Board Meeting — 11/9/20
Call to Order: President Dolly Robinson called the meeting to order at 5:37 PM.
Members present included: Dolly Robinson, Mike Null, Joe Hinkle, Marcia Kazmierski, Laura Null, Recie Davis, Glenn Hunter, Laura Hunter and Linda Williams. President Robinson welcomed Pierce Kelley, Youth Tennis Foundation (YTF) Board Member/LCCCTA Partner.
D. Robinson also expressed gratitude to Mike & Laura Null for allowing LCCCTA to meet at their home.
D. Robinson provided email correspondence she received from USTA Tennis Service Representative, George English:
USTA Florida is not allowed to travel until further notice; most likely it will be in the new year. However, George is very glad to hear of the progress of the tennis courts at Young’s Park and he looks forward to when he can attend the meetings, again.
Mr. English didn’t have anything new to report on behalf of USTA Florida at this time.
M. Null added that USTA took a hard hit with Covid-19; having a million-dollar budget shortfall and not being able to provide their level of services at this time.
The Minutes of the October 12, 2020 Board Meeting were reviewed.
A motion was made by M. Null to approve the 10/12/20 minutes as presented; the motion was seconded by M. Kazmierski, and the motion carried unanimously.
D. Robinson reviewed and asked for comments to improve and update our current ‘PARTNER’ form. Mr. Pierce Kelley recommended asking level of tennis player (beginner, intermediate, advanced) after the question, “Do you play tennis”?
A few minor changes were also suggested by the group in order to improve the LCCCTA Partner form.
L. Williams will revise the form and then copies will be distributed to LCCCTA members.
D. Robinson announced a new county commissioner has been elected and will be serving Columbia County.
M. Null will be speaking with him regarding LCCCTA’s interest in acquiring a portion of the recently purchased tract of County property.
M. Null provided an extremely comprehensive report regarding the City tennis court construction project. There was an error in the size layout of Courts 1 and 2, which required necessary adjustments to correct the problem. Net posts had to be moved, light posts positioned in the center of the courts were removed and light posts on the edge of those same courts had to be reset after the asphalt was extended. The fencing was also removed and replaced. All the corrective work took two days to complete.
Court Services, Inc. will provide court coating, net posts and nets, and tennis court lines on Courts 1 and 2 by early December 2020, depending on weather conditions.
Courts 3 and 4 have already been completed and remain locked at this time until a warranty is in place at the completion of all four new Young’s park tennis courts. The City will place four portable bleachers—two in between the courts, one to the east and one to the west.
L. Williams will contact Tubular Metals to see if 3 aluminum awnings can be provided to cover the bleachers. Also, the City will place a metal pavilion building on a concrete pad to the west side of the pro shop. The landscaping is complete and the fencing could possibly be extended to 10’ on the north and south sides of the court to prevent tennis balls from going out into the road. Large LED lighting is automatically set to light the tennis courts until 10pm.
L. Williams provided a report regarding the keycard access system. The City’s community program manager will create an application form for individuals who want to access the new tennis courts and the City will also be in the process of locating funds for the security system which will allow access to the courts.
M. Null expressed gratitude to Suwannee Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) for the $10,000 grant which has allowed LCCCTA to purchase court and maintenance equipment to include park benches, caddies, score card devises, rollers, blowers, message board, and 16’ backboard to be installed on the fence.
Mr. Pierce Kelley suggested that a tennis ball machine be included in the pending order. In addition, Mr. Kelley said YTF board member, Scott Harrison, could help with ordering windscreens; one to include a LCCCTA logo.
M. Null will request volunteers at a later date to help put up the windscreens, as well as banners that are sold.
M. Null registered LCCCTA on November 11th, 2020, prior to completing an application to renew our CTA’s insurance. M. Null made a motion to approve the payment of $225 to renew Master Liability Insurance for LCCCTA for 2020-2021.
G. Hunter seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
M. Null told the group that since there have been no LCCCTA tennis activities conducted thus far in 2020, a prorated rebate might be possible.
M. Null and D. Robinson have looked into the possibility of adding Director and Officers (D & O) Insurance—separate from Liability Insurance—which covers individual board members in the event of claims. It would limit personal exposure.
L. Williams reported that YTF does not currently carry D & O insurance.
M. Null will submit an application to see premium cost and coverage, without a commitment, and then provide information to the Board.
M. Null drafted a proposed License Agreement between LCCCTA and the City of Lake City and then submitted it to USTA for review and suggestions. Since the liability insurance states our insurance only covers LCCCTA ‘events’, our association cannot manage public park facilities. Therefore, LCCCTA and the City of Lake City will have a “handshake agreement” to allow LCCCTA only facilitation and scheduling of tennis activities/events.
