fields  League has the permits for Tuesday night for 2 fields, if needed, for the American League.

1  There will be no charge for lights, but the league will have to pay $15/hour for a Field Manager per Field ($60-90 a night).  Mike asked how we would know about field conditions if it was raining, where could we store items (extra home plates, pitching screens and pitcher’s masks, etc.), who will line the fields, etc. Doris followed up with Stacy – answers below:  They do not have extra home plates.  They have double first bases on all of the adult fields.  Pitching screens and masks can be stored in their oversized storage room.  The maintenance staff will line the fields.  Stacy can notify Doris of rain outs or Howard/Doris can call the Bethesda office since Stacy’s office is located there.  Scorekeepers are not provided; and they do not allow hanging of the score brains on the fence.

 Howard said he would use the old pitching screens at Bethesda and purchase 2 more home plates and face masks if Bethesda is utilized.

 Gary stated we need to be careful about how we use Bethesda fields.  We need to schedule as many games at Best Friend first.  We have a good relationship with Gwinnett County; and we do not want to create a problem where the County may start charging us for the fields or start giving out Best Friend permits to other groups during the week (e.g., more nights for the Korean league, Cricket league etc.)

 Bob reiterated that Best Friend is our “home field” and Gwinnett County has given us the use of Best Friend fields 4 nights a week and 2 days for practice at no charge; and until we know how many teams we will have we need to be careful about mentioning it.

 No official motion was made but Board members agreed that we would only use Bethesda if the number of players supported it; and we would not use Bethesda in place of Best Friend.

Umpires (Ed Brown)  Ed stated he talked to James Edlund who is over the Gwinnett Umpires Assn about our needing 1 additional umpire at Best Friend and 1 or 2 umpires at Bethesda.  GUA contracts umpires so their association would get a cut of the fee paid to the umpires.  Ed stated that GUA would want to take over Tuesday nights at Bethesda and assign the umpires through a pool. This would mean we could get any umpire in the GUA and we may not be comfortable with them and we may not be able to depend on them to show up.  James had mentioned he could umpire some games for us at Bethesda. He had umpired a few games for us at Best Friend when Ed was out last year. Ed said he is very rigid, does not give and take, and very quick to eject players. Ed did not feel that James would fit in with the league on a long term basis.  Ed stated the league really needs umpires that get out from behind the plate, get in position to make calls, are reliable, and consistent in their calls, and they do not have to be part of GUA.  After further discussion, Board members agreed that Ed will be the Umpire in Charge and he will not go through GUA for umpires via the umpire pool.  Ron said he had talked to Jim Lownes about umpiring. Ron has umpired with Jim before and he is very good. Ron will give his number to Ed so he can talk to Jim further.  Ed also said he would try to get in contact with Mitch who umpired at the Memorial tournament and a few league games last year to see if he would be interested.  Other umpires that were mentioned - Allen Holloway and John Calhoun. Gary said he would follow up with John; and Ron would follow up with Allen to see if they might be interested in being a regular umpire on 1 or 2 nights.  Harvey asked how much we pay umpires. Mike states we currently pay umpires $30 a game.  Harvey suggested we pay new umpires $25 a game and then give a merit increase to $27.50 a game based on the managers evaluation sheet after the first half season. Or maybe we consider having a probationary period for the new umpires.  Board members agreed that we need to pay a set rate and not have a merit increase or probationary period for new umpires

2  Ron made the motion that we pay Ed Brown $32 a game and new umpires $28 a game. Ed Davis seconded the motion. Board members present approved.

Pitching Machine  Howard reviewed the condition of the pitching machine, what the issues were and we would need some replacement parts.  He said even if he got the parts, he may not be able to fix it.  He estimated the cost to fix the machine could be $700-$1,000.  A new machine would be $1,400-$2,000.  Harvey asked if there was anyone in the league with a machine shop.  Tommy Coker’s name was mentioned that he might be able to fix it in his auto shop.  Ed and Bill felt that a second machine was needed, but not all Board members felt it was necessary.  Harvey suggested we table the issue of buying a second machine until we know how much it will cost to fix this one.  Ron made a motion that if the cost to fix the pitching machine is $400-$500 to go ahead and get it fixed and hold on purchasing a new machine. Motion was seconded by Ed. Board members present agreed.

 Howard will follow up with Tommy Coker to see if he can fix it at a reasonable cost. If not, then the Board will consider buying a new machine.

 Howard stated that the individuals (Jim Hannah, Jim Bennett, Dean Eklund, Ken Packman) who run practices need to be told not to work on the machine but to notify Bill or Howard if there are problems with it.

Battery Clocks  American League voted to purchase Battery Clocks and hang them on the fence.  Board members approved the purchase of 2 clocks – estimated cost is $20 each – Howard said he will buy them.  Howard said it will be the manager’s responsibility to put up the clocks and take them down each night  He will go over this with the AL managers in the draft meeting.

