SEFSD BOD Meeting Minutes for April 2022

Date and Meeting : Home of Steve Neu, 13 April,  6:30 P.M.

Board Members Present : Chairman of the Board-Murek, President-Manganelli, Vice President–Nguyen, Safety Officer-Neu, Member at Large-Kosta,

Via Zoom : Chairman of the Board-Murek,  President-Manganelli,  Member at Large-Struthers Editor-Belknap

Not Present : Secretary-Dresser, Member at Large-Cox

Called to Order by Manganelli at 6:54 P.M.

Old Business ; 

1. Membership renewals : 265 as of 4-1-2022. On track compared with 258 at last year’s March BOD meeting.
2. Club Trailer/ Storage vs divest it : Trailer to remain stored until at least September, 2022. BOD to reconsider at that time.
3. Banquet expense as compared to membership dues. BOD Decision January 12th : Dues will not increase this year; club finances will be revisited toward the end of the year to determine a prudent banquet expense for 2023 and possible dues increase for 2023.
4. Raising altitude limit via AMA/FAA sanctioned Safety Risk Management (SRM) Panel. SEFSD is in the queue, we will be appraised approximately Fall, 2023 when we get close to the to the top of the list. In the meantime we must maintain positive relations with Air Traffic Management (ATM) by abiding by the terms of our current agreement!

Field Condition and Maintenance

1. Field Surface Improvement. One possible improvement under discussion is application of a 2” to 3” layer of decomposed granite and compacting it to a smooth and airplane friendly surface. Larry Costa volunteered to investigate. Update by Larry Kosta :  Cost breakdown is:

1. Blade……………….$ 900
2. Roller…………………$ 500
3. Water truck……..$ 400
4. Transport ………..$1350
5. Two Operators…$1200
6. 200 Yards DG…..$5130

            Total (not Including Water) $9,480

 Discussions centered around 1) City Permission, 2) Long Term improvement, 3) Drainage, 4) Maintainability if automotive vandals, weeds, etc. This exercise has so far focused on getting something done at an affordable cost, now that we have an affordable cost,  a more pertinent question is does any other R/C Club have experience with long term effects/beneift of this process in terms of an existing dirt runway? BOD Decision April 13^th : Defer implementation until such a time as it can be demonstrated the result of the process will provide a permanent and lasting improvement to field conditions.

2. Purchasing more Dust-Down. The liquid dust down, the fluid we normally add to the water when we roll the field in the middle of the Summer is back in stock. We have some in storage, do we buy more now or assume the DG will be the final solution? BOD Decision April 13^th : Authorized purchase of approximately $1,000 worth (approximately 20 gallons) while it is in stock and before the price goes up further.

Report On Immediate Past Month’s Events

1. T-28 Racing : Weedwackers Field, 4-2-22, 4 SEFSD and 8 Weedwacker pilots. My matrix was used and all had a good time for 1^st race attempt. Believe Steve Neu and Alex Sutton were the top pilots.
2. T-28 Racing, SEFSD Field, 3-12, 4-9. 4-9 was a light turnout of 7. The best race was between myself and Bob Stinson for the Silver Cup. The lead changed at least 5 times during the 10 lap race, with Bob beating me out at the end by only few feet. Unfortunately the West Cut judge had something to say which gave me the medal and Bob the “Better Luck Next Time” medal for most cuts (only 1, but at a bad time)
3. 3-19 ,went well, medals were awarded to March’s winners.
4. Club Members Meeting, Funfly Event. March 26^th. Foam Frenzy. CD : Nguyen, ~30 participants!, Thanks to Mark Davis for providing/cooking hot dogs and Carl Cox for cooking Hot Dogs.

