MCC Advisory Board Minutes 08-17-2010MCC Advisory Board Minutes 8/17/10
MONTICELLO COMMUNITY CENTER (MCC) ADVISORY BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, AUGUST 17,2010-4:30 P.M. RIVER ROOM
Board Members Present: Sandra Theros -Vice Chair, Jennifer Bethke, Darren Paumen, Ron
Broekemeier- Chair, Susie Wojchouski
Board Members Absent: Clint Herbst
Staff Members Present: Kitty Baltos- Director, Sara Cahill, Staff
1. Call meeting to order.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Broekemeier at 4:34 p.m. He noted the absence of Clint
Herbst.
2. Consideration of adding items to the agenda.
a) Gold's Gym
b) Friends of Bertram
3. Consideration of approving the minutes from the July 20, 2010 regular meeting.
Susie Wojchouski noted a correction in the July 20, 2010 minutes citing that last year's Halloween parade was
not cut but that the budget for the parade had been cut from $10,000 to $7,000.
JENNIFER BETHKE MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS AMENDED. THE MOTION WAS
SECONDED BY SANDRA THEROS. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY WITH CHAIRMAN BROEKEMEIER
ABSTAINING.
4. Update Items:
a. Visit summary through July 2010
Kitty Baltos noted that both visits and ice arena usage had decreased a bit for the month.
b. Financial summary through July 2010 (unavailable)
c. Manager's monthly recap /Senior Center update
The Fall brochure will be distributed end of this week. Akimbo instructor Akim has taken a job with Gold's
Gym. MCC may lose and /or gain some memberships as a result. All swim instructors are now also
teaching private swim lessons at a cost of $25 per 30 minute session. There have been many compliments
about the Kerumotu teen events. The coordinator, Mike rented the facility at a rate of $500 for a lock in
and broke even with some 50 teens in attendance. Susie Wojchouski suggested that the MCC might
consider offering four -hour gaming parties for birthdays in the Warehouse at a possible rate of $250. The
Senior Center has scheduled a homemade pie and ice cream social from 2 -8 pm on August 18th. Kitty
reported that the MCC is pleased to utilize folks from the federally funded Workforce Center program to
help with cleaning, painting and weeding around the facility.
MCC Advisory Board Minutes 8/17/10
5. Consideration of change to seasonal hours schedule for 2010 and future.
Kitty proposed that the Board consider the numerous requests to change the facility hours back to regular
hours after Labor Day by extending evening hours. She noted that the MCC would still be able to cover
salaries with this change.
MOTION MADE BY SANDRA THEROS TO CHANGE THE MCC HOURS BACK TO REGULAR HOURS AFTER LABOR
DAY AND TO REASSESS THAT DECISION AT THE MARCH MEETING. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY JENNIFER
BETHKE. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
6. Review and discussion on 2011 preliminary budget.
a. Review and discussion on tiered membership program
Darren Paumen asked the Board to consider if the role of the MCC to break even or to make money.
Kitty stated that the MCC seeks to be a family gathering place with a focus on increasing memberships.
The Board noted that, although classes are popular, people complain that they have to pay extra for them
at $4 class /member and $5 class /nonmember. She pointed out that people often prefer all- inclusive
packages. Darren suggested that if MCC only receives $7,000 in childcare revenue that perhaps it'd be
more of a membership draw to offer free childcare so that members might participate in additional
classes. She specified that if the memberships were tiered, there'd be a need for additional class
instructors. Kitty indicated that MCC is considering hiring their own experienced instructors instead of
using independent contractors.
There was also discussion about the possibility of dual memberships and couple memberships and the
rate for family membership. It was noted that many people have a continuous membership with no
expiration date.
The Board had a number of questions: What is the average age of members? What does a member who
regularly takes classes and pays for child care spend in a year? How much revenue comes in per month
from classes? What do the trends indicate? How many people visit MCC on different days of the week?
