DAKOTA ALANO SOCIETY, INC.
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
April 19, 2020
The Board Meeting opened with the Serenity Prayer at 5:02 pm. Introductions were made and the Twelve Traditions were read by Jerry H.
Board members present: Jean D., Sarah C., Daren G., Noah D., Pat B., Jerry H. Paul T., and Martha D., John F.
Board members absent: none
Guests: none
Secretary's Report: Martha sent out via email the minutes of the March 15th regular Board Meeting and the minutes of the March 21st Emergency Board Meeting; did not receive any modifications or corrections. John made a motion to approve the February minutes. Jean seconded the motion and the motion passed.
Treasurer's Report: Sarah reviewed the March 2020 Meeting Donation Summary, Profit & Loss Statement, and Balance Sheet. The Thursday Night Men’s group has been collecting electronically donations (in lieu of in-person meeting member donations). That group will be splitting the funds between the two metro Intergroup associations. Noah made a motion to approve the March financial documents. Daren seconded the motion and the motion passed.
Visitor Questions and Concerns: n/a
Committee Reports:
Literature & Medallions: Daren indicated no report due to house being closed.
Facilities Maintenance: Pat did purchase several electronic rodent deterrent devices and placed in the House. Put new diffuser on upstairs bathroom sink. Water is currently turned off at the house and heat is turned down to 45 degrees.
Publications & Public Relations: John indicated no report due to House being closed.
Supplies: Paul indicated no report due to House being closed.
House Security: Noah indicated he has stopped by the House several times to check the interior; no disturbance noted. Noah will check on the locked cabinet doors under the literature cabinet. Jean asked if Noah will water the plant upstairs when he goes there; will bring water with him. Jerry said he as well has stopped by and picked up mail.
Old Business:
Church maintenance items: Jerry said the church maintenance person has also been checking on the house.
Credit card: Jerry reported that he, Sarah, and Jean have been working with Wells Fargo. He went last week to continue the credit card process. House will get one card with credit limit of $2000 (bank requires minimum $2500 for account). Account would have two cards issued. One with President’s name (with $2000 limit), and one with Supply person’s name (with $500 limit).
Will need two Board members, other than President, Treasurer, and Assistant Treasurer, to sign approval. Cards will come two weeks after final paperwork.
Sarah asked if the next Supplies person (fiscal year 2020/2021) would need a card. Is it worth obtaining these cards just for use the next 3 months. John expressed opinion that we should move forward; that it would be easy to change the issued-to names or cancel card(s).
Jerry brought up the fact that supplies seem to run out and need immediate replenishment.
Jean noted that these terms (two cards totaling $2500) are different than when they had visited the bank originally. Are there fees to have the cards? Jerry was told there is no fee. Jerry acknowledged just finding out about the $2500 credit limit. Pat asked for clarification on how names on cards can be changed. Jerry said all it takes is a phone call to the bank for who can use the card; and that only Sarah, Jean, or Jerry would be able to make that call/authorize).
Noah asked if the cards being issued have fraud protection with the visa logo on it. Jerry said his understanding is yes; it is being set up as a visa credit card. Daren said it doesn’t hurt to try use of cards, see how it goes, then by next fiscal year would have better sense of whether having cards is advantageous. Daren made motion to move forward with acquiring Visa cards from Wells Fargo with the above terms. Noah seconded the motion and the motion passed.
Gopher Roundup – This year’s Roundup has been cancelled.
COVID-19 – Jerry noted that May 4th is the expiration date of the current Minnesota Stay Home Order. If the Governor does not extend beyond that, do we want to open up? Church has given us the option of opening up if we want. Two issues are social distancing ability and ability to sanitize. Jean said whenever we open, we need to have comprehensive cleaning plan in place. Also discussed was whether trusted servants would be on board to host their meetings.
Noah said he thinks when the Governor opens restaurants, that’s when we would open.
Martha suggested we have a meeting with trusted servants.
Noah said we do have a list of trusted servants. Some meetings might want to go ahead and others not. Could use website as communication tool.
Daren noted we need to identify what cleaning supplies are needed, what rules would be established for sanitizing after meetings, etc. Suggested that we do the same as the State in terms of opening up with the State. Daren said people should feel comforagble coming back because they know we’re putting safety policies in place.
Jerry suggested we stay closed at least through 5/13. Suggested we reconvene as a Board the weekend of 5/3 to discuss this issue in more detail.
Daren suggested we start now to order/acquire cleaning supplies since it could take a month to come in. Jean said she’s happy to buy disinfectant when she sees it. Suggested that wipes go too quick. We either use paper towels or washcloths for washing. Jean suggested we not use bleach due to the damage it can do to clothing. Jerry will try to obtain via work resources, incl Purell.
Jerry suggested we continue to say the House is closed indefinitely for now rather than set a date.
John suggested we reconvene on and Sun May 3rd at 5pm.
Pat mentioned getting more picnic table sand a porta john.
Daren said that’s a great idea to discuss at 5/3 meeting. At 5/3, can come up with concrete list of what needs to happen, who’s responsible, Board vs. individual meeting responsibility.
Pat also asked about using the church basement downstairs for meetings; much larger space to allow social distancing.
John asked if meetings, when they resume in person, might also want to Zoom so people have option of coming to House or watching via Zoom.
Paul suggested we go through the House and see what cleaning supplies we have there. Jean asked if Paul can check this and email the Board. Paul noted that Alano basement seems to be a high level of mice manure gathering down there. Noah suggested that’s probably due to no people down there.
Operations Journal modifications – Martha reviewed the handout that had been emailed separately a week ago with suggested modifications. Jerry made a motion that we accept the proposed changes to the Operations Journal. Daren seconded the motion and the motion passed.
New Business:
Safety Committee – Noah reported he has not been contacted by the Safety Committee meeting chair in the past month.
July picnic – Jerry suggested we add to regular Board meeting agenda next month.
The meeting closed with the Lord's Prayer at 6:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Martha D