Board Meeting - 03/03/2010
BATTLE POINT ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION
MINUTES of
BOARD MEETING of MARCH 3, 2010
Time 19:06 -- Convened Meeting
Vice President Mike Browning, as presiding Officer, convened the BPAA Board Meeting at 19:06 on March 3, 2010.
Other Board Members present were:
Frank Schroer, Treasurer
Russell M. Heglund, Secretary
Nels Johansen, Facilities Officer
Malcolm Saunders, Chief Astronomer
Steve Ruhl, Education Officer
Absent:
Harry Colvin, President
The Bylaws require five Board Members to be present to constitute a quorum, therefore a quorum was present.
Visitor present:
Vicki Saunders, Newsletter Editor
Time 19:07 -- Reading of Previous Board Minutes
Minutes of the February 3, 2010 Board Meeting were read by R. Heglund, Secretary.
M. Browning moved/S. Ruhl seconded, to approve the minutes as read. Passed.
Time 19:14 -- Vice President's Report (see attached)
M. Browning reports: Jay Inslee (US Congressman), sent a letter in our behalf (supporting our application to the NSF). (copy of letter attached)
I have no more updates on the NSF grant request.
There will be another "draft" of the Battle Point Master Plan in 30 days (presented to the Park Board). Public comments on the Master Plan are due by March 11. Kent Scott (Park staff), recommended that BPAA meet with the Park Board over our projects. Kent says the Sundial and Solar Walk "are still in play".
I will provide a letter to the Park Board to meet the March 11th deadline. I will circulate a draft (of the letter) to the BPAA Board for comment. I will informally approach the Park Board for a procedure to present our plans. The Master Plan process will stretch out to April.
Intern Requests:
M. Browning: Send me intern "role" requests.
Time 19:39 -- Treasurer's Report (see attached)
F. Schroer reports: Total current assets are $24,406.47 as of February 28, 2010. Our refill of the furnace oil tank cost $446.23.
The "One Call for All" report says we still qualify for matching funds. We should send thank-you cards to people who contributed to BPAA through "One Call for All".
M. Browning moved/M. Saunders seconded, to approve the Treasurer's Report. Passed.
Time 19:49 -- Membership Report (see attached)
F. Schroer Reports: as of March 10, 2010 we have 88 total memberships: 41 family/38 individual/5 junior/1 teacher/3 lifetime. We have two new members: Jeff Pack and Monica Striker.
Time 19:54 -- Secretary's Report
R. Heglund reports: We are close to finalizing the design for first Solar Walk plaque. I have a copy of the nearly final design (see attached). We will make a full size example, on paper, for display.
Time 19:56 -- Facility Officer's Report
N. Johansen reports: I am almost done with a new outside bulletin board (to replace the one that was vandalized).
Time 19:57 -- Chief Astronomer's Report
M. Saunders reports: Keith Ost is taking over as the small telescope loan manager. I have been contacted by Jeff Pack (new member)....he wants to get more active.
Time 20:01 -- Ritchie Telescope Use Policy (see attached)
A new Ritchie Telescope Use Policy has been drafted by M. Saunders, Chief astronomer, and passed out to all Board Members.
M. Browning moved/N. Johansen seconded, to approve the new Ritchie Telescope Use Policy. Passed.
Time 20:07 -- Education Officer Report
S. Ruhl reports: We had 35 people at the February Planetarium Show/Star Party. The Tacoma YWCA wants a (planetarium) show this summer. The Richard Gordon Elementary school wants us to donate an item for their auction. I will offer them a Observatory tour and a Family Membership.
Board comments:
M. Browning: Do we need a new web master? My architect friend could do it.
R. Heglund: Minutes have not been getting posted on the web site.
F. Schroer: Just send the minutes to me.
N. Johansen: We really need to get a new carpet (in the meeting room). I can check-out prices. Get someone to come out and give a quote on removing the old carpet.....it's glued down.
M. Browning: If replacement is going to cost around $1500, I would not be for it. That is 15 percent of our budget. We might have to rip it out, if we get money to do bathroom (and other improvements...).
N. Johansen: Another approach could be to have carpet professionally cleaned.....might help with the smell.
(Board consensus: look into cost of replacement and cleaning.)
Time 20:29 -- Awards Dinner
M. Saunders: The awards dinner was a success. We had 19 people there.
Time 20:31 -- High School Student Project
Have not heard from the High School Student about his project.
N. Johansen: If we have not hear back by now, it's probably not going to happen....he probably moved on to some other project.
Time 20:32 -- One Call For All Letter
F. Schroer: It would be good if people could send me statistics (about our activities in 2009), to include in a letter to One Call For All.
Time 20:34 -- Newsletter Award Application
V. Saunders: I am planning on submitting our newsletter for the annual Newsletter Award. They want a paper issue. If you want to recommend an particular issue, let me know.
Time 20:35 -- Star Date Website Link
M. Browning: Star Date website (associated with the University of Texas McDonald Observatory) would like to link to our BPAA website.
S. Ruhl: I'm good with linking to them.
V. Saunders: A good organization.....been around a long time.
Board consensus: Go ahead and link-up.
Time 20:37 -- Adjournment
N. Johansen moved/M. Browning seconded, to adjourn the Board Meeting. Passed.
Minutes taken on March 3, 2010 by Russell M. Heglund, Secretary.
Minutes approved by the BPAA Board on _________________________
Attested by: