Start: 5:35 pm
Attendees: David, Alan, Phil, Jim, Gerald, Lori, Mike S., Shari, Theresa, Kevin, and Patty. Michele also attended.
Minutes: Jim proposed a motion to accept the 10/10/2023 minutes as presented, Gerald seconded, all say aye.
Treasurer’s Report
Theresa shared the treasurer’s report was pretty straight forward.
Hall rental of $400 for mushroom festival. Gerald asked if the event was for one event. Theresa said yes. David questioned number of events.
Theresa clarified there was only one event, the mushroom festival for 2 days; the rental amount is $200 per day.
Theresa asked David to clarify the charge of $1582 for Blue Sprocket who said that was the digital ad for Yachats News.
Crab feed website cost is $360. Kevin stated this is just the beginning for charges pertaining to the crab feed.
Kevin clarified the $380 is a yearly subscription to maintain the entire website. David said it includes the domain name and payment.
David and Patty went into the bank to get added to the bank account.
Received 2 donations. Volks Walk raised and gave $40 and a private individual from Eugene gave $25. Lunch bunch closed their books and gave the club $300.
Net income: $1361.
Gerald moved to accept the treasurer’s report, Shari seconded, all in favor aye.
Thrift Store:
-Shari shared the thrift store total for the month was $4682.64 and stated that it was very good. Theresa said who ever worked the thrift over the weekend “rocked” because of the huge weekend total.
-Shari and Michele worked the thrift store over the weekend and made $1300. Sunday was over a $400 day. Shari wanted to share more on the store and will do so later.
-David agreed upon board request to discuss the thrift store rent increase.
-Lou Caputo reached out to Gerald and David to speak about raising the rent. David shared the thrift store rent had not been raised for the last 13 years with an increase of only $25.
-Lou said his expenses continue to increase while rents in town are also increasing. He is raising the rent $108 per month in 2024 and additional $108 per month 2025.
-A suggestion was raised to turn off water, but that would not get the rent reduced and the volunteers used the restroom facilities when working.
-David gave members the choice of accepting the rent increase or the club would need to find another building.
-Kevin felt the club had options on what to do with the thrift store and the club should investigate.
-Shari voiced that the club should use the hall for the thrift store and the thrift store revenues have been supporting the Lions Hall for many years while the hall remains mostly unused and empty when there are no meetings. She also felt the thrift store members had been taken advantage of by not getting their voice heard in how we use the hall. Shari said she would not support the rent increase.
-David responded that there are other members that would not like the thrift store moving into the hall and would like to see the hall used more for other events.
-Kevin said in two years the club would be paying $11,000 per year.
-David said the rent increase amounted to $1200 per year in addition to the current rent. -Kevin clarified that the thrift store cost per year is $11,000.
-Theresa shared that the hall raised money for crab feeds, pancake breakfasts and hall rental use.
-David reminded everyone that in previous pandemic years, the hall was used multiple times per week for other activities. Over time some members have voted against the hall being used by non-members.
-Kevin responded that had not happened for at least the last 10 years and said he will head up a discussion group to find other options. He asked for volunteers.
-Shari said she had never seen that usage in her time as a member. Kevin said there are options.
-Gerald shared Lou’s insurance cost is $500 per month and is making $200 per month for the store. Gerald also felt that the club’s success should not be based on surpassing the previous year’s donations to the community. He said that we should recognize Lou’s rental increase is within his rights as a landlord and Lou is thinking of the increase in a 2 year plan.
-Kevin affirmed the rent increase was totally reasonable.
-David reminded all that we need to let Lou know the club’s current decision about the rent increase.
-Michele suggested we accept the rental increase for 2024 and let Lou know the club is investigating other options for 2025.
-David suggested the club needs to find out what is on our current lease/rental agreement and to clarify if the club has a 30 day notice to cancel.
-Shari shared that the club is averaging 30 to 40 hours per week to operate the thrift store and averaging $850 per month.
-Jim felt the club should take into account the business generated during the summer at the hall and thrift store locations in relation to the Commons.
-David reminded the board not all members want to work at the thrift store and that the club also needed other activities to keep members engaged.
-Lori asked if the thrift store moves into the Hall what other activities the hall will be used for to make it a viable building for all.
-Lori moved we accept the rent increase for 2024 and establish a group to investigate other options. Kevin seconded the motion, all say aye. Shari abstained.
