February 2011 Board Meeting
DRAFT – Subject to Board Approval
Date: February 3, 2011
Location: Penang – 127 West 72nd Street, 6:30pm
Attendees:
Dave Jordan, Scott Willingham, Rod Millott, Robert Duncker, Chris Forsyth, Rob Weitzner, Chris Loudon
1. Approval of minutes of prior meeting
The minutes of January meeting as distributed were unanimously approved by the Board.
2. CPC Meeting/NYPD ticketing
Dave Jordan provided the Board with additional information regarding the recent CPC Roundtable meeting attended by himself and Jen Saunders as representatives of CRCRA. A summary of the meeting had previously been provided to the Board and posted on the CRCA website.
Board members engaged in a discussion of the factors leading to the NYPD’s current strict enforcement policy in the park, the impact on training for members once the season starts and explored alternative courses of action.
The Board considered whether CRCA should, in conjunction with other cycling groups using Central Park, devise a plan to educate cyclists of “safe cycling” best practices in Central Park to minimize the risk of incidents with other park users– whether at cross walks or elsewhere.
The board agreed to:
- Take advice from certain club members who the Board believes have good knowledge of the current situation and best courses of action for the club to take (DJ to follow up)
- Make contact with other cycling groups who are big park users including certain triathlon teams and NYCC to present a united front on this issue (DJ to follow up)
- Make contact with Transportation Alternatives and seek their input on the issue and recommendations on an appropriate response (RW to follow up)
Despite with the Board’s view that our member’s are amongst the safest users of the park, it was agreed nonetheless that we should remind our membership of appropriate cycling etiquette and best practices for Central Park use to minimize the risk of incidents with other park users.
3. Club racing matters
The Board discussed the proposed new race formats which include new finish and sprint point locations. Board members were supportive and believe this will encourage more diversity in the strategies employed during races which will help members prepare for the variety of racing conditions they may encounter in open races.
It was noted that additional marshals would be needed in certain areas near finishes or sprint points where other park user traffic may be higher than the traditional finishes. Rob Weitzner reported that he had discussed this with Zak Abdullah and additional marshals had been assigned to those races. Furthermore, certain races were moved to earlier in the season when it is believed that there will be relatively less traffic at the new finish locations.
Zak was unable to attend the meeting to discuss any required update to the Team Cup and Jim Boyd competition rules for 2011, but the Board agreed that this should occur before the commencement of the first race.
Discussion was held regarding two possible formats that may also be tried during the season – a handicapped race (where part of the A field would start prior to the other half) or a race requiring each lap to be completed by the field in a minimum time. The object of both of these is to create situations that result in more varied racing. Although Board members were generally supportive, more work is needed on the specific proposals and no decision was made at this time.
4. Membership matters
Rob Duncker updated the Board on membership, noting that the number of members renewing, as well as the number of new members to date indicated that we would likely have a strong membership base for the season.
Rob reported that there had been some minor issues reported to him by members related to their signup, but this was predominantly caused by members not renewing their licenses with USAC or not identifying CRCA as their team with USAC. The Board agreed that USAC rules prohibited any club member from racing in club races unless that member has CRCA has their club on their license. Members whose status with USAC could not be verified would not be provided with a race number and would be prohibited from participating in club races until such confirmation occurs.
A new member orientation session would be conducted by Anne-Marie Miller and Deirdre Murphy Bader on February 27.
5. Waiver & Release
Dave Jordan indicated that he had discussed the current practice with various club members and teams that would be impacted if any change was made. Dave’s recommendation was that no action be taken by the Board at this time.
6. Marshaling
Rob Weitzner provided an update on marshaling sign up, noting that the first four races were full, as was Mengoni. Rob continues to monitor sign up progress and resolving any issues regularly.
7. Rider development matter
Scott Willingham indicated that all coaching sessions have received USAC approval. The first session will be held Saturday February 5th, subject to weather and park conditions.
8. Open racing matters
Sonny Bindra was unable to attend the meeting but provided the Board with a summary of the status of the organization of the Spring Bear Mountain race following a meeting with Alan Atwood.
The Board noted that a USAC permit application did not appear to have been submitted at this stage and requested that this be done within the next two weeks. It was also suggested that the BikeReg.com event be created to ensure that the race details are well communicated to potential racers.
9. Other matters
Rod Millott report to the Board that he and Dave Jordan attended a meeting with Ted Neu, Ken Harris and Mike Green to discuss the establishment of a CRCA Development Foundation which had previously been approved by the Board. CRCA has agreed to provide initial funding to cover the cost of establishing the foundation. It is expected that the CRCA board will have the right to appoint two board members to the seven-person Board of the Foundation.
Rod Millott presented to the Board a draft of the proposed amendments to the By-Laws of the club. These are needed in order to formerly allow the use of electronic communications with members as opposed to a “news letter” and to clarify the role of ex-officio Directors. The Board was generally supportive, but agreed that these changes should be proposed to the members once the racing season has commenced and members have renewed their membership.
A recommendation was made that each Officer should create a document that clearly outlines their role, key contacts and the ‘how to’ in order to avoid the reliance on outgoing officers as new officers complete their duties. Board members agreed that this also reduces the risk in the event that an Officer becomes unable to fulfill his or her duties.
10. Next meeting
The next meeting was proposed for 7pm Tuesday March 8th, same location.
The meeting closed at 8pm.
