Executive Committee Meeting Minutes

 

A regular meeting of the Executive Committee was held, via Zoom, on Tuesday evening, April 13, 2021. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Gail Sudduth.

 

Present: Gail Sudduth – President, Sara Casassa – Vice President, Craig Seymour – Treasurer, Mary Ellen Morse -Secretary, Erik Browning, Alan Lewis, Tiffany McCann, Reggie Hall, Katie Johnson, Sarah Holmes and Jeff Ristau – Manager

 

Secretary’s Report – Mary Ellen Morse

 

A motion was made to approve the March Executive Committee meeting minutes.  The minutes were unanimously approved and will be posted on the website.

 

Treasurer’s Report – Craig Seymour

 

  • Craig Seymour presented the Financial Report to the Executive Committee.
  • Invoices for annual dues and fees went out in March. Dues are recognized as revenue for the month of March, so profits increase significantly for the month as there are very few monthly expenses at this time (i.e., Jeff’s salary, utilities and some maintenance and repair costs).
  • Profits for the month were $435,500.
  • As of April 9, 2021, about $274,000 had been collected from members through our on-line payment system, with about $189,000 in receivables still outstanding.
  • The EC will continue to discuss setting up a capital reserve fund for future big-ticket expenditures (like resiliency measures such as rebuilding the revetment wall), perhaps 10 to 20% of the capital improvements fee ($167,400 for 2021).
  • Craig answered questions from the EC and the Financial Report was accepted unanimously.

 

Manager’s Report – Jeff Ristau

 

  • Seacoast Sewer and Drain will be blasting out the saltwater line with the hopes of being able to run a new line through the existing line so that the saltwater can be brought in for the pool.
  • Sky High has completed the roof replacement. Some rot was discovered (i.e., portions of the main building, including the rubber roof over the kitchen and the roof over the front door, the section where the west and north lockers meet and the cupola) and replaced and will be invoiced in accordance with the contract.
  • The cupola was not replaced at this time. A decision will need to be made as to whether we want to replace the cupola and if so, do we want to purchase a prefabricated one or have one custom built.
  • Jeff is still waiting for Nardiff to assess the chimney. He has lined up another mason to assess in the coming weeks as well.
  • Seacoast Sewer and Drain will be coming to snake the saltwater line and run a camera to determine how to best proceed.
  • Matt and Jared have been working part time the last two weeks so opening activities are ahead of schedule.
  • The table and planter boxes have almost all been painted.
  • The sea deck is tentatively scheduled to be rebuilt in the coming week.
  • Hart Plumbing turned on the water and we discovered three of the automated sinks are not working. Hart Plumbing will assess and repair.
  • Jeff continues to look for summer help, including deli/grill cooks, lifeguards, an office person and kitchen staff.
  • Jeff has received one request to host an event on October 8th of 2022 and we also have one event private event scheduled for October 2, 2022.
  • To date, Jeff has received 4 SOG policy packets.

 

Membership – Sarah Holmes

 

  • As of April 13, 2021, the membership counts are as follows:
    • There are currently 280 total units
      • 93 Single units
      • 89 Spousal units
      • 98 Family units
    • There are currently 656 members
      • 93 single members
      • 178 spousal members
      • 385 family members
    • The next legacy birthday is in this month (April) of 2021 with a letter of intent already accepted and on file.  Another legacy birthday will follow in July 2021.
    • A proposed change to the rules pertaining to Sponsorship was proposed and unanimously accepted. The change is intended to clarify the rule as it pertains to situations whereby an applicant’s sponsor(s) ceases to be a member of the Club through resignation or death.
    • The change will be included in the 2021 handbook.

 

Swim – Erik Browning

 

  • Erik and Nicole are continuing to work on swim team scheduling.
  • In 2020, we had approximately 40 participants that were broken up into four groups, each practicing two to three times a week to allow for social distancing.
  • Options for 2021 scheduling include:
    • Continuing with the 2020 schedule.
    • Modify the 2021 schedule such that we have two groups practicing five days a week at either 9 AM or 10 AM with possible drylands before/after the session; or
    • Revert to traditional schedule with one practice, five days a week and 8 swimmers per lane.
  • Nicole has two contacts who have expressed interest in being on deck. At minimum, we are looking for one coach on the days that Nicole is not able to be at the pool. Ideally, we find someone who can be there 5 days a week.

 

Social – Tiffany McCann

 

  • The tentative calendar has been completed and will be finalized upon decisions regarding events.
  • The July 3rd will likely proceed but capacity restraints, if any, will need to be determined.
  • Once decisions are made regarding what events we will be having, Tiffany will begin planning themes, food, etc.
  • A few music nights have been booked and Tiffany is working to book a few more.
  • Tiffany received an idea for a book for this summer’s Beach Club Reads. Book is a fun summer read that is being released in late June. The author is a friend of a member, so hoping she will agree to come speak about the book.
  • An astronomy night is being planned for anyone interested.
  • Looking to schedule a few junior member nights with beach games. These events will be added throughout the summer and announced ahead of time instead of including on the calendar.
  • Tiffany is continuing to work with PromoCentric on this year’s pop-up shop for gear and launch in time to have items delivered in early July.

 

Facilities – Alan Lewis

 

  • No report was provided.

