German Village Society Board of Trustees
Meeting Agenda
October 4, 2010
1. Public Participation
2. Secretary’s Report Jeanne Likins
Approve September 7, 2010 GVS Board Meeting Minutes
3. Staff Reports (written report) Jody Graichen
(written report) Russ Arledge
4. Treasurer’s Report Roy Bieber
Balance Sheet (written report)
P & L (written report)
5. Committee Reports
Standing Committees
Executive Darci Congrove
---Monster Bash (written report) Darci Congrove
---Oktoberfest (written report) Darci Congrove
---Meeting Haus Volunteers Appreciation Event Jeanne Likins
(oral report)
---Website (written report) Brian Santin
---Civic Relations (oral report) Crystal Seamon
Finance (no report) Roy Bieber
Historic Preservation (no report) Will Eylar
---Streetscape/Third Street Master Plan Brian Santin
(written report)
Long Range Planning (written report) Carolyn McCall
Go Green (no report) Crystal Seamon &
Brian Santin
Organizational Development (no report) Jim Hopple
Parks, Public Spaces and Community Events Sara McNealey
(written report)
Special Committees
Membership (written report) Jeanne Likins
50th Anniversary (oral report) Jeanne Likins
Advance preview screening of WOSU “Columbus Neighborhoods”
German Village Business Committee (no report) David Cunningham
Marketing (no report) Norm Hall
Planned Giving Sub-Committee (no report) Jim Nichols
6. Old Business
7. New Business
8. Adjournment
German Village Society Board of Trustees
Meeting Minutes
September 7, 2010
Present: Roy Bieber, Sarah Irvin-Clark, Darci Congrove, Jim Hopple, Jeanne Likins, Brian Santin, Crystal Seamon, Mike Yarborough. Absent: Beth Ervin, Norm Hall, and Jim Nichols.
Also Present: Russ Arledge (staff), Garth Bishop (reporter), and Gary Seaman (reporter).
President Darci Congrove called the meeting to order at 6:02 PM.
1. Public Participation
Sarah Irvin-Clark, as the media coordinator for the Columbus Marathon, (which is Sunday, October 17th), encouraged everyone to come out and cheer on the runners when the route comes through German Village starting at 7:50 AM. The course closes at 11 AM. Sarah is hoping a gathering will once again be organized for German Villagers to cheer together with coffee and perhaps bagels. There are 15,000 participants and Sarah is promoting the German Village area in the materials for this event. Sarah distributed official Columbus Marathon hats.
2. Secretary’s Report Jeanne Likins
The Board unanimously approved the August 2, 2010 GVS Board Meeting Minutes.
3. Staff Reports (written report) Jody Graichen
(written report) Russ Arledge
Jody Graichen’s work as our Historic Preservation Officer continues.
Russ Arledge, German Village Society Office Coordinator, reported that members of the Society came together after the tragic fire, to help Stewart Elementary School. Specifically, this included organizing 39 volunteers (who gave over 150 hours with a $3,000 estimated value) who assembled a 7,300 book library and assisted ten teachers setting up their classrooms. There was $3,026 in monetary donations, over 50 cases of school supplies with an estimated value of $7,000. All of this has been very much appreciated by the teachers and principal. President Congrove thanked Russ and Marika for coordinating this on our behalf.
Russ noted that 463 visitors were welcomed to the Visitor’s Center by our volunteers in August. Events at the Meeting Haus in August included the August 10th New Member Reception and the monthly Police Luncheon as well as an array of meetings for German Village Society and community groups.
4. Treasurer’s Report Roy Bieber
Balance Sheet (written report)
P & L (written report)
Treasurer Roy Bieber reported that there’s about $60,000 in the German Village Society’s checking account. Art Crawl, an event led by the German Village Business Committee, made about $3,200 although there may be a few more expenses to arrive.
Roy also noted that he has done a thorough budget analysis along with the bookkeeper, Cheryl Mathews. They have gone through every account to ascertain prior and anticipated income and expenses for 2010 to try to roughly predict how the budget will fare at year end. Roy expects the Society to end the year with a balanced budget, even with setting aside $20,000 for the 2010 property taxes, which were not built into the budget since we were not expecting the decision on this matter to be overturned.
5. Committee Reports
Standing Committees
---Executive Committee (oral report) Darci Congrove
President Congrove noted that all Executive Committee matters are covered elsewhere.