Schedule of Upcoming  Month’s Events

1. T-28 Racing. April 9^th, CD Neu.
2. April 16 th, CD : Struthers (Mr. and Mrs.)
3. Club Members Meeting and Funfly/Hot Dog BBQ. April 23rd, CD : Bonnardel, BBQ Lead : Mark Davis.  Event Type : 3 Ring Circus. Figure 8 Taxi Race, 10 ft  Limbo Loop, 30 seconds to deadstick. (3) Sets of Medals to be awarded

New Business

1. UCSD Student Competition. Our COB, Jovi was contacted by a UCSD Professor about reserving our field for a Student competition. The competition will involve (4) groups of 4-5   Each group will fabricate their own self-designed aircraft.  The aircrafts are expected weigh roughly 3 pounds with 3’ (nominal) wingspans.  However, the aircraft design is completely open.  The designs will be constrained by the requirement for 3S lipos and  a Cobra 1180 Kv motor, the propeller to be selected by the students .  Nominally, one student whom is an AMA member will be the pilot for all groups.  The object of this event is to optimize the weighted sum of maximum speed and payload weight. BOD Decision April 19^th : Approved to close the field for this event Friday, June 10^th from 8:00 A.M. through 12:00 P.M. with the caveat that all pilots comply with AMA and SEFSD Membership/Insurance requirements. We want to be proactive for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) endeavors!

2. Holiday Banquet Financials : Update 4-7-2022 SM : Notional austere budget based on Phils BBQ Event Center (in the same parking lot as the main Sports Arena Restaurant as Follows :

Ribs and Chicken Dinner-Buffet Per Person $ 34.95         80 persons        $2796

Tax on Food                                                                                          $216.69

Extra Hour (2 hours included)                                                                $125

2 hours Bartender*                                                                               $110

Venue Surcharge 20%                                                                           $649.54

R/C Model Prizes                                                                                   $1500

Guests Prizes                                                                                        $500

*Bar Tab (added after the fact) we could set a limit of $300                    $300

Income (Members)                                                       40 @ $25 per                $1000

Income (Guests)                                                            40 @ $30-$35 per         $1200/$1400

NET EXPENSE TO SEFSD  : $3,756/$3,956

BENEFIT per MEMBER : $93.89/$98.90                          

This is still more than “free dues” for the attendees but at least not fully 2 or even 3 members’ dues per member attendee. With higher buy-in, turnout could be lower and once booked, 80 becomes the minimum we have to pay for. If we had 100 people, the cost to the club would be $4101 with a per member benefit of  $82.02. Phils BBQ told me their price is good for now, but no guarantees to hold it until early next year. BOD Decision April 13^th : Go Forward per above with a prospective date of Jan 14, 2023. Subsequent to that decision, there was some reservations expressed about the price for the guests so further discussions will be conducted before the venue is booked.

3. Excess Medals. (2) Sets of Medals for February through October’s Electroglide have been provided to Jeff Struthers. One set for Open Class and one for Radian Class. Thanks to Larry Kosta for design and fabrication of the decal insert. That still leaves a few for some other purpose, mindful of them being used for this year as the casting includes “2022”.

4. Officer Changes : We are (sort of) complete! Thanks to Alan Isaacs for stepping up as Treasurer.  However our Secretary Ken Dresser has not attended any BOD meetings and is probably not available to perform the Secretary role. If anyone wants to be involved in running the club as Secretary, please let me know. The job of the Secretary is to attend the BOD meetings (either by Zoom or in person) and take the Agenda (created by me, the President) and turning the decision made into minutes like I am doing now.

5. Club Logo Apparel : Last meeting BOD voted to solicit an updated logo design to use on hats and/or T-shirts. Proceeds for the sale to fund field improvements or? Larry Kosta’s professional Graphics Designers provided at least (6) different concepts for BOD review. The latest set included a “Patch Style” logo that nicely exemplified our club characteristics and hopefully has sufficient detail to be both embroidered and screen printed. BOD Decision : Yes, go  forward with prototype fabrication on a hat for BOD approval. Action : Kosta.

6. SEFSD Founders Perpetual Trophy. <Details redacted until appropriate time for club-wide dissemination> Action : Manganelli, No Update Provided at BOD meeting

Treasurers Report

1. Starting Balance (at the beginning of March) : [removed]
2. Income from the Past month (February) Aggregated : Unk.
3. Expenses for the Month (March) Itemized :
   1. Outhouse Maintenance : Unk
   2. Badge Making/Mailing : Unk.
   3. Hot Dogs/chips/drinks : Unk.
   4. Medal Engraving Plates : $116
   5. ?
4. Ending Balance (as of March 31, 2022) : [removed]

Next Months BOD Meeting(s) : 6:30. May 11th, Location TBD

Adjourned  : 8:14 P.M.

Minutes Submitted By :  Manganelli, 4-18-2022.