Fairbanks Youth Advocates
Board Meeting-November 11, 2014
Call to order: 5:00
Present: Patrick Endres, Brad Johnston, Barb Tyndall, Kathy Birch, Sarah Finnell, Marylee Bates, Rodney Gaskins (Rescue Mission)
Absent: Meryem Kugzruk, Dave Miller, Tami Manning
Open in Prayer: Kathy Birch opened in prayer
October Minutes: MSP—Kathy Birch, Brad Johnston, approved unanimously.
Patrick Endres and Marylee Bates expressed appreciation for all that has been accomplished. Marylee told us about a young man who would come into the porch area just to get mittens, food, etc. Finally he came and got a full set of clothes. They invited him to stay but he always declined. But he came one last time to express his gratitude for all that the staff at The Door had done for him. His mom had sent him a ticket to fly down to stay with her. His story will be in the latest newsletter.
Brad had no financial report for us at this time.
Executive Director: Marylee Bates informed us that The Door is licensed for ten. The staff have housed thirty-seven kids; fifty/fifty boys and girls.
A variance has been submitted to request that the shelter is allowed to have up to twelve residents during the winter months. The Fire Marshall has inspected the facility and approved it for the additional number.
Public Health personnel come to The Door weekly. Once a month they give a class and sometimes bring food. They recently brought each of the youth their own first aid kits.
Marylee showed us a flow chart and proposed a new staffing model. She and Nicole have been bogged down in supervision. Nicole has been supervising 8 employees & 3 interns, and that is too many. Rodney Gaskin told Marylee that that was too many. In the new model they will utilize existing staff for supervision. Lead staff will be identified and will get financial compensation ($.50 an hour).
Marylee and Nicole are asking if any of the staff want to take on more hours to take care of any gaps. Currently there are three interns who work a combined total of fifty hours a week, free of charge.
We were recently required to pay back charges for worker’s comp insurance since we are now operating three shifts a day instead of the one night shift we ran last year.
We have four first time donors; including the estate.
Patrick asked if we need to hire another person. Nicole said to hold off a bit. Marylee had to work one night in the past month.
Budget: Marylee suggested we look this over during the next month and send comments. She gave some clarification from the chart on staff and their duties. We also looked at columns showing how the salaries are funded. Brad suggested we compare last year’s budget with this year and see how much we actually spent. Marylee asked us to log on and post our questions on the blog. This budget is in draft form and the goal is to have the budget ready to approve by our next meeting.
Don and Lois Yochem Donation: Patrick reported that another check will be coming to FYA from the estate. It is for $17,000. These monies were set aside for fees and we are receiving what is left over from those expenses.
The estate funds need to be put into several FDIC accounts to protect them. Brad suggested the money be put into a Wedbush account to manage. The funds should be put into three accounts and there is no fee to manage it. The board would provide general direction. After discussion a resolution was written and passed.
Be Resolved that Brad Johnston and Marylee Bates are authorized to conduct business with Wedbush on behalf of Fairbanks Youth Advocates as directed by the board and annotated in the minutes. MSP: Brad Johnston, Patrick Endres, approved unanimously
Brad Johnston and Marylee Bates are authorized by Fairbanks Youth Advocates to have Wedbush disperse the Yochem Estate funds, less reserves and 132 loan payoff balance, into up to three insured accounts. MSP: Sarah Finnell, Barbara Tyndall, approved unanimously.
8 C, D, E tabled until next month’s meeting.
There was discussion concerning the rental property we acquired. If we don’t rent the property we would incur $2975.88 a year in taxes. Brad suggested we pay someone to manage it if we rent it. Zia Gillespie was mentioned as a possible manager. Rodney suggested we put this out for proposals for managing and choose from several options to avoid any undue criticism.
Rodney wasn’t sure we could get a tax exemption. Brad said he would take a proposal to the borough and negotiate. He said we need to apply at the first of the year. The borough will then put out the assessment and then we can ask for an adjustment. Patrick wanted more clarification on how much money this rental would generate if rented out.
We need to take a better look at this and make the decision at the next meeting.
Sarah Smith, our Vista Volunteer, is leaving. A card was circulated and board members signed it and contributed cash for her trip.
Next meeting: December 16, 5:00 pm
Meeting Adjourned: 7:01
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Tyndall, FYA Secretary
Amendments made by Marylee Bates with Board authorization 12/17/14
we seemed to agree with Rodney to agree that we need at least two more renter manager companies to compare with “Zia” (prices, what they will do etc). might want to add that.
Good that you added Patrick’s comment about wanting to know what the rental financial contribution would be (does it cover or lessen the taxes etc?) Also, anything urgent on the property that needs attention? Maybe the renter manager can talk to the renters for a “need to-do list”? Thought of that later. Thanks!