Minutes
Ohio HBPA Board Meeting
11:00 am, Monday, May 23rd, 2022
Ohio HBPA Main Office, Grove City, OH
Members Present: President Joe Poole Directors: Susan Anderson, Bobby Cline, Bruce Miller, Dick McCall, Mike Rone and Kim Williams
Members Unable to Attend: Mark Doering, Jeff Jarvis, John Royer, Robin Schuster and Kristi Tumblin
Others Present:
Executive Director Dave Basler, OHBPA Lobbyist Tom Pappas, Ohio HBPA legal counsel Jim Curphey from Porter Wright
Call to Order/ Approval of Minutes:
President Poole called the meeting to order. After review President Poole moved and Director Miller seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the March 25th, 2022 Ohio HBPA board of directors meeting. Motion passed.
*Directors Doering, Schuster and Tumblin are granted automatic excused absences from this meeting do to racing at Thistledown on this date.
Special Orders of Business;
President Poole moved and Director Cline seconded a motion to enter executive session. Motion passed.
Ohio HBPA legal counsel Jim Curphey provided updates on and answered questions from the board regarding the current status of the Ohio HBPA versus Belterra Park et al. lawsuit regarding retroactive VLR monies owed. No further details will be provided in these minutes due to the ongoing nature of the litigation.
President Poole moved and Director Cline seconded a motion to leave executive session. Motion passed.
OHBPA lobbyist Tom Pappas provided the board with a legislative update.
Executive Director’s Report:
The executive director updated the board on the latest happenings involving the implementation of the HISA Safety rules on July 1st. Extensive discussion was held on the two pending federal lawsuits against HISA and other potential lawsuits which may be filed against the legislation. Basler detailed that all three Ohio thoroughbred tracks had jointly submitted a letter to the Ohio HBPA requesting that the OHBPA agree to pay 50% of the HISA assessment charges with the tracks paying the other 50% for 2022.
President Poole moved and Director Anderson seconded a motion authorizing the executive director to respond to the tracks letter requesting that the tracks respond to HISA requesting exactly what the HISA assessment costs for Ohio thoroughbred tracks would be in 2023. Motion passed.
Following discussion President Poole moved and Director Anderson seconded a motion that the Ohio HBPA pay up to $13,000 from the Industry Initiative Fund to cover the costs of the PCR tests for the horses in the barns which were tested for Strangles at Thistledown during the quarantine situation there. Motion passed.
Purses and Wagering
Basler updated the board on the current status of the purse accounts at all three Ohio thoroughbred tracks. Showing that all three tracks were ahead of where they were on the same dates in 2021 which allowed for purse increases to begin the meets at both Thistledown and Belterra Park.
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 April, 2022 was $17,252,581 down over $2,200,000 from the previous April. Mahoning Valley recorded a net win of $14,515,897 in April down approximately 3% from the April, 2021 net win figure at the track. The net win at Belterra Park was $8,617,709 which was down approximately 6% from the prior year figure.
Benevolence, Policies and Organization
The executive director provided the board with handouts of proposed election materials for the 2022 Ohio HBPA board of directors election.
President Poole moved and Director Miller seconded a motion approving the election materials provided. Motion passed.
Budget and Finance
Discussion was held regarding the main ice machine at Thistledown with the board asking the executive director to provide estimates for a new machine to replace that one at the next meeting.
The date for the next OHBPA board meeting was set for Friday July 15th, 2022 beginning at 11:00am at the main OHBPA office.
Adjournment:
President Poole moved and Director Rone seconded a motion to adjourn. Motion passed.