BoD Meeting Minutes – July 20, 2016

Minutes of NCR-SCCA Monthly Board of Directors Meeting
July 20, 2016

Present: Heather Clark, Blair Deffenbaugh, Rex Deffenbaugh, Sam Fouse, Steve Keadle, Buddy Matthews, James Shanks, and via conference call, Bruce Dover, Eric Danielsen, John Lindquist, Morgan Mehler, and Pete Romanowski. John Byers, Mark Senior, and Mike Spencer, were not present.

1. The NCR BoD meeting was called to order by RE Sam Fouse at 7:32 pm, on Wednesday, July 20th  2016, at Piper’s Deli, 3219 Old Chapel Hill Road, Durham, NC, 27707.
2. There were two guests in attendance via phone. One was Marketing Committee Chair Eric Danielsen, and the other Pete Romanowski, candidate for Chief Starter.
3. Motion to approve the June minutes as written (Shanks / Clark). Passed.

Financial Report: Treasurer Steve Keadle stated that our cash in the bank to date was $121,000, split between Club Racing with $106,600 and Solo with $14,400. He apologized for not being able to live up to his promise last meeting of having a full financial report at this time, citing personal issues. However, he promised a detailed accounting for next month. Steve explained that the time required to reconcile our accounts with the numbers from Motorsportreg.com (MSR) was quite large, and other things in his life had prevented him from giving the task the time it required. But he also stated that having an assistant would not likely make the job any easier. Sam asked whether we should consider hiring a professional bookkeeping and accounting firm to do the job. Steve responded that his firm would be too expensive for NCR to use, but that he would make a recommendation at the next meeting on that issue if he were not able to get caught up by then. It was suggested by Heather that if Steve could identify ways that MSR could make his job easier, we should formally request that they make some changes in their reports to help. Pete Romanowski suggested that the upcoming race in Charlotte would be an ideal time to ask CCR’s Treasurer how he was handling reconciliation for them and whether he might be able to second any suggestions we had for MSR.

Old Business:

1. Region Tent at VIR IMSA event August 26-28: John Lindquist gave an update on the plans for this event. The central plan is for 3 cars for visual interest under a 10X40 tent, combined with 3 workers stations, one for driver information, one for information on volunteering, and one to actually sign up new members, to be staffed by six people at all times. The three car owners have been approached, David Knoche (SRF), Eric Cruz (FE), and Blair Stitt (IT7-R). David Knoche has confirmed, while others are still tentative. John has paid VIR for the space and is actively recruiting volunteers to staff the booth. He has confirmed with the National Office that people we sign up as new members at the event can get a $15 discount on their National dues, and he asked the Board to waive their NCR dues ($20) for the first year, so that an on-site membership could be had for just $35. The Board assented by consensus without a formal vote at the suggestion of the RE, Sam Fouse. John plans a driver handout and a volunteer worker handout, as well as up to four posters, to advertise what we do. He is coordinating with Bruce Dover on getting those made. He also plans to distribute free bottled water to anyone who walks up as a good-will gesture. John indicated that even with the 3 car passes ($75 each) and the 3 extra worker passes ($75 each) that he has to purchase, he is still within his budget of $1000, with plenty left for printing. He will report on the plans for this event again at the next meeting, just before it occurs.
2. Advertising on Region Website: Jeff Eng produced a rate card document on website advertising, which he had placed on the Google drive in the July folder. It indicates that our website is viewed by about 1900 people per month, who average more than 8500 impressions or views over a month’s time. The Board was a bit confused about the rest of the jargon and statistics on the document, and as a result, had a hard time evaluating Jeff’s recommendations, which appeared to be $200 per month for an ad running all year and $100 per month for a special ad. Jeff was not present, so no questions could be asked of him. RE Sam Fouse asked Member-at-Large Blair Deffenbaugh if he would digest the information Jeff had provided and turn it into a sales pitch we could use to sell the advertising. Blair agreed to do that for the Board to consider at the next meeting.
3. Annual Picnic: Buddy Matthews indicated that plans for the annual picnic had been scrapped following the untimely death of James Buckberry, our Chief Starter, and primary grill master in years past. Sam commented that if VIR will give us a date in mid-summer as we have asked, then we can start having the annual picnic at the track.
4. Annual Awards Dinner: Buddy Matthews indicated that members of the West Chapter had formed a new committee to take over planning for the annual awards dinner next January and that they were actively involved in securing a site.
5. Enduro Class Structure and Entry Fees: Sam had posted to the Enduro folder on the Google drive his recommendations for adding additional classes to the E1 through E5 groups used by SJR in their “Devil in the Dark” enduro. There was discussion about whether to allow cars to run slicks if they chose, since many competitors in the classes that race on slicks would already have them, rather than require DOT tires as SJR does. Some people felt the issue was moot, since it was unlikely anyone would try to run for 8 to 13 hours on slicks, and it was pointed out that it was more unlikely that we would get any entries in the big bore classes which would derive the most benefit from running slicks. Motion to allow whatever tires the cars in that class normally raced on (R. Deffenbaugh / B. Deffenbaugh). Passed. There was also discussion on including chump cars as SJR does and where to put IT-7R. Buddy was particularly unhappy with chump car rules allowing cars to race with significant body damage.  Sam indicated that a restriction on that could be added to the Supps. Motion to accept class groupings into E1 through E5 according to the suggestions in Sam’s document (R. Deffenbaugh / Keadle). Passed. Sam asked that the Board formally accept the budget and fee structure he had posted last month. 13-hour cars will pay $1095 and 8-hour cars will pay $795, which is still a bit under the $100/hr. charged for most long-running enduros. Motion to accept the budget and fee structure (R. Deffenbaugh / Matthews). Passed. Sam indicated he would inform the Comp Board of our decisions in Mike Spencer’s absence.