 

Long Range Planning – Reggie Hall

 

  • Reggie is continuing to solicit additional quotes for revetment work and engineering studies to address adaptation to rising sea levels.

 

Technology – Katie Johnson

  • Katie is exploring alternative payment providers for credit card processing in order to reduce the processing fees. Stripe Payment processing fees are: 2.9% + .30 per transaction which is the same as Paypal for business. Katie inquired as to whether Stripe has payment tiers but has not heard back.
  • Broken links on the website for the webcam and reservations for the sea deck have been updated.
  • Katie also fixed links to the old swim team waivers and sign-up forms. She will updated based on feedback from Nicole and Erik.
  • The beach cleanup is reserved June 13th at 10AM.

New Business

 

  • The EC discussed opening plans for the 2021 season.
  • Per Gail’s request, Erik presented recommendations based on state guidelines and best industry practices. Recommendations included, but were not limited to, maintaining sufficient distancing, registering all guests for contact tracing, continuing sanitization procedures, requiring employees to wear masks and conducting daily employee temperature checks.
  • Erik suggested we maintain the configuration of the deck from last summer to comply with the recommended 6 ft distance between non-related parties.
  • In accordance with guidelines, staff will continue to wear masks and will undergo a daily temperature check.
  • Quarantine will no longer be required for people traveling in from out of state.
  • The EC discussed potential occupancy constraints required to ensure sufficient distancing. Last summer, the deck was configured to allow for 135 people by removing two tables.
  • The EC agreed the deck should be configured as it was last summer to allow for distancing.
  • The question was raised as to whether guests should be permitted this summer. The EC discussed the need to create a safe environment for all members while being mindful of members wanting to bring guests to the Club.
  • The EC discussed modifying guest privileges for this summer to avoid capacity issues. Concerns about the administrative burden of “policing” guest policies were raised.
  • The EC discussed implementing a reservation/registration process online. The EC discussed the benefits of implementing a system as it would assist with capacity issues this summer and would provide valuable metrics pertaining to overall Club use.
  • Katie informed the committee that a reservation plug in currently exists on the site and could be upgraded for a nominal fee to permit broader use.
  • Katie will work to implement a guest reservation system so the EC can review at the next meeting.
  • A suggestion was made to limit the number of reservations a member can make to three at one time in order to allow members equitable access to available times. If a member booked three reservations, he or she would be permitted to sign up for another when one of the reservations was no longer active.
  • The question was raised as to whether each member of a membership unit could make three reservations or if it would be three reservations per membership unit. The EC agreed it would be three reservations per membership unit.
  • The EC agreed that no guests would be permitted in May but beginning in June, guests would be permitted under the existing rules, but members will be required to make reservations for guests which will be subject to availability based on the daily “cap”.
  • A question was raised as to how the daily cap would be determined. The EC discussed determining the cap based on the number or people the deck could accommodate while still allowing for appropriate distancing. The number would likely change throughout the summer as Covid metrics continue to improve.
  • Jeff voiced concerns about members not making reservations and the additional work that would be required of staff to register members upon arrival for those that failed to make a reservation.
  • He further voiced concerns about members who arrived without a reservation for their guests when capacity had been met.
  • The EC then discussed closing from 4:00-4:30 daily for cleaning. While some members felt closing was required to provide sufficient time for cleaning, others felt closing was unnecessarily burdensome (i.e., members who want to use the club after work for a swim, etc.).
  • Jeff was asked whether he had sufficient time to clean last summer.
  • Jeff reported that while most members were fairly responsive, it took some additional time for everyone to vacate. Nonetheless, they were able to complete the cleaning in the thirty-minute period.
  • The EC discussed alternatives to closing for the thirty-minute period (i.e., requiring members to leave the deck but keeping lockers open, etc.) and agreed to continue the conversation at the next meeting.
  • The EC agreed the opening cocktail party could be held outside and would be reworked to eliminate food being passed, lingering at the bar, etc. In the event of inclement weather, the party would be moved to a rain date.
  • If and how to permit other social events will be discussed at the next meeting. Jeff will reach out to the Town of Rye to see if any decisions had been made about the 4th of July fireworks.
  • Erik will continue to monitor USA Swimming guidelines and decisions will be made about the swim tea structure and swim meets based on those guidelines.
  • Gail confirmed the EC’s approval to permit guests beginning in June subject to the daily cap and provided all guests are registered. The EC unanimously agreed.

 

Old Business

 

Changes to existing guest policies were not discussed given the time. Discussions regarding changes to the policies, if any, will take place at the next regularly scheduled meeting.

 

A motion to adjourn regular meeting was made by Gail and seconded by Craig.

 

Meeting adjourned 9:34 pm.

 

Executive Session:

 

Began at 9:36

 

A motion to adjourn was made by Gail and seconded by Reggie.

 

Executive session adjourned at 9:56

 

Regular meeting came back to order at 9:57.

 

Gail suggested the committee meet prior to the regularly scheduled May meeting to further discuss Covid protocols for this summer. The EC will meet in a special meeting on April 20th at 7:00 via Zoom.

 

Motion to adjourn was made by Gail and seconded by Craig.

 

A motion to adjourn regular meeting was made by Gail and seconded by Craig.

Meeting adjourned 9:59 pm.

 

Next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 11, 2021 at

7:00 at the Beach Club.

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Mary Ellen Morse, Secretary.