Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHDC2009-005 Staff Minutes Of The Meeting Of The Board Of Directors 09/05/2006VA Hostelling Arkansas, Inc. (d.b.a.) Firehouse Hostel and Museum Minutes of the Meeting of the Board of Directors Held at the Hostel — Tuesday September 5, 2006 (Monday was Labor Day) From 4:15 PM until 6:00 PM Board Members Present Linda Fordyce, President Greg Hart, Treasurer Norm Hall, Secretary Anncha Briggs Richard Butler John Fordyce Team Members Present Chad Avery — Our Attorney Meeting called to order • Moment of silence observed Daniel Elliott's resignation from board accepted Greg moved that Danny be recognized by the board as a founding member of Hostelling Arkansas. Norm Hall seconds the motion. Motion passes. Be it there now therefore resolved that Daniel Kennedy Elliott will forever be recognized as a founding member of Hostelling Arkansas. Greg then suggests Tom Harding for a spot on the board. Mr. Harding is the nephew of Mr. Pat Harding, Jr., who was known as the "Firefighters Friend" among Little Rock Firefighters. Mr. Pat Harding Sr. was an architect with the Cromwell firm which designed the firehouse. Linda mentions that Hostelling Arkansas will participate in the first annual Natural State Exposition to be held on Saturday, October 7 from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Linda passes along an apology from Johnny Reep for being unable to attend due to an appointment with his doctor. The minutes were then read and approved as read. Anncha reports to the board about her visit the hostel in Austin, Texas. A copy of the report is attached. She noted there were a lot of people lying on couches in the public area at the hostel. She suggested that the board not furnish the office and check -in area in a way that would be conducive to loitering. She also noted that the city was taking advantage of the hostel by sending the homeless to the hostel. The board all agreed these are things we really need to be mindful of. Committee Reports Finance Committee/Treasurer's Report — Greg reports an account balance is $18,000.00. He noted that 4 filing cabinets that had been donated by Carelink sold for $800.00 which went to the general fund. At this point Linda presents the "Hostel Three Hundred" fund raising letter. She asked that the board review and email her any suggestions on changes that we think may need to be made. A copy is attached. Development Committee — John reports on mail we received from an organization offering a logo protection service for $1,600.00. He also presented a written report, covering 4 items. A copy is attached. Linda ads ask "Who do you know?" She asks the board to ask friends to help think of people that they will be willing to call upon with us. Development Committee — continued Anncha and Linda plan on taking Sybil Hampton, the retiring director of the Rockefeller Foundation, to lunch in the near future to solicit her help in our project. Museum Committee — Linda asks the hoard about combining the Car Show, the Five Alarm Frenzy and the various fire departments Chili Cook -Off into one event. Greg mentions that he has spoken with Rick Freeland of Mr. Mason's Pit Bar-B-Q and Catering Company and they could be available to cater the event. Public Relations and Advertising Committee — Linda and Anncha drove to Hot Springs Village to participate in a professional fund raising seminar called "Take Your Golf Tournament to The Next Level" held at the Diamante Golf Club. Anncha prepared a written report, a copy of which is attached. They mentioned to the board that at some future date we may want to consider a golf tournament fund raiser. Linda and Anncha are to check the dates for the spring Big Event to avoid having it at a time that conflicts with other events like the Little Rock Air Force Base air show or a Razorback football game. They will report back to the board and take a vote as to when the board believes will be the best date for the event. New Business — Greg suggests we sell T-shirts at the Natural State Expo. Norm suggests we use John and Linda's Dalmatian "Casey the Firedog" on the T-shirts. Meeting adjourned i i F o-f1-+-C-- AI J S 7-1 nJ /+0Se-- I made a brief visit to the Austin Hostel on July 27. Called Vanessa Vaughan, the Executive Director of the Austin hostel since March 2006. She was very accommodating and said she would show me around when I came. The hostel is located on the hike and bike trail around Town Lake, ten minutes from downtown. They have free car parking, plus bike rentals, canoes, Internet ac- cess, laundry, kitchen, free University of TX Shuttle, and a city bus stop, Bed linens are included in the $16.50 rate No curfew, comfortable 24 hour lobby overlooks Town and Lake. Dormitories open 5pm-11 am Kitchen open during day too. The building has central air conditioning and heat, but has also added solar heating. Credit Cards are Ac- cepted, Security Lockers, Luggage Storage, Guest Kitchen Telephone/Fax Facilities, BBQ Area in the backyard. In my view the hostel looked a little