Long Cove Point Association
Virtual Annual Meeting
July, 2020
Note: Because of the pandemic, the July 18 Annual Meeting of the Long Cove Point Association in 2020 was conducted by a survey distributed to members by email in advance of the previously announced date as approved by the Board at its June 25 meeting. Documents including a financial report and information about the change of name on the Audit Committee were attached to the agenda emailed before the survey. There were 95 responses. Therefore, a quorum of 25 members was met.
The agenda and survey are below. The survey list of 5 issues is followed by the results of the survey, emailed to the membership by the President on July 29, 2020.
AGENDA:
“Welcome” to all members of the Long Cove Point Association.
1. In Memoriam
The Club lost two “vibrant souls” since we last gathered: Connie Towne and Nora Waystack. Their contributions to the Club and their incredible spirits will be long remembered. Please take a moment to remember them and their close friends and family members.
Martha Hebert, the chair of our Tennis Committee, has asked that I share this with all of you.
“Last year we lost Nora Waystack to a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. LCPA was a special place for Nora, who was frequently seen tending the flower boxes, playing tennis, or simply sitting on the porch enjoying the company of her husband, Peter, friends, and family. Thanks to the generosity of her many friends from Long Cove, there are now two handsome court side benches that will allow others to enjoy the sport and place that was so dear to Nora's heart and will serve as a lovely commemoration of her easy warmth, generosity and fighting spirit.”2. Secretary’s Report
a. You will find, attached, the draft of the minutes from the Annual Membership meeting held on July 20,2019. Please review and let me know if you have any questions in advance of a vote on whether to accept the minutes.
3. Treasurers’ Report
a. You will find, attached, the end of year financial statement for 2019 for your review.Please review this as well as information below and let me know if you have any questions before we vote on whether to accept the treasurer’s report.
b. The Association, as of 7/9/20, has $19,536 in our checking account and $8,745 in our capital expense fund. The portion of membership dues ($20 per member) that is designated for Capital Expenses has not yet been transferred from the checking account to the Capital Expense Fund. That traditionally happens at the end of the Season.
c. As of 7/9/20, 227 paid membership renewals have been received. The membership committee will follow up with members who have yet to complete their renewal.
d. As the Board is not allowing clubhouse rentals there is no expected income.
4. Committee Reports
a. Tennis – Martha Hebert, Chair
The court is open with signup only on yourcourts.com. In addition to individual play, the men’s and women’s leagues are proceeding and private lessons and weekly triples tournaments, supervised by our new instructor, are also on the calendar. The Board agreed last August to a one-year trial of eliminating separate tennis fees and will revisit this decision at their meeting in August. Maine Track and Tennis visited the court last fall and confirmed that the court is “in good shape” with no major work anticipated until at least 2022. Resurfacing of the court at that time would be approximately $8,300, which will be covered by our Capital Expense Fund.
b. Membership- Claire Mocarski, Chair
To date we have received 18 new member applications. Each has completed the required paperwork, paid the appropriate fees, and arranged for letters of recommendation to be submitted. The prospective members are:
Katherine Stallford and Frazier Caner of Bremen, Maine
Carol Kelsey of South Bristol, Maine
Peter and Lynn Neff of Clinton, CT and Chamberlain, Maine
Alison and Andreas Weihofen and children, Anabel and Liam, of Belmont, MA and Chamberlain, ME
James and Cynthia Rancourt of Blacksburg, Virginia and Round Pond, Maine
Dan and Laurie Lemieux of Round Pond, Maine
Emily Poole of Pemaquid, Maine
Cate McDonough and Marco Ellwanger of San Francisco, California and Chamberlain, Maine
Lynn and Bob Huson of St Louis. Missouri
John H. Scofield of Oberlin, Ohio and Pemaquid, Maine
Donna K. Pleis of Leola, PA, and New HarborYou will be asked to vote whether to confirm them as members on the Survey Monkey.
c. Audit Committee- Edward Shepherd and John Rolfe, Co-chairs
“The Audit Committee has reviewed the Financial Statement of 2019 and has found that the financials accurately represent LCPA’s financial position as of year-end calendar 2019, as well as its activities for the full-year.” The committee added that the evaluation was a summary review and not an actual audit.
d. Nominating Committee- Ginny Conway, Chair
The following members are being presented to the membership to serve on the Board of Directors for 2020-2021.
Kevin Conway
Mark Jones
Seymour Kagan
John Mulcahy
Tim Peele
Bonnie Potter
Kit Reno
Amy Rolfe
Elizabeth Vercoe
You will be asked to vote whether to confirm this slate on the Survey Monkey.e. Social Committee – Chris and Catherine Gram, Co-chairs
Due to the pandemic all social events have been cancelled.f. The Archive Committee has no report.
g. House Committee – Kit Reno, Chair
The steps and back door to the kitchen have been repaired. Work will begin on replacing the vertical slats under the porch on the shed-side. Painting projects are being planned throughout the season.
h. Yoga Committee- Marcia Kagan, Chair
Yoga is being held, as in the past, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with a maximum capacity of 9 participants whose mats are placed to allow for mandated social distancing. There has been good participation and participation limits and social distancing are being maintained. Beach Yoga, led by Michelle, is offered at Pemaquid Beach on Wednesdays at 8am. Members pay only the beach use fee. Guests pay $10 plus the beach use fee.
