[SJAAboard] November 8 2008 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes

[Craig Scull]

Here are the minutes that we approved tonight...  /Craig


======================================================
November 8 2008 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
- Craig Scull
======================================================


-------------------------------------
Members present
-------------------------------------
SJAA Board Members
*-Craig Scull
*-Rob Hawley
*-Rich Neuschaefer (excused, Proxy vote carried by
Mark Wagner)
*-Robert Armstrong
*-Gordon Reade
*-Mark Wagner
*-Lee Hoglan
*-Greg Claytor (excused, Proxy vote carried by Robert
Armstrong)


-------------------------------------
September Meeting Minutes
-------------------------------------
Rob made a motion to approve the September board
meeting minutes as corrected. The motion was seconded
by Craig and approved by unanimous vote. There were no
abstentions or oppositions.

Rob made a motion to approve the October meeting
minutes. The motion was seconded by Robert
and approved by unanimous vote. There were no
abstentions or oppositions. Craig and Gordon recused
since they were not present at that meeting.


-------------------------------------
Coverage for upcoming events
-------------------------------------
November
{ Rob } 9 -Su- Fall Swap at Houge Park
{ Rob } 21 -Fr- Houge Park star party
{ Rob } 21 -Fr- Astronomy Class at Houge Park

December
{ Rich or Mark } 5 -Fr- Houge Park star party
{ Rob } 13 -Sa- General Meeting
{ Rob } 19 -Fr- Houge Park star party
{ Rob } 19 -Fr- Astronomy Class at Houge Park 


-------------------------------------
Treasurer's report
-------------------------------------
Coming via email separately from Robert. He is reconciling
Quicken and the bank records to arrive at a verified
account balance. $1000 will be temporarily moved from
the Observatory Fund to the checking account because
the club overinvested in CDs, and faces a short term
cash shortage.

It was also noted that the membership renewals were
on a downward trend since August. Rob will investigate
this further.


-------------------------------------
General Meeting Programs - Dave Smith
-------------------------------------
Dec 13  Robert Sabin  (UCSC)
Comparison of Stellar Characteristics of Red Giant
Stars in their Evolutionary Path

Jan 10  Dr. Ruslan Belikov (NASA ARC, SJAA)
Searching for other Earths

Feb 7    Dr. Chris McKay (NASA ARC)
The Mars PhoenixLander

Mar 7    Dr. Kevin Zahnle (NASA Ames)
Earth After the Moon-Forming Impact

Apr 5    Auction


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Houge Park Status
-------------------------------------
At the city's request Rob provided them with an
electronic copy of the August proposal. Reuse contract
revisions were reduced to a minimal/core/critical set
so as to make it more easily accepted by the city.

The negotiated use of building 2 is still in the
process of being formalized.


-------------------------------------
Swap - Which Scopes to Sell?
-------------------------------------
Rob has an old Edmunds Newtonian Telescope to try to
sell at the swap. Lee will also bring a box of
accessories to sell at the swap.

Lee has a 6" F/5 that he will eventually move into
the loaner program.

The "trombone scope" is an Orion 120mm refractor with
a lot of accessories that will also be moved into the
loaner program.

Rob will show up for the swap before noon. Gary is
supposed to also help out.


-------------------------------------
Loans to Junior Members (under 18 years in age)
-------------------------------------
*Limitation?*
No limitations are deemed necessary based on general
discussion. We want to reward the enthusiasm of junior
members.

*Getting a binding contract*
Robert made a motion that loans to persons under 18
years in age require a parent or legal guardian sign
for them. Rob seconded. The motion was approved by
unanimous vote. There were no abstentions or
oppositions.

-------------------------------------
Proposal to increase Speaker Honorarium
-------------------------------------
Everyone agreed that $25 is an outdated amount.
Further discussion is tabled on this topic for now
because we need more information before we can make a
decision.

Robert will follow-up with David to have him explore
what the "going rate" is or otherwise understand
expectations for the honorarium.


-------------------------------------
Looking Ahead to Board Elections
-------------------------------------
Craig, Mark, Rich, and Gordon are all up for
reelection in February and should let the board know
by December 13 if they are interested in running again.


-------------------------------------
School Star Parties
-------------------------------------
Historical tally:
          Total  Good Part. Cloudy Cancel
          sched  sky  succ.  fail  at noon
2006-7 tot  67    40    9    7    11  First year
monthly report
2007-8 tot  65    48    4    5      8


Cumulative list of school events for 2008-9 school year

Completed events as of Nov.8 2008

    Total  Good Part. Cloudy Cancel
    sched  sky  succ.  fail  at noon
Jul  1      1    -      -    -
Aug  2      2    -      -    -
Sep  3      3    -      -    -
Oct  11    9    -      -    2
Nov  3      1    -      3    1  Partial month
-----------------------------------
Tot  12    11    -      -    1


Coming attractions as of Nov. 8 2008

    Total  Firm Makeup  Negotiating
Nov  7      4    -      0        Partial month
Dec  4      4    -      0
Jan  2      0    -      2
Feb  6      6    -      0
Mar  7      6    1      0
-----------------------------------
Tot  28    17    1      8

  "Makeup" are pre-scheduled make-up dates and are
firm. They will be dropped from this list if the primary
event is successful, and the dates will become
available.
  If primary fails, the makeup event will be moved from
3rd to 2nd column, and the name of the school will be
added to the list on the Current Events page,


-------------------------------------
Membership Report - Rob Hawley
-------------------------------------
Running with today's (11/9) data I get

Oct-08        9
Nov-08        11
Dec-08        22
Jan-09        18
Feb-09        20
Mar-09        19
Apr-09        9
May-09        21
Jun-09        65
Jul-09        19
Aug-09        16
Sep-09        20
Oct-09        19
Nov-09        4
Dec-09        2
more than 13 months        6

complementary        25
      
expiring            9
paid(current)        271
      
email delivery        41

S&T Members        169
New Members since last meeting        5
current + complementary        296

Thus my conclusion is still that we are likely seeing
a season dip in the membership.


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Loaner Program Status - Rob Hawley
-------------------------------------
There have been a lot of loans recently. Lee's garage
is finally getting emptied out. The two most recently
purchased scopes are now out on loans.

There was some discussion about selling loaner
telescopes to the loanees at a discount if they seem
to really like the scope at the time of the loan and
it is not a highly valued loaner item.


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Ephemeris Extra Copies for Orion
-------------------------------------
Gordon will take some extra copies of the Ephemeris
to Orion.


The meeting was adjourned at 7:32pm.
Note: the next board meeting will start at 6:30pm!