run down and Miss Vaughan gave me a back ground explanation. The Austin Youth Hostel, is a 40-bed facility . The hostel raised the money for the building and assumed the cost of its maintenance, the parks and rec department owns the land on Town Lake where the building stands. The hostel, had never paid rent for its use of the property until 3 years ago. But when the ongoing con- version of Palmer Auditorium into the Long Center for the Perform- ing Arts displaced some of the PARD employees forcing them to relocate to small offices throughout the city, the department decided to move its Aq- uatics division to the hostel building, unless the hostel could start paying rent. The hostel launched a hasty PR effort, asking support through local newspa- pers and TV stations and knocking on the doors of City Council members. Three months later the hostel signed a five-year lease with the department under which it now pays $1,625 a month. So that was set back to the maintenance budget and very little has been done to the building since. They barely break even at this point, but occu- pancy have picked up since 9/11. When I was there that afternoon only foreign students were guests and she said that is the case most often the time. The students stay maybe one or two nights, but this hostel often has long term American guests, who stay the maximum 21 days allowed while they are looking for a permanent place to live in Austin. One thing Vanessa said, which I did not like, and I hope we can work around - the city will rent the space for people who need a space to stay while they visit a detox center in the city. The city will also sometimes ask the hostel to take on "homeless" people until they find a place for them. We dont want 0 to become a substitute shelter for the homeless however much I feel for them and their situation. This information should be kept amongst ourselves. They have a very active 13 member board who are very willing to update and get the hostel back into a better shape, but it is difficult when they don't know if the city will renew their lease. They are in an up and coming neighbor- hood and saw an announcement for a condo river project 200 yards away from the hostel. Made a mental note of sleeping on sofas dishes stacking up in the kitchen sink rooms pretty messy (but that is hard to have control over) More lockers outside the rooms to be used before check in time so things don't stack up in the reception area. NO couches, but comfortable chairs to sit on. A nice large TV room upstairs separate from the activity room downstairs. It was furnished with an assortment of donated furnishing, all very comfort- able, but with no design in mind. The room was not being used while I was there, and I think because it had no windows and downstairs is such a nice big bright airy room. A local builder was allowed to hold workshops on solar heating and how to in- stall solar panels and the hostel was the beneficiary of these workshops. Local bakeries donate their day old bread and cookies to the hostel for breakfast, which is free to the people who stay there. oz The Hostel Three Hundred From: Linda Fordyce, President of Hostelling Arkansas, Inc. To: The 300 Founding Members of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum Friends of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum, I am asking you to do something HUGE. We have 300 members of Friends of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum! That is wonderful! 300 people paid $50.00 each to be Founding Members! That raised $15,000.00 That is awesome! -But, we need $300,000.00* to open - That's why I am asking all 300 of you not only to renew** but to recruit 19 new Founding Members of the Friends of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum at the $50.00 level. Then each of you will be raisin_q $1000.00 NowTHAT'S huge! Of course you can donate the whole thousand or ask fewer people for more. It's u to ou. "And, if you aren't already a Friend of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum, please join and ask 19 others to join! None of us can do this alone. Together, we'll be open soon! 01 WHY THE RUSH? Because...... Everything is in place and the people are already pouring into Little Rock! In just two years we have secured the best possible location and created a 501©(3) non-profit entity with an outstanding board. We have about 80 dedicated hard-working committee members. We've held two major special events, enjoyed great publicity and have a mailing list of over 6,000 people. (Typed by one saintly volunteer!) The gifts to the fire museum have already required the loan of a 2500 sq. ft. storage area. Everything is coming together. AND WE'LL BE PART OF THE "DESTINATION" THAT LITTLE ROCK HAS BECOME! In fact we'll provide the missing piece of the puzzle for visitors to Little Rock! