this time with me on the speaker phone

I'm speaking, of course, of this evening's Two First Posts meeting.

I think Doug called me so we would have a quorum.

No decisions could be made without that!

Including me on the phone, the members physically present were Doug, Brenda, Eric, Eddie, and John.

Eventually, we had Justin and Sabrina also there by phone.

I wonder what the American Legion would make of that setup?

Brenda had a long list of the points of order, many of which have been on the past few agendas, just not yet completed. 

The Agenda items were as follows: 1) construction update; 2) liquor license; 3) lease agreement to be presented and approved; 4) TFP Tax exemption document; 5) Building services payments; 6) TV placement; 7) fundraising ideas and opportunities; 8) security; 9) signage; 10) keys; 11) confirm documentation of TFP By-Laws.

Item 2 raised the question of whether the insurance policy for TFP covers liquor liability. Doug will check on that for Larry.

Item 3 had to be tabled because Kat and Mike were not present. Doug did say that he has completed version 7.2 of that lease agreement and will send it around so we each have a copy for next week's meeting.

Item 4 seems to have been resolved, with the Tax Exemption document for Post 500 being used for the moment to serve for TFP, as all of the events scheduled thus far have been through their channels.

Item 5 still found people favoring a small safe for any cash payments. Faustina (me) raised the possibility of this being a cashless establishment. If everything is done via credit and debit cards, then no need for a safe that might tempt burglars, right? However, no one was in favor of that option.

Another part of Item 5 was payment for services rendered, for both Eric, the cleaning crew, and Direct TV, which had just sent their first bill. Those amounts were $2660, $250, and $184, respectively.

Item 7 concerns the use of gaming devices to raise money, specifically something called "Queen of Hearts". Brenda will call them to come and meet with us about setting this up. I asked how often they will release proceeds to TFP. That will be determined when they meet with us. Brenda suggested TFP have live gaming on weekends to bring in money.

Item 8 focused on two issues. The first was the safety of the TVs mounted on the brackets in the dining area; Eric said chains will secure them to the mounts. The second concerned the security cameras. Billy has them in place, but who was to be notified if the cameras detected a break-in? John asked if RING contacts police in that case? That answer will have to await the next meeting.

I guess that was also part of Item 6, though no one produced a plan showing the layout of the five TVs in the canteen.

Item 9, about signage, was never addressed.

Item 10 was again resolved that Eric, as the Building Manager, was the only person authorized to possess the keys. Anyone else needing access would have to come in his presence, with him opening and closing the building.

Item 11 was mentioned by John Parker near the meeting's end, with Doug agreeing to locate Post 36's By-Laws to make sure they concur with those of the TFP. It seems that Post 500 has already done so with their By-Laws. This is all necessary so that members of Post 36 and Post 500 are completely aware of what is and isn't allowed at TFP.

So that just left one issue not yet addressed... and that took at least half of the meeting, as well as the calling of Justin and Sabrina.

That would be Item 1, specifically which chandelier to choose.

Seriously.

Justin had sent images of seven options to the Group.Me account, complete with dimensions, for our consideration.

However, when it was determined that the dominant choice would run close to $3000, that's when the discussion went off the rails.

Next thing I knew, several folks were searching out cheaper options, as well as different designs, with Sabrina researching costs.

WTF... and I'm not talking about the canteen's name.

That issue ended up unresolved.

 

I liked this one best, but I was in the minority.

At 49" long, 12" wide, and less than 10" deep, it would lend a bit of elegance over the dance area without getting in anyone's way. 

I guess we'll see how things go next week.

At least this one was over before 8:30 PM!

That means it was just two hours long.

Let's hope next week's moves right along, too!