EVERGREEN SOARING
Minutes of a Meeting of the
Board of Directors
December 7, 2002
Keith Turner called the meeting to order at 9:20AM. The meeting was held at the Evergreen Soaring clubhouse at Arlington Airport. Those present were Keith Turner, President; Mike Delaney, Treasurer; Keith McLean, Operation’s Director; Mark Nyberg, Secretary; Eric Shahan, Chief Instructor; Brook Johnson, Head of Towplane Maintenance; John Gilbert, Fred Hermanspann, Gary Thayer, John Daly, Scott Watson, Robert Barwell, Chris Klix, Paul Adriance and Steve Smith.
Old business opened with the treasurer’s report. Mike explained that we have about $49,500 cash in the bank: $20,500 for the self-insurance and towplane engine funds plus $22,328 in checking. Our accounts receivable is about $3,500. We saved a lot of money by not leaving our gliders and towplane at Ephrata for so long after our encampment. Detail on the club’s finances will be made available during the next month.
In the Secretary’s Report Mark Nyberg mentioned that he wanted to put a phone tree in place soon to get better turnout at club events – including the upcoming annual meeting.
Eric Shahan gave the Instructors Report. The instructors have put a mentoring program in place where instructors adopt students to help them pursue their pilot’s licenses. A springtime refresher clinic is scheduled for March 29, 2003. Ground school is scheduled for January at the Puget Sound Yacht Club (e.g. the boat club).
John Daly mentioned that the SGC is working on a new towcard format and would like to come up with a standard format for the SGC and all gliding clubs. Mark Nyberg suggested that get a legal opinion on the liability release language on towcards.
Moving on to New Business, Keith Turner and Mark Nyberg agreed to phone all active members to remind them of the annual meeting. Keith Turner said that he already has on candidate for each elected board position.
Keith Turner agreed to take charge of selling the Lark. An ad will be placed in Soaring Magazine and online at www.wingsandwheels.com. Combining expected proceeds from the Lark sale with the money we received from sale of the Russia will give us $30,000 available for use in purchasing new equipment. We might purchase another higher-performance 2-place glider or maybe even a better single-place glider. Evergreen may want to put together an arrangement where the Evergreen Soaring purchases a glider in partnership with a group of members.
Our repaired towplane went back into service on Friday December 6.
The club has an opportunity to rent a Grob 109A motorglider. This is the same motorglider that ProAir has been managing and Angus McKinnon has been using to give motorglider instruction. Evergreen is negotiating with Steve Smith (a student glider pilot) to make the glider available for club use for $50/hr wet. In addition to the hourly fee, the club would need to cover the estimated $2,500 per year insurance plus the fuel. The discussion included he advantages and disadvantages of offering the motorglider with our club. The advantages include being able to:
· Make 8 or more touch-and-go landing in an hour – for about $60.00
· Fly without the need for a towpilot, towplane or FOO.
· Schedule instruction by appointment instead of first-come-first-served.
· Teach off-field landing without the risk of having to actually touch down.
· Get a new addition to our fleet with no capital expense.
· Cruise around at 90 knots when there is no lift.
· Provide more midweek soaring opportunities.
· Attract a different type of member.
There are two main concerns about the motorglider: We will lose tow revenue when people choose to fly the Grob 109A instead of a club glider and motorglider checkouts will increase the workload on the instructors. The motorglider discussion will be continued at the annual meeting.
John Gilbert asked the board to make a $1,000 donation to the Seattle Glider Council Soaring Foundation (SGCSF). John Gilbert talked about the new facility that they built and the contributions the SGC has made to soaring in Washington. John Daly talked about how the facility was planned and built. Other Evergreen members explained that they thought that our club could make better use of the money since we have been losing members and losing money. It was agreed that the issue would be put to a vote of the membership attending the annual meeting. John Gilbert would provide the argument in favor of the donation and Keith Turner would provide the argument against.
The FAA has decided not to sponsor the annual Instructor Revalidation Clinic that Bob Chase organizes. However the clinic may proceed without the outside funding.
There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 11:40 AM.
Respectfully,
Mark Nyberg
Secretary