LHSSL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

3:00 PM – Orchard Creek Heights & Gables Room

1. Call to Order

J. R. Jackson, President, called the meeting to order at 3:07 pm. Board members present in addition to J. R. Jackson were: Vince Del Pozzo, Chris Berney, Barry Kendrigan, Montie Boatwright, and John Bush. Absent: Bruce Briggs.

• A total of 72 members attended the meeting, which are 9 above the required quorum of 63. A copy of the attendance sheet is attached to the file copy of the minutes.
• J.R. asked for approval of the June 3, 2008 minutes, which were approved unanimously.

3. Board Committee Reports

Castellano Motion, Smoke Cancellation, Scholarships, Board Vacancies – J.R. Jackson

• Castellano motion was a request for more recreation playing time. J.R. Jackson and John Bush met with Chris O’Keefe, maintenance. Chris informed J.R. and John that Tuesdays were not available due to maintenance of the field. Thursdays and Fridays are for tournament events. Every effort will be made to have more games on Mondays and Wednesdays at a minimum of one hour plus.
• Smoke cancellation: Board cancelled games starting at 11:30 am last Wednesday Commissioner (absence of commissioner--head umpire) will make decisions regarding any incident for heat, rain, smoke, fire, earthquake, etc.
• Scholarships: two $500 scholarships will be awarded to Brayden Branson & A.J. Roberts (employees of Sun City maintenance personnel) before the 11:00 am game on July 4. Both young men will be attending American River Junior College.
• Requesting candidates for the vacancies on the Board. Currently have 5 members for 4 vacancies.
• Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage is a new sponsor.

Wellness, 4^th of July Games – Montie Boatwright

• Bill Rexrode is doing well after his surgery. Best wishes to Joe Spinali who had surgery on his finger. We wish them a speedy recovery.
• July 4^th games:

3. 8:15 am -- Classics vs. Sun Eagles

4. 9:30 am -- 70’s vs. 65’s Coyotes

5. 11:00 am -- 55’s vs. 60’s Coyotes

6. 12:30 pm -- City of Lincoln

Join the fun and enjoy donuts/coffee in the morning and hot dogs/drinks in the afternoon.

LHSSL T-shirts will be sold for $10.

Golf tournament: currently have 70 players signed up. Please submit your application and check to Paul Krow by Thursday, July 3. Check in at 8:00 am and shot gun start at 9:00 am.

Financial Report, Sunday Practice – Barry Kendrigan

Opening Balance as of 5/31/08 $18,736.77

Income: $ 654.00

Expenses: $ 888.80

Balance 6/30/08 $18,501.97

Motion made and seconded to approve the financial report. Unanimously approved.

A copy of the Income/Expense Report and Register Report are included as attachment #2.

Field Update, AED – John Bush

• Target date for the new scoreboard – July 27
• New home plate is being installed July 1.
• New coupler installed for hose.
• AED: Only 4 individuals showed up for the June 12 AED class. 10 spots were reserved, and members need to attend class when you sign up.
• Currently have 20 trained members.
• Different certificated individuals can pick up and return the AED unit to the WAVE.
• Certification is for one year.

Tournaments, Election, Rating/Draft Proposal (Hurlbut/Mastrella) – Vince Del Pozzo

• Coyote tournament was a very enjoyable day and ran very well. Great job to the organizers.
• July 4: communicated with Jeff Miller from the City of Lincoln. The city has 10 players for the 1:00 pm game. Wishing Ron Swenson & Steve Russo success as coaches (Vince hasn’t lost a game against the city since he has been coaching)!
• Board election: 5 candidates (Steve Russo, Marty Rubin, Dar Gallaway, Stan Young, and Mike Hilton) are running for 4 positions. They will make a short presentation at the August general meeting.
• Montie Boatwright will serve a third year. John Bush and Bruce Briggs will serve their second term.
• Interview committee consists of Vince Del Pozzo, Bruce Briggs, Forrest Burkett, and Hal Connors.
• Question regarding allowing membership to vote for positions. CCOC recommends that Boards select their positions.
• Election for new Board members will be held at the August general membership meeting.
• Rating/Draft Proposal. Presentation by Dale Hurlbut and Nick Mastrella:
• Informal presentations were made to a committee, managers, and the Board.
• All players go into the draft and will be put on a team.
• Draft would be on a rating system of 1-10.
• All players drafted at the same time.
• Managers will select their own team. Prior to the draft a meeting will be held with the managers and all necessary information will be distributed to them.
• Managers must take themselves in the round they are rated.
• Non-playing manager would rate as a 6; lowest rated manager would be the first to pick a number for the random selection.
• At the end of the draft trades will not be allowed.
• Late sign-ups---the names will be put on a list. Player will be placed on a team when a spot is available. The player must have a -1 or +1 rating of the individual being replaced. If several players fit the criteria, the first person that signed up will be assigned to the team.
• First day: draft two rounds. Manager can ask those two individuals to attend with him/her on the second day.
• Second day: remaining draft rounds.
• Managers will receive a sheet next week to rate their players. Managers will rate attitude, attendance, softball knowledge and ability to play the game. Team Rating Sheet: rating sheet includes categories of hitting, hitting with power, throwing, fielding, running, and comments. 1 to 10 scale compared with five top players (Ron Rodda, Jim Jones, John Moran, Carlos Zavala, Roger Cain).
• Rating committee: Two gentlemen rating every team five or six times. Rating committee will rate on two Sunday mornings and one Thursday afternoon (August 3, 10 and 14).
• Managers will ask players to sign up for winter ball by marking yes/no and signing name on a form.
• Summer application: be specific on playing position.
• Question by Dale: does anyone object to making the ratings public. No one objected.

