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Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: May 20, 2023

MEETING MINUTES HISTORIC ARCHIVE

Type

Year

 

Board of Trustees Minutes

Mad River Glen Cooperative

Date: Saturday, May 20, 2023, 8:00 am

Location: Basebox 3rd Floor – Hybrid (In-Person/Zoom)

Present: Barclay Rappeport, Mariah Riggs, Carol Pierce, Matt Lillard, Matthew Milan, Brad Noble, Meg Schultz, Jeff Whittingham

Shareholders: Eli Godwin, Annika Holtan

8:06 Call to order, shareholder comments (Matthew Milan)

Shareholder Comments: Annika offered a shout out to Katryna and Andrew Snow for the lending library in the Basebox. (and Christian Jaquith for building it). She also commented that the social campaign from this past season.

Consent Agenda Items

Approve minutes for March 2023 Board Meeting (Matthew MIlan): approved by consent agenda

Reports and Discussion

Management Report (Matt Lillard): a strong last ⅔ of the season led to an amazing spring with a solid season pass sale.

Admin: Spring season was a financial success. Additionally, pass scanning stats will now be available to passholders through the season. More info to come! Share sales have remained steady with 41 shares sold in April.

The Basebox is up and ready for the coming summer season. Mike Witzel moved on after 17 years. New Executive Chef is Mike Schavone and has some exciting new additions to the menu in the pub to unveil.The season will kick off on Wednesday the 24th followed with a pig roast on Sunday, May 21st. Mike will report to David Goodhue, Basebox Manager.

Marketing/Events wrapped up the season with participation in Green-Up day and is revving up for social media and email communications with the coming summer operations in the basebox.

Freeski/Race/Ski School/Ski Shop/Callies/Patrol are all on hiatus for the summer. Mountain ops reports that all cables have been inspected and cleared for next winter.

The General Store had a strong spring season and is looking forward to pop-up openings throughout the summer. Karen has additionally been working to help launch the new employee handbook this summer.

Discussion and comments regarding the demographics of shareholders was discussed.

Finance Committee Report (Matt Lillard): In summary, MRG had a phenomenal year. Though sporadic in the early days, the weather gods came through in a big way!

  • Total Income of $211,855k was $99k above budget. We clearly benefited significantly by staying open for 15 days. However much of the increased revenue was spent on wage expenses and operating supplies. April day ticket sales, retail sales and Basebox operations were well ahead of budget totalling a $102k surplus.
  • February operating expenses were well above budget since the mountain did not budget for meaningful April operations. Reflecting the increased revenue, overall operating expenses were up 34% to $363k. Of the $92k increase, $89k was attributable to operating wages, and operating supplies.

Year to date, the Co-Operative has managed one of the strongest financial results in memory. Total revenue is almost 12% ahead of budget at $4.15 million while expenses are only 5.4% ahead of budget. Items of note include:

  • Basebox revenues up 32% – $202k
  • Day ticket sales up 29% – $205k
  • Retail sales up 16% – $53k
  • Services income up 10% – $52k
  • From an expense standpoint, most guest related expenses continue to exceed budget reflecting the increased volume and strong seasonal programs. Overall expenses exceeded budget by $163k of which $182k was attributable to wages and benefits. Marketing expense was the big savings with a $24k reduction from budget.
  • As reported previously, Net Income was further enhanced by two unbudgeted non-operating events – a property sale and a SMF Grant to fund the backcountry program – totalling $16k.

In response to the strong April operations and Spring pass sale, Management would like to add another $345,000 to the Operating Fund.

The Finance Committee supports this proposal and recommends that the Board approve implementation.

Matthew Milanproposed that the board accepts the recommendation of the FC to invest $345,000. Mariah seconded the motion. Unanimous.

Facilities Committee Report (Carol Pierce) : Vermont Integrated Architecture (VIA): the main focus for VIA was to get an on-site meeting with the state Preservation Trust which will happen Thursday, May 25th.

VIA has been doing background work on existing pub conditions and will create a 3D computer model of the pub so they can study visual options after we get feedback from the Vermont Preservation Trust.

Communications Committee Report (Brad Noble): There will be an upcoming board bulletin in the next few days.

SMF Partnership Initiative (Matthew Milan): The board met with the SMF board on the 9th of May to discuss future projects. The discussion covered the current relationship and how we can collaborate moving forward. Matthew Milan is working with Amory Hunnewell to create a historical perspective. Carol and Brad are working with Jim Elkind on a memorandum of understanding (MOU_. Annika asked what projects would be encompassed in the MOU. Target date is 7/29 for the MOU.

Board Development and New Trustee Onboarding (Barclay Rappeport): Matthew Milan (out-of-state) will be terming out. In-state trustees, Jeff Whittingham and Will Kriewald will be completing their first terms and are eligible to run for second terms. All shareholders in good standing are eligible to run and/or recruit candidates for the board. Election will be held at the annual meeting in April 2024. Candidates will need to declare candidacy by the February board meeting to be considered for the slate. Candidates will need to declare by emailing the board email with their intent. Carol added that every shareholder has an ethical responsibility to make the Co-op work. It is incumbent on every shareholder to make sure there are an adequate number of candidates. Former candidates should also be encouraged to run again. Bryan Hall will be meeting with Carol & Barclay to do a walk through of the facilities and work with Sharon Crawford on paperwork. Meg commented that the board used to have retreats and encouraged the board to revisit this practice.

Review of Bylaw Feedback from Shareholder Helling (Barclay Rappeport): Dot Helling suggested some modifications to the by-laws and some grammatical corrections/changes. Matthew Milan suggested that we will need to target this for the annual shareholder meeting or the September Green & Gold weekend. The by-laws were last updated two years ago. Matthew suggested that we target the update for the April 2024 vote, which will give ample time for research and clarification. The communications committee will take the lead on this and come up with a recommendation at the next board meeting.

Skiing with Scholars/SMF Scholarship Program Update  (Barclay Rappeport): Skiing with Scholars was greatly affected by the new dismissal times in the local school districts. The scholarship program had three kids participating this past season and is looking to add three more for the coming season.

GM Yearly Review Process and Timing Discussion (Matthew Milan): The yearly review process has started. The trustees met in the past week and are updating the feedback/questionnaire for employees and reviewing existing information that has come in thus far. We are aiming to have the process done by mid-June. The self assessment will be sent to the GM this week.

Action Item: there were no additional action items.

 

Open Items & New Business

9:15 AM         The board entered executive session (Matthew Milan moved, Mariah seconded) Unanimous

10:00 AM       The board exited the executive session with no action taken. Matthew closed by motion. Carol seconded the motion.

The board returned to open session at 10am by motion from Carol Pierce, seconded by Matthew Milan.

Matthew moved to adjourn at 10:01, seconded by Carol.

Manager’s Report 5.20.23

Finance Committee Report – May 2023

Facilities Committee Report – May 2023