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2002 Annual Meeting

Minutes of the Annual General Membership Meeting of

The Rib Mountain Repeater Association

16 November 2002

Hereford and Hops Restaurant, Wausau, Wisconsin

 

The meeting was called to order at 13:12 CST by President KC9NW.

 

Present were:       

Rich Maier KC9NW             Keith Stoney KB9QJQ        Dean Andrewjeski K9PT

                Mike Martens KB9VBR      Mike Matakovich N9IAB   Myron Oestreich KB9STB                

                Trenia Logan KC9ASL        Brian Larkee KB9ZYO         Al Lippert KA9PML

Andy Meitzner N9NRA      Lew Sheerar K9JPS              Mark Hoenecke WB9YZR 

Paul Nelles K9DB

 

All officers and Board members were present with the exception of Secretary Treasurer Bill Bergs KC9UC who was absent as he was responding to an emergency with the Civil Air Patrol. Therefore the annual financial statement was not available. Reading of the minutes of the previous meeting were dispensed with since they had been published on the website.

 

 

Old and New Business:

 

K9DB introduced Lew Sheerar K9JPS as the "Father of the RMRA", referring to a 1972 meeting of area Amateurs he held in his basement that resulted in the formation of the RMRA. Sheerar thanked the club and gave a brief summary of the first few years of the association.

 

 

K9PT gave a summary of the Rib Mountain tower and building space situation:

  • The owners of the new HDTV tower, the Joint Venture Group, have indicated that they will be charging all tower users rent. This would seem to imply Amateur systems as well, although no official communication nor anything in writing has been received on this topic.
  • The RMRA has been notified by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board that it will have to pay for the electricity the repeater uses.
  • The old tower should be razed by this time next year.

 

 

K9PT presented a proposal to link the 146.28/.88 system at Baraboo to the 146.22/.82 systems at Wausau:

  • A receiver site is available a Coloma, and the tower owner is favorable to the installation of the link.
  • The consensus of the membership was to further investigate the construction of the link and to contact the CWRA, owners of the Baraboo system.

 

 

K9DB asked if the RMRA would be interested in a commercial VHF transmitter/receiver pair that may be available for configuration as a packet node from Section Manager Don Michalski W9IXG:

  • KB9VBR reported that there is a gap in packet coverage in central Wisconsin.
  • Complications from the RF and political environments on Rib Mountain were discussed. It was noted that the node would not necessarily have to be installed on Rib Mountain.
  • The consensus of the membership was to proceed with fact finding.

 

 

K9PT proposed the installation of a National Weather Service SAME decoder on the .82 repeater:

  • The decoder would activate NOAA weather radio audio when alert tones are sent for specific counties. K9PT estimated that a basic system would cost about $40. However this system would hold the repeater output up for about five minutes regardless of the length of the NWS message.
  • A more sophisticated system would drop the output at the completion of the message.
  • Motion made by KB9STB and seconded by N9NRA to investigate the feasibility and cost of a SAME decoder unit that could drop the repeater output at the completion of the message. Passed by unanimous voice vote.

 

 

KC9NW proposed holding quarterly general membership meetings:

  • The additional three meetings would be considered special meetings with the November meeting remaining the  Annual General Membership meeting, so no change to the by-laws would be necessary.
  • Motion made by KB9STB and seconded by WB9YZR to hold quarterly general membership meetings. Passed by unanimous voice vote.

 

 

KC9NW reported on the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP):

  • The number of IRLP nodes online is now over 650.
  • K9PT reported that the touch-tone problems that have been affecting node were Linux OS problems. The current IRLP node Linux version is Redhat 6.2. This Linux version will not be supported after next summer. Now is a good time to upgrade Linux OS with a newer version either 7.3 or 8.0 and fix the touch-tone problems. Node will be taken off line to upgrade Linux OS version and reinstall IRLP software.

 

 

K9DB opened discussion on the related problems of low membership numbers and dues revenue, and the high number of non-members regularly using the systems.

  • Motion made by K9JPS and seconded by N9NRA that the Board consider a dues increase not to exceed $30 per year per individual and $40 per year per family, with the increase to be based on the increased expenditures associated with the new tower.  Passed by unanimous voice vote.

