Board Meeting Minutes - March 13, 2020

Vista Las Palmas Neighborhood Organization Board Meeting
March 13, 2020, 2:00pm
Ristretto: 500 S Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

The following board members/attendees were present: Gustav Swanson, Sheila Cobrin, Mickey Puig, Kermit Ferrer, Rebecca May (via phone), Jeffrey Saadeh (MW2020 Captain), Jeff Shotwell - Imagine It! Media (guest).

AGENDA

  • Introductions

  • Review / Approve Minutes from February Board Meeting (02/13/20) All

  • Review Action Items from February Board Meeting KFerrer

  • Treasury / Finance MPuig/KComer

    • February Report

    • Annual Budget

    • Donations: $ Allocation, Organizations & Timing Board

    • GoFundMe: Alexander STAR (Closed?)

    • Treasury Transition / Signees

  • MW2020 Update KFerrer

    • Post-Mortem JSaadeh

    • MW2021?

  • Alexander STAR Dedication Event Update KFerrer

  • Social – March S Hightower

  • Neighborhood KComer

    • Street Condition Update

    • Safety/Security

  • One PS Update SCobrin/KComer

  • Communication Updates: GSwanson

    • Imagine IT Guest: Jeff Shotwell

    • VLPNO website

    • Next Door

    • Facebook

    • Event Publications: Alexander Star, MW2020,Other

    • Email addresses & Home Puchase Update KComer/RMay

    • HSPS

    • Other

Other Board Member Updates

Thursday, March 12th meeting was cancelled that day due to heavy rains

  • Meeting was rescheduled to Friday, March 13th to be held jointly with the MW2020 Post-Mortem

Review/Approve Minutes from February 13th meeting

  • Board reviewed and unanimously approved minutes from the Feb. 2020 meeting

  • Gustav to coordinate w/ Imagine-IT to publish January, February & March 2020 Board Meeting minutes on-line

RECAP / NOTES from February Meeting

  • COMPLETED: Mickey & Kevin to coordinate transition of Treasurer responsibilities, accounts and budget creation

  • COMPLETED: Kermit to reach out to VWine Lounge to request quote for hosting next VLPNO March Social and follow-up Sally for coordination

  • COMPLETED: Kermit to follow-up with other PS neighborhoods on VLP pavement issues

  • COMPLETED: Kermit & Kevin to canvas neighborhood and take photos of pavement demonstrating extensive stress

  • COMPLETED: Kermit to invite Jeff Shotwell from ImagineIT to the next March Board Meeting

  • COMPLETED: Kermit to send out Calendar Invite to the Board along with a GoToMeeting invite for March 12th Board Meeting

Treasurer’s Report

  • Although Kevin wasn’t present for the March Board meeting, he sent the following update:

  • Kevin is now the sole signer on the bank account. All other previous signers were removed (Howard Hawkes – previous Director of the 2019 VLPNO Board & Mickey Puig – previous Treasurer of VLPNO Board, moving away from PS.

  • We need another two (2) signers so volunteers. Ideally someone who is around PS quite a bit. The Board proposed Scott Turner, VLPNO Board Chairperson & Kermit Ferrer, VLPNO Board Secretary (PS Full time resident). Topic to be discussed at the next meeting.

  • Mickey awaiting Kevin’s return to hand over additional treasurer paperwork

  • Kevin plans to get financials up and running on Quickbooks this month. It will be easy to stop if/when I’m no longer Treasurer if the new person doesn’t want to do it.

  • Kevin asked if we are sure we don’t need to file a form 990? Does anyone know if we’re structured as a 501c3 or a 501c4? Kermit to research through past emails and documents

  • Donations:

    • The VLPNO made one donation in 2019. It was to the Chamber of Commerce = $4,000 for the Alexander Star

    • The Board discussed the need to establish how much $ we would allocate to donations and decide which charities we would support

    • In the past, the VLPNO donated to: Palm Springs Police Officers Association, Desert Aids Project, Animal Shelter and The Palm Springs Preservation Foundation

  • Kevin to draft up an annual budget

MW2020 Update                                                                                                    

  • Post-Mortem: Jeffrey was present to present and have an open forum on the Post-Mortem/Lessons Learned of the Modernism Week 2020 VLPNO Home Tour. Main subjects discussed:

    • Skip the education series: No benefit or draw to the tour

    • Check-in Location

    • Wristbands: Rubber vs Paper/Secure bracelets

    • Preparation: Gift bags, tents, docent/home owner pre-meeting

    • Quality of homes; Begin search for homes for next tour early

    • Frequent communication

    • Docent attire

    • Brochure: Use of graphic designer, advertising?

