HARRA Leadership Team Minutes

June 20, 2005

Attendees:  Roger Boak, Scott Michelman, Bill Crich, Tom McBrayer, Esme Fantozzi, Paul Cooley, Bruce Mansur, Annie Hadow, Sadie Green, Geoff Guenther, Noah Matthews, Doug Spence, Tom Stilwell, Katrina Price Stilwell, Randy Carlson, Audrey Christiansen, Jo Ann Luco, and Bethany Foshee (liaison from Memorial Park Conservancy).

Meeting started at 6:10pm

1.            Summer Celebration/Above & Beyond Awards—Doug/Noah

The Summer Celebration at Spaghetti Warehouse was a success with about 170-175 people in attendance.  Approximately 50 people also joined Bart Yasso for the Sunday morning trail run.  There was a recap of the Above & Beyond awards, including the presentation to Tom McBrayer of his award (Tom was not able to attend the Summer Celebration).

2.            Memorial Park Conservancy—Roger/Randy/Bethany Foshee

·HARRA’s $500 equipment donation has gone towards purchasing wheelbarrows ($400) and hand tools ($100). 

Bethany Foshee (from the Conservancy) discussed progress on new trails at the Park.  The most recent project created a new path on the north side of Memorial Drive heading toward 610 (after the Memorial/Woodway fork).  During the week of July 11, 2005, another trail will be done on the south side of Memorial Drive running to Crestwood.  Other upcoming projects include a trail following the tree line on the west side of the park (directly across the street from the west side of the golf course).  This trail still needs to be “walked” to determine the best route and then “re-walked” after heavy rains to check the route.  The Conservancy would like input from HARRA members on this trail, and welcomes active participation in the “walkings.” 

A question was raised about whether a trail is planned for the stretch along the east side of the northbound 610 feeder road.  Bethany said it is not part of the current master plan, but she will look into it. 

3.         2006 HARRA Spring Series Selection Status—Randy/Katrina/All

Randy and Katrina discussed the 2006 proposed Spring Series races, as follows:

February 4/5              Buffalo Wallow Cross Country

February 11/12  Park to Park (5 miler benefiting Herman Park Conservancy)

March 11/12              Bayou City Classic

March 25/26              Law Week Fun Run

April    8/9                   Bellaire Trolley Run

April 19                       LP Run

April 29/30                 Bayou Bash Relay   

Randy and/or Katrina talked to the directors of those races interested in being part of the Spring Series. Decisions were made based on such things as potential conflicts with other races, the need to spread out races and have “off weeks” during the season, and the extent to which the races supported the overall HARRA goals.  The Board discussed the proposal and agreed that this will be the 2006 schedule.

There was a question raised about a conflict between the LP run (on a Wednesday night) and the HARRA Power In Motion (PIM) program that also takes place on Wednesday night. Due to conflicts with the track scheduling, the LP run cannot be changed.  The Board noted that several PIM coaches and students participate in the LP run each Spring, encouraged this to continue and suggested that PIM could consider attending the LP Run as one of PIM's events in the Spring

For the Iron Foot award, participation in 6 races will be needed, but 1 can be as a volunteer.

4.            Director of Volunteers—Tom

This position is still not filled.  If nobody volunteers by next meeting, the position will be filled at the meeting.

5.            Member Discount Program—Tom/Doug

We are still looking for an individual to take over responsibility for this program.  It involves approximately one hour per month to respond to vendors who send in requests to be part of program.

6.            Future Board Meeting Locations—Tom/All

A discussion was held about whether the Duke Energy building is still a convenient location for the board meetings.  Other possible options include downtown, the United Way building at corner of Feagan and Waugh, Beck’s Prime at Memorial Park, the Multi-Service Center, and the office of the Memorial Park Conservancy next to Beck’s Prime.  Individuals who have contacts at these entities will investigate cost and space issues before any decision is made.

7.         New Ideas for 2005-2006—Tom/All

A question was raised about adding water fountains (or, in the case of Sabine, restoring a prior water fountain), particularly while the city is under so much construction.  Ann Smith was previously in charge of water fountains, so we will obtain information from her.

A question was raised about the possibility of redoing the track across from the tennis center.  Work has been done on this issue at various times in the past, and we will collect all that information and evaluate.  Bethany said this is not part of the current master plan for the Park, but she will raise the issue at the next Conservancy meeting.

A suggestion was made that events be scheduled to foster “community” between the various HARRA clubs, to build on the community spirit that already exists within the various clubs.  This will be discussed at future meetings and ideas are welcomed.

8.         ROTS Results/Spring Club Results—Final Wrap Up—Roger

Runner of the Season results are on the website, and Iron Foot award distribution is in progress.  Tom will take over responsibility from Roger for the plaques for club results.

A discussion was held regarding whether course time or gun time should be used for runner of the season and club competitions.  Note:  this does not relate to how individual races will be decided—just how the ROTS and club competitions will be decided.  The usual advantages and disadvantages of chip time versus gun time were discussed.  A club member also suggested a compromise where gun times are used for a certain top percentage of runners (e.g., 3%), with chip time used for the rest.  A decision on this must be made by August, so this will go on the agenda for the next meeting.

9.            Activity Updates

Newsletter Update—Doug

Submission for the July/August issue was last week.  Will mail out in early July.  Submission for the September issue will be in August.

Treasury Update—Audrey

Audrey gave overview of current financial info.

Membership—Bill/Esme

Total membership is currently 1643.   270 members have already extended through June 2006, and there are 136 new members.

Web Site—Geoff

There will not be a re-design of the website this year.  To avoid problems with spam-bots picking up all the e-mail addresses that appear on the website, Geoff is working on getting HARRA e-mail addresses for those people.

VVIP

See above.

Power in Motion—Noah

Next session starts September 7, 2005.  On-line registration begins August 1, 2005.

Practice for the Tour—Roger

Practice runs will be October 4, 11, 18, and 25.  All will begin at 6 p.m.

Meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.