May 12, 2014
Valley Fliers May Board Meeting
Present: Lawton, DeWitt, Patrick, Bryce, Vader, plus 7 members and 1 guest.
Excused: Botezatu
Meeting called to order at: 6:37. (Late due to Secretary)
Approval of April Meeting Minutes
Eric moves for approval as written, Tom seconds. Approved unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report
See Alan’s report. The BATD (final payment made) arrived today and appears to be in good condition. The March fuel payment went out in April. The April fuel payment will be paid in May, but is shown for reference. 34H was flown the most. 63S looks low, but was out for annual. The minimum flying fees were lower than normal (which is good). The revenues are likely to increase throughout the summer. The $6 fee was for replacement of lost PO Box keys. The 9MA repairs were the cleaning and a fairly extensive annual. Neglecting depreciation, we gained about $4700 on the month. Reserve and Escrow accounts only change by the very small interest rate we are paid. The asset acquisition in progress on the balance sheet is the BATD. Tom asks if the sales tax was still annoying Alan. He responds that he is resigned to it. It is time consuming. Even with the BATD purchase our finances are OK. We will be well positioned for 34H’s replacement. Eric asks what we should do if the gas pump is out of receipt paper? Alan says just to write down the date and amounts and turn in that handwritten note.
Maintenance Officer’s Report
See Tom’s report. 9MA is in good shape.
63S got a new screw jack for the tail and it works very well. It will be washed this month. Mike Boatz installed a door closer for us gratis as good customers. The aux mike will work as soon as Tom gets a replacement mic. Tom has a report that the left nav light is intermittent and Tom will check it out.
34H will get new mags and vacuum pump during its annual.
88L will also be washed this month. Apparently pitot tube heat was unplugged during IFR certification and not plugged back in.
As soon as 34H completes its annual, we will have our first annual-free summer flying season in memory. Alan asked about the ELT registration. Tom agrees that we now have it registered and will correct the date in the report.
Safety Officer’s Report
The Ercoupe guy next to us mentioned that someone siphoned 5 gallons out of his plane. Ed urges us to be aware of what is going on, and capture driver licenses, etc. A former member met Ed at the airport – his card still worked. We may need to update our procedures. Eric notes he had a conversation with them previously about that, and Alan sends them a list of current members periodically. It isn’t clear what the airport management’s procedures are.
Several folks express disbelief that 5 gallons were actually stolen.
Old Business
Camera System
Florin has interest in this issue and we have a member who has offered a very simple solution that worked well for his house. The member will be glad to provide more information next month. Eric suggests the issue be tabled until next month. Ron Carper has some information about a similar solution and doesn’t believe there should be a bandwidth issue.
BATD Status, including table
As mentioned previously, the BATD arrived at Alan’s office today. We are still working on table or tables. Prior to this meeting, the board has discussed the question of how many tables should be used and concluded there should be a separate table for the instructor station. Alan and Tom have determined two 60 inch tables will fit in the office. When arranged as an L, there would effectively be one short and one long table. A member has volunteered a 60 inch desk, but it may be too high. It could potentially have its legs cut down. Tom asks whether it would be useful to have an L shape. Ed says it would be good for instructors. Suggestion from the floor: use the existing desk. That idea seems to be generally liked. Tom suggests if we use a 36 inch desk, we may need to get a 72 inch table. Tom offers to go shop at the store Florin has recommended to the board. Tom would be willing to purchase a desk if we will authorize him to do so. Eric asks what that might cost. Tom suggests somewhere between $75 and $300. Eric moves that we authorize purchase of a desk for up to $400. Alan seconds. Eric also raises the question of security for the equipment. Alan suggests a door closer. Eric accept the friendly amendment authorizing the purchase of a door closer. Suggestion from the floor: add a sensor to the table that would raise and alert and trigger the camera if someone were to pick up the BATD. Other suggestions: use a bike lock or bolt the equipment to the desk and bolt the table to the floor, or mark a club identifier on the equipment. Apparently Home Depot has marking tags. After discussion, Eric called the question and the amended motion carries.
New Business
Question from the floor: What about ePayments? Alan says it would cost us 3-4% of gross revenue. One member pays a lot less, but he runs a lot more transactions. Suggestion from the floor: Look at SquareCash, which charges no fees. Alan says if we could pay a reasonable per-transaction fee we would consider it.
Another question from the floor: Do we have survival kits in the planes for long cross country trips? Answer: not really. That is an individual responsibility. The board thinks if we bought them they would disappear like the new headsets we bought.
Drawing
Won by Dick Johnson.
Meeting adjourned at: 7:31