Club

During this same peiod Chelsea Yacht Club also experienced downsizing. Instead of a waiting list, there were openings available. Budgets that were based on the membership in December had to be revised downward in July because the expected income from dues and assessments was never realized.

The membership committee, under the chairmanship of Frank Gain, made a study of what could be done to offset this loss of members. They found that yacht clubs in the Mid-Hudson area were all suffering from the same problem. In addition, the committee noted that demographics also added to the problem. The aging of the membership was increasing the proportion of life members who paid no capital or expense assessments. The committee report (May 31, 1996) recommended that the category of life member be replaced with two new categories, senior member and senior associate member. Senior members would be persons over 60 and would pay dues and one-half of the capital and expense assessments. Senior associate members would be those over 60 who had at least 25 years of membership and did not moor, store a boat, or maintain a boat on Club property. They would pay a yearly fee of fifty dollars.

This report caused quite a stir among the current life members. Sal Cerniglia, chairman of the planning committee, organized a questionnaire. On September 27, 1996 he presented a report summarizing the results of the questionnaire and of research done by the committee. Among the tables he presented was one that contained the following information:

Year	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Regular and Probationary	153	160	152	146	142
Life	52	50	53	58	63

The deficit from the 175 regular and probationary regular member limit in the constitution and by-laws was already in existence in 1992 and had increased from 22 in 1992 to 33 in 1996, an increase of 11. ( In May, 2000 the secretary reported the deficit as 33. Evidently it had stabilized.) Over the same period the number of life members increased by 11.

The report also contained the following estimate:

Year	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
New Life Members	3	9	7	11	5	4	9

In a sense, these numbers represent the number of recruits necessary to maintain constant the number of regular and probationary regular members. Resignations of regular members not yet qualified for becoming life members would add to the number of recruits needed. The report concluded:

1. We have no financial crisis,

2. We need to attract and retain more members in order to
(a) have more active programs, i.e. more fun and
(b) get help with the work and the funding,

3. We need to consider "sense of Fairness" and tradition issues,

4. We need to critically analyze our expenses in order to get the best value for our dollar, and

5. We should review all fees and make appropriate changes and evaluate the suggested sources of income.

These two reports convinced the Club members that adding new members was a priority. After considerable discussion, it was decided to try a year with no initiation fee required of a new member. This did result in more recruits that year, but not enough more to offset the loss in revenue. The initiation fee was re-instated. The waiting list for moorings is an impediment to recruiting. There are not enough moorings for the boats of all the members. A new member has to find somewhere else to keep his boat. On the other hand, the hauling and storage program could be an enticement. The cost for winter storage is sustantially less than charged by local marinas.

Conclusion 2's statement about the need for new members to do the work of running the club was validated in the year 2000 when Vice Commodore James Hyland requested Club members to donate work hours because some uncompleted projects had used up all their assigned work-hours.

Treasurer Barron Fitzgerald addressed the "fairness" issue in his proposed year 2000 budget. He calculated the cost of providing services, such as the mooring field, and assigned fees for the services that would cover the cost. This allowed him to reduce the assessments paid by all members.

Meanwhile, another issue arose. An audit of the Club's accounts was carried out for the first time in many years. It was concluded that the accounts were accurate, but that several procedures should be improved. In addition it was discovered that the Club had failed to file, for several years, a report required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from not-for-profit organizations with gross yearly income of more than $25,000. This report is needed for an organization to maintain its not-for-profit status.

The Club retained a consultant who advised that the Club file reports for the past three years. This was done, and the IRS initially assessed a $15,000 penalty for failure to file. Further negotiations with the IRS convinced them to cancel the penalty if the Club made it clear that it would change its constitution and by-laws to make sure that failure to file would not occur in the future.

Commodore Serge Cryvoff appointed a committee, chaired by James Hyland, to draw up a proposed new constitution and by-laws to present to the Club members. The committee put in many hours writing a document to include the IRS requirements and also to streamline the much amended earlier version. The proposed version was presented to the Club at the February 2000 meeting. One result was that the next several Club meetings were in effect sessions of a constitutional convention. Many hours were spent debating various proposed amendments. Many were adopted. Many were not. The outcome was a document that authorized the board of trustees to run the Club but required the board to present changes in procedures and policies to the Club membership for approval. It was adopted at the May 26, 2000 meeting.

It may be of interest that the new constitution and by-laws define "Life Member" in the following words: "Any member in good standing shall become a life member on January 1st of the year following their completion of 25 years as regular and/or associate member. Any member in good standing who became a member before January 1, 1997 and who is at least 65 years of age shall become a life member effective the 1st day of January in the year following their completion of ten consecutive years as a regular and/or associate member."