G. Hunter agreed the City of Lake City should manage the new public facility and is fully responsible for liability.
Pierce Kelley expressed concern about having a loose agreement and suggested G. Hunter check with other sports teams to see how they operate. D. Robinson said we will just be offering activities at this time, but if our CTA operation should move into having a full-time director, along with tennis coaches in the future, we would need to look at increasing our insurance coverage and would look at the possibility of creating a different agreement.
M. Null spoke with the Columbia County School Superintendent who let him know the school district will not be utilizing the City’s closed recreation facilities; Happy House will be using both buildings adjacent to the tennis courts.
M. Kazmierski explained we could provide after-school tennis clinics/activities to children attending Happy House (as well as their siblings) up to the age of 12 years old.
L. Null said these children could lead into being high school players and the varied age groups could be set up into divisions.
D. Robinson said she is in the process of having the Release and Waiver form (USTA template) reviewed to ensure it provides indemnification for tennis activities, offered by LCCCTA.
L. Williams mentioned our LCCCTA brochure needs to be updated with information to include a new concept map, showing how a potential tennis complex would look once Columbia County has completed a Master Plan for their recent land acquisition.
G. Hunter suggested L. Williams asking how we can conceptualize this idea. L. Williams and D. Robinson have written notes of appreciation on behalf of LCCCTA to both YTF and SVCF for their extremely generous grant funding. Pierce Kelley asked if USTA memberships could be made available to our future Youth Tennis Team participants.
M. Null checked with Mr. George English of USTA to determine that all USTA junior memberships/renewals for participants 18 and under are free; no cost to the participants. YTT participants will be able to apply with USTA.
D. Robinson encouraged all LCCCTA board members and volunteers to complete USTA’s online Safe Play. The certification requires that volunteers watch videos and complete education from the U.S. Center for SafeSport regarding best practices and safety. (USTA.com/safeplay) There is no charge for the background checks. Safe Play must be renewed every two years; however, everyone is required to take an annual refresher training, which takes about 15 minutes.
D. Robinson suggested holding a LCCCTA Board meeting on Monday, January 11th, 2021 and then hosting a Grand Opening for the new Young’s Park tennis courts on Thursday, January 14th, 2021.
M. Kazmierski recommended we set Monday, December 14th, 2020 as our next meeting date in order to begin planning for the Grand Opening event.
D. Robinson would like to begin Junior Team Tennis (JTT) the week following the Grand Opening ceremony.
Pierce Kelley suggested LCCCTA have a separate ribbon cutting ceremony just as soon as the tennis courts are completed—which would notify our community the tennis courts are open and available for play.
J. Hinkle provided the Treasurer’s Report for November. The current balance in the bank account is $12,367.73.
President D. Robinson scheduled the Annual Board meeting to be held on February 8th, 2021.
M. Kazmierski is the director of the Nominating Committee, responsible for electing LCCCTA’s Board of Directors and Officers for 2021. She will go ahead and determine if there might be interest from other tennis partners and coaches who may want to serve as board members and officers on LCCCTA’s Board of Directors and Officers for 2021.
President Robinson announced the next Board meeting is set for December 14, 2020.
There being no further formal business, President Robinson adjourned the meeting at 7:40 PM.
Status Report (December 2020)
No meeting was held on December 14, 2020 due to LCCCTA hosting the First Serve Opening Celebration for the four newly constructed tennis courts at Young’s Park. The opening ceremony was a successful community and family event!
Gratitude was expressed to many people, including guest speakers and representatives from the City of Lake City, Columbia County Board of County Commissioners, USTA Florida, Youth Tennis Foundation (YTF), and Suwannee Valley Community Foundation (SVCF).
Since only one item required immediate action and could not wait until the January 11th, 2021 meeting, it was voted upon via email by LCCCTA board members. Ten (10) email responses from board members were submitted to L. Williams.
Action item: Decision to add Director’s and Officer’s (D & O) Insurance Coverage to LCCCTA’s existing general liability insurance policy for an annual premium cost of $553.30 for the year 2021.
Nine (9) members voted YES to adding D & O coverage (D. Robinson, M. Null, L. Null, B. Van Aller, R. Davis, L. Viplav, N. Rivera, M. Kazmierski and L. Williams)
One (1) member voted NO to adding D & O coverage (J. Hinkle)
By a majority vote, it was decided D&O Insurance Coverage will be added to LCCCTA’s existing general liability policy on January 1, 2021.
