HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-02-25 Trustees of Osgood Hill Minutes of Trustees of Osgood Hill Board Meeting
February 25, 2021
Called to order at 5:07p.m. All participants remote due to COVID-19 precautions.
Voting Members Present (4L David Brown (Chairman), Robin Ellington, Thomas Dugan, Charles
Mathison
Voting Members Absent (2): Jerome Justin,Jeanne Irwin
Town Officials (2): Joanna Collantine (TSE Executive Director), Andrew Shapiro (Director of
Economic and Community Development
1) Introduction— Dave Brown, Chairman
a) The chairman read the governor's statement and shared his email
(dbrown@northandoverma.gov) for public comment/questions during the meeting.
2) Meeting called to order
a) Verbal role call: Thomas, Robin, Charles and Dave were present at start of meeting.
b) Welcome new member Charles Mathison, longtime marketing executive, retired, who is
looking forward to supporting a favorite location in North Andover.
c) We have a quorum to begin the meeting.
3) Review and approval of minutes from January 2021 were postponed to the March meeting.
4) Chairman's Update— Dave
a) Chairman Dave Brown is serving as our representative for the review of the Town-issued
RFP for Management of the Estate. Proposal presentations and reviews are scheduled
for March 1 at 3 p.m. Dave will be there.
b) The Town was expecting the state's Department of Revenue/ Dept. of Local Services
report imminently. Friendly suggestion from Robin Ellington to amend agenda to read:
Review of Accounting Practices of the Town of North Andover (not The Stevens Estate)
regarding The Stevens Estate as an Enterprise Fund.
c) Jeanne and Dave presented our strategic plan proposal to Planning Board from Tuesday,
2/23 with a slide show prepared by Thom Dugan.The written report will be included in
their minutes but also included in ours as a courtesy to the public. Both the Select Board
and Finance Committee declined to have us present at their meetings.
5) Finance Update (Brown, Collantine, Shapiro—Jerry Justin will not be at this meeting)
Current financials:
https:/ldrive.�oo�le.com/file/d/1t6AQbzvu6kAlknWMspxyBsL7YwGmmNni/view
Joanna said the bookings report is strong,with a projected $28,066 profit for FY21. She reported the
strongest January and February in five years.
Andrew presented the Retained Earnings snapshot,
https:Hdrive.google.com/file/d/1gXOw3Dlj7rCLAP58U2XnfL51xwdhZK8D/view
6) Marketing Committee Update (Ellington, Collantine)
Joanna announced The Stevens Estate received the 2020 Regional Gold Award for Wedding
Venues North of Boston by from Gatehouse New England, owned by Gannett Newspapers,
whose community newspapers include the North Andover Citizen.
Robin and Joanna are preparing a press release for approval by the Town.
Thom said it speaks to Joanna's excellence and skills in the management of the Estate and
made the motion to tender the announcement to the Select Board's agenda, which was
passed unanimously. Thom said he would write up a paragraph and send it to them as a
formal request.
7) Estate Operations
Thom asked about the state's COVID reopening plans and will the Stevens Estate be able to host
more events at Estate: on 3/22 crowd size will increase to 100 indoors and 150 outdoors.Joanna
said the tent goes up in May and the biggest weddings don't start until June, so the estate
might be in an even better position by then. She is still receiving inquiries for smaller
weddings as she did in the Fall, mostly booked weekends. She is looking to put together
midweek, four-hour wedding packages. Dancing is permitted for weddings only and the
dance floor also comes in May. The governor plans another announcement in two weeks.
Joanna is planning dance recitals under the tent this summer. She is receiving inquiries for
April from people interested in outside activities. Stevens Memorial Library book fair is
booked for May and again in the fall.
Joanna returns full time end of March, but with flexibility to tend to business before that
date as needed.
Dave suggested a backlog report to exhibit deposits, since deposits revenue is not
recognized by Munis. Thom said he would talk to the town accountant to book those
revenues, which are cash deposits, as something that shows up in a report.
Joanna asked Andrew to help do something about that, since she is unfamiliar with the
backend of MUNIS. Andrew committed to set up a meeting with Lyn. Dave noted that those
financial commitments need to be formally recognized by the Town, especially in lieu of a
possible lease agreement.
The Director's 2020 ,,,,,,,nnu ......l R ,p,,,,,,,,,,,,,,!q. written by Executive Director Joanna CoIlantine, will be included
in the Town Meeting Warrant.
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Revised Booking
Report JLC 32321.x1s
8) The Board did not discuss new business.
9) The Board did not receive public comments during the meeting.
10)The Board did not set a next meeting date — to be set by email in order to include missing
Board members.
11) Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 p.m.