THURSDAY-JANUARY 31, 2019 – 4:00 PM – BAARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

President: Steve Mott NØCRM
Vice President: John Luce WØWY
Treasurer: Doug Bergsnev WØDWB
Secretary: Ron Finger KØGOP
Past Presidents: Charles Lane W5CCL, Al Doree WØRC
Director At Large: Lyle Amundson KØLFV
Director of Emergency Communications: Dave Schuldheisz KØISZ
Repeater Trustee: Mitch Ahrenstorff ADØHJ
Community & Special Events Coordinator: Mark Cross KEØLFQ

Attendees: LYLE KØLFV, Doug WØDWB, John WØWY, Ron KØGOP, Al WØRC, Shirley KØDCW, Mitch ADØHJ, Mark KEØLFQ and Dave KØISZ. The Vice President opened the Board Meeting at 420 PM following a mapping session with Dan Levno for the Mid-MN 150 Sled Dog Race on February 9th.

Secretary’s Report: 

• Membership roster: 69 members with 31 unpaid for 2019. The Club roster can be found on the Club website under the“Resources/Members Only”  Current paid members can request an individual password for access via the “Contact Us” form.
• Minutes: The November 2018 Executive Board and Membership Meeting minutes were posted to the“Baarcer” area.
• Correspondence:
• Documents: Updated Club membership roster and Gmail contacts database.
• Membership ID’s: No new Club ID’s.
• Club Website: New banner graphics for December: “Santa Tracker”, January: Ice-Fishing Extravaganza” and February: “Mid-MN 150 Sled Dog Race”.
• Motion to accept: Mitch ADØHJ, SecondJohn WØWY,  

Treasurer’s Report: The President presented the Treasurer’s report that was forwarded to the board showing all month’s account transactions and balances to date. Doug has been able to process incoming membership renewals over the holidays with less Club expenditures.

• Motion to accept: Al WØRC, SecondJohn WØWY, Passed

Membership Meeting Programs: 

• The Vice President reviewed recent and future Club programs and events. Al reported that the Forestview High Altitude Balloon Class has finished, and they are looking for a launch date in the near future. Other repeat programs discussed were “Grounding” by Pat Goff, Crow Wing Power and “Wild Animal Tracking” by Brian Dirks, MN DNR.

Recent / Upcoming Events: The following events were discussed:

Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza

• Saturday, January 26, 2019 Hole in the Day Bay on Gull Lake
• 6 Club operators braved the cold for a successful event.
• The Sheriff’s comm trailer was disabled, but the Dive Team trailer was a workable and available alternate.

Mid-MN 150 Dog Sled Race

• Saturday, February 9, 2019
• Al will chair the event. Our base of operations will remain at the Village Inn, Outing. Organizer Dan Levno was at the Board Meeting to go over the route map changes for this year.
• John will contact John Bowen to verify the operation and use of the Sheriff’s comm trailer.

Digital & Emergency Communications: 

Crow Wing County EOC:

• John reported that work is continuing on the new CWC EOC facility, and will include a training room that could possibly serve as a back-up Club meeting location.

Old Business: 

Repeater Sites: Mitch reviewed the list of repeater projects on the 2019 calendar.

• Gull Lake:
  • UHF coax work
  • APRS Node
  • Approval of VHF frequency pair.
  • New Rackmount PC

• Crosby:
  • No new items.
• Crow Wing Power:
  • No new items.
• Cross Lake:
  • No new items.
• High-rise Site:
  • No new items.

New Business:

• With the recent closing of Radio City, the board discussed other possible vendors and attractions for our spring Hamfest. Digi-Key of Thief River Falls was of interest, and Al will pursue this possibility through his contact there.
• John started a discussion regarding the changing role of our Club and amateur radio in general, in regard to providing communication support for local events. It was noted how events like the recent Jaycee Ice Fishing Extravaganza have changed over the years. In the beginning we carried an important role in providing communications over that expansive venue using many operators. Since then they have tried cell phones, then FRS and GRMS radios, and finally this year were using ARMER radios within the public safety system. It was noted that other events like the Sled Dog Race still have a real need for our skills, but that our role for other event groups may be changing over time.

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 4:42 PM.

THURSDAY-JANUARY 31, 2019 – 7:00 PM – BAARC MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

The Vice President called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Following the business meeting reports and break, several presentations were made:

• “Winter Field Day Operations” presented by Lyle KØLFV
• Updates on the Jaycee Ice Fishing Extravaganza” and “Mid-MN 150 Sled Dog Race” presented by Al WØRC
• “MARS, the Military Auxiliary Radio System” by John WØWY, Al WØRC and Ron KØGOP

–Respectfully submitted by Ron KØGOP, Secretary