Evergreen Soaring
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2009

The meeting was called to order in the Red Barn classroom at the Museum of Flight at 7:06 p.m. by president Fred Hermanspann. In attendance were directors Gary Paulin, Marty Gibbons, Stan Kasprzyk, Tony Puglisi, Hans Sendelbach, and Myles Bradley. Dan Teifke, Bruce Bulloch, Brian Hood, John Gilbert, Mark Nyberg, Heinz Gehlhaar, and several prospective new members attended as well.

After a round of introductions, the prosective new members were interviewed. These were Mason Killebrew and CAP cadets Tristan Slezak and Mitchell Halliday. The board subsequently voted to accept all three as new members.

During the interviews it transpired that some people who have received Demo rides or FAST flights have been told that the some portion of the cost of these flights would be applied to their initiation fees should they then join the club. The board agreed to honor any committments to do so made by field managers, but that in the future, no such offers would be made. Hans will get the word out to field managers. It was also noted that we are out of FAST packets. Gary offered to take charge of the FAST program and get more packets from SSA.

Club officers' reports followed.

President: Fred reported that the Twisp expeditons had been quite successful. Our training operation at Arlington has been going well this summer. The 1-34 is still in Ephrata but will be returned to Arlington by the end of September. He also briefly discussed the status of the Arlington airport Master Plan. The FAA currently has objections to our operations. Negotiations are ongoing. The leases on our hangars expire in eleven years and we need to make some material improvements on them before lease renewal. The hangar association is at work on compliance.

Presedent-elect: Gary had nothing to report.

Secretary: As the new secretary, Myles asked about the details of the prior decision to post board meeting minutes on the web site. Mark volunteered to do the actual posting. Myles also announced that he is not prepared to continue as secretary after the end of this term in December.

Treasurer: Marty had sent out a financial report by e-mail prior to the meeting. We are well ahead of last year in terms of number of tows and thus our financial position appears good. The finance committee is working on a predictive model to assist the board in making budget decisions in the future. The model is in need of more refinement before it can be considered useful. The list of delinquent accounts has been reduced and those with large past-due balances will be contacted about payment. Because of the time lag between payments and crediting, some of past-due accounts may be already taken care of. The finance committee is also working on the tow plane utilization issue.

Equipment Manager: Tony sent a tabular summary of maintenance performed on club equipment out by e-mail prior to the meeting. Ephrata will close for the season Oct. 4. The 1-34 will be returned to Arlington by the end of September. Three of the club's parachutes will be kept current over the winter. The rest will be in storage at Tony's house. Tony mentioned he needed the glider hours to enter in the log books. Dan will send him the information. Brian will talk to Dan King about compensating him for the purchase of new tires for one of the glider trailers.

Chief CFIG: Stan is developing a training syllabus to be attached to each student's log book. This will make it easier for instructors to assess each students progress. He plans to put a training page on the club web site and has obtained some software from Skyline Soaring that he feels will be very useful and effective. His next goal is to formalize and document checkout procedures for all club equipment.

Operations Director: Hans confessed to having had a great time organizing and participating in the club's recent expeditions. For next year he is considering an expedition to Ranger Creek or Packwood. He hopes to come out with a tentative schedule of events early in the year. He has been working on a wing-runner training manual with Roger Axelson. Next on the list is a Field Manager manual.

Newsletter Editor: Mark announced that he had received no submissions for the next issue of GlidePath.

Next on the agenda was new business.

The next board meeting was scheduled for Oct. 7 at 7:00 p.m. at the museum of flight. There was a brief attempt to dicuss club barbecues, but no one seemed particularly interested.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.

In the weeks since the board meeting, the following items have been discussed via e-mail:

David Marshall asked to be moved to inactive status.

There was a motion to delete social member Frank Waxham from the roster and write off his debt. The motion was seconded but a vote was never completed. This should be taken up at the next board meeting.

The board approved a one-day expedition to Skykomish for September 27.

Roger Axelson's Wing Runner manual has been completed and will be submitted for approval.

Fred proposed a change to the By-laws regarding non-paying members. No action has thus far been taken.

There was a long discussion on whether we have the resources to continue to accept new members and give demo rides.

Respecfully submitted
Myles Bradley
Secretary