Application Form  Board members approved keeping the League Fees the same in 2015 - $30 membership / $98 per season.  Harvey suggested that we state in the January mailing letter that we have not raised in fees in 5 straight years. Doris stated it was 4 years. Board members agreed to add the statement.

 Ben asked if we knew how many players will play in both leagues and how many players might be moving to the National League.  Players who have said they might play in both leagues are Bert McDade, Bob Morrison, Jim Hannah and Peter Mariolis.  Players who have expressed interest in moving up are Bert McDade and Jerry Falce.  Gary said there are other players who could move up but we have not heard if they will or not.

 Harvey asked if the league has ever considered allowing members to pay league fees via the web site with a charge card.  Doris stated she would prefer to continue getting the checks or cash so she can keep track of who has paid or not paid.  A change would need to be made to the web site and that cannot be done quickly enough for the First Half season.  Doris mentioned the league looked into this a couple of years ago and found out that we would be charged a processing fee for charge cards and a % fee for PayPal transactions. We might have to increase the league fees to cover the cost of processing.  Bob said he would not want to rule out using a charge card and asked Mike to do some more research on it.

First and Second Half Seasons  Board members agreed on a:  First Half start date of March 9 (AL) / March 10 (NL) with deadline to sign up of February 14  Second Half start date of July 6 (AL) / July 7 (NL) with deadline to sign up of June 26.  There will be 2 week break between seasons.  Board members agreed that we do not need to put anything in the January mailing letter about One Pitch Tournament.  League Commissioners can review this issue when First Half ends to see if there is sufficient interest and if a tournament could be scheduled between seasons.

2015 Expenses – No Changes from Gwinnett County  OOC Resident Fee - $90 per player per year  Light Fee - $9.00/hour

2015 Rule Changes  The following 2 rule changes will be made for 2015 for the American League:  American League Mercy Rule: 15 runs after 5 innings.  Placement of Pitching Screen - Right handed pitchers can only pitch to the right of the screen. Left handed pitchers can only pitch to the left of the screen.

4 Letters from the President  Bob reviewed the letters and made his changes. Howard and Harvey also provided changes to the letters.  Doris will update the letters with the changes and send to Dallas Howard for mailing.  January Membership Application Letter from President (Mailing includes Application/Waiver)  February Letter to Team Managers and Umpires (Mailing includes Rules)  March Welcome Letter to Players Who Sign Up for First Half.

Manager / Umpire Rules of Conduct  There were no changes to either the Manager or Umpire Rules of Conduct.

SS-USA Insurance (Ron King)  Ron reported that he had contacted SS-USA, and we will have the same coverage as 2014 - $2MM per incident – covering Board Members, Umpires and Gwinnett County.  Cost will be $40 per team (est $350-$400 depending on number of teams).  Ron stated that the Directors and Officers Liability Insurance would cost $900-$1,000.  Board members agreed we do not need to purchase this coverage.  Doris will send a copy of the insurance certificate to Gwinnett County as one of the Policy Holders.

Memorial Tournament – Saturday, May 9  League has the permits for all 3 fields at Bethesda.  Howard asked when invitations are sent out to players/spouses. Doris stated she sends them out the first of April so they have a few weeks to respond.  Howard Wilcox (50-55-60 teams) and Bill Grimes/Ed Davis (65 teams) will try to let Doris know by April 30 which teams will be participating.

Team Managers / Team Sponsors  Bill and Howard stated they have contacted their Team Managers and will order the softballs for their leagues.  Gary is already working with the 13 sponsors that have committed for 2015 and will try to get the order for shirts in early so players can have them the first night of play.  Gary stated that 4 sponsors have already paid.

Sponsor a Youth – Mountain View High School  Freeman Davis, who used to be our Best Friend Repr, contacted Doris about donating $100 to help sponsor a football player at MV High School.

4  Ron stated we need to make sure the donation is “anonymous” so we do not open it up for a lot of requests. Since Freeman worked with us for years, Board members approved the $100 donation.  Mike will send the donation directly to Freeman.

June 6 Tournament in Honor of Charlie Blackburn  Stacy Fowler sent Doris an email about a June 6 tournament where Gwinnett County will be honoring Charlie Blackburn.  The County will be making up shirts with his picture on it and have a ceremony during the tournament.  Stacy said we could enter a team to participate in the tournament; and if we wanted, we could purchase the shirts.  Stacy will follow up with Doris when everything is final.

4 South Carolina Tournament Players  Bill mentioned he has 4 tournament players that will be coming from South Carolina to play in the National League. They would like to ride together and be on the same team.  He asked what everyone thought about 4 players on 1 team.  Ed felt it was not fair to have all 4 on a team and the players should be split up with 2 to a team. This way a team is not down 4 tournament players at once.  Everyone else agreed. Bill will follow up with the players to let them know the decision.