Sight & Hearing:
-Michele shared she had signed up one new individual, Chris, to the eyeglass program and okayed his additional cost for his glasses. She also accepted Casey Hatter’s application to for vision screening and glasses.
-The club agreed that applications we receive should be handled by the Yachats club and not sent to Mary with the Waldport Lions.
-Michele shared that Yachats Lions had 100% participation during the school vision screening event. Dan, Robin, Phil and Mike H, along with June and David worked to make it a success as well.
-David added that he helped at 2 schools in Lincoln City.
-Jim said it was great that the club finally got a schedule to work with. Junction City had previously been given Yachats slots for eye screening.
-David followed up that we get an article put into the newsletter to recognize Michele’s hard work in organizing volunteers. He said Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing (OLSF) was very proactive in getting the program on board.
Meals: Judy asked for help for the December dinner meeting.
Facilities: Still looking for a facilities person/s. June has no current rentals. Robert has currently been cleaning the hall. Gerald stated Robert has been actively keeping the hall cleaned and would be open to accepting the invitation to be the facilities position.
Membership/Programs: This membership chair position currently is open. June has been actively finding programs and has speakers lined up for the next four speaker meetings. David reminded all that getting new members was everyone’s responsibility.
Digital Media/Website Maintenance:
–Lori has been working with Bruce Rawls, the website designer?. They have posted and updated the minutes. Bruce has updated the information for the crab feed, the Hall rental agreement/contract and currently working on the calendar. Lori said she can post anything on Facebook if she gets the information.
-Lori, Mayona and Jude repainted the old thrift store sign for a much-needed facelift.
-Mike and Lori were able to put up the newly painted sign on the thrift store.
Old Business:
-Ellie has resigned from the Lions Club and her director position is currently open.
-Michele offered to accept the open position of 2023-2024 since she had to attend the board meetings for sight and hearing. Jim moved that we accept Michele as director, Gerald seconded, all say aye.
-Kevin said he should have updates in December regarding the crab feed. He is planning to train David on the new website.
-David will take over the running the crab feed until someone else can takeover.
-Theresa said the Commons is officially booked for the crab feed.
-June is working on the liquor license and food handlers certificate.
Old Business, cont.-
-Community Project-Lawrence checked with the city to see if the Lions can help out in some way.
-Lori and Patty will work on getting a proposal on how to do bigger projects vs smaller donations to the community.
-Jim clarified that we had proposed for last year to keep donating to our current donors and also see if they need additional funding for their projects.
-Lori suggested we vote on a larger project that all the members could work on.
-Shari reminded that we have previously proposed asking the community if Lions could partner with them.
-The city mentioned that basketball hoops were in need of work/upgrade in the Commons building.
-Other project possibilities include the Log Church, the Boardwalk, and the Trolley.
-Mike Stevens said 804 trail benches are getting old, but the replacement would have to be stainless steel costing $1000 per each. He suggested working with the Parks and the Commons on joint projects.
New Business:
-Service opportunities start by members stepping up and doing.
-Kevin suggested having a good club brainstorming session on getting a concrete/doable list of projects.
-Jim asked if the club could partner with the Presbyterian church in helping the unhoused. The Presbyterian Church has a grant to obtain a shower/washer/dryer combination for them. It will be set out on the church back parking lot. The specifics are still in the works. The church is getting a 501(c)3 for the shower/washer/dryer project they will call “Don’s Place”.
-Through community interest, the Lunch Bunch will start up again at the Lions Hall on Thursdays starting on Dec. 21st. Will be one Thursday a month. This may help re-introduce Lions to the community and getting new members. It will be a Lions event.
The previous Lunch Bunch group donated $300 back to the Lions. David suggested the Lions donation time be pushed back to 12:30 in the hopes of keeping the donation time and also garnering new interest.
-David proposed the club start a Speaker series will start again. It would start after church on Sunday afternoons, once a month.
-The Common’s group called Academy of Arts and Science will also be having a speaker series.
-Gerald asked if Lions would be providing coffee and snacks like the previous group.
-David clarified that when Lions had the event, snacks and coffee were provided.
-David’s goal is to try and provide service that had disappeared during Covid.
-YYFAP calendar now includes the thrift store ad. Lori proposed making the ad about Lions with a mission statement. The deadline is Friday to make that change.
-Lori is emailing out 3 mission statements to be voted on for the Yachats Lions website.
Meeting adjourned: 6:32 pm.