FEB. '00 MEETING MINUTES
By Rick Magnuson

President Ron Gibby and Vice-President Jerry Wallis were both unable to attend the meeting due to family. Secretary Rick Magnuson was asked by Ron to run the meeting. The meeting was called to order with 17 members present.

Secretary Magnuson thanked Don Hall for his outstanding work in the successful raffle at Puyallup. The Club made $533 from Don’s efforts. Thanks were also given to Larry Mitchell for once again heading up the Club’s booth at Puyallup.

Terry Hane was thanked for his unrelenting efforts in overseeing the maintenance of the ORV field, one of the premier RC sites in the northwest!

The 2000 event schedule was presented for review. There were no changes. However, Terry Hane did point out that the closeness of the ARC event and the pattern meet coupled with the hot weather (and last year’s lack of water) put a high level of stress on the grass. It was suggested to spread out the timing of these 2 events if possible. Bill Greger will talk with the ARC folks to see what can be done.

Treasurer Clee Childress gave his report. Clee also presented the year 2000 budget as prepared by the Executive Board.

At the November 1999 meeting a motion was passed to table the field electrical decision until February 2000. There was a discussion about the electrical capacity that is needed at the field. The general consensus that a 30 amp circuit would be adequate for our needs. Rob Opgenorth (who researched the subject and met with the City of Richland) was not in attendance, so it was agreed to wait until Rob was available before proceeding.

Dennis Cone said that there is a very good possibility for the Club to obtain from The City of Richland a gazebo without charge. This would be a park quality (heavy-duty) unit. It could require that the Club provide a roof for it as well as erecting the structure. Don Hall made a motion to for the Club to accept the gazebo and then decide if the Club, based on installation costs, keep the gazebo or return it. The motion passed. Dennis will contact the City about obtaining the gazebo.

As mentioned in the February newsletter, there were no-shows last year for cutting the grass. There were 16 no-shows out of 40 assigned members. Some members cut the grass several times to cover for the no-shows. Terry Hane pointed out that letting the grass go without weekly mowing not only made flying less enjoyable, but also is very hard on the lawn mowers. Suggestions were made on how to improve the grass-cutting situation. No firm decision was made as several ideas are pending .

Don Hall said that a vendor at Puyallup would donate a set of floats to the Club. This could be used as a prize at out next float fly. Don will contact the float fly CD George Vargo.

Bill Greger, speaking for night worker Ron McMahan, wanted to gauge the Club’s feeling about holding a Cub only event. The membership liked the idea. Bill will report back to Ron, then Ron or Bill will then propose a date for the Club’s consideration.

Terry Hane mentioned that until the water is turned on, we should ‘move around’ the field. To lower any damage to the grass during these dry and windy days, don’t set up your flight equipment in the same spot each time. Move to a different area each flying session, don’t leave the reels in one location and do use a rug under your planes.

Dennis Cone pointed out that the Club’s listbot is causing some problems. Namely, when listbot is used, and not the receipt’s individual e-mail address, to send a message intended for a specific person, other listbot members’ mailbox fills up. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have a limit as to the mailbox size. Too much mail sent via listbot but actually intended for a specific individual, can cause others to run out of mailbox space and lose other e-mail. To keep the intent of listbot going, members are reminded to use the receipt’s personal e-mail address, not listbot, for messages not intended for the general listbot audience.

Gordon Anderson presented a ‘Downspout’ plane that he had made. Gordon said the plane was up for grabs. The suggestion was accepted that names be drawn for a dollar per name entry. Paul Beebe was the lucky winner and the Club made $18! Thank you Gordon for the nicely built plane.

The meeting was adjourned.