Tantramarsh Club Board Minutes, 1997-1998

Meeting of April 6th, 1998:

In attendance: Diane Michaud, Vince Smyth, Michelle Dunbar, Lex Wilson, Gloria Jollymore, Brendan Reid, Ian Allen, Brad Manning, Brian Hooley, Jonathan Clark.

• Scooter goes over financial stats quickly with Diane, everything is okay.
  
• Scooter then gives the floor to Brian Harriman, the campus Labatts' rep. Harriman tells us he's interested in getting into the Pub with Labatt's. Scooter goes over our current relationship with Moosehead. The biggest problem with bringing Labatt's in is that we have no refrigeration space for Labatt's draught, which needs to be refrigerated, whereas Moosehead draught (being pasteurized) does not need to be refrigerated.
  
• Another issue is that vouchers are being eliminated, and Scooter mentions perhaps selling drink tickets to the brewer at cost.
  
• Gloria asks about current giveaways by Labatts, and how they work.
  
• Vince indicates that the presentation is interesting from an information point of view for the Board, but that the Board will give Scooter the right to make a management decision on the matter, and that the Board's role will be to act as a consultant should any parties feel that their interests were not being considered.
  
• The current relationship with Moosehead is as follows: Moosehead does not give anything to the Pub directly. However, they do give a total of approximately two dozen kegs out to student groups for consumer sampling/promotion, at keg parties which are held in the Pub, to increase goodwill for us. In appreciation of their efforts to benefit the students, we tend to offer Moosehead and Molson products as the majority of the offerings in the beer tub.
  
• The Fire Marshall visited on Friday. Thursday was spent fixing, and everything was "good" for the inspection. Two minor problems that we are going to correct are putting handrails in the side emergency exit stairwell, and having the university post the civic (911) address on the outside of the building.
  
• Liquor inspector came in Saturday night for a visit. Everything was OK, and he didn't stick around very long. He will be returning, probably on Tuesday, for a stock audit, which is not expected to cause any concerns with the liquor board.
  
• The Web Site is in progress. Scooter says that an investment in a digital camera would be beneficial to the web site, and to the Pub as a whole, for advertising, etc. Vince says that although we have to keep in mind that our business purpose is to be a Pub, that Scooter will probably find ways to bring in more revenue because of the camera. Purchase of a camera is approved.
  
• Expansion was discussed, again. Scooter discussed the various methods by which capacity is determined. Scooter wants to add two urinals to the men's room for approximately $2000. Adding two stalls to the women's washroom would cost about $13,000 as a "rough guess". There is general concern that this is a significant cost, but consensus that it is a good idea. The Board decides to see if Perry can come up with any alternative solutions to our washroom facilities before we approve a final plan.
  
• Mike Roberts' letter of apology is read. Asks to be allowed into the Pub for last day of classes and for convocation. Scooter passes around the proposed contract for a temporary exemption from a ban, also passes around copies of the disciplinary guidelines. Much discussion about procedures and intent. Wording in the disciplinary guidelines is very gray, and needs to be revised. Scooter is going to reword it, and pass copies on to the board for approval. In Mike's specific case, he is going to be allowed to come in Convocation, with a $300 bond. This exemption will only apply on Convocation weekend itself, and not before. In also noted that if he screws up, not only does he have to deal with the loss of his bond deposit, but that judicial meets Monday morning before diplomas are handed out to deal with problems over the weekend.
  
• Insurance: not much to report. Potentially we have a huge problem with our inventory valuation, because of a co-insurance clause in our insurance contract. Ian will deal with it. Lucky Ian. Flood and sewer coverage would be a good idea. Fidelity insurance would be a good idea. Need to fill out a bunch of forms describing the business and the board before a quote can be obtained on Directors and Officers' coverage. Scooter will make up a report for Peter Estabrooks to respond to, and Ian will coordinate.
  
• Who is working for the summer? Ali is tentatively interested, but he is only around for two months. Scooter proposes to offer him the position, but change the percentage accordingly to reflect that he will only be working during the "peak" sales period of the summer.
  
• Vince will be taking over the duties of the Chair for the summer as Michelle won't be here.
  
• Meeting adjourned. Minutes by Brian Hooley.

Meeting of March 9th, 1998:

• Scooter begins by handing out financial statements. Raises the issue of expansion and asks Vince for clarification on when the Stud will go through renovations, hence the Pub. Vince says not for a while, not this summer and probably not next.
  
• Gloria arrive and talks further about the capital campaign. The students voted to donate to the library. She explains the details of the capital campaign. Jeff Lamb has the sketches of the proposed renovation of the Stud. These sketches do contain locations of everything currently in the building now.
  
