PASCO Board Meeting Minutes

Minutes from Meeting – Feb. 23, 2009   7:12PM

Board Members Present:

  1. Peter Deane
  2. Joel Klein
  3. Mike Mayo
  4. Hans Van Weersh
  5. Fred Lasor
  6. Bruce Roberts (briefly)
  7. Karol Hines
  8.  

Regional Directors/Governors present

  1. Jay McDaniel

Old Action Items:

1.    Bruce:   Finalize 2008 banquet expenses. --Status: almost Done, but need confirmation with Hans. (Karol: This should be published in WestWind.)

2.    Bruce   Finalize venue for 2009 banquet. --Status: Open -- deadline is March

3.    Peter    Solicit for MC for 2009 banquet --Status: Open

4.    Hans    Was officer list filed w state? --Status: Open. Hans: Believe that this is to be done every other year. He will follow up and find due date.

5.    Hans:    Organize the financial audit --Status: Open. Assumption is that John Volkober is not interested, due to his lack of communication. Hans will next talk with Charles Hanes, former treasurer of BASA, to see if he's interested.

6.    Hans:    Find out how to get Peter as a signatory, and get him bank material and info.
-- Status: Open. Checking & Savings with Wells Fargo, and Scholarship with Morgan Stanley. Hans will check with each institution to find out procedure.

6a. Peter: Get scholarship info to Larry -- Status: done

7.    Fred:     Create promotion strategy for Minden --Status: done.
Discussion:
Fred: He's a member of Minden airport advisory committee. Committe has decided to market the airport. They've asked him for ideas to market soaring. Has drafted a letter welcoming soaring pilots back to Minden. Published in WestWind & SSA Mag.
SoarNV is hosting a wave camp april 8-12.
Announced today that the egg has been captured out of Minden. Trying to keep their name in front of soaring pilots as much as possible.
Peter: Any other longer term plan?
Fred: The activities of the AAC will be ongoing for several years. I was on the planning group for the new airport plan, and soaring was forefront in that. Hoping not to be too much in the face of the other operators on the airport.
Trying to get something started on the East side.
Peter: Sounds like largely an airport advocacy effort, long term grind. Think that getting soaring to the East side is crucial to the long-term survival of soaring at Minden.
Fred: Yes.
Peter: Rumor that the airport is trying to bring heavy cargo into the airport?
Fred: I don't think so. Right now there are 3 or 4 empty commercial spaces.
Karol: Did you see in the paper that they're moving the fire base out of Minden.
Fred: Single engine air tankers and helicopters out of Minden.
Karol: Administrative and heavy tankers will move to Stead.
Karol: The fire tankers bring a lot of money in to keep the airport open.
Fred: The 78 acre parcel with commercial hangers brings in a lot of money to airport, but the development overthere seems moribund at the moment. No work in the last 8 or 9 months.
Summary: Strategy as of now is to continue airport advocacy and working to move glider operations to east side of airport.

9.    Rob:      Create promotion strategy for ASI (Robert Stoney with Karol & Stu) --Status: Open.
Karol: Haven't heard from Robert or Stu

10   Peter:    Ask Ty to create membership promotion plan for Westwind and Pasco website
--Status: Partially Done. Ty still needs to get it to Peter.

11.  Karol    Include details of 200 wind monitor towers in Westwind.--Status: Open.

12.  Fred:     Provide Peter w details of 200 wind monitor towers. --Status: Open.
Discussion:
Fred: Sent email off, but hasn't been able to learn any more yet. Do know that they're between Minden and just east of Air Sailing at Lovelock.
Monitor towers consist of 6 inch aluminum tube that goes up 60 feet, may be a navigation hazard.
Peter: went to BLM web site, there are a large number of proposed sites from Goose Lake to Tonopah and beyond.
Karol: are they all on BLM land? I know that there are a number that are not. There is a turbine site on pvt property on Virginia peak, and on Dogskin. I know about these because of my involvement with Washoe county  & regional planning. Not because they were on any map. They have to apply for a special use permit in Washoe cty to put up a monitoring tower. Also permission with military for Washoe and Churchill to the east.
Peter: Would be worth following up with all of the counties to find out where the turbine sites will be.
Karol: Only know of three sites in the state of NV that have gone beyond planning phase.
out near Ely, Virginia Peak on the paraw range south of ASI, Peaks around Virginia City in the Virginia Range. Are receiving a lot of opposition from the local residents.
Peter: The potential gliding safety issue is with the monitoring towers, you can see and avoid a turbine.
Fred: They're relatively small, and only can be up for two years.
Peter: The major safety issue is with the monitoring towers, not the turbines.
Peter: How best to communicate this info to members?
Fred: Downloadable coordinates?
Peter: Need a volunteer to take this on. Create an airspace formatted downloadable.
Hans: I think this is non-issue for the most part. Unless it's in a place where people traditionally ridge soar.
Summary: Fred will get more info about locations of approved wind monitoring areas where they are close to known soaring sites or well traveled ridges.
Karol will put that info in Westwind & web site about where to find general info on wind monitoring, and info on the soaring-specific sites that will be affected.

