NWACC Board of Directors Meeting
President Ron Waller called the meeting to order at 3:15 PM at the Fort Lewis Golf Club, Ft. Lewis, WA. Officers present were Ron Waller, George Schwartz, Lona Hyatt and Dave Kaiser.
Roll Call
Clubs present were:
Columbia River Corvettes
Corvettes D Olympia
Classical Glass Corvette Club
Mt Hood Corvettes
Rose City Corvettes
Clubs not present were:
Capital City Corvettes
Marque Club of Seattle
Northwest Corvette Association
R-Vettes Northwest
Willamette Valley Corvette Association
A quorum was established.
Minutes:
Ron reported that minutes from the September 27, 2003 meeting had been distributed to board members via email. Hard copies were passed out to those in attendance that wanted them. There being no corrections, a motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the September 27th minutes as written.
Treasurer’s Report:
Dave Kaiser, NWACC treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s Report for the period ending October 31, 2003, provided copies to all members in attendance and reviewed the documents in the report. Reports will be mailed to those member clubs unable to attend. Dave’s review of the organizations current financial position reflects that we are on budget for the year 2003. No significant change is anticipated prior to the end of the year.
Dave reported that he has renewed NWACC’s domain name for a period to 2 years. Web site hosting is paid on a quarterly basis and is not due again until after the first of the new-year. Dave had made application to the Bank of America for a club credit card for the purpose of paying computer related charges for which checks are not accepted. The credit card and since been denied due to our inadequate liquidity. Bills for these expenses will continue to be paid via Dave Kaiser’s personal credit card and then reimbursed to him by NWACC check.
Dave reported that we have a small credit balance with K & K insurance due a misunderstanding of the event binder fees. It was thought that we were required to pay individual binder fees for each event; i.e.; rally, autocross, regardless of whether both events were hosted the same week-end. In reality, if two events are held by the same club on the same week-end (as a part of the same overall event), then only the higher of the binder fees must be paid. The credit balance is for an unnecessary binder fee which was paid this past summer. Dave has asked K & K to leave the credit on the account and apply it toward 2004 policy renewal premiums.
George Schwartz asked whether we had a similar checking account balance at the beginning of 2003. Dave reported that the beginning balance at that time was approximately $1,000 less. The reason for the higher balance forward is because we hosted more events this year than in the past. We picked up more income than we had expected and plan to use these funds to offset expected cost increase in the new year.
Dave noted that there will be an audit of the 2003 books today immediately after today’s meeting. George has assembled an audit committee comprised of 1 member from four member clubs.
Old Business:
Ron Waller opened the floor for final nominations to fill the offices of vice president, secretary and treasurer. Each of the current officers has agreed to seek another term. Ron asked for further nominations or volunteers. No nominations were made. Each club member present was queried individually as to their interest in running for one of the open offices. None were interested. There being no further nominations for the offices of vice president, secretary and treasurer, nominations were closed. A vote was held and the results were unanimous in favor of the re-electing:
George Schwartz, CDO – Vice President
Lona Hyatt, CGCC – Secretary
Dave Kaiser, MHC, Treasurer
New Business:
Each year at this meeting all of the new Rules Change Proposals are submitted by member clubs. Each club representative is charged with taking these proposals back to their membership for the purpose of review, discussion and voting. The pass/reject tally is to be brought to the February meeting where the Board will vote on whether the Rules Change is approved or rejected.
The following Rules Change Proposals were presented by George Schwartz as chair of the competition committee:
1). A proposal was presented to eliminate the 2 NWACC Events Chairman positions in the Constitution and delete the responsibilities of the positions from the By-Laws.
These positions have never been filled in recent memory and no club has inquired about who or what these positions are or the function they perform.
2). A proposal was presented to suspend all rules governing judged car show Concours and Shine & Show events for the 2004 competition season and focus on the promotion of “Peoples Choice” events. Each member club would actively encourage their membership to host and attend events hosted by member clubs.
The purpose of this proposal is to offer a solution to the concerns expressed with both the methods and actions of judges and the lack of consistency in judging in both types of shows. A “Peoples Choice” type of event may help to keep up interest in the various club events, affords club members (and other Corvette owners) the opportunity to display their car and enjoy the event activities and the camaraderie of Corvette enthusiast.
A discussion was had in regard to the financial impact of Rules Change Proposal #2. Dave Kaiser presented a proposed budget which takes into account the decreased revenue and expenses. The impact on NWACC is considerable, however, not insurmountable.
Dave reminded the Board that the main issue driving this proposed change is the potential loss of member clubs who have let it be know that they would no longer support judged car shows and, in fact, would not participate if NWACC adopted “Peoples Choice” as a show category and charged an entry fee along with the Concours and Shine & Show categories. The Board as a whole felt that it did not want to lose ANY member clubs over financial considerations and was willing to work to assure that everyone was happy.
There was considerable discussion of the ramifications of adopting an all “People’s Choice” criteria. The suggestion is for a 1 year trial period only to see if there will be sufficient interest in the car shows. If not, we can return to or modify the current judging rules. Many clubs expressed the thought that moving to People’s Choice would be widely accepted by their clubs. Other members were concerned with maintaining the connection between the clubs without some tie that binds the season’s events to one another.
The following Rules Change Proposals were presented by Dave Kaiser:
1). Change in the wording of Section 5 – Hosting an Event, RO1; 9, in the Competition Code to reflect the change in insurance policy limits from 1 million to 2 million per occurrence and requires member clubs and the Executive Board’s approval for any further increase.
2). Change in the wording of Section 5 – Hosting and Event, RO2; 9.3 to require member clubs to pay for insurance Binder fees at the time of the request for a binder.
3). Change in the wording of the By-Laws, Article IV – Officers, RO2 to include Member-At-Large representation on the Executive Board along with member club representation.
4). Change wording of Constitution, Article V –Privileges, Section 1, RO4 to eliminate reference to a “current rulebook”.
5). Change to Competition Code, Section 6 – Entry Fees, to eliminate event fee schedule, delineate Autocross and Rally $5 per entrant fee and state insurance binder requirements.
6) Change to Competition Code to eliminate Concours and Shine & Show event results criteria.
Ron asked that each club representative discuss the Rules Change Proposals at length with their club members. Proposals will be supplied to each club and are available for viewing on the web site. Please come to the February meeting prepared to vote on each proposal.
Dave Kaiser presented a proposed budget for 2004 based upon acceptance of all of the above Rules Change Proposals. The proposed budget does not reflect any increases with the exception of a possible increase in insurance cost. Dave also had a proposed budget available that was based on “business as usual” in the event that the Rules Change Proposals are not adopted. The Board tabled final discussion of the budget until the proposals were either approved or denied.
The next meeting will be held at the February 2004 High Performance Swap meet in Puyallup, WA. Date & time to be announced.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 PM.
Submitted by,
Lona R. Hyatt, NWACC Secretary