Ace Club-Maadi Committee Meeting Minutes
July 2009 Minutes
ACE CLUB COMMITTEE MEETING
6th July 2009.
PRESENT: Neil Harrington: Chairman
Neil Watson: Treasurer
Simon Henry
Peter Carey
James Work
Pim Draper
Adam Macmillan
Flemming Frank – Club Manager
Apologies: Rosie Henry
Alan Whitehead.
Meeting opened at 7.05pm
Previous minutes were approved.
Club Managers report
We now have a new chef, Hisham Abdel Aziz, he presently is in an equal position to our existing chef. His presence has already been felt with an increase in the professionalism within the kitchen. The staff seem to be working well with him.
Now that we’ve got our new pizza oven we will have the following special evenings.
Thursday & Saturday – Shawarma.
Wednesday & Sunday – Pizza.
Every 2nd Thursday – Barbecue.
The first trial of the pizza oven took place on Saturday and at half time during the South Africa v British & Irish Lions rugby game they served 50 portions of pizza. The feedback was very favourable.
There will be no roast this Friday as a lot of the members will be away at Ain Soukhna on a golfing weekend.
Flemming has ordered new uniforms for the extra serving staff. The cost coming out of his monthly allowance. The dryclaner we are using at present isn’t doing a god job, 30% of “clean” shirts having to be returned for re-cleaning so we are going to try another drycleaner.
The attitude of some of the bar staff has deteriorated and Flemming will be making some changes to rectify this.
The door seals on the low MOG fridges have been causing problems, MOG don’t seem to be interested in after sales service, we need to find somebody to repair them asap.
Action – Flemming
Flemming got a price for a small under bar glass washer but, until funds are available it was decided to shelve this project.
Treasurer’s report:
The bank balances were noted to be healthy. For this reason it was proposed to give something back to the members by reducing the price of beer & basic spirits from 12 to 10 LE from 1st August. The vote was unanimous. Action – Flemming
The cost to the Club for the 1st annual golf outing was 20,000 LE, all agreed that it was a great day and well worth the money. It was agreed to continue with a golf tournament for the members every year although next year it should be in March or April as it’s a lot cooler.
The day raised 10,000 LE for charity.
Memberships: - We now have 519 memberships.
New projects: -
It was decide to replace the folding tables we use in the garden, Peter is to look in to a new design. Action – Peter
The spray misting system has been delayed but should be here within 2 to 3 weeks.
The electric phases have now been balanced and we are experiencing less blackout due to overloaded trip switches.
Social Events: -
There will be a Welcome back party for the members on Thursday 10th September, 3 Committee members formed a sub committee to decide the format.
Action – Neil H, Neil W and Adam
Charitable donations: -
We have given 7,500 LE to HUG, a group of expat wives who personally make sure that the various orphanages they support spend the money for the benefit of the children.
So far this year we have donated 123,000 LE to charities and have another 23,000 still to distribute.
As mentioned before, the golf day raised 10,000 and this will be given to 2 charities.
Operation Smile, an NGO that repairs cleft palates free of charge for local children, has made an application for a donation from the Club. It was decided to give them 15,000 LE as soon as they verified their NGO status by providing heir registration number. Action Simon
Due to previous problems with the Snoface orphanage it was proposed and decided to donate 500 LE per month to HUG for them to use to buy supplies for distribution to their approved charities. Action – Neil W.
Complaints/Discipline.
There were no complaints or discipline problems this month.
It was agreed that, for the summer holidays the children’s curfew should be 9:30 pm. Reception staff to start reminding parents of this from 8 pm when they enter the Club.
Action – Flemming
Laptops: A member asked that the laptops be left on in the evening, as they are now protected from spillage it was decided to leave them on al the time that the club was open. Action – Flemming
AOB
The next AGM will be on Saturday 19th September 2009. We’ve had 2 members expressing an interest in joining the Committee, more volunteers will be welcome.
The previous proposal for a generator was discussed and the feeling is that after the phases had been balanced it wouldn’t be necessary, but the situation would continue to be monitored.
It was brought up that quite a few members had commented on the smell from the kitchen invading the reception and bar area. It was decided to investigate an upgrade to the kitchen extraction system and possibly a higher capacity extractor fan.
Action - Peter
It has been noted that some guests are being signed in more than the 3 times allowed, after much discussion it was decided that a Committee member would look in to a new system.
It was also pointed out that a lot of dead leaves had accumulated on the terrace roof and posed a fire risk and needed cleared. Action – Flemming
Pim now knows what cables he needs to enable him to connect a laptop to the big TV upstairs so we can look forward to regular film nights.
Expat Oasis notice board.
Rory gave the Committee a presentation on the advantages to the Club members of his proposed notice board, he would have a dedicated member of his staff who would look after the promotions and remove them when they expired. Adam will liase with Rory as to the suitability of the promotions for our members.
Rory will recover the pool table twice a year in return for us allowing him to site the notice board on the left hand wall outside the front door of the Club.
It was also agreed that any company approaching the Club to advertise on the premises would be directed to Expat Oasis to be included in their packages, Rory will make a donation to the Club for any company that signs up with Expat Oasis.
There was discussion regarding the progress of the Club Manager since joining us, a Committee member is to assess the impact on the staff.
Meeting closed at 9:30pm.
Next meeting on Monday 10th August.
Minutes approved……………………………………..Chairman
………………………………………..Secretary.