5. Chair and President’s Report
a. The handicap bathroom has been completed at a total cost of $5600. Part of the cost went to replace some pipes which were leading from the clubhouse to the septic system and to repair shingles around the vent pipe from above the bathroom.
b. As was discussed at last year’s meeting, we will be purchasing an AED (Automatic Electronic Defibrillator) within the next few weeks. I had hoped to attend to this sooner but between the bathroom renovation and the pandemic’s impact on the club it got shoved to the back burner.
c. Both inspections of our new Fujiclean Septic System have found all in good working order.
d. Proposed change to our Bylaws vis-à-vis the Audit Committee
After last year’s membership meeting, we received a note from a member who is a Certified Public Accountant. Here is an excerpt from that note:
“Why do we have an Audit Committee when we don’t have an audit? The committee can’t perform any type of audit. The first requirement of an audit is that the professional performing the audit be independent, which eliminates any member. We don’t hire anyone to perform an audit or prepare financial statements or report on our financial statements. So why a so-called audit committee? I will assume that it dates from some point when the organization adopted the bylaws, which were probably taken from other organizations. In the current world of smaller nonprofits, under best practices, organizations have a Finance Committee. The chair of the committee is the Treasurer. The committee is generally charged with creating and updating policies that ensure the organization’s assets are protected , that policies and procedures are documented and are being followed; to provide support for the Treasurer for budgeting and reporting; and monitoring the financial transactions and stewardship of the financial resources of the organization. It worries me that members think that our financial report is actually audited, which is not the case. It also worried me that, should assets ever be misappropriated, that members would look to the so-called audit committee as partially responsible. An actual audit committee in a nonprofit is charged with hiring an auditor, managing the audit and reporting results of the audit to the Board.”
The Board discussed this among themselves and with the current members of the Audit Committee. All agreed that replacing the Audit Committee with a Finance Committee makes good sense. I have attached the proposed amendment to the Bylaws, drafted by our Treasurer Mark Jones which describes how the committee would function. I ask you to review it in advance of casting a vote on making this change to the Bylaws. Changes to the Bylaws requires a vote of the membership.
You will be asked whether to confirm this Bylaws change on the Survey Monkey.
On behalf of the Board of Directors I would like to thank all Committee Chairs, committee members and all the volunteers who contribute to our efforts to keep the Club “chugging along.”
I realize that this format does not allow for the kind of open discussion to which we have grown accustomed at other Annual Meetings and will not allow for “in-the-moment” changes to any of the reports or documents I have provided before they are put to a vote. Please keep that in mind as you consider your comments. Always happy to entertain thoughts and suggestions but unless there is a major concern, we will not be able to modify and then resend these documents before asking for a vote. If you seek clarification in advance of the vote, we will do our best to provide you with additional information.
Please contact me at mulcahy1953@gmail.com with any concerns or if you feel there are other issues which we should be addressing.
Thank you,
John Mulcahy
LCPA Board Chair and President.
SURVEY & RESULTS:
The 5 survey issues for response by the membership and results were as follows:1. I vote to approve the minutes from the LCPA Annual Membership meeting of July 20, 2019.
Approval was unanimous.2. I vote to approve the Treasurer's Report including the LCPA Financial Statement for the year ending December 31, 2019.
Approval was unanimous.3. The following members of the LCPA have been put forth by the Nominating Committee to serve as members of the Board of Directors for 2020-2021:
Kevin Conway
Mark Jones
Seymour Kagan
John Mulcahy
Tim Peele
Bonnie Potter
Kit Reno
Amy Rolfe
Elizabeth Vercoe
I vote to approve this slate.
Approval was unanimous.4. Prospective Members who have completed all requirements and are seeking full membership in LCPA:
Katherine Stallford and Frazier Caner of Bremen, Maine
Carol Kelsey of South Bristol,Maine
Peter and Lynn Neff of Clinton, CT and Chamberlain, Maine
Alison and Andreas Weihofen and children, Anabel and Liam of Belmont, MA and Chamberlain, ME.
James and Cynthia Rancourt of Blacksburg, Virginia and Round Pond, Maine
Dan and Laurie Lemieux of Round Pond, Maine
Emily Poole of Pemaquid, Maine
Cate McDonough and Marco Ellwanger of San Francisco, California and Chamberlain, Maine
Lynn and Bob Huson of St Louis. Missouri
John H. Scofield of Oberlin, Ohio and Pemaquid, Maine
Donna K. Pleis of Leola, PA and New Harbor, MaineI vote to approve the above-named becoming members of the LCPA.
Approval was unanimous.
5. I vote to approve a change to the LCPA Bylaws which would replace the “Audit Committee” with a “Finance Committee.”Approval was 94-1.
Elizabeth Vercoe
Secretary