Christ Ascension Lutheran Church
Thursday, September 14, 2006

MINUTES

Executive Committee Members Present:

Lou Aiello (VP Operations), Ed Budnick (At-Large), Janine Dwyer (At-Large), Jim Foster
(At-Large), Nancy Hutter (At-Large), Ned Mitinger (Treasurer), Jane Piotrowski (VP Social Division), Susan Pizzano (VP Physical Division), Ron Recko (President), and Ann Spaeth (Secretary)

Executive Committee Members Absent: Maxine Dornemann (Immediate Past President) and
Tom Fleming (At-Large)

CHCA Board Members Present: Jane Becker, Richard Becker, Tom Hemphill, Howard Lesnick,
John Levitties, John O’Connell, Meredith Sonderskov, and Jonathan Sternberg

Others Present: Richard Maloumian (Aesthetics Committee Chair), Pete Mazzaccaro (CH Local Editor),
Kristin Pazulski (CH Local Reporter), and Noreen Spota (CHCA Administrative Coordinator)

Ron Recko called the meeting to order at 7:40 PM. Ann Spaeth called the roll.

Approval of Meeting Minutes. The minutes from the previous Executive Committee meeting (August 10, 2006) were not yet completed and therefore could not be approved.

Status of Community Fund Drive. Ron reported on his meeting with Tom Fleming, chair of this year’s Fund Drive. As Ron and Tom have each donated $500 toward the Fund Drive, the other members of the Executive Committee were urged to do the same. Lou Aiello, Jane Piotrowski, and Ann Spaeth each donated $500 on the spot. Jane Piotrowski reported on her meeting with Tom Fleming and Cecile Mihalich (Membership Committee co-chair) to discuss having the Fund Drive and Membership Drive together. Ron also met with the Chief Operating Officer of Chestnut Hill Hospital to discuss having the hospital match the contributions made by the entire CHCA Board of Directors. A commitment is being sought from the hospital by September 28 (the next Board meeting). A discussion ensued about whether this may not be a good time to approach the hospital for funding (given its issues which are pending before the DRC and LUPZ), and whether Fund money must be spent on programs only, or can this money also be spent on repairs to the buildings owned by the Fund.

Commerce Bank Construction. Ron reported that an agreement with Commerce Bank was signed today which includes adherence to zoning regulations (Germantown Avenue Special District Controls, building 25 feet high) and the use of Chestnut Hill/Wissahickon schist.

Resignation of Community Manager. Ron reported that Betty Brady, Community Manager, resigned effective Tuesday, September 12, 2006. A copy of her resignation letter will be sent to the Board. A Search Committee was established to find Betty’s replacement which will be chaired by Ron and include Vice Presidents Lou Aiello, Jane Piotrowski, and Susan Pizzano along with Board members Howard Lesnick, John O’Connell, and Meredith Sonderskov. A discussion ensued about the job description of the Community Manager and about the need to hire an interim person as soon as possible. It is currently unclear whether the new Community Manager would also serve as Business Manager of the Local. Jim Foster offered a motion that the Search Committee should finalize the Community Manager’s job description, place an advertisement in the Local, appoint an interim manager, and find someone to fill the position permanently, subject to Board approval. (The interim manager can be one of the applicants.) This motion was seconded and passed unanimously, with one abstention. (At the end of the meeting, Ron announced a special meeting to be held on Tuesday, September 26 to review the findings of the Search Committee.)

Report from Treasurer. Ned Mitinger reported that our accountant, Charlie Jebran, has been contacted and will conduct audits for the Association/Local and Fund beginning this month. Financial reports as of August 31, 2006 were distributed to the Executive Committee in addition to Ned’s e-mailed report including a summary of outstanding unpaid bills and a recommendation to sell some of our investments in order to pay the bills. As an example, it was pointed out that over $22,000 is owed to Press and Journal Publications, the company that prints the Local, and we must pay them $12,000 by September 22. Ron mentioned that a meeting will be held with the Fund Trustees on September 19 to discuss liquidating (selling the stocks in) the Merrill Lynch account. Ed Budnick offered a motion that the Fund Trustees be asked to provide guidance about how to obtain $30,000 immediately to be used for paying outstanding debts. This motion passed unanimously, with one abstention. A recommendation written by Nancy Hutter, proposing that a pull-out insert be prepared for the Local which provides practical information about the CHCA to its members, was distributed to the Executive Committee. This proposal was not acted upon.

Report from Vice President, Physical Division. Susan Pizzano reported that the DRC is working with the owners of Hokka Hokka restaurant to resolve concerns about their proposed exhaust system. Janine Dwyer expressed her concern (unrelated to the restaurant) about the number of large trees being cut down, especially along East Gravers Lane. It is unclear why the trees are being cut down.

Report from Vice President, Social Division. Jane Piotrowski reported on the progress of plans for AbZOOlutely (events begin on Saturday, September 16), the Holiday House Tour to be held on Saturday, December 9, and the Blood Drive to be held on Monday, September 25. Jane urged Board members to volunteer for the various AbZOOlutely events and circulated written information for volunteers.

Report from Vice President of Operations. Lou Aiello provided updates on the following issues: 1) unpaid bills/cash flow/assets; 2) current membership, which stands at about 2,430; 3) payment of the $2,600 L&I citation from last year; 4) the hiring of a new part-time bookkeeper; and 5) the process of obtaining several appraisals/market analyses for 8429-31 Germantown Avenue. Ed Budnick offered a motion to hire bookkeeper Kim Campbell to start work during the week of September 18; this motion was approved.

The Training Center. Ron provided an update about our $15,000 contract from last year with The Training Center, a company that provides sales and management training. We still owe $2,450 on this contract, which was not officially approved by last year’s Board. The Local had no sales manager at the time the contract was signed, and the training provided was ultimately deemed of little benefit to the sales staff. Nancy Hutter offered to write a letter to the owner, objecting to the $2,450 still owed.

Having run out of time, the meeting was adjourned at 10:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Noreen M. Spota
CHCA Administrative Coordinator

These minutes were approved by the Executive Committee on 10/12/06.