2003 Annual Meeting

Minutes of the Annual General Membership Meeting of

The Rib Mountain Repeater Association

15 November 2003

Hereford and Hops Restaurant, Sherman St., Wausau, Wisconsin

The meeting was called to order at 13:06 CST by President KC9NW.

Present were:       

        Rich Maier KC9NW                                     Bill Bergs KC9UC                                 Dean Andrewjeski K9PT

        Mike Martens KB9VBR                              Mike Matakovich N9IAB                   Paul Kraay KC9EQS           

        Dan Sharpee KB9RXA                                Gerry Graebel W9GLG                         Herb Bloedel W9GAA

        Glen Engebretson N9CWN                        Lew Sheerar K9JPS                              Billy Jack McCoy AE9ZH

        Dennis H. Shawl W9PBB                            Brian Seehafer N9ATQ                       Joe Glinski KG9B

        Paul Nelles K9DB                                         Stan Kaplan WB9RQR

All officers and Board members were present.

KC9NW gave a last call for ballots and subsequently declared balloting closed. He appointed Paul Kraay KC9EQS and Glen Engebretson N9CWN as ballot clerks.

The business meeting was then suspended for the program, Wisconsin Section Emergency Coordinator Dr. Stan Kaplan WB9RQR. His talk was entitled, Wisconsin ARES/RACES - Their Backgrounds and Mission in Today's Environment, and lasted for about 40 minutes.

Upon resumption of the meeting, the reading of the minutes of the 2002 general membership meeting were dispensed with since they had been published on the website. The minutes were approved as published by unanimous acclamation.

Treasurer’s Report:

Printed copies of the Treasurer’s Report were distributed by Treasurer Mike Martens KB9VBR. A verbatim copy of the report follows:

    All bills have been paid, but there are some outstanding expenses for tower climbing for which the

    club has not yet been billed. These are expected to total form $250 to $350.

(end of Treasurer’s Report)

The Treasurer’s Report was approved as presented by unanimous acclamation.

The President’s Annual Report:

    Printed copies of the President’s Report were distributed by President Rich Maier KC9NW. A verbatim

    copy of this report follows:

(end of President’s Report)

Old Business:

K9PT gave a summary of the Rib Mountain tower, building, and equipment activities for the past year.

• Mark Hoenecke WB9YZR was responsible for installing the interface between the 146.82 repeater and the Wisconsin Emergency Alert Systems. This system sends out alerts on the repeater for severe weather, Amber Alerts, and other situations. Routine test alerts occur on Wednesdays with more detailed test alerts monthly. The state does not issue alerts for severe weather watches, only warnings.
• The antennas were moved to the new tower in stages over the past year. In August, the repeaters were physically moved to the new transmitter building.
• There is no UPS on the emergency power system at present. The generators take about 5 to 10 seconds to reach full power in the event of a commercial power failure. This power lapse causes the controller to reset. It is believed a facility-wide UPS may be available in the next year. If not, the board will investigate adding a repeater specific UPS.
• The 146.82 receiver noise problem has been investigated by swapping out various components including reconfiguring the mounting bracket stabilizer bar and swapping out the VHF antenna. The most recent attempt removed the VHF/UHF splitter at the antennas.
• A formal lease of tower and building space has not yet been acted upon by the Joint Venture Committee (JVC), owners of the tower. That action is expected in the next few months.

Tentative dates for quarterly meetings for the coming year were suggested by KC9NW. February 15^th , May 15^th , and August 14^th were approved by the members present by unanimous acclamation. 

The IRLP Report was given by KC9NW. The number of nodes on the IRLP net has grown from 650 at this time last year to 1100 now. The IRLP is temporarily on the 443.75 MHz.on Mosinee Hill.

New Business:

The Board is continuing with upgrades to the systems as resources become available. Desired upgrades are:

Replace the 146.82 MHz transmitter

Replace the RC 850 controller

Add remote receiver sites controlled with existing LDG Electronics voter

K9DB is continuing to write grant proposals for capital improvement project funding. Members may be approached for one time contributions during the next year.

Election of the Board of Directors:

KC9NW read the results of the election for the Board of Directors as tabulated by the appointed clerks KC9EQS and N9CWN:

Rich Maier KC9NW                                     25 votes

Paul Nelles K9DB                                         24 votes

Dean Andrewjeski K9PT                            23 votes

Mike Martens KB9VBR                              21 votes

Bill Bergs KC9UC                                         19 votes

Mark Hoenecke WB9YZR                          12 votes

Billy McCoy AE9ZH                                     6 votes

As per the by laws, the top five vote getters are elected. Therefore Board members for the 2002-2003 fiscal year are: KC9NW, K9DB, K9PT, KB9VBR, and KC9UC.  

A motion to destroy the ballots was approved by unanimous acclamation.

Meeting adjourned at 14:43.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul Nelles K9DB, Secretary