WDBC: Minutes from 03/28/2012
Present: Brian Duran, Marsha Gerstein, Peter Lombardo, Jan Smola, Eva Milofsky, Rich Stevens, Kathy Benjamin,
Brian distributed some documents and they were accepted.
No change to our policies.
Sweeping has been added to the post game responsibilities. This document should be posted for those on clean up, though the monitor must act as a lead for the cleanup.
It was requested that Brian make announcements that players are responsible for cleaning up their own cups and paper goods, fold up chairs and return the bidding boxes, etc. Also Marsha requested an announcement that each person is responsible for knowing the schedule of their clean up or set up responsibilities, and they must find replacements if they can't make it. Reminders will continue to be sent out, but they should be just a reminder.
Most of the meeting was spent discussing bridge mates, and the possibility of buying the used older versions being sold by the Westwood club. They are selling their entire old system, which includes 19-20 units that work, and 4-5 that don't work
There was a very long discussion that involved discussing the cost of a new system, or how much we should offer for this old system. There is no warranty on the old units bought from another club second hand, whereas there would be a one year warranty if we bought the units refurbished from the manufacturer. As a result the general sense of the board is that we should not pay the same amount for the club's old units. 4-5 are broken now, we have no idea how long the rest would last. In general it was felt a brand new system is pricy for a once a week club.
There was also a discussion on whether the scores should be displayed on the bridge mates if we did purchase them. It is acknowledged by all that showing scores holds things up, especially on the older units that only have a 2-line display. The etiquette around how people discuss the scores is also an issue. On the other hand there would be complaints if we did not show the scores, it would be taking away something available now with travelers.
An advantage to the bridge mates is that scores are available more quickly, and it allows Tim to run special movements, especially for some of the team games.
Finances
The discussion of bridge mates is tied up with our finances, since it requires a substantial outlay of money. We do have a rainy day fund, expect to end up with a balance of about 7K when the year is over, but it is definitely an issue about whether a chunk of that should be spent on bridge mates for our once a week club.
For this year we seem to be down about a table a week. Sometimes that happens in the winter, as some members head to warmer weather in the winters, but there is no guarantee we won't continue to go down. We haven't had any snow closings (or small turnouts) this year as the weather was mild. If we continue to be down we could charge members the extra fee for special games (fifty cents or a dollar), but our fees have been raised with the move and there is disinclination to raise them again.