• Gloria thinks we should send off a letter to the campaign committee out of interest and awareness, everyone agrees.
  
• Gloria asks about our capacity and how often we go over this limit. Scooter says sometimes. Gloria then asks about potential liability. Ian is going to get in touch with Peter Estabrooks. Scooter is also going to look into increasing the fire capacity.
  
• Scooter moves on to financial statements, then gets Diane to go over them. Diane talks about the change from cash to accrual basis accounting. Expenses were up. General office expense was back. Accounts Payable to the university came through in these statements. February was a low month.
  
• Meeting adjourned. Minutes by Brian Hooley.

Meeting of January 13th, 1998:

• Richard opens. Announces he's leaving, and Michelle's taking over.
  
• Richard praises Scooter for sales of over $1.2 million since his inception as Manager.
  
• Richard turns it over to Scooter. Scooter says he has nothing to say except he's glad to be rid of Richard. [Scooter's Note: I believe the exact phrase was that he had picked a good time to leave]. He also pats himself on the back for all the stuff he did over Christmas.
  
• Scooter keeps talking ... says that this semester his emphasis is on marketing. Also, new DJ's are being trained, as our two current good DJ's are leaving at year-end. He also said that the Pub will be open Saturday afternoons, and that he bought a Ninetendo 64, and that we have mice in the Pub.
  
• Diane goes over financial sheets. Says that everything looks good, and there is more cash than last year. Asks Scooter about the bill for the draught compressor. [Scooter's note: We discovered shortly after the meeting that the bill in question had in fact already been paid]. Scooter also mentioned that we have a much larger level of liquor inventory than at this time last year.
  
• Richard asks about the large inventory of T-shirts. Scooter has a couple of ideas about how to get rid of them. He then tries to change the topic by showing off the new matches.
  
• Richard explains to board members how to read financial statements.
  
• Richard asks Scooter what he's doing. Scooter pretends to be doing paperwork.
  
• Vince starts talking ... he goes on to praise Richard for all his help over the years. Nobody wants to get too emotional. Vince continues to talk about the importance of having a good long-term chairman.
  
• Richard talks about the summertime, and how he likes to hold the summer manager's hand.
  
• Scooter mentions that Ali might want the summer manager's job, and he'd be quite good, but that he can only work May/June intersession time. Richard endorses Ali. Scooter and Richard talk back and forth about needs for July and August.
  
• Richard says he is officially done his duties on February 1st.
  
• Everybody talks about the Chair for next year's board. Various ideas are thrown about. Lex is going to make it a personal crusade to look around at possible faculty/staff members.
  
• Richard mentions his upcoming garage sale.
  
• Meeting is adjourned. Minutes by Brian Hooley.

Meeting of December 3rd, 1997:

IN ATTENDANCE: Jonathan Clark, Michelle Dunbar, Brian Hooley, Richard MacLeod, Shawn Cole, Ian Allen, Vince Smyth, Lex Wilson, Brad Manning.

• Richard calls meeting to order.
  
• Revenues are down a bit, especially weekends, but being open during the week has helped it balance out. Mentions liability insurance.
  
• Scooter takes over. Peter Estabrooks of Estabrooks Insurance is looking into the liability insurance.
  
• Pizza from Joey's or an alternate supplier is a go under certain hours. Marriott said OK tentatively. We need a new pizza rack - may be able to buy a used one from Marriott.
  
• Ice sales going alright. About $200 YTD so far.
  
• Scooter talks about power generator for emergencies.
  
• Richard tells us that he authorized Scooter to buy a big screen. Nobody complains except Vince. Sales on Atlantic Bowl afternoon (because of Big Screen) were about $800.
  
• Richard goes over financial statements.
  
• Vince raises concerns about how much money we can put aside as a non-profit organization. Talks about re-doing the student centre, potential relocation of Pub.
  
• Richard moves to close the meeting. Shawn seconds the closing. Adjourned, minutes by Brian Hooley.

October Meeting: October 14th, 1997.

• Richard called meeting to order.
  
• Review of past minutes - Hooley complimented on doing an outstanding job of capturing the "small details" and the true essence of the meeting.
  
• The ball is rolling on the ice machine.
  
• Foozball and pool tables are now "paid off" by the profits they have generated.
  
• Meeting turned over to Scooter.
  
• Talked about Duke and possibility of new bars/future competition.
  
• Trying pub lunches again, hired Sarah Quart to run them. Going to try dinner instead of lunch, Fridays.
  
• Talked about long-term goals of Pub.
  
