The March meeting was held on the Island and called to order at 8:10 p.m. by Vice President Wolk who presided until the arrival of President Komarow shortly after.

Present:
Gerald Barton, Ann Marie Cunningham, Jim Drew, Renée Dunham, Faith Earll, Joe Hage, Larry Heilman, Jeff Komarow, John Lentz, Alison Levine, Norman Metzger, Fred Ohly, Sherry Pettie, Trip Reid, Johnna Robinson, Dick Schleicher, Cora Shaw, Peggy Thomson, Tryon Wells, Jane Winer, Stephen Wolk

Minutes:
A motion to adopt the February minutes carried with no changes.

New Members:
Norm Metzger read the names and brief bios of 6 nominees for membership into the club which had been provided to him by membership secretary Tammy Belden. All have been on the waiting list since 1996, their references have been checked, and they’ve attended the orientation. They are: Kate Clark, Kathy Kelley & Rick Lenegan, David & Lynda Martin-McCormack, Edwina Smith & Sam Simmens, Thomas & Mary Edsall, and Gavin & Claire Bloch.

A motion carried to approve all nominees for membership.

Financial report:
Jeff directed our attention to the narrative report by Treasurer Alan Gelb that appeared in the March Islander.

Captain’s report:
Tryon had two documents to distribute. One was the final drawings of the club renovations for members to inspect. He said that he has a few questions for the architect, but that these drawings are very close to final. The second was the canoe float plans, copies of which were distributed around the room. His main criteria in design and materials selection were reducing the weight of the float sections to ease the burden on our aging membership’s waning strength.

A motion carried that the club authorize a sum not to exceed $2000 to build the float.

Phone tree:
Jim Drew passed around a signup sheet for any of those present to volunteer to be on the phone tree, which will be used to get members to workfests.

Crumbling towpath:
This issue is important for the club’s ability to bring heavy equipment vehicles up for our construction project. Tryon reported that he called Carl Linden’s contact at the Park Service, who made assurances that they would look at it.

Repair of ferry & canal-side ferry landing:
Tryon reported that John Mathews had produced a sketch for a new design, and then lost it. But it may have involved rubberizing the steel underwater to protect the pontoons. Gerry Barton said that he and Joe had already covered the steel with old tires last year. They agreed that, in any case, ferry repair must come after fixing the landing.

Construction Financing:
Jeff Komarow led a lengthy discussion about the Finance Committee’s ideas presented in the March Islander for financing an estimated $200,000. In addition, John Lentz and Johnna Robinson reported they had both had discussions with banks about providing financing, and the banks encouraged them in the possibility.

The group assessed the pros and cons and wider ramifications of each idea. There was also a discussion of the pros and cons of permanently increasing the number of regular members. The sense that your secretary took away from the discussion is that most of those present did not want any financing schemes that would upset the egalitarian and fair nature of the club.

At the conclusion of the discussion Jeff said that the Finance Committee will meet to consider all ideas and will publish in the Islander their financing proposal along with cost estimates for the construction and a “not to exceed” construction budget for approval by the membership, most likely at the May or June meetings.

We adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

-- Sherry Pettie, Recording Secretary