Financial issues are paramount as community
fun drive gets underway
by RACHEL MCCRYSTAL
The Chestnut Hill Community Association (CHCA) Board
met Dec. 8, at Hiram Lodge. There was some discussion about whether the
meeting was intended to be only for the CHCA Executive Board, but it was
publicized as a full board meeting, so many board members who were not
officers attended.
Financial matters were of greatest importance on the agenda. It is the
fundraising season for non-profits, and the Holiday House Tour on Dec.
10, had yet to take place when the meeting was held. The Chestnut Hill
Community Fund (CHCF) fundraising drive will begin this month and continue
through March 2006.
Mark Keintz, CHCA treasurer, delineated the current financial situation
and again stressed his worries about a possible shortfall in the CHCF
budget [Local, Dec. 8]. The CHCF deficiency could reach $39,000 by the
end of the current fiscal year, March 31, 2006. Keintz said that the board
should brainstorm ways of supplementing the CHCF, including potentially
taking out a loan.
The Local is close to being on budget, due to increased advertising gains.
The Holiday House Tour was also anticipated to be a success. Costing $10,000
and expected to gross $30,000, the event could net $20,000.
There will be a Budget and Finance Committee meeting in January. “We
have many things to deal with — contingencies for the year, next
year’s budget, and the grant application process for the Community
Fund,” said Keintz.
Ron Recko, current member of the Budget and Finance Committee, stood
up and expressed his concern that a $10,000 grant was awarded to the CHCF
from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
in February, and that Keintz hadn’t been informed until recently.
“This is a problem,” said Recko. “Everybody was aware
of the grant but the treasurer.”
Keintz attempted to respond, but Recko continued: “$10,000 is not
walking-around money. This is unconscionable.” He also complained
that CHCA board member John O’Connell was not acknowledged for his
efforts in securing the grant.
The grant application had been submitted by former community manager
Marie Lachat and was meant for upgrading the Local’s production
department. Recko then questioned the firing of Lachat, and suggested
that she was fired for not procuring enough grants. “This grant
came in the same time that she was being fired,” he said.
Keintz acknowledged that there is an accounting problem in charting grant
income. He has met with the CHCA accountant to determine a new system.
CHCA president Maxine Dornemann dismissed Recko’s suggestion that
Lachat was fired for not generating enough grant money.
There is no deadline for spending the grant money from the Pennsylvania
Department of Community and Economic Development, so the delay in processing
the grant funds will not affect the CHCA’s final budget.
Dornemann then directed the agenda to the Dec. 10 Holiday House Tour
along Meadowbrook Avenue. To meet the projected goal of $30,000, 1,000
tickets must be purchased. Although only 100 or so tickets had been sold
by the date of the meeting, most attendees were expected to be walk-ups.
“Expenses are relatively fixed, said Dornemann. “We kept
them under $10,000.” Due to volunteer hours and donations, expenses
were limited to brochures, publicity and advertising costs. Dornemann
passed around copies of the brochure that will be distributed to attendees.
The Morris Arboretum has been “very supportive,” said Dornemann.
She also praised the event sponsor, Chestnut Hill Health Systems, and
the homeowners who are opening their houses for the event. “The
families [whose houses will be on display] have worked with us. Our gift
to them is that their houses have been decorated,” said Dornemann.
Brien Tilley, chair of the CHCF Drive, presented a brochure for the drive
that will be mailed out this week. The CHCA Board will also organize phone
banks and call Chestnut Hill residents to encourage them to give to the
fund. There was some debate about whether to encourage targeted donations
as a fundraising strategy, but it was determined that it is too late to
institute such a strategy for the 2005-2006 drive.
A letter from a Chestnut Hill resident was read questioning the fiscal
viability and success of the annual tree lighting that took place on Nov.
25. Suggestions were made regarding incorporating other attractions with
the tree lighting and Santa Claus visit, in hopes that the CHCA can increase
attendance to the event. “Santa’s knee wasn’t sore at
all this year,” joked one board member.
Toward the end of the meeting, criticism was leveled at Sanjiv Jain,
CHCA vice president of the Physical Division, by a few board members.
Although Jain resigned as property manager for CHCA-owned 8431 and 8434
Germantown Ave. in November, a sign advertising his firm, Legacy Real
Estate, remains in a window of one of the buildings.
Jain has been managing the property without pay since he resigned, while
the CHCA Finance Committee determines who will take the position.
The property will become more of a financial drain on the CHCA as winter
approaches and heating costs rise. Board member Recko said that he had
talked to local real estate agents who would be interested in the property,
but president Dornemann said that she had spoken to the same agents and
that they were not interested.
Dornemann then ordered the meeting into Executive Session to discuss
a staff issue. Some board members refused to leave, but the others gathered
their coats and left Hiram Lodge. “We’ve always left during
an Executive Session,” one departing board member said to the few
who remained. “For 50 years, it’s what we’ve done.”
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