Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association
General Membership Meeting
Meeting Minutes
1) Call to Order
Joe McGee (NX4T)called to order the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association’s regular meeting at 19:30 EDT (23:30UTC) on August 24, 2021, over ZOOM. A quorum was present with 18 members.
2) Pledge of Allegiance
3) Secretary’s Report – Charlie Artner (KN4VDW)
Motion to approve Minutes from July 27, 2021. Erik Olmer (W4EJO) second. Meeting minutes accepted without objection.
4) Treasurer’s Report – Erik Olmer (W4EJO)
1 New member Justin Sligh. Otherwise, there have not been many transactions this month other than the usual monthly fees.
The total balance as of 8/20/2021 is 9,394.71. The fees of the new member will be on next month’s report.
5) Membership Chair’s Report – Joe McGee (NX4T)
Joe McGee (NX4T) reported 56 paid members, 19 Lifetime members, which brings us to a total of 75 members. One additional member signed about today, Ramon Lee Fernandez (KO4BRS) and is not on the roster yet, so that will bring our total membership to 76 members. Joe McGee (NX4T) will get in touch with this new member.
Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT) announced a new Lifetime member—Jesse Shannon (KJ4FKK). We thank Jesse for his relentless help and countless donations to the club to make all the club projects such as the remote HF station happening.
6) VE Status Report – Jeff Stahl (K4BH)
Jeff Stahl (K4BH) is going to hold a test session in Crystal River with the local VE team on August 25, 2021. He has been in contact with ARRL to find out how to send in-person test results electronically and he will report on the session in the next meeting.
7) Repeater Report – Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR)
Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) reported that everything is working as expected. We are still waiting for JKV to finish the work on the roof before we can go back up in the repeater room.
8) Web Admin Report – Charlie Artner (KN4VDW)
Charlie Artner (KN4VDW) reported that there have not been any substantial changes. He also reminded all members that we have a forum now and encourages members and non-members alike to start using it.
9) Announcements
a) Membership Due Date
The board is proposing to change the period of membership from the beginning of the fiscal year until the end of the fiscal year to the following.
Membership starts when payment is made with the following conditions. If a member pays on or before the 4th Tuesday of the month, the membership starts on the first of that same month.
Example:
The payment was made on March 17, 2021, which is before the 4th Tuesday of the month. In this case, the membership will start on March 1, 2021, and will end on February 28, 2022.
If a member pays after the 4th Tuesday of the month, the membership will start on the first of the following month.
Example:
The payment was made on March 25, 2021, which is after the 4th Tuesday of the month. In this case, the membership will start on April 1, 2021, and will end on March 31, 2022.
After a discussion among the members, the
The change is accepted by the membership without any objections.
b) GCARA is now a 501(C)(3)
Just a reminder that the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association is now a 501(C)(3) and able to accept tax-deductible donations.
c) Ongoing projects
We need volunteers for shelters. We need ideally 4 operators in each open shelter, but right now we are unable to put just 1 operator in each open shelter. You can bring family and you will be treated as staff and not as a refugee.
10) Speaker: Bob Greenberg (W2CYK)
The presentation started at 20:00 (00:00 UTC). Bob is the developer/inventor of the RFINDER, a device that functions as a cell phone and amateur radio, based on the Android operating system.
11) Adjournment
Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT) adjourned the meeting at 21:15 EDT (01:15 UTC).