13.  Fred:     Contact Donald Brooks about status of nationwide transponder code for gliders.
Spoke with Donald 2 weeks ago, slow process, doesn't expect it to happen soon. --Status: Done.
Discussion:
Karol: Steve Northcraft of the SSA might be a better source of information.
Jay: At the Nat'l Board meeting he learned that the FAA is still working on it. 1201 won't work for some areas, and haven't come up with a new code yet.
Action -- Fred will follow up with Steve Northcraft and get on his mailing list about nationwide transponder code for gliders.

14.  Fred:      Propose seminar time/format/topics in Minden & forward to Peter. --Status: Open.
Discussion
Fred: SoaringNV Wave Camp 8th-12th Fred. Will be giving safety about flying in wave window area and talking with Reno Tracon.
Peter: Should we have a safety seminar to get in front of more Minden pilots, not just glider pilots?

15.  Peter:    Mail winch presentation material to Larry (CD).  --Status: Done.

16.  Peter:    Check bylaws for general membership vote for Pasco participating in winch purchase?
Discussion:
Peter: Yes we can. The bylaws don't require a general membership vote, but does indicate how to hold a special meeting. Only restrictions are: 1) Can't own airplanes, 2) can't be directly involved in training.
--Status: Done.

17.  Marc    Put together plan for LLC for winch launch - Can Pasco put up money, but not be liable? --Status: Open.

18.  Peter:    2 spiritware items available by July 2009 --Status: Open.

19.  Peter:     Roll out 2009 goals to board --Status: Done.

20.  Peter    Make Pasco re-imbursement for Alby award public ($1,120) on web site and WestWind
--Status: Done. Will be in march West Wind.

21.  Mike:     Conduct general membership survey --Status: Open.

22.  Peter:   Write the first monthly update for the website. -- Status: Done & sent to Larry (not yet on web.)

23.  Karol:   Work to find a new editor to replace herself for Westwind. -- Status: Open

24.  Peter:   Do overview presentation for NCSA, BASA & Williams in 2009 (Internal membership
communication). -- Status: Done.

25.  Joel:      Work with Peter to come up with designs for PASCO "spiritwear" --Status: Open

26.  Mike:   Put together proposal/ideas for cross country community & network building event(s) in lieu of the Cross Country Seminars. --Status: Open
Discussion:
Mike: Welcome any ideas. We could do lunch meetings from time to time (currently doing that with a small group).
Karol: Put that in the membership survey.
Fred: OLC has had an impact on cross country soaring internationally. Is there something we can do among PASCO?
Peter: That's what the Sawyer award does right now.
Peter: Would be interesting to add a speed component to OLC...
Ramy: OLC League has points based on average speed during fastest 3 or 3.5 hours as well (OLC classic is distance only)
Mike: Could do something inspired by the PASCO league, construct some ranking ladder on the PASCO web site.
Fred: Those are individual kinds of efforts, is there something we can do on the mentoring side?
Mike: The ladder could include a lead pilot... to encourage x-country mentoring.
Summary: We should include questions about this topic in the member survey.

 

New Action Items:

Fred: Research with BLM to see if there is a central place to find info on locations of wind monitoring towers.

Karol: Put wind monitoring tower info in Westwind on web site, about where to find general info on wind monitoring, and info on the soaring-specific sites that will be affected.

Fred: Follow up with Steve Northcraft and get on his mailing list about nationwide transponder code for gliders for updates about this process.

Fred: Contact FSDO about getting how to set up a presentation as a WINGS seminar.

Peter: Check with Marc to see if he needs/wants help looking into Winch LLC.

Joel: Contact spiritwear manufacturer to discuss possible design.

Mike: Get a bio on Sumner Davis and Dave Cunningham for Westwind from appropriate NCSA people.

All: Write an article for Westwind if you can. Plus, we need a picture on the cover in the theme of "getting ready for the season," perhaps someone flying with an instructor? Or, even just an idea of a kind of article that you'd like to see, please send that to Karol.

Fred: Write an email to Cindy Brickner about White Elk MOA and possible impact on Ely airspace. Also send copy of letter of protest he wrote on this topic previously to Karol for WestWind.

Peter: Contact Rob Stone about PASCO board position.

Joel: Research Sport Pilot-related events for possible PASCO display.

Goals Reminder Discussion:

There was some discussion around Goal Number 6, Consolidate FAA relationships:
Fred: AOPA may be more friendly to gliding with their new president.
Jay: Chris O'Callahan on the SSA Board does communication for AOPA.
Fred: We (SSA) should ask AOPA what we need to do to get on their radar screen.
Peter: AOPA does have a lot more clout than SSA.

