Regional Meeting Minutes

October 25, 2016

Steve called the meeting to order at 7:30 and mentioned that he saw some new faces in the corner but they had been at a meeting before. Steve reported that a region member and past secretary, Alan Posner, has had two strokes recently and is in the hospital, but in good spirits. Steve asked if everyone had read the minutes as posted and they were approved as posted online.

Alan gave the treasurer’s report. The region had a good month in September and all of the sponsors have paid for 2016. The rallycross event had some income and almost all of the original batch of tee shirts have been sold. The region had some normal expenses for events, including truck insurance, etc. Alan spoke about the rallycross program as it is making a profit with increased participation this year.

Membership report by Steve. The region is maintaining at 350 members and is continuing to contact members who have allowed their membership to lapse as a reminder. We have attracted some new members as well.

Kristen reported that the Squeal is doing well and the website is doing well with positive feedback. The proposed online voting is generating good feedback and she has had some help with it. It will be set up as soon as there are candidates for the positions. There were some questions about the use of MotorsportsReg.com for the voting process. There was also discussion about possible new autocross sites. A map of the Penn State location has been made and will be available for course design.

Geoff mentioned the event this coming weekend and it appears as though there will be enough safety stewards for the event. Also anyone wanting to come out and help with the event is greatly appreciated and encouraged to do so. There was discussion about events and some of the issues that could come up.

John gave his report on the rallycross series. The season is over for this year but they are still looking for possible other sites to use for events.

Under old business there was discussion about the desire for obtaining a timing trailer for events and Geoff said he doesn’t have time to do a good search for all of the possibilities for purchasing a trailer. Geoff asked Chris Benfer if he could take on the research of trailer size and needs as far as windows, size of trailer and anything that would be needed so a comparison could be made between different manufactures. There was discussion about the club truck and its towing capabilities and the possible life of a trailer and also the cost of insurance for one. Due to the region’s success with its events there should not be an issue with the purchase of a trailer for use at events.

Under new business there was discussion about the year-end banquet that is coming up. There may be a re-design of the trophies since there hasn’t been a regular photographer for events so there might not be photos for every competitor who could receive a year end trophy. Also there is the need to get the information and any materials to the manufacturer before December so they have time to make the trophies for the banquet. There was discussion on the cost of the banquet and the regions subsidies for competitors and their guests.*

There was also discussion about a potential road rally program starting up. Alan found out that there would be a need for a rally checker and also a rally steward for an event that would be held. It appears as though there are more rules as well as requirements than in the past so if the region would like to hold a rally all of this would need to be considered.

The meeting moved onto the nominations for region positions that are available.

• 3 year director: Bryan Roper and was seconded
• 3 year director: Markus Houser and was seconded
• Treasurer: Alan Lesher and was seconded
• Secretary: Brian Holmes and was seconded
• Assistant RE: Doug Austin and was seconded
• Regional Executive: Kristen Poole and was seconded

Alan moved the nominations be closed until next meeting. There was then further discussion about the region’s bylaws for nominations and a conflict with the proposed online voting. It might be possible to have online voting during the next meeting after the nominations are closed but only during the meeting time so as to meet the region bylaws concerning nominations and voting. Kristen agreed to look into this possibility and report back to the board prior to the November meeting.

Doug made a motion to adjourn and Henry seconded.

Respectfully submitted — Ed Womer, Secretary

*[Amendment added 11/22/16 by board vote] It was discussed that members and one guest would attend at a reduced cost as in years past. Non-members (unless counted as member’s one guest) would pay full amount. The reason is the interpretation per IRS rules and the possibility of the region losing its tax exempt status. October minutes were approved with this amendment.