CFAS Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

CFAS Monthly Board Meeting Minutes

October 3, 2007

Attendees:

Paul Kronenwetter

Frank Gutowski

Walt Hamler

Beeler Gausz

Francisco Gonzales

Alan Hoffberg

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Guests: None

1. President's Call to order. Welcoming remarks.

The meeting was called to order at 7:08pm.

1. Secretary's Report

Alan made a motion to approve the minutes as distributed by email. Francisco seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously.

1. Treasurer's Report

Alan briefly discussed the treasurer's report and options for future financial activities.

1. 1. 1. Lower dues while surplus exists,

      2. Invest surplus funds to increase the endowment,

      3. Monitor expenditure levels while surplus accumulates,

      4. Purchase upgrades for the TEC-140, such as CCD camera and monitor to allow multiple persons to see the viewed image,

      5. Review inventory of obsolete CFAS equipment to determine disposition, such as sale.

The consensus was to wait until the election of the 2007-2008 Board, when the new Board can review this topic.

Paul motioned to accept the report. Walt seconded. The treasurer's report was accepted unanimously.

1. Agenda Items

   1. Walt would like to see more members participating in the committees to help reduce the workload of the chairs. He suggests the chairperson for each committee actively recruit assistants.

      1. Alan suggested that it would be more effective to recruit individuals during activities reflecting their interest.

   2. Francisco suggested advertising a schedule for beginner classes with a minimum requirement of 5 attendees to hold.

   3. Walt passed out International Dark Sky Association membership forms for the board.

1. Committee Reports

   1. Membership -

      1. Three new members joined over the past two weeks:

         1. David Tidwell

         2. Ron Cobbs

         3. Charles Cole – Still owes membership dues and is a provisional member.

            Walt motioned to accept these new members. Francisco seconded. The members were approved unanimously.

1. 1. Programs

      1. October – Tony will present Astronomical Filters.

      2. November – Last movie night on Mars.

      3. Frank is starting to collect ideas for 2008 programs.

1. 1. DSAC/Library

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. Publicity

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. Orlando Science Center

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. Board Members at Large

      1. Beeler presented the nominees for the board elections occurring during the October meeting.

1. 1. Observing

      1. Four events are scheduled

         1. November 20th – Odyssey middle school.

         2. December 11th – Sanford middle school

         3. January 17th – Citrus (Ocoee)

         4. February 22nd – English Estates

         5. March – Princeton elementary

      2. The board discussed the current status of the loaner and non-loaner scopes and how to better use the non-loaner scopes.

1. 1. Education and Outreach

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. Robinson

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. Astrolog Editor

      1. The Astrolog was published in late September.

1. 1. Scientific Committee

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. NASA Night Sky Network

      1. No update provided.

1. 1. Webmaster

      1. Paul implemented the board@cfas.org email reflector. This automatically routes email addressed to the Board to each board member.

      2. Paul updated the website to remove hidden references to Ray Jones as the point-of-contact for the Robinson Observatory sessions.

1. Old Business

   1. Frank reported that the petition process for creation of a Florida State license plate is onerous.

1. New Business

   1. No new business was discussed.

1. Motion to Adjourn

   1. Frank motioned to adjourn the meeting, Beeler seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:14pm.

/s/ Paul Kronenwetter – CFAS Secretary