Meeting started @ 6:30 p.m.

Attended:
Linda Gagne, Linda Bilodeau, Sue Lajoie, Vicki Mason, Trecia Travers, Cindy Violette, Michael Conant, Andrea Harvey, Barbara Foster, Carol Renell, David Bilodeau, Wendy Bishop, Matt Trudel, Tim Stewart, Karen Stewart, Cheryl Bascomb, David Van Wie, Melanie Arnold, Scott Arnold, Brad Davie, Tim Reimensnyder and Mike Moberg.

Minutes for January were accepted by the board with changes as follows:
Cindy Ouellette changed to Cindy Violette, change responsibly to responsibility, and change decided to discussed under Old business about player assessments.

Motion to accept minutes with changes made by Sue Lajoie, 2nd by Linda Gagne, All in favor.

Treasurers Report:
Checking Account Balance: $7240.93
High School Balance $2660.57
Middle School Balance $4580.36
Ice time fees paid to date. Ref fees are paid to date.
High School ending balance will be $813.00
Middle School ending balance will be $2511.13
Motion to accept treasurers report made by Tim Reimensnyder, 2nd by Linda Gagne

(I myself (Linda Gagne) would like to thank Vicki Mason for the great job she did for the hockey team!)

The Jersey breakdown needs to be addressed by the board. There has been some confusion as to which team High School or Middle School was billed for the new jerseys. The new board will be addressing this issue.

Coaches Report:
Scott Arnold says everything is good.

Dave Van Wie is proud of his kids and all the progress they are making.

Brad Davie stated the High School team had a pretty good season they finished at 8 and 14 compared to last years 1 and 19. Brad also stated that there will be 4 awards handed out at the banquet instead of 2 like last year. He also stated the team is getting better.

Old Business:
Outstanding High School assessments.

New Business:
A suggestion was made to set up some type of scholarship fund for hardship cases for the upcoming hockey season. The new board will have to decide whether to proceed with such a fund or not.

A question was asked about the coaches having the same rules as the players when it comes to arrival times at games and practices. The coaches and board agreed that the players and coaches are to be at games 45 minutes prior to starting and 30 minutes prior to practices.

At this time Brad Davie is still the CAP Coordinator for the Middle School and High School teams.

There will be some type of end of year banquet for the hockey players some time in the beginning of April.

The new board will help set up the details of the end of year banquet.

The board decided to reimburse Dave Van Wie for ref fees he paid out of his pocket for the additional B games that were played. Sue Lajoie motioned to pay the fees Tim Reimensnyder 2nd, All were in favor.

The following letter was written to the Blue Liner’s board by parents in the hockey association:

Although there have and continue to be some "growing pains" associated with this merger, the benefits are significant. Through the merger of the HS and MS programs we have been able to involve more than 50 students in the sport by accommodating a wider range of skill levels; a two-tier MS program and a HS JV option. The Board, coaches and parents have done a great deal of work over the past few years to make this program work, and for that these participants should be acknowledged and thanked.

That said… to no one's surprise we have some concerns that need to be addressed in order to strengthen this merger. This week, a small group of parents met to discuss current concerns raised by parents, coaches and school officials, and offered suggestions as to how we might improve the organization. Please do not view these suggestions as critique of your efforts, but rather ways to improve upon what was established two years ago.

Suggestion - Fundraising is by far the toughest and most controversial issue the Board faces. A suggestion was made that the club only play an overseer role in fundraising. In the preceding spring the Board should establish the cost per player for the upcoming season, based on estimated player involvement. All players must register and pay in full this amount by mid-September in order to participate in the upcoming season. With this early notice, players and parents have the time to plan for this assessment.

(No player will be allowed to participate in practices and/or games unless their account is paid in full.)

Players / parents who would like to use the club's name to hold a fundraising event to help offset this participation fee, must seek Board approval and acknowledge that the funds raised are auditable and must be submitted to the club for credit to those players involved with the event.

With this huge burden of planning, organizing, communicating and conducting the many fundraising events, participation on the board is not as intimidating. Hopefully this move will encourage more new faces with new ideas to come forward.

The Board
Issue - "Perceptions, whether justified or not, become facts in the minds of parents." We have heard comments that the merger is unfairly slanted towards Union 29, based on the adoption of the "Blue Liners" name, the percentage of Board members, as well as the fact that the HS coach and Board President are husband and wife. (This potential conflict of interest has been raised by school officials, as well.)

Suggestion - We do not suggest that an equal number of representatives from each school be required in the make-up of the Board. We want the most qualified and interested parties to represent this club regardless of where they live… after all, it is one club. We do suggest that the name of the club reflect the name of the HS team and the size of the Board be reduced to 7 members to become more efficient, especially if the reduced work volume associated with the fundraising suggestion is adopted. To ensure more participation and new ideas, the Bylaws might also be amended to restrict Board participation to two consecutive terms.

There has been an unwritten rule that no coach should sit on the Board. To eliminate and head off future perceptions of conflicts of interest, a formal change to the Bylaws should be made expanding this rule to include, "no coaches, or relatives of coaches are allowed to hold a Board position". This is not to say that coaches and spouses are not allowed to attend and participate (at the Boards' direction) in the club meetings.

The Bylaws
Issue - There are many operational issues that have not been addressed and/or documented. It is these uncertainties that create conflict, yet can be easily resolved. Examples include, but may not be limited to:

• What are the roles of the Board? What are the procedures for selecting / nominating coaches? Setting finances? Billing and collecting from the players? Managing/overseeing fundraising? Handling player / parent complaints? Etc.
• How are Board meetings to be conducted? Agenda setting and rules of order should be documented?
• How are the player charges determined? Should there be different charges associated with Varsity and JV participation? MS "A" and "B" programs?
• What are the rules regarding player payments, and how and by whom are they enforced?
• What is the role and responsibilities of the MS head coach? Must the Board approve all of his coaching staff? Must all assistants hold valid licenses? What is the procedure for reporting and resolving coaching complaints by parents or other coaches?
• What is the role of the HS coach? Does he report directly to the two A.D.s? What, if any, is the relationship between the HS coach and the Board? Does he have any authoritative involvement with the MS program?
• If the new fundraising model is adopted, what are the rules and procedures for parents wishing to conduct a sponsored event?

Before we hold the voting for the new board, the current board must at the very least make a determination if they want to adopt the proposed fundraising approach and/or suggested reduction and make-up of the board. The decision on the later of these suggestions is obviously essential if there will only be 7 Board members going forward.

Thank you in advance of these considerations. All parents that have provided input have one common goal… To ensure this program survives for the benefit of current and future players.

The letter was reviewed by the current board and discussed thoroughly.

A request to give Vicki Mason a Thank you gift for all she did for the hockey club was made by Tim Reimensnyder, 2nd by Linda Gagne All in favor.

New Board Members are as follows:
Matt Trudel, Trecia Travers, Tim Reimensnyder, Carol Renell, Mike Moberg, Sue Hathaway, Andrea Harvey, Barbara Foster, Mike Conant, Chery Bascomb Welcome to the new Blue Liner’s Board! Best Wishes!

Meeting Adjourned @ 8:45 p.m.

Next Meeting March 15, 2004 Ricker Memorial Library