Minutes, July 14, 2021

 Minutes,  July 14,  2021

The board met on July 14, 2021 at Virginia Winn's house.  We socialized a bit starting at 7pm.

Action items are highlighted in bold.

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by John Wetzel.

Attending in person:
John, Marguerite, Barb, Dianne, Fred, Victor, and Virginia.

Nobody called in.

The previous meeting minutes were approved.  John will post.

Victor presented the treasurer's report.  There were no transactions.  The cash balance remains as expected.  The board voted to accept the report.

The majority of the time was spent discussing how to resume a dance series.  The discussion centered on concerns for legal liability, the desirability (or not) of the dance organizer being in the role of covid police, the issues of re-engaging the dance community, the issues with bands, callers, and viable venues.  There was discussion of the approaches being taken by other dance communities, the need for liability waivers, and the paperwork needed (or not) to make it legally significant as opposed to just theatre.

John said he could provide examples of a "hold harmless" agreement modeled on practices in surveying which he thought were both germane to our needs and legally binding.  Victor said he would similarly inquire of other dance groups how they were dealing with legal issues associated with covid.

With that as the backdrop, Victor described his exploration of the possibility of hosting a private, invitation-only, contradance at Susan Fort's hall.  He thought that it might take place in mid-September.  He is modeling this on some similar events he saw being tried up in the Greenville area.  Victor asked for permission to post an announcement of his event on our Facebook page.  The board approved this request recognizing that the private dance idea is a good way to gauge interest.

As a second discussion topic, the issue of where the sound system is kept, needs to be addressed.  John noted that moving the equipment around is becoming a bigger issue for him personally; and also that setup has a steep learning curve that makes it harder to get a willing new person able to do the job. The upshot of the discussion is that Victor will discuss with Susan the possibility of keeping our sound equipment at her hall in ready to use condition, ideally already wired and ready to go.  A motion was made, seconded, and approved, that Victor should discuss sound equipment options with Susan and negotiate with her as necessary for keeping our sound equipment at her hall; and that the negotiation may entail equipment expenditures on the part of COTMD as needed to help reduce the complexity of setup so that newbies can feel confident in operating the sound system when dances finally resume.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, September 15, at 7pm, at Virginia's.

The meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.

/s/ Frederick C Druseikis
Secretary