Call to order
A meeting of Bay Area Amateur Radio Club was held on January 12th, 2023, at the Salvation Army building, Bay City, MI. Board members in attendance: president Steve Covieo (ke8nko), vice president Loren Curtis (kf8f), treasurer Dusty Trisch (k1dlt), and secretary Bill Baylis (ke8nkn). The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm.
Reports
Treasurer’s report: Dusty stated the total checking account. He also stated there was PayPal membership fee that would be dropping into the checking account later this month. A motion was made to accept the treasurer’s report into record. The motion was seconded, and approved.
Secretary’s report: that club members had met for a Christmas party at Castaways restaurant, and there were notes for December 2022. Notes from February’s 2022 were read into record. A motion was made to accept these notes. The motion was seconded, and approved.
Old Business
None.
New Business
President stated member Dean Bass (kc8bgk) was interested in filling the 3-year trusty position. Steve made a motion to accept Dean as trusty. The motion was seconded, motion passed.
The President informed members that the Winter Field Day (https://winterfieldday.com) was taking place January 28th – 29th. He also stated that the Saginaw Club would be conducting their Winter Field Day activities at the Harry Brown Airport. Any interested members were welcome to join them. For additional info they should contact Saginaw club president Ron Huss kc8yvf@arrl.net or (989) 751 – 2693.
President spoke about locations for June’s Field Day, and asked members for suggestions. He and the club secretary would continue to look for other location options, but that club did have Frankenlust Park as a backup. He reminded members that it would take a commitment from the entire club to have a successful field day. A list was started for members to sign up. The following list includes George ke8tsl, Steve ke8tsj, and Bill ke8nkn.
President stated that the club’s website had been updated to give anyone the ability to join via the web. He also stated that it was important we continue to support the cost through donation.
President asked members if they thought monthly meeting start times should be adjusted to 7pm. Overall consensus was yes. A motion was made to change meeting times to 7pm, motion was seconded, and motion was passed. February’s meeting will start at 7pm.
President stated that the board had voted to start the Club sanction Net backup. He stated that volunteers should run it on rotation bases and that topic’s would need to be ham related. The Net would be held on Wednesday evenings at 7pm on the 36. A list was started for volunteers. The following list includes Steve ke8nko, Bill ke8nkn.
Club member Jeff kb8swr spoke to members about the 31 Repeater. Jeff works for Central Michigan Emergency Network (CMEN). CMEN is a group of amateur ham operators who have come together with the goal of strengthening ham communications throughout Michigan. CMEN is interested in bringing district 3 together by updating the 31. This would mean the club would need to relinquish control of the 31, turning it over to CMEN. Jeff stated CMEN already has a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt status and would be able to write a grant for monies for an upgrade. These upgrades would include equipment, adding an All Star node, and Echo link. He stated the only foreseeable challenge would be in getting a lease agreement with Vertical Bridge, owners of the tower the 31 resides on. He emphasized that CMEN intention was to make the 31 a district asset. Club president stated that we would consider CMEN offer, weighting the pros and cons. The club would then vote on their proposal at February’s meeting.
Announcements
Starting this year the club will begin to give monthly presentations following at the end normal meeting business. These presentations can be on any Ham Radio related topic. This is a great opportunity to learn and share your radio interest. If you’re interested please contact a board member.
Adjournment
The president made a motion to adjourn, motion was seconded, and motion passed, meeting ended at 7 pm. There were 10 members in attendance. There were an additional 4 people who joined the meeting via Zoom.