Minutes-Potomac Division Board of Directors meeting 1/29/11
The meeting was held via a conference call and was convened at 1pm on Saturday, January 29th, 2011.
Present
at the initiation of the call were Marshall Abrams, Brian Sheron, Bill
Day, Martin Brechbiel, Mike White, and Tom Brodrick. Marty McGuirk was
delayed and joined the conference call during the discussion of the
Minicon. Bill Demas was out of town and unavailable, and Clint Hyde was
also unavailable. Brian Sheron volunteered to be acting clerk and
record the minutes of the meeting.
Marshall
Abrams started by announcing that the checks we had paid to the church
for the 2010 Mincon had been found. Marshall also said that that Bill
Demas reported that membership was currently 362 members, which was a
12 member decrease.
Mike
White, the division computer clerk and webmaster, provided a list of
all of the upgrades and changes he had made to the web page. He also
said that the software he bought for mailing out information to the
division membership was installed on his computer and running. Marshall
Abrams asked to install it on his computer so the division would have a
backup.
Brian
Sheron discussed layout tours. The next open house would be at Pete and
Jane Clark’s house in Damascus, tomorrow (January 30th). Brian would
take layout photos, write the Flyer article, and be the greeter
at the door. Marshall said he would either bring a Certificate of
Appreciation with him, or mail it to the Clark’s.
February
has a clinic scheduled, so the next open house is March 13th at John
Sethian’s. Martin Brechbiel will take photos of the layout, write the
Flyer article, and serve as greeter. Marshall will arrange get a
Certificate of Appreciation to John Sethian.
Several members requested that Brian send out the latest layout tour schedule, which he said he would do.
Mike
White said that he had not received any photos of layout tours starting
with last September. Various members that served as greeters agreed to
forward photos to Mike.
Brian
Sheron reported on the Achievement Program. He said that he had
received his “Volunteer” achievement certificate, and that Mat Thompson
had contacted him to let him know that he planned to enter at least 3
cars in the model contest at the Minicon, and asked Brian what forms
were needed. Brian told him he needed NMRA form 502
rev. D and the Statement of Qualifications form.
Martin Brechbiel reported that so far, 8 people had signed up for the flat car clinic he and
Bill Day were planning for February 22nd. Martin also reported that 3
people had signed up for the resin casting clinic he will be giving at
the April Minicon. Martin asked if he
could get the e-mail addresses of the people signed up for the flat car
clinic so he could notify them if inclement weather forced a
cancellation.
Tom
Brodrick gave the Paymaster’s report. He reported that on 1/1/11, the
division balance was $4364. Payments to the church for the 2010 Minicon
and other expenses, brought the current balance to $3514.
Under
Old Business, Marshall stated that the Service recognition Awards issue
was closed. Service recognition Awards would be proactive only and not
retroactive.
The
Audit Committee reported that it was unable to perform the financial
audit in December and January. Tom Brodrick had unexpected commitments
that forced canceling the scheduled December audit, and Bill Demas, a
member of the audit committee, was out of town for most of January. Tom
agreed to find dates in February when he is available, and will propose
them to the audit committee(Brian Sheron, Mike White, Bill Demas). The
audit committee will select a date and perform the audit.
It was stated that there would be no annual donations made this year.
Marshall
reported that the voting privileges issue as completed, as was the
issue regarding the status of the Potomac Module Crew to the division.
Marshall reported that Bob Minnis found notes from a 1998 Potomac Board
of Director’s meeting that stated the PMC was an officially recognized
activity of the Potomac Division. However, the more recent letter from
Mark Andersen to the Board dissolved that relationship.
Marshall
stated that the nominating committee is composed of Tom Brodrick and
Mike White. The membership needs to be notified that nominations are
open, and, per article 13 of the Bylaws, a candidate must be nominated
by at least 3 members, must agree to serve, and nominations must be
provided to the nominating committee in writing no later than March
2nd, 2011 (one month before the election). Mike White will send
out postcards to those members that do not receive division material by
e-mail.
A
discussion ensued about the Module Group liaison position. It was
decided that Bill Day would serve as the division liaison, and that the
there would not be a position of “Chair” of the liaison group. Much of
the discussion focused on what the liaison function entails.
It
was brought up that someone complained that on the Yahoo Group web site
for the Potomac Division, someone was using it for commercial
advertising. It was pointed out that the site was set up as a private
site, that people must apply for membership, and that people can be
“kicked out” if they don’t abide by the rules. Some discussion ensued
as to what was a truly “commercial message” versus providing useful
information about available products. The conclusion was that the site
was not being
abused.
It
had been brought up that some members have not updated their personal
information (home address, e-mail address, etc.) and as such, the
division has no way of getting in touch
with these people. It was decided that we would remind people to update
their personal information when we send out e-mails or postcards.
The
discussion then turned to the upcoming April Minicon. Marshall stated
that we still need a Clinics chair to coordinate the clinics, and that
he will solicit interest when we send out the announcement on
nominations.
The
provision of food at the Minicon was then discussed. Bill Day said he
would speak with the Church to see if they wanted to provide food at
the Minicon.
Regarding
the cost of the church, it was decided that we would pay the church
$500 for use of the building, and then make a $250 donation to the
church. This as consistent with the total amount spent for church use
at the 2010 Minicon ($600 fee and $150 donation).
It
was assumed Clint Hyde would take responsibility for running a white
elephant table at the Minicon. Marshall will talk to Clint about
getting some apprentices to help him.
The
next item discussed was the Flyer. Everyone noted the great feedback
that was being provided regarding the Flyer’s new look, with much kudos
to Marty.
Marty
said that he wanted to get the next issue of the Flyer out in the first
week of March, so information on the Minicon could be included.
Therefore, the deadline for submissions is February 15th, 2011.
It
was agreed that the next Board of Directors meeting would be held on
Saturday, February 19th, 2011, starting at 12 noon at Marshall Abram’s
house. February 26th will be the alternative date if there is inclement
weather, etc.
The meeting adjourned at 2:50 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Sheron