Meeting Notes

Summary of LCDRA Meeting 1-20-2022

Our first quarterly meeting of 2022 was held on January 20th with a total of 19 attendees. Board members Daniel Beuchert WX8MOJ, Dawn Beuchert KD8MWA, Michael Boensch W8MKB, Jeff Goeke-Smith KC8PUN, Jim Hannahs KC8QWH and trustee Dennis Boone KB8ZQZ were present.

-New officers and Board members were introduced:

Daniel Beuchert WX8MOJ as president, Dawn Beuchert KD8MWA as director, and Jim Hannahs KC8QWH as a director.

-Continuing Board members were recognized:

Ron Harger WD8BCS as vice president, Michael Boensch W8MKB as treasurer, Troy Creed W8TCC as secretary, Jeff Goeke-Smith KC8PUN as director, and Dennis Boone KB8ZQZ as trustee.

-Membership chair update from Michael Boensch W8MKB indicated that as of the meeting 14 members had renewed for the 2022 calendar year.

Members are encouraged to renew their memberships to remain current and continue supporting LCDRA efforts.

There was talk about looking into digital membership renewal updates including the possibility of digital membership cards and honor roll listing on our website for interested members and donors.

Committee to explore these ideas and ways to streamline membership sign up and renewal was appointed with Michael W8MKB, Jeff KC8PUN, and Dan WX8MOJ.

-Status Updates on Repeaters

The 444.125 is offline due to an internal controller failing. John Imeson N8JI has diagnosed the problem and is working to repair the faulty equipment.

All other repeaters are in working order.

-Updates on 145.39 Repeater Move Project

LCDRA continues to investigate options to relocate the 145.39 repeater to the WKAR tower site in Okemos or other similarly suited high profile locations. Challenges remain with the long-term financial implications with WKAR due to the need to pay for power service and insurance. WKAR costs are estimated at close to $100 a month.

LCDRA continues to investigate if there may be more cost-effective options at WKAR as well as other similarly placed towers with high profile space available.

We are planning to move the 145.39 from it’s current Potterville location for a few reasons. John Imeson N8JI, who orchestrated the move to Potterville, is retiring from Eaton County. Also, the Eaton County ARC has taken their D-Star repeater at the site offline to allow for better operations and less interference and LCDRA wishes to increase the profile of the 145.39 for public service and Skywarn coverage.

-Transition of Leadership

With the retirement of John Imeson N8JI, who has served diligently as LCDRA’s president for many years, we are working to transition site access to other LCDRA members to each of the LCDRA repeater sites and equipment.

-Fundraising Opportunities

LCDRA has two exciting possibilities for fundraising. The largest one is due to an anonymous donor friendly to our mission coming forward to offer matching donations to LCDRA for the move of the 145.39 repeater to the WKAR tower or a similar location. LCDRA is also in the process of setting up PayPal for an online option for paying dues and donations (one time or recurring).

LCDRA is looking to expand membership to more users of the repeaters without raising the dues from $15 for each individual to promote a broad membership base. We rely on membership dues and donations to address the movement, upkeep, and/or replacement of repeaters and associated costs as needed, which can cost up to $10,000 for a full removal and replacement of equipment after something like a direct lightning strike.

-Website and Social Media Outreach

LCDRA plans to increase information on the website (https://w8bci.org) to include more information on repeater status, our mission, and more information about current and future projects. We plan to continue using Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/LansingMichiganLCDRA) and the Listserv to promote LCDRA engagements. We also encourage the use of our email contact@lcdra.net to let us know of anything going on with our repeaters or to ask any questions!

Reaching out to local media was brought up by Ben Barker including the daytime WILX program “Studio 10.” This program outlines things going on in the community and could be a good opportunity for local daytime TV exposure, especially once we’ve determined some fundraising goals and procedures. It might be worth looking into other outlets at different local TV and radio stations.

There was also discussion about looking into the technical needs to implement messages on LCDRA repeaters that could advertise fundraising efforts, upcoming meetings, etc.

-State Paperwork, Constitution, and Bylaws

State non-profit paperwork has changed and only has space to list president, treasurer, secretary, and 3 directors. LCDRA currently has each of those positions plus a vice president.

The LCDRA Constitution and Bylaws could use a review to see if they might need to be updated to reflect this requirement from the State of Michigan, as well as to check for any other procedures that may need to be updated.

Dennis KB8ZQZ, Jeff KC8PUN, and Dan WX8MOJ will form a committee to research these paperwork, constitution, and bylaw issues and be ready to propose any needed changes at the second quarterly LDCRA meeting in April.

-Checking Account Access

Treasurer Michael W8MKB noted that Don Tillitson used to have bank account access, but since his passing Michael has been the only member with account access. There was discussion to look into adding a second board member to have access and allowing both the treasurer and the other board member to have debit cards. There was also discussion about drafting official language for the procedure of using the cards, including that any payment or purchase made must be approved by a quorum of the board before any purchase could be made.

A motion was made by Jeff Goeke-Smith KC8PUN, seconded by Dennis Boone KB8ZQZ, and approved by all members present for the president, Dan Beuchert WX8MOJ, to have account access.

-Next Meeting April 21

We plan to have this meeting on Zoom, but are also investigating when it would be possible to meet in person again at either Fire Station 8 or at another location such as the Foster Community Center.