---Haus and Garten (oral report) Darci Congrove
President Congrove reported that the 2009 Haus & Garten Tour and Pre-Tour events are finishing their wrap up and collecting a few remaining receivables. She will make a final report shortly. The 2011 Haus & Garten Tour/Pre-Tour planning has already started.
---Monster Bash (oral report) Darci Congrove
President Congrove announced that things are going well for the 2009 Monster Bash (October 29). Sept. 13 is the next meeting and there is a large committee, with many new folks involved. The goal is to net $5,000 and there have already been email inquiries for tickets.
---Oktoberfest (oral report) Darci Congrove
President Congrove has spoken with Geoff Schmidt and they would like the German Village Society to coordinate the Volunteer Check in and the Ambassadors volunteers (60 people) in exchange for $1,500 and a free GVS booth. The Society would also keep $2 for each Oktoberfest t-shirt that Schmidt’s is offering and that the Society’s volunteers could sell at the German Village Society’s booth. The event is very soon: Sept 24-26, 2010.
The Board unanimously agreed and authorized Darci to enter into negotiations with Schmidt’s on behalf of the German Village Society. Brian Santin offered to compose the content needed and we agreed to seek volunteers through N4N and the website. It was noted that we need to find someone to coordinate the volunteers since Bob will be busy with membership matters.
---GVS Property Tax Exemption (oral report) Jim Hopple
Board attorney Jim Hopple reported that this case is still pending and our merit brief was filed last week.
---G. Michael’s Trade Use Recommendation (oral report) Jeanne Likins
The Board unanimously agreed to the Executive Committee’s recommendation to use $500 of the Society’s trade with G. Michael’s for an appreciation gift certificate for Bob Jackson and Secretary Jeanne Likins circulated a card for all to sign and in which this certificate will placed. This is a surprise and Jeanne will give it to Bob at a lunch sometime before too long.
The Board unanimously agreed to the Executive Committee’s recommendation to use not more than $500 of the Society’s trade with G. Michael’s for $20 individual gift certificates for the Visitor Center volunteers, to be included in a birthday card near their birthday, as a thank you for their efforts. This new initiative is being coordinated and was recommended by Pam Bergeron, the volunteer Visitor’s Center Coordinator, and it will start in 2011 to be fair to everyone.
---Draft Meeting Haus policy, documents (written report) Jeanne Likins
Secretary Jeanne Likins presented a packet of materials regarding rental of the Meeting Haus. These included: Meeting Haus Rental Request, Meeting Haus Rental Rates, Meeting Haus Policies and Procedures, Recycling Rental Agreement, and Meeting Haus floor plans. Jeanne noted that she and Russ worked on these together with hospitality and event planning expertise provided by Betty Garrett. The Board unanimously approved all documents and these go into effect immediately.
---Website (oral report) Brian Santin
Trustee and Webmaster Brian Santin shared that he is working on developing more comprehensive information for marketing and advertising on the German Village Society’s website which will be shared with the Board when it is complete. Brian noted that the German Village Society’s page on Wikipedia is now updated and accurate.
Civic Relations (written report) Crystal Seamon
Trustee and Chair of Civic Relations Crystal Seamon reported that the date for Safety Day has been changed and it will be Sat. October 16 9 AM to noon or 1 PM, hopefully outside on the Market Platz. More details will follow as they are known. Crystal also shared that there was a terrific turn out at the last police luncheon and the next one is Sept. 30th with Barcelona providing lunch for the officers.
Finance (no report) Roy Bieber
Treasurer Roy Bieber noted that the Finance Committee meets this month now that the final information from the auditor has been given to the German Village Society.
Historic Preservation (no report) Will Eylar
---Streetscape/Third Street Master Plan Brian Santin
(written report)
Trustee and Chair of the Streetscape Committee Brian Santin reported that the group’s last month’s meeting, Take-It-To-The-Streets, went well and was informative as committee members noted items of interest to their work. The next meeting is September 21 at 6 PM.
Long Range Planning (no report) Carolyn McCall
Go Green (no report) Crystal Seamon &
Brian Santin
Organizational Development (no report) Jim Hopple
Parks. Public Spaces and Community Events Sara McNealey
(no report)
Special Committees
Membership (written written) Jeanne Likins
Trustee and Chair of the Membership Committee, Jeanne Likins reported that preparations are underway for the 2011 membership year and she included draft membership materials (membership form, list of benefits of membership, letter to non-Society member who live in German Village, renewal invoice letter to current Society members, and the Get Connected, Stay Connected list for member engagement) seeking feedback from the Board before final recommendations and materials are presented for Board approval at the October meeting.