1. Report on Mid-Year Meeting: Sam reported on the SEDIV Mid-Year meeting that he and Rex had attended in Atlanta the previous weekend. He outlined a number of issues that were discussed in addition to the SEDIV calendar for next year, which was the nominal reason for the meeting.
   1. NASA Spec E30 will be added as SEDIV class next year.
   2. A Majors is being proposed to the National Office to be held at Roebling Road over July 4th weekend, in conjunction with a SARRC race – a particularly bad idea in Sam’s opinion and those of the other Board members.
   3. NCR was given the green light to host the 55th Anniversary of Formula Vee at one of our races in 2018, possibly in conjunction with the SARRC/MARRS or the Goblins Go. He was told that they prefer that it be held in the spring, but that time frame is still up for discussion.
   4. Track rental at Road Atlanta and Charlotte has gone up for next year, almost to what VIR currently charges, so we should expect VIR to raise their fees as well.
   5. Rex Deffenbaugh accepted the post of Region liaison with V8 Road Race Series which will be part of our Goblins Go weekend this year, since he is good friends with Butch Kummer, who organizes it. Toni Creighton is the Series Administrator and Jim Creighton is the Tech Supervisor. The series rules require adjoining paddock spaces, one timed race and one lap race (similar in format to a Majors weekend), and other details which Sam indicated the Comp Board would work into our Supps. There is a letter of understanding, signed by Sam and Butch some time ago, and the Series rules, posted on the Google drive in the Goblins Go folder.
2. James Buckberry Memorial items: Sam indicated that he had been in contact with Amanda of Race Engineering about stickers and t-shirts, such as the one she and her companion wore at James Buckberry’s funeral service, with the blend line and the logo “Don’t violate me, James!”  The stickers were $2 each and Sam ordered 100.  The t-shirts would be about $18 to $25 each depending on quantity and Sam told her that we would be happy to collect names of people who wanted them on a sign-up sheet but we would not be purchasing any. Several Board members agreed that this was a wise course, as we usually got our own t-shirts at much lower prices and it was felt that we could incorporate a tribute to James in whatever design we came up with for the Goblins Go. Buddy announced that James’ son Justin had presented the Region with his father’s famous cowboy hat and several members felt that we should display it at the track and use its likeness in our design.
3. Region History Project Appropriation: James Shanks indicated that he had been spending money at the rate of eight to ten dollars per month for things such as sheet protector sleeves and plastic storage containers to house the old documents and Bulletins which had been discovered over the past year and that he wanted to be reimbursed. While the total amount was not much, he felt it was important that the Board approve the expenditure. Motion to approve spending up to $500 on supplies to preserve old documents (Keadle / R. Deffenbaugh). Passed. Buddy indicated that he had been displaying a lot of Region memorabilia in the scale room at VIR and that if we came across things that would be of interest to the general membership if displayed, he was the man to see. James and the other Board members thanked him for that.
4. New Chief Starter: Pete Romanowski had been nominated to take over James Buckberry’s job as Chief Starter and Pete was on hand to accept the post and be confirmed by the Board, which they did without a formal vote. Pete noted that he is also Chief Starter for South Carolina and Central Carolinas regions as well, and was happy to do the job for all of them.
5. Danville Chapter: Buddy asked Heather Clark whether she and Eric Danielsen were interested in reviving the Danville Chapter. She said that Eric lives about two hours away in Roanoke and that there simply were not enough members in Virginia local enough to Danville to make it feasible.