How many family memberships don't include kids? How much more would membership cost to cover the
cost of free childcare? What about limiting the amount of time in childcare? How many family
memberships don't use childcare? What is the member attrition rate?
The Board decided it needed answers to these questions in order to make thoughtful recommendations.
Kitty agreed to gather some information.
MOTION WAS MADE BY DARREN PAUMEN TO TABLE THIS DISCUSSION UNTIL NEXT MEETING. MOTION
WAS SECONDED BY CHAIRMAIN BROEKEMEIER. MOTION WAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED.
b. General budget review for potential cuts
The Finance Director asked staff to prioritize funding requests. Any projects which would generate
revenue are to be funded. After some review, the MCC budget request was reduced by $38,000 based on
the following cuts.
MCC Advisory Board Minutes 8/17/10
• Eliminate $3,000 for Teleconferencing Equipment
• Eliminate $3,000 for Outdoor Benches
• Eliminate $1,000 for Laptop Computer
• Eliminate $5,000 for Window Replacement
• Eliminate $4,000 for Curb Cut (Project was completed in house for $650.)
• Eliminate $5,000 for Paint and Repair Pool Play structure (Inspected: Reglaze in 2015- $2500)
• Eliminate $4,000 for Sand wood floor Mississippi Room (Reurethaning completed)
• Eliminate $3,000 ($10,000 request) for Programming Expenses for Community Events
• Eliminate $10,000 ($15,000 request) for Carpet /Floor Replacement (Cleaned one carpet)
In addition, the Board agreed to consult with Building Maintenance about the dehumidification system,
energy management system and options for the gym floor replacement. Kitty will try to firm up numbers.
There was also discussion about what type of building expansion the Board should consider.
Review of community center web site and consideration of changes or improvements. Web address is
www.monticellocommunitycenter.com.
Kitty confirmed with the Board that it isn't cost effective for MCC to advertise in the yellow pages and
decided to look into online listings. She asked the board to look at the MCC website (and other community
center websites) to get some feedback. She suggested that she'd prefer for MCC to use software other than
the current Govoffice package to maintain a web presence. In addition, she'd like to offer the online option
of paying annual membership, registering for swim lessons and booking birthday parties.
8. Consideration of added items
a) Gold's Gym: Jennifer visited Gold's Gym to do some research related to membership practices. She
noted that they offer free daycare, swim lessons, racquetball and fitness classes for members. They don't
have a class only pass. Memberships are portable between Gold's facilities. They are open until 9 p.m.
She indicated that the best deals were offered to those with a student ID. She noted that Gold's offers 9
month or 12 month memberships at a cost $22 -25 per month with $50 down. The Board agreed that it
would likely be unable to compete with what Gold's can offer and recognized that MCC would not be able
to please everyone. Darren mentioned that a dance studio uses Gold's space and that it doesn't seem to
be a good fit. The Board briefly discussed options for accommodating the studio and ultimately cited the
need for a fitness studio. Sandra agreed to contact the owner of the studio to get a read on their needs.
b) Friends of Bertram: Sandra Theros reported that the Friends of Bertram Regional Park could use help
with fundraising and publicity. She encouraged folks to come to a meeting and get the word out. The
Friends are considering doing a car wash. Kitty offered to sell Friends T- shirts at the MCC.
c) Movie in the Park: Kitty noted that due to weather, the Ghostbusters movie had to be rescheduled for
September 25, 2010. Unfortunately, the Ghostbusters car will not be available that evening. There was
some talk of finding an inexpensive DJ or doing some karaoke from the 80s.
9. Adiourn.
JENNIFER BETHKE MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN. THE MOTION WAS SECONDED BY SANDRA THEROS. THE
MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY. The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m. The Board made a site visit to
inspect the pool emergency doors to be replaced.
MCC Advisory Board Minutes 8/17/10
Recorder: Kerry T.BurriA)
Approved: September 21, 2010
Attest:
MCC Advisory Board Representative
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