Board of Directors

Regular Meeting -- October 14, 2005

The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 1 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Pam Latham (Oceanna), Vice President Pam Chambers and Treasurer Kathy Lee. No directors were absent. Robert McGarey (Executive Director) was also present at the meeting.

Executive Director's Report

Grants. Bob reported that he and Oceanna had completed the letter of inquiry and sent it off to St. David's Foundation, with a significant amount of assistance from John Paul (J. P.) Smith, who is one of the applicants for renting the Garage from the Anomaly Archives. We requested $15,000 from them, and would like to apply using this same basic grant format to other funders as well.

Secretarial & Management Assistance. Bob reported that Mary Glover, who has provided management/secretarial assistance for us for the past several months, has had to resign so that she can care for her mother, who is currently experiencing more and more of the effects attributed to Alzheimer's Disease. Consequently, Pam has jumped in and has been a lot of help in the interim.

Rental of the Garage. Bob announced that in addition to preventing water from entering the garage and upgrading the front facade, he would like us to be able to level the foundation and install a bathroom downstairs before the Archives moves in. However, since our Bingo receipts have been so much less this year than they were last year, he's not sure if that will be financially feasible.

He also reported that the Anomaly Archives was continuing to look for somebody to rent the upstairs of the two-story Garage, and that they had reviewed the lease agreement that he and Owen had drafted. The appreciated the initial draft and the clarity and win-win approach we had taken in it, and they had a few counter-proposals to suggest adding to the agreement.

In response to the suggestions from the Archives, it was unanimously

RESOLVED, that we include a statement in the lease that acknowledges that "Progress counts for something" in terms of their progress in renovating the downstairs of the garage, so that if they are a little late, the Center won't start leveling harsh penalties against them. We also approved postponing the start of the Archives' 6 month time frame for renovations until the Center has completed waterproofing the garage, renovating the front of it, and obtaining estimates for leveling the foundation and installing the bathroom. We also approved paying the Archives $50 per month for managing our library. We will start paying the $50 when the Archives actually starts actively managing our library, and the payments would be contingent upon the Archives continuing to manage our library to our satisfaction.

The board also had several additions of its own to be added to the lease for the garage. It was also unanimously

RESOLVED, that in recognition of the fact that the Archives currently has very limited funds, in lieu of any deposit for the upstairs garage space, we will perform a random monthly inspection of the premises to ensure that it is being properly cleaned and maintained. If it is not being cleaned and maintained to our satisfaction, we will inform the renter, and he or she will have 3 days to remedy the situation. If it is not remedied in 3 days, we can, at our option, hire appropriate professionals to remedy the situation at the renter's expense.

The board made it clear that we are holding the space open for the Archives without currently receiving any income for the space, and that we need to begin receiving income for the space as soon as is humanly possible. In addition, the board placed the following stipulations on the lease agreement:

1) Renters for the upstairs garage must be selected and mutually approved by both organizations.

2) No renovations to the upstairs garage are allowed without the approval of the Center. (This includes the dog hoist and carpeting for the apartment that were requested by one potential renter, both of which the board disallowed.)

3) No pets are allowed upstairs in the garage.

Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at around 3 pm.

Minutes submitted by Kathy Lee, Acting Secretary, October 14, 2005.