Proposed changes for 2011 include: to add the names of members at the $125 level and above on the Society’s website, to list those at the $250 and above level in the 2011 Haus & Garten Tour brochure, $1,000 level members would never be “closed out” of a German Village Society event, the 20% member discount would apply to all items sold in the Visitor’s Center or by the Society (as opposed to Society sponsored events and the Society’s published walking tour booklet), and German Village Business Committee members would get two announcements/year in the N4N Digest.
The plan is to launch the 2011 membership year in early November like last year to secure cash flow for the Society.
Included with Jeanne’s report is a report from Dave Ross, who co-chairs the Neighbor Representative, regarding their progress to date with this new initiative.
Jeanne shared that there has been excellent feedback from the August 10th New Member Reception hosted by members of the Board and the Membership Committee, who all provided the appetizers. There were a lot of young folks attending. A second event will be held in January for 2010 new members.
Jeanne shared the invitation for the five member appreciation events for those at the $250
Committee: / Board Chair/Rep: / Meeting Date:Historic Preservation Officer staff report
Number of Attendees: / New Members?:
Executive Summary:
· Assisted residents, members, and Commissioners with questions regarding Certificate of Appropriateness application process and specific applications/addresses;
· Assisted H&G Chair with code questions regarding potential properties to feature on 2011 Tour;
· Worked with Historic Preservation Committee on Guideline revisions for website (no content changes, simply ease-of-use updates)
· Worked with City Council staff on staffing concern at Historic Preservation Office, drafted letter of thanks to Council Member Tyson for efforts at securing additional staff salary in 2010 budget;
· Spoke with individual interested in having a dedicated bench installed in Schiller Park, cleared info with Rec & Parks and am ready to place order when individual decides on plaque language;
· Edited Neighbors4Neighbors Weekly Digest;
· Drafted weekly columns for ThisWeek German Village
Meeting Objectives/Highlights:
Next Steps:
October 4, 2010
Monthly Report to the German Village Society Board of Trustees
Submitted by: Russ Arledge, Office Coordinator
The month of September started with a very pleasant surprise… the German Village Society was honored with a Certificate of Appreciation presented by Columbus City Schools Superintendent Gene Harris on behalf of the Columbus Board of Education at their monthly meeting for the efforts made the German Village Society to provide schools supplies and volunteer help to relocate Stewart School at Beck. At the end of the ceremony we were also presented a giant thank-you letter from the 1st Grade Class of Stewart Traditional School and a letter of thanks from the Teachers and Staff.
This month the German Village Society joined the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums (OAHSM). The organization is administered from the Local History Office of the Ohio Historical Society and provides information and support for non-profits throughout the State of Ohio. I will be attending two full days of workshops (Oct 1-2) at their Annual Meeting.
Also this month, Bonnie Chandler and Andy Miller, from the Columbus Metropolitan Library visited the Meeting Haus to look at our archives collection and are very interested in partnering with the German Village Society for their Columbus Memory project.
Last, but not least, the German Village Society provided volunteers for the Columbus Oktoberfest - Ambassadors Tent, Volunteer Check-In Tent, and of course, our very own booth. By all accounts, a very successful event!
Meanwhile the Visitor Center Volunteers were kept busy this month welcoming over 400 visitors!
All for this month.
German Village Society
Monster Bash 2010 Update for Board Meeting 10/04/10
Submitted by Darci Congrove, 09/30/10
Summary
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010 – 8pm to Midnight
8:00pm – 9:30pm: Trick-or-Treating
9:30pm – Midnight: Monster Bash Party at the Brenton Warner Fest Hall
We had a really great productive meeting on Tuesday evening and discussed a change in the Monster Bash format. Because we have almost every resident on the 600 block of City Park participating in Monster Bash, we have decided to throw a Monster Bash block party on the 600 block of City Park rather than have a winding route throughout City Park and Third. From a timing and safety standpoint, this seemed to make the most sense. Those who live on another section of City Park or on Third Street, who had previously committed to participating as a trick-or-treat stop, will participate by setting up a table or booth at the block party instead.
Hosts for Trick-or-Treating/Block Party
Adrianne & Kevin Ramstack Amandda & Jeff Graham
Dan Ambrose Rachael & Chris Palermo
Stephen Gonzalez Norman Gruener
Jill & Terrence O’Donnell Dana Johnson