 

 

K9DB opened discussion on the excessive ragchewing on the 146.22/.82 system by N9TVT and other non-members and the apparent resultant problems of lost members reduced listenership. It was decided by consensus not to rescind the RMRA’s “open repeater” policy. K9DB proposed an eight point enforcement policy for the operating standards.

 

Motion made by KB9STB and seconded by N9NRA to adopt as the RMRA Operating Standards Enforcement Policy:

  1. An Amateur Radio operator may have his/her use privileges on one or more RMRA systems suspended or revoked for operational misconduct. Violation of one or more of the RMRA Operating Standards constitutes operational  misconduct.
  2. Suspensions shall be for a specified period of time, usually not to exceed one year.
  3. Revocations shall be issued conditionally, and will be in effect until the specified conditions are met, and the revocation is lifted by the RMRA Board of Directors and the License Trustee.
  4. Suspensions and revocations shall be imposed by the unanimous consent of the RMRA Board and the RMRA License Trustee. The affected operator shall have the right to appeal his/her suspension or revocation to the RMRA Board.
  5. The License Trustee may, with cause,  issue an immediate temporary suspension, which will remain in effect until reviewed by the RMRA Board, or lifted by the License Trustee.
  6. A suspension or revocation may be issued with or without warning to the offender, depending upon the severity of the violation and/or immediacy of the situation.
  7. The status of all current suspensions and revocations shall be posted on the RMRA website.
  8. Suspensions and revocations shall be enforceable by manual or automatic system control, including system shutdown, and legal recourse, if applicable.

 

Passed by unanimous voice vote.

 

 

K9DB presented drafts of amendments to two paragraphs of the RMRA by-laws to allow flexibility in the scheduling of the annual meeting, and notification via the internet.

Motion to Amend Article II Section 4 Paragraph (a) of the RMRA By-laws to read:

(changes in boldface type)

(a). The annual meeting of the RMRA shall be held on or about the second Saturday of November. The time and place of the annual meeting shall be announced by the President and notices shall be conspicuously posted to the RMRA website and/or mailed at least 15 days prior to the meeting to members of record as of October 10.

and to Amend Article II Section 4 Paragraph (b) of the RMRA By-laws to read:

(b). Special meetings may be called by the President, or any two Directors. Notice of a special meeting shall be conspicuously posted to the RMRA website, and/or mailed to the members at least ten days before such a meeting.

made by KB9STB and seconded by N9NRA. Passed by unanimous voice vote.

K9PT gave a short presentation on the status of the grant proposal. The first foundation to be approached has quarterly deadlines with the next coming up in December. It is hoped it will be completed in time.

 

Election of the Board of Directors:

 

Since there were five declared candidates for five offices, as allowed for by the by-laws, ballots were not mailed and the five candidates were declared the winners. Board members for the 2002-2003 fiscal year are:

 

Rich Maier KC9NW

Dean Andrewjeski K9PT

Mike Martens KB9VBR

Paul Nelles K9DB

Bill Bergs KC9UC

       

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 14:48.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Nelles K9DB

 

 

 

 

Minutes of the Meeting of

The Rib Mountain Repeater Association Board of Directors

16 November 2002

Hereford and Hops Restaurant, Wausau, Wisconsin

 

A special meeting of the RMRA Board of Directors was called to order at 14:54 CST.

 

Present were

 

Rich Maier KC9NW

Dean Andrewjeski K9PT

Paul Nelles K9DB

Mike Martens KB9VBR

 

Secretary Treasurer Bill Bergs KC9UC was absent as he was responding to an emergency with the Civil Air Patrol.

 

By consensus of those present, officers for the 2002-2003 fiscal year are

 

President:  Rich Maier KC9NW

Vice President:  Dean Andrewjeski K9PT

Secretary:  Paul Nelles K9DB

Treasurer:  Mike Martens KB9VBR

Member at Large:  Bill Bergs KC9UC

 

Meeting adjourned at 15:11 CST.

 

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Paul Nelles K9DB