Board Meeting Minutes – October 23, 2013
Bayport Marina Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Marina Clubhouse
October 23, 2013
Board present:
Brad Baune
Sandor Csallany
Morgan Fudge
Val Fuller
Jim Mondry
Eric Pederson
Amy Tolbert
Absent:
Michelle Lemanski
Steve Paquette
Meeting called to order at 6:34 pm by Commodore Morgan Fudge.
Board Meeting Minutes
Motion by Val to approve the September 25 Minutes, seconded by Eric. Unanimous approval of Minutes.
Financials
Refer to September Financial Summary drafted by Steve. We are right on track for the year for Revenue. Expenses are less than Budget. Morgan pointed out the “Other Revenue” line item was considerably higher than Budget due to the sizable commission received from Marine Max. The question of why “Slip Rental” was higher – Kathy explained that due to slip demand, billing of renewal deposits was done a month earlier. Also, the “Storage” category is down due to storage contracts not going out and being billed until October. It was also mentioned the Service Dept is on track to achieve revenue goals in spite of the poor spring.
Morgan requested for next month, YTD financials be presented. Question was asked if winterization is included in Service Income. Mike responded it was.
2014 Budget
Steve will work with Cliff and Kathy to put together a rough draft for the November Board Meeting with final approval at the December Meeting.
General Manager Report
Cliff stated he is working on getting accurate numbers – pricing and repricing – for the dock materials. He informed prices are changing weekly. He reported he saved over $2k on floats by negotiating. He has been unable to get better pricing on pedestals as the price is firm. Green treated lumber is at $.94/foot. Cliff informed he has been unable to secure a price on the IPE as all the wood vendors are at a conference in Las Vegas this week. Brad inquired where everything will be stored. A semi-trailer for storing removable materials i.e. copper will be onsite and locked. Cliff stated he will sell old boards in bundles as well as the pedestals on EBay. Morgan suggested contacting Lenny in Wabasha as he may have an interest. Recommendation was made to have a separate line item for the reclaimed copper, lumber, and pedestals.
Cliff gave a summary of his Advanced Marina Manager training held the end of September in California. The training was held at a 2,400 slip marina and was attended by 11 marina managers from all other the country include southern Mexico and Canada. The training consisted of a project where two teams were established to redevelop half the marina or 981 slips. The current slips are made of concrete and are broken and deteriorated. They also have various power issues. Each team had 24 hours to prepare a marketing plan with a total different layout that included a profit center and staffing and present to the panel of CMMs. The question was presented to Cliff – what did you learn? Cliff responded “we know just as much as any other marina out there. We’re doing everything right.”
Service Manager Report
Mike informed he has quite a bit of winter work that will keep the service department busy until launch season. Two big jobs totaling $85k+ have been secured. Question was asked what the margin was on labor. Cliff stated he has calculated Jason and he is running at 85-90% efficiency. Jeremy, BMA mechanic, will be pulled to assist Jason’s time with the refinishing work on the big jobs. Mike stated he has enough mechanical work to keep Steve and Jeremy busy into December. There are additional jobs of approximately $15k-$20k also to be done prior to launch.
Haulout has gone well. There are 168 boats out with another 20 to be pulled by Friday. Total boats to be pulled is approximately 195-200 with 95% of the boats being stored at the Marina. Mike stated there are 40 boats outside the marina that will be stored here this winter. Question was asked if there is capacity to store more boats here. Mike informed there is less room to store because of the lost spots on B Dock road where the work for the pads/pedestals is being done. Marine Max boats will be pulled next week along with a couple sailboats.
Question of whether BMA could acquire the property next to the Marina aka the Utecht property. This parcel of land has no access other than through the Marina roadway. Cliff contacted Bill Kranz a couple months ago to find if there is an agreement for the access. He has not heard back from him. Morgan stated obtaining this property would bring value to the Marina for boat storage as well as a sandy beach. Cliff will follow up with Bill.
Cliff provided an update on the removal of the rock in A30. The contractor performing the work spent 4-6 hours and broke a lot of pieces but then the jackhammer broke. Cliff did not know when he will be returning to continue work.
2014 Marketing Plan Update
Kathy distributed the marketing plan handout and highlighted the areas to pursue in 2014. The emphasis will be on marketing the Marina as a destination with the theme “The Marina that thinks it’s a Resort.” Morgan recommended polling other marinas to find what they are charging for transient slips. He presented a handout listing three scenarios for revenue at different price points. Eric inquired what the transient sales for gas and apparel were. Kathy will run some reports for numbers. Morgan suggested another perk for transients could be 5 cents/gal off fuel purchases.
Human Resource Plan
Amy gave an overview of the plan (refer to handout) and highlighted she will work on item 1 as well as the Service Dept job descriptions.
Amy requested the Volunteer Recruitment form be an attachment to the Marker 19. She stated there could be different categories on the form: Apparel, Communication, Social, etc. She reported 7 forms were taken at the October 5 meeting and one has been returned by Keith Vinje. Amy informed Lorrie Miller approached her and verbally volunteered to assist with apparel ordering.
Jim suggested there be a “dockmaster” on each dock. The dockmaster would be the “go-to” person if a boater on the dock had questions or problems. Consensus was this would be a good idea and would be discussed at future meetings.
Dock Revitalization Project
Morgan summarized the vote for the project had very solid approval – almost two-thirds.
a. Project Committee – three Board members, Morgan, Brad, and Eric will remain on the Committee after their Board term to the conclusion of the project. Keith Vinje will act as a consultant to Committee. Val made motion moving forward Morgan, Brad, and Eric sit on the BMRP Committee to oversee the project from beginning to end. Seconded by Jim. Unanimous approval.
b. Communication Plan – consensus was to have the Commodore inform Membership of the project progress on a monthly basis.
c. Identify saleable slips and sales strategy – this was tabled for a future meeting when Steve was present.
d. Financing through Bayport Bank – Cliff inquired how the Board wanted to pay for expenditures i.e. some of our cash and initiate a portion of the loan to get started. Brad is working with Andy to decide on when to take draws on the loan. A separate checking account has already been designated for disbursement of funds.
New Business
Jim suggested we consider buying property north of the bridge for beach area. There is a strong feeling this will be a no-wake area. Jim recommended contacting the DNR to express an interest should the land become available for sale.
Eric stated at a future meeting the Board revisit the timing of renovation of A vs D Dock.
Closed Session – no closed session was conducted.
Motion by Morgan to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Jim. Meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
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