Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club Incorporated Meeting Minutes
January 2, 2021
I. Call to order
Jack Kinney called to order the meeting at 1000.
Pledge of Allegiance
Kudos to Alan Streiteman, Jason Esterline, Steve Foy, Jeff DeGrasse and member at large Glen Panazollo. These guys have done a lot of work over the last year on our transitions to a 501C3 nonprofit Corporation.
II. Roll call
Introduction of new board members and attendees (See Zoom log for complete list):
George WB9AZZ, Dave WA3PRE, Denato, Gerry Pollack, Glenn Panazzolo, Henry AK4M, Mark, La Dawn WA5AMA, Ken WK4KM, Ken WQ3V, Mark K4YQC, Paul WA2DSF, Ron W4RFA, Rick W4VAR, Alan W4UB (vice president), Dee W4DCH (secretary), Jeff deGrasse K4JJD (treasurer), Jason N4BOZ (member at large), Jack K4KIM (president)
III. Open issues
a) Incorporation/non-profit status: We are now officially the Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club Incorporated. We are a 501C3 recognized charitable organization in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service. Ken Skaggs, Alan Streitman and Jason Esterline did most of the work on this transition. Tax deductible donations can now be accepted.
b) Membership Invoices: A new process has been started for the collection of dues. Communication to members on this new “Wave” application was late getting out and we will cover any questions during this meeting. Invoices and reminders will be sent on December 1st for the $25 family membership payable by January 1st. This switch to the “Wave” app for annual dues collection requires less manual effort to administer. Paying by bank draft is the lowest cost method.
c) Officer/Committee reports
Dee (Secretary) taking minutes for club meetings.
Jeff (Treasurer) explained the treasurer’s report and transition to new accounting system.
Alan (vice president) The club repeater is working well. Echolink will be added when access to the Palm Harbor fire station is restored. The weekly club nets for the month of December are as follows: Jack (net controller) had 16 check-ins Jerry had 15, I had 12, Ken had 13 and Tom had 12 for total of 68 check-ins. I encourage everybody to get on the net.
Jack (president) we are always looking for new net controllers and subs. Includes anybody with a technician class license.
Jason (member-at-large) it’s very good experience. Knowing how to handle or manage incoming traffic so that we could be of service in an emergency. You never know when you are going to get thrown into it.
d) Social Committee:
Traders and Trivia Net every Tuesday @ 8pm
Jack (president) we don’t have anything scheduled but we started talking about having outings again. If we could make it safe and if people want to participate. We just want to be safe and make sure that everybody is comfortable. We will hash this out and come up with something in the next month or so.
e) Announcements
We need volunteers for tech presentations. If you have any ideas, please let us know and we can get you on the schedule. It should be a communications topic.
FCC licensing fees were discussed as increases are being planned.
License testing is not currently being done by UPARC. That will resume when the Palm Harbor Fire Station becomes available. Mike Branda K4HN is the POC.
f) Winter Field Day
We (Tom NY4I) will send out information about winter field day. We will tell you how to participate from home in these days of covid.
If you would like to contribute to our group score for the three club groups, we will tell you exactly how to submit your log. We will make sure that it is clear. Two weeks from now I will schedule a presentation on how to set-up your computer. Process is similar to what we did for Summer Field Day.
g) Request text alerts to your phone by sending UPARC to 84483
h) If you just want to talk to the board all-in-one-shot you can email the board@nullUPARC.org. That will go to all the officers.
IV. Adjournment
Jack Kinney adjourned the meeting at 1100.
Minutes submitted by: Dee W4DCH
Minutes approved by: Board of Directors
Next Meeting – February 6, 2021