More good minutes thanks to Bill, KW4J !
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SCARC MEETING MINUTES
April 12, 2007
SCARC president Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 and asked for visitors to introduce themselves. Carl Green KI4QAC was the only visitor. Then the membership was introduced and the sign-in sheet is attached to this document.
VP Mike Burns KE4DZU reports that he will not be available for the planned program in two weeks and requests that the program dealing with message handling during emergency response is given in its place. EC Howard Moss KC4QJA and Bill Davidson KW4J will try to get a presentation together using ARRL material. The May 10 program will be a presentation on how to solicit funds for emergency communication equipment, and the June 14 program will deal with the upcoming Field Day (June 23, 24).
Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports a current savings balance of $3586.05 and a checking account balance of $179.68 after paying Cahaba Internet $25.00 for domain registration for the W4SHL web site. Some membership dues collections have not been deposited yet.
EC Howard Moss is almost complete with the SCARES contact tree list and expects to be done within a week. There was nothing to report on the EMA planned station move. EMA Director Don Green will be present at our next meeting, which will be held at the Shelby County EMA site in Columbiana on April 26, 2007. There will be a Search and Rescue Drill at Oak Mountain State Park Friday May 18, 2007 starting at 18:00.
President Rod Scott reminded the membership that it is time for renewal. He also stated that he sent a letter to Don Green reporting the monetary summary of SCARC’s contribution to the Shelby County EMA. A copy of this letter is attached to this document. Rod presented some sample SCARC logos done by Mickey Hicks KI4QXB as upgrades for the current logo on the web site. It was pointed out that the logo could have a varied number of uses as well as the web site and these will be investigated. (Mickey’s efforts are greatly appreciated by the Club.) The BirminghamFest is May 5-6, 2007 and BARC is giving the Club a table and there was discussion of how best to use it. It was generally agreed that items such as membership applications and club brochures should be placed upon it for consumption by the hamfest attendees. Rod will check with Ken Caruso KS4NX to see if any of the old brochures are available. If one is not available, he will design and a new one using Mickey Hicks’ expertise. The time constraint may not allow club approval, but if possible the proposed brochure will be submitted. Club representatives have met with Shelby County Hospital management for the purpose of establishing an emergency communication liaison and several Club proposals will be forthcoming. Items such as common identification badges were discussed. It was also pointed out to the Club membership that advanced training in emergency communication methodologies and protocols will be necessary due to FEMA requirements. Rod stated that the Club needs a Field Day chairman, and this led to a general discussion of Field Day June 23-24, 2007. BARC has offered to merge efforts and have one common site, which will be the Oak Mountain Boy Scout Facility. The call will be W4CUE. A proposal to accept BARC’s offer was made, seconded and passed by majority vote.
Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J gave a synopsis of the March 22 Minutes and there were no comments. A schedule of April Alabama hamfests was presented to the membership. ARLB011 concerning the misuse of the 60 meter channels was summarized and discussed. ARRL Letter Col. 26, No. 12 (March 23, 2007) discusses the proposed “regulation by bandwidth” plan by the FCC. Kelly Fowler’s KE4ADV email concerning his reasons for withdrawing his offer to sell to the Club a repeater was presented along with a related set of memorandums between Club officers. This led to discussion concerning the direction of the Club’s repeater effort but nothing was proposed or decided. Also Bert Put KG4BEC informed the Club that repeater link testing was still in progress. He also needs to turn over documentation to the new Repeater Chairman, once one is chosen. There were several member offers to assist Bert with the testing. A side discussion of the repeater antenna status then ensued. Later Bob Thomas KC4AF reports the availability of repeater equipment in Tennessee.
Carl Green, KI4QAC, and Frank Holt were elected as member and associate member respectively.
VE Committee Chairman Joe Ford K4NVJ was not present, but in his email to Bill Davidson states that the May 4, 2007 VE test session will not convene unless Joe is informed that an applicant cannot be available for the BirminghamFest testing times.
By-Laws Committee Chairman Bob Thomas has scheduled a committee meeting for 14:00 April 15, 2007 at The Piccadilly for the purpose of finalizing the committee’s efforts with updating the Constitution and By-laws. The committee will then make a presentation to the membership on a regular program night very soon before offering it for adoption. The proposed documents will be made available to the membership as part of the W4SHL web site posting. Per the current By-Laws and Constitution articles, the membership will be informed of the adoption vote by regular postal mail.
Mike Burns suggested that the club bill the Red Cross for the coax currently installed. The Red Cross is aware of this and has previously agreed to pay for it. Rod Scott will submit the bill.
Attachments:
Secretary’s raw notes
SCARC sign-in sheet
Rod’s Scott’s letter to Don Green concerning Club contributions to SC EMA
Rod Scott’s email about items for the business meeting
ARRL (Alabama Section) listing of April 2007 Alabama Hamfests
ARLB011 (60 Meter problems)
ARRL Letter Vol. 26, No. 12 (March 23, 2007)
Repeater emails between Club officers concerning the repeater
KE4ADV’s email concerning the cancelled repeater trial/sale
