Yolo County ARES Meeting Minutes

Yolo ARES Meeting Minutes for 12/20/2011

Yolo ARES Meeting
December 20, 2011
7:00 to 8:35 p.m.

PRESENT
AEC Greg KG6SJT
AEC Bill K6KN
AEC LaVonne K6LAV
Bryce K7DWO
Todd KE6GCV
Charles N6JOA
Rob N6KIX
Rick N6KLB
Gary WA6TQJ

Acting Chair Greg (KG6SJT) presided as ED Darrin (K9RTY) was unable to attend.

Certification of appreciation for Darrin’s many years’ service as Yolo ARES EC will be presented to him.

Status of the Packet Station
Rick (N6KLB) reported that the RMS station is working. Greg (KG6SJT) will install the RMS relay software on it. Rob (N6KIX) noted that he has two 1.75 amp hour batteries that can be used for the station and offered to donate a 10 amp power supply. There needs to be power to the gate to keep it charged and to switch from battery to AC power.

Laptops
Todd(KE6GCV) donated two HP 2510 Business laptops to the club. RMS and Outpost are installed. May need to purchase new power cords and it is recommended that we purchase two lockdown cables for security.

ARES Radio Room at Woodland Red Cross Office
Bryce (K7DWO) reported that the desk has been built and installed in the radio station upstairs. Thanks go to Bryce, Ken (K6WLS) and Greg (KG6SJT) for their help in getting the radio station furniture installed.

Ham Licensing Exams
Testing sessions was held Dec. 10th, coordinated between BARK and Yolo ARES. Two new techs and two upgrades resulted.

New EC for Yolo ARES
There is no new information on the appointment status of a new EC for Yolo ARES. The Section EC is award of Darrin’s resignation but a replacement EC has not happened. It is anticipated it will be concluded shortly. In the meantime, Greg is submitting the required reports to ARRL.

ARES Non-profit Incorporation
This item is in follow-up from last meeting, when members discussed the possible benefits of ARES obtaining nonprofit incorporation, such as 501(c)(3). Bill (K6KN) reported that, if incorporated, the club would require a President (CEO), Treasurer and Secretary. The EC may or may not be the CEO. ARRL’s prohibitions and requirements regarding chapter incorporation were reviewed and briefly discussed. Bill also provided a checklist of incorporation “to do” items. He stated he has consulted an attorney would be willing to assist with incorporation paperwork. Bill stated the filing fees would be modest – probably in the $135-$200 range. Bylaws would need to be developed and reviewed from time to time. There was a proposal that the club members manually fill out the incorporation forms tonight and that a sample Bylaws be discussed at the next meeting. Discussion was held about the name of the club, if incorporation was pursued – Yolo County ARES versus Yolo ARES and the former was selected. The incorporation papers were not completed during the meeting and the discussion will continue at the next meeting.

Adjournment and Next Meeting
The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. The next meeting of Yolo ARES will be January 17, 2012, at the Red Cross office at 120 Court Street, Woodland. Meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

Submitted by
AEC LaVonne (K6LAV)

Yolo County ARES