Minutes
Ohio HBPA Board Meeting
11:00 am, Thursday, March 19th, 2020
Ohio HBPA Main Office, Grove City, OH
Members Present:
President Joe Poole Directors: Bobby Cline, Doug Cowans, Jeff Jarvis, Mark Kuntz, Dick McCall, Mike Rone and John Royer
Members Unable to Attend: Robin Schuster, Kristi Tumblin and Kim Williams
Others Present:
Executive Director Dave Basler
Call to Order/ Approval of Minutes:
President Poole called the meeting to order. After review President Poole moved and Director Cline seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the January 30th, 2020 Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting. Motion passed.
President Poole moved and Director Rone seconded a motion to grant excused absences for this meeting to Directors Schuster, Tumblin and Williams due to concerns over the coronavirus. Motion passed with Director Jarvis voting no.
Executive Director’s Report:
Discussion was held about potential issues going forward involving live racing and the coronavirus.
The executive director updated the board regarding negotiations with Belterra Park management on revising the track contract detailing that progress had been made during several conference calls with Belterra Park management. Discussion was held regarding those negotiations and the Ohio HBPA’s strategy moving forward specifically regarding the section dealing with the training and stabling schedules at the track.
Discussion was held regarding the potential for the Mahoning Valley purse account to be overpaid in April prior to the meet’s scheduled ending date due to there not being any VLT revenue at the track. Director Rone moved and Director McCall seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA would provide a loan from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Mahoning Valley Purse account if needed to sustain purses at there current levels through the end of the meet. Motion passed.
New Business:
Purses and Wagering
Basler updated the board on the current status of the purse accounts at all three Ohio thoroughbred tracks which showed the purse accounts at all three tracks ahead of where they were at the same points last year and discussion was held regarding the numbers.
Basler went through handouts provided to the board showing VLT revenues for the state’s seven commercial racetracks which showed that the net win at Thistledown for February, 2020 came in at $12,510,740 up over 13% from the previous February. Mahoning Valley recorded a net win of $11,138,813 in February up nearly 10% from the February, 2019 net win figure at the track. The net win at Belterra Park in February, 2020 was $6,472,133 which was up nearly $500,000 from the prior year figure. Both of the figures as Belterra were negatively impacted by the track being closed two days in February in both 2019 and 2020 due to flooding of the Ohio River.
Benevolence, Policies and Organization
Following discussion regarding the upcoming Ohio HBPA board of directors election directors Anderson, Rone and Royer volunteered to serve as members of the nominating committee for the election.
The executive director provided handouts of the proposed election documents for the 2020 Ohio HBPA board of directors elections.
Following a review of the handouts President Poole moved and Director McCall seconded a motion to approve the election documents for the 2020 Ohio HBPA board of directors. Motion passed.
Budget and Finance
Discussion was held regarding a pilot study to be performed this summer at Prairie Meadows involving a machine labeled as a “Lameness Locator” which used sensors and video to evaluate a horses gate and changes therein to diagnose potential areas of concern, Director Jarvis moved and Director Cline seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA make a $10,000 contribution from the Industry Initiative Fund to the Equine Health and Welfare Alliance to support the pilot study. Motion passed.
Discussion was held involving the barn which had been quarantined at Mahoning Valley due to the Equine Herpes Virus. Director Cline moved and Director Rone seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA pay up to $75 per horse which was required to be tested for EHV based upon receiving the invoices from the vets who did the testing. Motion passed with Directors McCall and Royer abstaining.
Discussion was held on a members request that the Ohio HBPA pay his attorney’s fees incurred in appealing an OSRC decision through the court system. Mo motions were made on this request.
Discussion was held on a written request for funding from a group that retrains and rehomes thoroughbreds coming off of the track with the board restating its previous position that any such group must be TAA accredited before the board will consider the request.
President Poole moved and Director McCall seconded a motion to grant a $282 request made by Chaplain Smith to support prizes for a card tournament he held for backside members at Mahoning Valley as well as food for the food bank he runs at the track. Motion passed.
Discussion was held regarding the next meeting date for the board with the date set for Thursday, May 7th beginning at 11am.
Adjournment:
President Poole moved and Director Jarvis seconded a motion to adjourn. Motion passed.