November 2002 Board Meeting Minutes by George Bixby November 6, 2002
The meeting was called to order by Mike Francis at 6:45 pm at The Yard in Manchester, NH. In attendance were George Bixby, Tom Blinn, Dick Cadieux, Larry Churchill, Susan Dugdale, Allen Goddu, Paul Michali, Bruce Smith, and Lee Walsh.
Mike Francis opened the meeting by introducing the North Atlantic Region Vice President, Reid Douglas, to the club. Reid reported to the chapter the highlights of the most recent national board meeting, in Austin Texas. He informed the chapter that there had been two bylaw proposals to the board.
The first proposal was for there to be a two term limit for national board members. It was explained that if the general membership was dissatisfied with a national board member, a new representative would be elected. Further, Reid elaborated, that in most cases nominations for national office were minimal. The proposal was defeated. The second proposal concerned club business conducted by E-mail. No issue could be passed by E-mail without two thirds approval from the national board. Additionally, any item voted on in this manner is to be read into the minutes of the next meeting of the national board. The proposal was accepted. The next issue agreed upon is to support the BMW CCA Foundation for another year.
The last issue Reid mentioned is a vintage car rally to be held in September of 2004. The event is to be 24 days long with 8 of those days to take place in the New England area and the start will be in Boston. He asked for the chapter's help in planning the route and other logistical support. There was some discussion and Mike said that the chapter would do what it could to support the effort but cautioned that those supporting the effort might not be those at this meeting.
Marty Callahan was not available to report on the next Fun Rally. Mike reiterated that Marty's employment situation was up in air and he hoped Marty could report at the next meeting.
Mike asked about activities? Patty was not in attendance but George gave the report for activities. He said that 21 members had attended the wine tasting dinner. He added that some members had not attended other club functions while some had attended the Simon Pearce glass works tour. Further, he said that some of the attendees had participated in the Advanced Skills School as well as Driver's Ed events and some of the conversations centered around these activities.
George reported that Patty had met with the folks at the function hall (The Highlander) and things were progressing for the holiday's party. There was some discussion about what to charge for the holiday's party. Mike suggested that the chapter charge the same for tickets as last year, ten dollars. He added that the chapter would make up the difference between what was collected and what the actual cost is (as was done last year).
Mike brought up the issue up chapter officer's stating that he had not received any nominations for the Recording Secretary position. There was some brief discussion and Tom Blinn volunteered to accept the position.
There was a quick discussion about Driver's Ed events. There was some discussion about driver's ed events for the next year. It was decided to have a more detailed discussion about this and the End of Summer school the following Monday (November 11, 2002).
Mike asked Lee Walsh to report on the autocross group. Lee reported that the last autocross was held at "M" lot (instead of "I" lot). He added that autocross preferred "M" lot and the only reason NHIS resisted the chapter's use of "M" lot was because of the water from the Advanced Skill School. The event drew forty-nine participants and $1320.00 was collected in entrance fees. Lee said that he would like to hold seven autocross events next year (4 were held this year) and wanted to know how he could arrange dates. It was suggested that he talk to Phil Brown about the dates "M" lot would be available.
Under new business, Mike brought up an offer to have Mike Miller address the chapter next month. Mike is the technical editor for the "Roundel" and would like to speak to the chapter provided that the chapter could provide overnight accommodations. It was motioned by Larry Churchill to accept Mike Miller's offer and provide him with the accommodations. This was seconded by Bruce Smith and the motion was carried by unanimous vote.
Reid Douglas spoke to the chapter about an initiative the national was working on to provide car control clinics as a public service. He added that national wanted help with driver safety for new driver's as well as other groups. Reid said that national would make all the arrangements with the chapter providing equipment and instruction. National would pay all the expenses and provide funds to the chapter for its involvement.
Mike responded that the chapter had already been approached about this and was interested in helping. However, there seemed to be a scheduling issue in that national wanted to conduct this program in the winter months. Reid suggested that winter driving could provide a good opportunity.
Mike responded that variability of the weather made it difficult to conduct this type of event during New England winter. He stated that the chapter likes to conduct these types of events in the summer under controlled conditions. Reid said he would look into this and report back to the chapter.
Allen Goddu told the chapter that he was contacted by Ron Goodspeed, from Exeter Hospital, about holding an event with the chapter's help. Allen said he explained that Ron was looking to hold a road rally in the spring. There was some discussion and Allen agreed to have Ron come speak to the Driver's Ed Committee on Monday, November 11, 2002.
There was no other new business and the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 pm.