• Comments from membership:
• Question: heard that committee can overrule managers’ ratings. Dale responded that committee would review sheets and discuss ratings for a fair evaluation.
• Question: what are the criteria for rating? Rating from 1-10 and will be compared to 5 players.
• Comment regarding managers knowing their players better than the committee.
• Question: how do we know this system is better than the current one?
• Question: why do you think this is a better system?
• Dale stated that ratings would be 20 to 25% lower than current rating system.
• Comment: Current draft system is more efficient.
• Nick Mastrella stated that every year there are complaints about the balancing of teams.
• Comment: what are you trying to fix? One concern: nervous about managers picking teams and selecting the same players season after season. Nick stated that we are trying to balance the teams.
• Question: I’m a manager and as I pick my own players I will pick the best. Other managers are going to pick the top players. Some managers will not have the top players. Dale responded that would not happen and explained the rotation of draft picks. There will be work for the managers to review the information and make selections.
• Comment that the first two years the managers selected the players but now have more managers who don’t know what is going on. Dale responded that the first day two players are selected and can help the manager on the second day.
• Comment: you have agreed to do the work and let’s take a chance. If it doesn’t work, we can change in the future.
• Comment: picture of every player available at the draft.
• Question: what is your system for a non-playing manager? The team will have one less. Dale responded that a non-playing manager will be rated a 6 and the team will not have less players.
• Comment: you have to get managers that have been around 4 or 5 years. Additional questions about selection. Dale responded that the rating is an average of 5 categories and there will be a number for each category.
• Question: anything can be fixed but nervous about the players with 4 or 5 rating will get less playing time. Everyone should be playing equally. Dale responded that he doesn’t disagree.
• Comment regarding the process for the rating for the non-playing manager. Why the number 6? Dale responded that it was a random number.
• Question: Does the Board approve the proposal? J.R. responded that it is the memberships decision.
• Question: the last nine years has there been that much imbalance on the teams? Dale responded yes.
• Question: will we get 16 managers to do their homework and get balanced teams?
• Question: how will you get inexperienced managers to mange?
• Winter draft will be held on September 24 & 25.
• Comment: the Board is trying to share information with the membership

• Motion made and seconded to accept the process on the draft for the winter league.
• Vote on motion: 46 yes – 12 no – 2 abstain. The motion passed.

3. Old Business

3. New Business

· Pete Savoia shared information regarding synthetic turf: “past maintenance tries to improve the infield… nothing has worked…hard pan covered by pebbles…can’t get a decent dirt infield…bad hops…base runners getting hurt…appropriate to take a serious look at another alternate…synthetic turf solves all the problems that we have on the current infield…eliminates infield maintenance allowing for more playing time…permanently eliminates the lip between infield & outfield…eliminates dust…permanent base lines…more and more communities opting for the new materials…makes sense to take a serious look at changing our field…comprehensive look will take a lot of work…offsetting costs on maintenance…contacting facilities on current turfs…after getting cost estimates work with CAM…I propose the Board appoint a committee to investigate and make a comprehensive report…”

· Motion made and seconded to accept the proposal that Pete made to put together a committee to make a feasibility study on artificial turf.

o Vote on motion: 63 yes -- 1 no -- 0 abstention. The motion passed.

o J.R. Jackson appointed an AD Hoc committee consisting of Pete Savoia, Randy Wilcox, and George Bungarz. Bob Zielinski, Jim Jones, Jim Berry, and Nick Eterovich volunteered to serve on the committee.

· J.R. Jackson requested that the committee compile a report within 60 days and give a report to the Board. Pete stated they might need more time to compile a detailed report.

3. Open Forum

Next general meeting: Tuesday, August 5, 2008 -- 3:00 pm – Kilaga Presentation Hall

Meeting adjourned at 4:37 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Chris Berney, Secretary

Attachments:

1. Attendance

2. Monthly financial reports