Levy and Membership Fees: Communique from the Board of Directors

January 15, 2009

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. The Club Manager, Vera Cody and the new 2009 Head Pro, Nick Mook Sang join the Board in wishing you a spectacular New Year filled with health, peace, happiness, and lots of tennis. It is also a good time to update you on a number of important issues currently facing the Club.

The November 2008 Annual General Meeting (AGM) was an opportunity for members present to review the past season and to discuss issues for the upcoming season. We are grateful to all of you who offered advice and suggestions. The minutes of the AGM are posted on the website (www.rockcliffetennis.ca). Although most items are straightforward, we invite you to particularly review the sections dealing with Grounds and Maintenance, Financial Report, and Other Business so you can have a better appreciation of the issues.

The open discussion at the end of the AGM focused on:

the substantial improvements made to the Club facilities and services in the last several years;
the disconnection between the high Club standards that members have come to expect and the relatively low membership fees compared to similar Ottawa clubs;
the need to maintain our Clubhouse, grounds and courts in a manner consistent with one of the premier tennis clubs in Ottawa; and
the urgent necessity to undertake a major renovation of the clay courts including the retaining walls and fencing at an estimated cost of $85,000 at the end of the 2009 season to avoid major problems that have now become apparent as explained in the AGM minutes under G&M.

The majority of members present at the AGM agreed that the Board needed to examine the best course of action to continue to deliver high quality services while generating sufficient income not only to sustain them now, but for future Club and court maintenance and upgrading.

As a result, the Board struck an ad hoc Task Force composed of members representing many constituencies whose mandate was to make suggestions to the Board. The Task Force was composed of Bill Clarke, Gordon Cudney, Anke Magnus, Karl Ruban, and ex-officio Board members Charles Bélanger and Hassan Moghadam.

Before making its suggestions to the Board, the Task Force reviewed the culture of the Club and its evolution in terms of services, number of members, membership dues, and membership pricing at other similar tennis clubs across the city. When comparing ourselves to other seasonal clubs, the Task Force considered the range and quality of RLTC services, the exceptional quality of the hydro-blend courts, the tennis environment and, the sense of ownership and pride that the Club occupies in our community. The ultimate objective was to remain competitively priced while ensuring the sustainability of the Club at a high quality level.

Upon receiving the Task Force's suggestions, the Board engaged in the same reflection exercise with an eye to fulfilling its due diligence on immediate and future obligations to the Club. In doing so, the Board agreed with some suggestions proposed by the Task Force and modified others. Before making its decisions, the Board reaffirmed its position explained at the AGM:

that it was not in the fundraising business for the core operational activities of the Club, such as court upgrading. Donations to special projects are different and much appreciated,
that current membership dues are clearly not sufficient to sustain the services and standards offered at the Club,
that the City of Ottawa is introducing a water consumption increase in the range of 23% over the next three years (we are huge water consumers due to our watering system), and
that $85,000 is needed to upgrade the clay courts and fence system and that the hard courts will require resurfacing in the next few years (our best estimate is 4-5 years) at a similar estimated cost.

On the basis of the above premises, the Board examined the pros and cons of several scenarios, including establishing a minimum monthly charge (so-called "chit") that each member has to discharge by buying consumables. In known cases, this option amounts to considerably more costs to members (which can be more than $100.00/month) than a straight membership increase or levy. The Board opted against that scenario and decided:

to raise annual membership fees by $50.00 for regular adult members, $25.00 for junior members under 18 who are children of members, and to scale increases for other member categories by proportional amounts; and
to charge a one-year levy of $85.00 to every adult member and a lesser amount to other categories of members using the clay courts to help cover the clay court renovation costs.

The Board believes that this scenario will raise sufficient funds to maintain the Club facilities as well as to have the clay courts upgraded in mid-October 2009 so as to cause the least amount of play disruption. The estimated time to complete the work is approximately two weeks.

The Board recognizes that this option will make playing at RLTC a little more expensive than normal next season; however the Board also recognized that, considering the increasing costs associated with maintaining the Clubhouse, courts and grounds, the fees have clearly been insufficient during the past number of years. As a result, the Board believes this scenario is well within reason to preserve the unique character of our Club.

Again, we thank you for the privilege of having you as a tennis family member. We are already looking forward to May 2009.

Charles Bélanger, President
Maureen Boyd, Tournament
Beata Garel-Jones, Junior Program
Hassan Moghadam, Membership
George Pickering, Treasurer
Bob Roberts, Special Projects
John Taylor, Grounds & Maintenance
Caroline Vecchio, Secretary

	September 7, 2010