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN OF LITTLE ROCK! We have the support of the Mayor, the City Manager, and our partners, the Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department. We have the cooperation of the Little Rock Convention And Visitor Bureau and the Little Rock Fire Department. Now we have the endorsement of The Little Rock City Board of Directors! �W Thanks to all! ave a splendid Letter Agreement with the City ruse of the building for 50 yearsl he ci�v will 00 repa�ls, pay,utiliti c or museu This is priceless! Our architects are ready with the plans. the We need all the money we can raise. Our overall project will cost close to two million, including the annex's additional rooms, dining hall, kitchen, extra museum space and engine bay. Beyond that will be the yurts and yurt bathhouse. (Look up Mongolian yurts!) The yurts will be great for visiting youth groups, bunking parties, birthdays and special events. *Our architects tell us it will take $400,000.00 so we can open. 3 u ffO-Oe-raking our part $300,000.00 just to renovate the existing building. We have to meet code in many ways, including several new bathrooms, which makes it seem so high to most of us. 0 We will also need money to open and operate the first year. As funds come in from our Capital Campaign, they will be applied to these needs and to future building needs. We must build the annex and engine bay to reach the optimum number of beds for the hostel and space for all the treasures being donated to the firefighters' museum. After the first year we project to make a profit for operating if we have as much as 45% occupancy. Everything is coming together except for one misconception. We have learned that many of our supporters think we have our funding in place. The land, the building, yes, but we need your hard work to make this happen. You won't be asking people for the usual donation. You'll be asking the_ m to join as a Founding Member of the Firehouse Hostel and Museum just like you did! Please take this challenge with me. The Development Committee and I are working as hard as we can. But there are only a few of them and one of me! I need 300 of you! We are all volunteers. Not a one of us is paid to do this, but we're all dedicated to the project. We just need more of us, like you! Do the math and you'll quickly see why..... WE NEED YOUR HELP! Whether you got this by mail or email, please send this on to your friends, including the additional information, below. Please provide all contact information for the new Members, including email addresses. Send checks to: HOSTELLING ARKANSAS, INC. P.O. Box 2753; Little Rock, Arkansas 72203 Thank you for making this happen this year. Little Rock already needs us, but imagine that need when the Dickey -Stephens Park and Heifer Global Village open! TOGETHER, WE'LL BE READY. My Sincere Thanks to All, Linda Fordyce, President Hostelling Arkansas, Inc. 01 I AM PROUD TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HOSTEL THREE HU I):RED BY RAISING $1,000.00 FOR THE FIREHOUSE HOSTEL AND MUSEUM BY ASKING FRIENDS TO BECOME FOUNDING MEMBERS LIKE ME! NAME ADDRESS PHONE EMAIL DONATION AMOUNT 1. My name first! Total amount enclosed: Hostelling Arkansas, Inc. will gratefully send a thank you note to you and your new members acknowledging that the entire contribution is tax deductible, none of it being exchanged for goods or services. �l ltlo�-Zc�' of �fc YoccY Welbl Linda Fordyce and I drove to Hot Springs Village on July 31, to participate in a free professional fund raising seminar "Take Your Golf Tournament to The Next Level" at the Diamante Golf Club. The presenter, Phil Immordino, is a member of the Golf Tournament Associa- tion of America. Questions like Should you do a golf tournament, how much money can it bring in to your or- ganization, do you have a base of golfers and volunteers, what kind of for- mat, negotiating with a golf course, selling sponsors, promotion, where just some of the questions during the 4 hour seminar. Mr. Immordino answered just about every question and if done correctly, with a 6 month planning period, enough trained and motivated volunteers and 9 well connected golfers in the community who each promises to get four golf- ers (9X4=36) who in turn get 4 golfers (36x4=144) you will have your play- ers. You don't make money of your players, it is the sponsors who make you the money. If you feel this is too big an undertaking for your organization try to partner with someone else and combine the event with an auction. The auctions often bring in more money than the tournament. Special companies bring in the auction items geared towards your organiza- tions interest free of charge and take a certain percentage of the proceeds. The reason for using a top notch golf course like Diamante, versus a public golf course, usually only members get to play and this happens to truly be a top notch golf course. Now the city would probably let us arrange access to one of their courses, possibly free of charge according to Mark Webre. Tru- man Tolefree is the director to contact, who makes those decisions. We learnt a lot, and the guidelines we came home with can be used for any big fund raising sports event we decide to organize.