CAARA is an ARRL Special Service Club
located at 6 Stanwood Street in
Gloucester Massachusetts.

2015 Annual Meeting

Officers
PHank McCarlW4RIGPresident
PJake HurdW1LDLVice President
PBill PoulinWZ1LClerk
PStan StoneW4HIXTreasurer

 

Directors
PPaul AndersonKA1GIJ PAnthony MarksN1JEI
PLarry BealieuAJ1Z PRoger SmithKB1YTJ
ARobert ChadbourneK1LJO PGardiner WinchesterKA1BTK

 

Members in Attendance
David GoochKB1ZBOBob QuinnWV1A
Doug BidwellKB1YLZMike CrestohlW1RC
Ron BeckleyN1RJBDavid SuuronenKB1KR
Cliff RobinsonKC1PORoss BurtonW1RAB
David HayesKB1VSVMark WatsonW1MAW
Jon CunninghamK1TPBill CantyW1OKD
Bob Spanks Jr.WA1UCGRenée WinchesterKC1BAK

 

Visitors
Melissa CoxCity of Gloucester

The meeting was called to order by President Hank McCarl at 1930 hours. President McCarl gave a Welcome Address:

Comments on 2014-2015 from CAARA President Hank McCarl, W4RIG.

To say this past year was without its moments would be an understatement. We seemed to go from one crisis to another - well documented by e-mail and via the CAARA repeater. The good news is that things have finally settled down, crises averted and really some significant progress on the station at 6 Stanwood.

We did finally register the property in Salem at the Registry of Deeds in January followed by three months of record snowfall and the complaints about parking and snow removal. In the process we did manage to tear down the kitchen ceiling and get it replaced and repaired. We also got the annual permit for continuing food preparation as posted on the wall in the kitchen. Many good efforts from Jon Cunningham, Roger Smith, Bob Spanks, Jake Hurd, Ross Burton, and many others who contributed to that effort.

We struggled through Field Day with terrible weather and much scurrying with the radio equipment which made it without damage from wind or rain. Lessons learned and everything made it back to 6 Stanwood. Thanks to Paul, Gardi, Dave, Ross, Ruth and Bob for their efforts - and special thanks to Bill Canty for his guidance and help.

We presented 4 scholarships from CAARA thanks to the efforts of Stan Stone and his culinary expertise with the fund raising breakfasts.

Gardi Winchester did a yeoman’s job - outstanding - with the 16+ Special events and all those who assisted - Evan, Carol, Stan, Hank, Charlie, Ruth, Roger, and others who Gardi may wish to mention in his Special Events report - we still have 6 or 7 events to go in calendar 2015, so any and all volunteers will be appreciated.

The gem of the year turns out to be the recent repair and construction of the antennas at 6 Stanwood - Jon Cunningham and Bob Spanks led the effort with help from Ross, Jake, Bill Canty, Bob Quinn and others.

Bob Quinn led the regular VE sessions during the year and worked harder than the rest of us combined at the recent Tech-in-a-Day session at the ARRL Regional convention in Boxboro. Assistance in Boxboro by Bill Poulin, Stan Stone, Hank McCarl, Mark Watson and other VE’s was greatly appreciated.

I think we can all be proud of retaining our Special Service Club status during this past year with service to the Cape Ann Community Emergency Response Team and related training activities.

And lest we forget - we finally accomplished the restoration of the front of 6 Stanwood and are proceeding to explore sources of funding to finish the work on the other 3 sides. We are also working to get an emergency power generator to work from natural gas for the facilities at 6 Stanwood.

We now have repeaters in operation on 145, 220 and 440 MHz and are pleased to report that we will soon have multiple antennas for both VHF and UHF frequencies for use by our members and once we get the protocol worked out, we hope to have remote operation capability. With the new weather station, APRS relay, USGS Net Quake seismograph, internet and wifi capability we can continue to provide important technical services to the Cape Ann Community.

Respectfully submitted,

Hank McCarl, W4RIG
CAARA President 2014-2016

TREASURER’S REPORT

The Treasurer’s Report was reported by Stan Stone, W4HIX.

  • Fiscal Year Budget ended in a deficit of -$318.73
  • Four (4) scholarships were given by CAARA to two (2) Students - Gloucester, 1 Student - Rockport and 1 Student - Manchester/Essex
  • We have applied for and received Sales Tax Exemption to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for purchases for the Radio Club
  • We have also applied for and received Real Estate Tax Exemption from the City of Gloucester, MA for our Clubhouse

Click here for the full 2015 Year-End Treasurer’s Report.

The motion of the Treasurer’s Report to be accepted was motioned by Bob Spanks, WA1UCG and seconded by Tony Marks, N1JEI. A vote by the attending membership for approval was UNANIMOUS.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS

OFFICERS

TREASURER: Stan Stone, W4HIX, reelected for a 2-year term. New term expires September 2017.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

A discussion was held before the nominations and voting was held. A request was made to increase the number of Directors. Discussion was held for the actual number of Directors.

Bill Canty, W1OKD motioned that he wanted to keep the Board at 6 Directors. Motion seconded by Tony Marks, N1JEI

President McCarl stated that there were a few meetings whereby a Director or two were late and worry on having a quorum. Increasing the number to 7 or 8 would allow one or two Board members to be absent or late and still meet the quorum.

A vote was taken by the 23 members attending the meeting for the motion of Bill Canty. Result of the vote: 13 YEA, 9 NAY, 1 Abstention.

A motion to vacate the previous motion and increase the number of Board members to 7 was made and a vote was taken. Result of the vote: 13 YEA, 9 NAY, 1 Abstention.

Three people were nominated:
Jon Cunningham, K1TP**
Mark Watson, W1MAW**
Ross Burton, W1RAB**

** All nominated candidates received 5 seconds. A vote was taken and by UNANIMOUS show of hands, all three candidates were elected for a TWO (2) year term on the Board of Directors to expire in September 2017.

A motion was made by Bob Spanks, WA1UCG, for the Board of Directors to straighten out the problems with the CAARA Mail System. “The lists attached to the Email Server for CAARA goes beyond just the membership.” “We have the Members of CAARA, the ARRL, The City of Gloucester and everybody else all dumped into one list.” Bob further requested that the problem be discussed and resolved within the first 60 days of the Board’s new year.

The motion was seconded by Jon Cunningham, K1TP. A Vote was held. The motion passed UNANIMOUSLY.

There being no further business to conduct a motion was made by Bill Canty, W1OKD to close the meeting at 21:05 hours. The motion was seconded by Tony Marks, N1JEI. A vote was taken and passed UNANIMOUSLY by all attendees.

Respectfully Submitted:

BILL POULIN, WZ1L
CAARA CLERK