 

2. Treasure’s report:    plus Audit update and Budget proposal

Hans: Sent income report around by email. Here's the summary--
Bank account balance status, closing 16th January, 2009:
Checking: $19,840.00
Savings: $126.00
Scholarship Fund (Morgan Stanley as of 12/31/08):
$8,323.00
These totals do not include:
SSA reimbursement request from Jay
NCSA dues that have just come in.
Discussion:
Karol: Why so much in checking? Should be in savings.
Hans: The interest rate in the savings account is tiny.

Audit Update: (see notes in action items, above.)

Budget Proposal Discussion:
Hans: (Referring to emailed discussion document):
We have about $8K/year income and a good reserve.
So, in the Proposed Budget, we should:
-Reduce annual income to $8K
-Increase awards to $500
-Alby Award is listed as $1120.
Hans: I'm not aware of an ongoing expense for the Alby Award--this line item could be removed.
(Discussion about Sergio wanting to publicize the award, perhaps in Soaring magazine.
Karol: Alby Award info in Soaring could be under 'News' section--should be free?
Jay: adding photos could cost a bit. In any event, the total should be well under the current figure.)
-Airshow Costs, Promotion Materials & Spirit Wear estimates looks good as a starting point. 
-Scholarship: has only paid three scholarships--need to advertise this more

Hans: We don't need a positive cash flow, developing activities that bring us to a zero cash flow is the goal, while still maintaining a good reserve.

 

3. Banquet & Seminars Preparation  -  Site, speaker, topics

No progress yet.
Discussion: Should we have Sully as the main banquet speaker? Not sure if he'll have any more to say that hasn't already been in the press.

 

4. Membership Issues and Promotion –
Discussion:
Hans: Within BASA we see some attrition due to economy. Fuel prices up.
Mike: Promote to power pilots. NCSA annual safety seminar is now a WINGS program. Put together some seminars and get the FAA to give WINGS credit.
Karol: Perhaps the Williams seminars could be part of that program?
Joel: Perhaps some part of the SoaringNV wave camp (April 8th - 12th) could be turned into a WINGS seminar? Something about mtn wave or pilot physiological issues?
Fred: As a promotion to glider pilots, we're offering that if you attend 3 wave seminars and do some minimum flying = BFR.
Action -- Fred: will contact FSDO about  how to set up a WINGS seminar.

 

5. Communications

      a. Website  -- No report.

      b. WestWind
Karol: Got nice article from Monique about all things that happened last year. Would like to do that for all clubs and FBOs.
We need someone to write an article about Sumner Davis. Was he a member of NCSA?
We never did get a bio of Dave Cunningham.
Mike: will get a bio from NCSA on Dave Cunningham (Did Richard Pearle write something?) & Summner Davis.
Shooting to get issue out in March.

Action for all: Write an article if you can, we need a picture on the cover in the theme of "getting ready for the season," perhaps someone flying with an instructor? Or, even just an idea of a kind of article that you'd like to see, please send that along. Haven't gotten much off of the bulletin boards lately.

 

6.  Safety Issues – Wind towers, Ely airspace

Wind Towers: see discussion above.
Ely Airspace:
Karol: That would be the White Elk MOA.
Fred: Wrote letter of protest 1 or 2 years ago, thought it was currently a non-issue.
Karol: Think that it's on again.
Action Item -- Fred: contact Cindy to find out. Will send a copy of his previous letter to Karol for possible inclusion in March West Wind.

 

7.  Contest Updates – Regionals and Nationals

Fred: Tom Stowers (does glider repair in Gardnerville) wants to have the 15M class nationals at Minden next year.
Karol: Rick Walters has serious health issues. perhaps we should have someone coordinate in the mean time?

 

8.  Winch progress

      a.  How can PASCO reasonably participate?

No report.

9.  PASCO Director positions

      Editor search still open.
Lee’s replacement -- We should talk with someone out of Air Sailing, perhaps Rob Stone
Action Item-- Peter: Contact Rob Stone about PASCO board position.
Promotions search still open. See discussion above on WINGS seminar development.
Joel: Spoke with Eric Rupp who thinks we should target events that promote Sport Pilot. He thinks the people there will be more potential "bang for the buck" than just going to airshows open to the general public.
Action Item-- Joel: Research Sport Pilot-related events for possible PASCO display.

 

10. SSA updates
Jay: Nothing new from what I sent out earlier.
Karol: Fred won most active instructor in Region 11. (Fred didn't know!)
This is the first year that we have the "off year" of the convention, so no group awards presentation. The local directors were given the task of presenting awards within their region.
Next year's convention at Little Rock, Arkansas.
Sunflower Aerodrome donation was withdrawn by Bill Seed. He wanted to have a world's competition there as a condition of the donation.

11.  New Business

None.

Next meeting:
Typically second Monday of the Month, however we're late this month--does it make sense at this point to have a March meeting, or just get back on schedule for April?

Group Decision: Next meeting April 13th, pending Peter's input.

Adjourned 9:05