• Talked about a long-term goal of a computer centre in the vault off the pool room. The area could be renovated, decorated, and wired for about $2000. The cost of computers could possibly be covered by a corporate sponsor(s) such as NB Tel, MTA, IBM, etc.
  
• DJ Booth being expanded, ice machine going in soon, Ian is finishing up camera work.
  
• Sales have been pretty good, interac machine usage is way up.
  
• Gloria asked about memberships - currently at 717.
  
• Time for a members' night, coming up soon [Held on Hallowe'en].
  
• Moved on to Diane with the financial review.
  
• Revenues up slightly, expenses up slightly. Talked about actual cash-in-bank level.
  
• Vince wondered why we owed the university $5000 - accrued, and already paid as of the time of the meeting. Partly a screwup that's been on the books for some time now.
  
• Questioned about $480,000 beginning cash in account. This is a number only, and we don't actually have that money – comes from a total of cash revenue since we switched computers two years ago. Strange, but not really important.
  
• New business discussed next:
  
• Question about beer revenue figure of $30,000 and expense of $9,000 by Vince. Good question. [Diane later ascertained (the same evening) that some figures were transposed between the liquor and beer accounts - Scooter].
  
• Wondered about board members working a volunteer shift to get a feel for the business - no objections.
  
• Business liability if something happens? Richard asked Vince, who was going to look into it. [That ball has since been passed into my court, and is being looked into in conjunction with the insurance agencies - details at next meeting - Scooter].
  
• Board members were reminded that they have to abide by the Club's rules and policies, perhaps even more so than regular members, ie. role models.
  
• Next meeting on Wednesday, November 12th, at 9pm. Meeting adjourned. Minutes by Brian Hooley.

Meeting of September 18th, 1997: (following Annual General Members' Meeting)

Present: Richard, Gloria, Diane, Ian, Vince, Michelle, Brad, Hooley, Scooter.

• Richard nominated as Chairman, approved.
  
• Michelle nominated as Vice-Chair, approved.
  
• Diane nominated as Treasurer and Accounting Coordinator, approved.
  
• Hooley nominated as Secretary, approved.
  
• Scooter talked for awhile about nothing in particular.
  
• Richard would like to see an employee on the board as a means of checks and balances in the form of Ian Allen. Scooter liked the idea. Approved, with Ian being non-voting.
  
• Call for old business. Michelle asked about outside patio for Homecoming.
  
• Richard talked some more.
  
• Scooter talked about expansion, homecoming, need for stud. Richard expressed a concern for outdoor bar. Scooter wants up to six CP's. Mentioned possibility of giving away 2-for-1 tickets at football game to get people in early.
  
• Richard talked to the auditors. Was surprised about the 1% sales tax difference. Switched to accrual based accounting from the cash basis, which makes it easier to read the financial statements.
  
• Manager's compensation proposal discussed briefly. Richard and Gloria will review it, and approve up to a maximum $2000 increase in annual salary.
  
• Proposed for every 2nd Tuesday of the month for board meetings after slight bickering. Meet at the Pub at 9pm.
  
• Manager's report.
  
• With regards to the non-voting alternate position which Brad occupies, there was discussion about the technicalities. Brad only steps in as a voting member if another student permanently resigns from the Board.
  
• Discussed some potential projects to spend money on. Approximately $35,000 to $40,000 in bank as a guess, but it is fluctuating widely at this point.
  
• Second ice machine, $3200 tax/freight in. Joey's would be willing to purchase ice from us for $0.85 per bag, which would mean a payback of 2.1 years for ice machine, excluding summer periods. About $200 initial cost for plumbing. Vince wanted some time to think about the proposal before we vote on it.
  
• Big screen TV, $2200-2400 + tax for a 46 inch. Four or five big nights could pay for the cost of the unit. Decided to look into rentals to try it out for a night or two.
  
• Video cameras: Scooter explained benefits of getting four more. Approved, with a spending cap of $2800 + tax, which Scooter believes would include all materials.
  
• More lighting on dance floor, a minor concern.
  
• Spot lights for outside Pub. Report burned out bulbs to Physical Plant.
  
• Air conditioning/exhaust fans were quoted at about $8000, and are not true air conditioning, just vented outside air. Decided to go with a cheaper band-aid solution, another load of ceiling fans, which would cover the next hottest 25% of club. The worst 50% of the club would then be covered as well as possible. Approved, cap of $1800.
  
• Change marketing assistant to summer co-ordinator in Constitution.
  
• Scooter wants to put $20,000 in a GIC as soon as possible. Approved.
  
• Richard moved to close meeting. Adjourned. Minutes by Brian Hooley.