Insurance Plan:
I consider this to be a sensitive issue, so please add any comments to what I have said below.

We did not have enough voting parties to have a quorum, so I after everyone has had their say I would like the board to vote on this issue.

I should state that I checked out the Canadian's policy, and although there was nothing in the Constitution about a club outside the U.S. joining, there insurance company did not want any part of us.

The other two options rely on whether a summer development camp would happen on the Lamoille River.

The advantages to us would be club general liability insurance coverage, support of USRA, getting Green Moutain Rowing's name out at some prestigious races, support of new rowing opportunities in Vermont, and use of a quad or eight.  This camp is still on the drawing board, but the way that we would like the money to work out would be that the camp pay for half of the USRA dues, half of the club liability coverage, and all of the coach's insurance coverage.

This works out to be $450 to their program and $350 to us.  This is more than $150 dollars less than what we paid last year.

We would only put this plan into action if the camp was to happen because by ourselves the insurance coverage is too much and it was felt that the amount of risk was manageable.

Here is the plan provided that the camp does not happen.

Much like the USRA has changed their policy to the individual, we will be doing the same.
General liability coverage would be pushed onto each individual member of the club.  This can be done by getting a USRA membership or look at your Renter's insurance or homeowner's insurance policy.  Green Mountain Rowing, Inc. does not have
a lot of assets, which makes it less likely to be sued.

Frank actually stated that for his architectural work, he found that he was more likely to be sued if he actually had an insurance policy.  I took this quote from the string of notes that I think Frank and Betsy were getting at:
 "As far as club liability being passed on to members, the club's status as a corporation takes care of insulating members and officers from any liability incurred by the club as an organization.  If an individual is at fault, they will certainly bear any liability personally and are prudent to carry insurance."

  We would like to have a couple different levels of coverage for our members.
  1) The first level of coverage hangs on the individual.  We felt that this responsibility lies on the individual.  A member's choice is USRA membership, their own policy, or no coverage at all.  The USRA will cover you ramming a party boat and piercing someone's side, but will not cover you if you run into another rower.  Those that want to compete in the US Nationals or Head of the Charles will need to have a USRA membership whether we were a USRA affiliated club or not.  Is not clear if this is necessary at    other races such as the GMH, NH Champs, or the Fish.

   2) The Second level of coverage is that each member must sign a waiver at the beginning of the season to the affect that they do not hold the club responsible for their actions.  We will be changing the words in the USRA waiver to that effect.  It should be made clear that this is a membership only corporation and that you are not part of the corporation until dues are paid and a waiver is signed.
 
   3) The third level is the corporation itself, in which the assets the corporation has are limited.
 

I would like to get more feedback on whether the date of the annual meeting is good or not, but we have tentatively set the date for March 25th.  What do we want to accomplish at the Annual Meeting?
1) Collect dues and sign waivers
2) Go over the financial report.  I need to get a soft copy of this from Bill.
3) Go over insurance changes.
3) Election of a new officers (1 year term).  (President, V. President,Treasurer, and Secretary).Board members hold a two year term.  We will keep Jarlath on as a board member and will not need to elect additional board members unless the club wants to.  We can have 7 to 10 board members and we currently have 9, (Rick, Bill, Susan, Tim, Dave, Frank, John, Jarlath, and me)
4) Spring Work Party
5) New Business.

Attached is an edited USRA waiver for review

(See attached file: GMR_waiver.doc)