    • See further summary and supporting documents under separate cover. These have been saved, printed and filed in the VLPNO Binder

  • Jeffrey also brought up that the MW2020 committee had asked where the money from our tour goes to. We’d previously informed them that the money goes to charities and re-invested into our community. As a summary of the MW2020 event, the committee asked for specifics. We told Jeffrey to tell them that we donated to the ‘Chamber of Commerce’ as we did in 2019 for the Alexander Star

  • Should the VLPNO have a Modernism Week in 2021? The subject was tabled to a future meeting when the full Board would be in attendance

 Alexander STAR

  • Kermit spoke of the success of the Alexander Star dedication

  • Joan Gand did an outstanding job speaking on behalf of the VLPNO and representing our neighborhood

  • The Alexander family was present and moved by the event

  • VLPNO Board / MW2020 Attendees: Kevin Comer, Jeffrey Saadeh, Gustav Swanson & Kermit Ferrer

  • Alexander Star Go-Fund Me has been officially closed

 Social

  • Kermit put forward a motion that the March Social to be held @ VWine Lounge should be cancelled. The motion was seconded and approved by the Board

  • Kermit to contact VWine Lounge to inform them of our cancellation

  • Gustav to update the invite notifying of the cancellation and Sally to notify those who had RVSP’d

  • Rebecca volunteered to assist Sally in the Social committee

  • Next event TBD

One-PS

  • Although Kevin wasn’t present for the March Board meeting, he sent the following update:

  • One PS March 2020 Picnic is cancelled. One PS will advise if and when it gets rescheduled.

  • Ecology Committee: Kevin has come up with a couple of ideas.

    • Citywide ban of the use of glyphosate. For those who don’t know it’s already banned in most countries. It’s a carcinogen, main ingredient in the weed killer Roundup.

    • Ban on neocontinoids. These are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. This one kills bees.

    • Ban on single use plastics following on the success of the plastic bags.

  • Those are three ideas to consider. Before we take something to the ecology committee, Kevin would like some input from the Board to make sure we support these initiatives

  • Kevin requested feedback and submission of other ideas

 Communication

  • Jeff Shotwell from Imagine IT was present

  • Jeff told us the VLPNO webpage was 7 years old

  • GoDaddy account has been updated and paid

  • Jeff had conducted training of previous Board member to allow him to make updates to the VLPNO webpage. Unfortunately, process hasn’t been documented so it never was passed along. Additionally, the updates that were previously done weren’t proper and Jeff had to correct. Need to discuss further with the Board.

  • Jeff told us that the ‘Mailchimp’ accounts could be linked to social media (FB, Instagram) to send out communication on updates. The Board discussed passing this onto Kevin

  • The Board also discussed ways to reformat, possibly create a checklist to update the website and also archiving updates, news, photos, etc. This will take time and will be a growth process.

  • Jeff’s minimum charge is ½ hour. He recommended that it would be best to consolidate update requests to once a month.

  • Gustav requested assistance with editing of photos. Kermit volunteered. Gustav forwarded images of MW2020 tour so that Kermit could edit and these could be posted on our website

  • The Board talked about other ways to improve communication

  • Facebook account currently owned by Rob Moon

  • Gustav to reach out to Rob Moon, owner of the VLP Facebook account to get sign-in information so that we could update VLP account and utilize for communication and broadcasting

Neighborhood                          

  • As Kevin wasn’t present, this subject will be discussed during April Board meeting

  • Topics:

    • Street Condition Update

    • Safety/Security

ACTION ITEMS:

  • Gustav to publish minutes from January and February Board meetings

  • Kevin to complete transition of Treasurer responsibilities, accounts, set-up treasurer report on Quickbooks

  • Kevin to update VLPNO Annual Budget to include membership dues collection @ x% of households.

  • Board to discuss co-signer’s on VLPNO bank accounts

  • Kermit to research VLPNO non-profit classification – determine if VLPNO has to file tax report to IRS

  • Board to discuss annual donations at next meeting

  • Jeffrey to send final MW2020 documents and post-mortem to Kermit for filing

  • Board to discuss whether to have a home tour in 2021 at next meeting

  • Kermit to follow-up with VWine Lounge to cancel March Social

  • Gustav to update March Social invite to announce cancellation

  • Sally to communication to those who’d RSVP’d to the March Social

  • Board to consider ideas for One-PS Ecology projects

  • Gustav to reach out to Rob Moon, owner of the VLP Facebook account to get sign-in information

  • Kermit to assist in editing MW2020 VLPNO Home Tour photos

  • Kermit to send out Calendar Invite to the Board along with a GoToMeeting invite for March 13th Board Meeting