Mid State of Ohio Kart Club
Board of Directors Meeting
June 15, 2006
Station House 81 – Commercial Point, Ohio
Call to Order – Bill Bruce called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM. He distributed an agenda that Mike Unger had provided.
Attendance – In attendance were:
Bill Bruce – Member (Secretary)
Layman Cobb – Visitor
Mike Dillon – Member (Treasurer)
MaShaun Jones – Visitor (Webmaster)
Bob Strawser – Member
There were eight regular board members present and no alternates.
Apologies for Absence – Those who had indicated that they were unable to attend the meeting were:
Paul Lyda – Member (Vice-President)
Heath Tatman – Member
Steve Tatman – Member
Mike Unger – Member (President)
Board of Directors By-Laws – The meeting began with a discussion of whether a quorum was present or not, since there were only four regular board members and no alternates present. Bill Bruce asked if anyone knew if there were by-laws that could be referred to. Bob Strawser indicated that there had been a set of by-laws when the club was first organized. Mike Dillion indicated that that he would try to find a copy (Action 1). Bill Bruce suggested that this may be something that Mike Unger would know about (Action 2). For the purposes of this meeting, it was agreed that it should be assumed that a quorum was NOT present.
Reflections on Race No. 4 – Mike Dillon indicated that Race No. 4 (clockwise direction) had gone well and that the club should do it again sometime. Bob Strawser agreed and added that this had been the consensus on the MSOKC Forum as well.
Amendments to GCRs – Bill Bruce read a proposed amendment to the General Competition Rules (GCRs) pertaining to SuperCan Novice class eligibility, which had been provided by Mike Unger. The proposed amendment, which would be Item 6 in the appropriate section of the GCRs, reads as follows: “6. Any MSOKC member may petition the BOD for entry into the Novice SuperCan class. If the member is clearly not a novice, they must explain why they believe the Novice class is best for them. Medical and physical circumstances will be considered.” Everyone agreed that this was appropriate, although no action could be taken because of a lack of a quorum.
Qualifying Race – The idea of a race date in the 2006 season that involves timed qualifying instead of heat races was discussed next. The results of a poll on the MSOKC forum indicate overwhelming support for this idea (19 for, 4 against). Various formats were discussed as were various schemes for point scoring. It was agreed that the likely best scenario would be two practice sessions, then a five lap qualifying session (40 points available), followed by a six lap heat race (40 points available), and then a 10 lap feature (80 points available). Mike Dillon emphasized the need to stager the karts during qualifying and, for the larger classes, to limit the number of karts on the track at any one time. Layman Cobb suggested that any class with more than 10 karts could be split into two groups for qualifying. It was agreed that the race date that will involve the short course Saturday, August 19 might be a good candidate for a timed qualifying race, although the number of laps would need to me increased accordingly.
Timing Display – MaShaun Jones indicated that he had been unable to contact Jed Hacker, who had offered a timing display to the club. MaShaun Jones indicated that he would continue to try, and that he would look into the cost of a new display (Action 3), which he thought would be relatively inexpensive.
Post meeting note: MaShaun Jones reports that outdoor displays with at least four lines and high intensity LEDs are relatively expensive (several thousand dollars). Kits are definitely lower cost, but being of outdoor quality increases the price significantly. He will continue his efforts to contact Jed Hacker and, if successful, will make arrangements to pick it up and start repairing it.
Hog Roast Preparations – Preparations for the Hog Roast following the Sunday race on July 23 were discussed next. Bob Strawser confirmed that arrangements for the main course had been made. Bill Bruce reminded those in attendance that Paul Lyda had already developed a list of who should bring what. It was agreed that distribution of this list should begin at the next race and, following this, the list should be posted on the MSOKC website. Bill Bruce indicated that Mike Unger had sent him an email indicating that details for the games had been finalized, although he needs approximately 10 used Vega tires in the 7.10 size.
Postponement of Race No. 5 – The next topic of discussion was the postponement of Race No. 5 on June 11, 2006. Everyone agreed that the circumstances surrounding the events of the day were unfortunate – both NOAA Weather Radio and The Weather Channel had predicted continued rain throughout the day and into the evening. Mike Dillon consulted the GCRs, which say: “1. If at the start of a race day (defined as when practice would normally start) it is raining a decision will be made by 11:00 am on Sunday schedules and 5:00 pm on Saturday schedules whether the race will be called for the day. The race will be rescheduled to a planned Rain date.” He went on to say that, had the event gone ahead as planned, experience indicates that participation would have been light and that the club would have lost money. Bill Bruce indicated that, even though the decision was made prior to when practice would normally start, there was overwhelming agreement on the MSOKC Forum that his was the right thing to do. It was agreed that this practice should be reserved for only the most extreme weather conditions in the future, as was the case for Race No. 2 of the 2005 season when there was snow on the ground on race-day morning. The idea of holding races in spite of the rain was discussed next. Mike Dillon expressed concern about the cost to club members for doing this in terms of increased kart maintenance (new bearings, etc.). MaShaun Jones pointed out that the results of a survey on the MSOKC Forum indicate overwhelming opposition to changing the club policy (4 for, 19 against).
Transponder System Up-Date – Mike Dillon reported that Erin Dillon had made significant progress in ironing the bugs out of the system. MaShaun Jones indicated that it would be useful to have internet access at the track so that lap times could be uploaded to MyLaps.com directly from the track in a timely manner. He went on to indicate that the results on MyLaps.com should be considered unofficial and that the official results would be posted on the MSOKC website. Bill Bruce indicated that some of the errors in the MyLap.com results were the result of the inclusion of laps that could easily be identified as impossible (e.g., a sub-30 second lap) for anyone except Bob McConnell. MaShaun Jones indicated that he would try to filter these out in the future. Mike Dillon indicated that this would be a season of trial and error, but in general, significant progress had been made.
MSOKC Swap Meet – The need to set a definite date for the swap meet was discussed. Mike Dillon indicated that he would investigate cost and availability for an appropriate space at Franklin County fairgrounds (Action 4). Bob Strawser suggested that Pickaway County Fairgrounds might be an alternate venue worth investigating and offered to investigate cost and availability for an appropriate space there, too (Action 5). The attributes of various times of the year were also discussed. Layman Cobb suggested that prior to the beginning of the season was best. Bill Bruce expressed concern about having it near the time of the OVKA swap meet, which is usually in February. The likely candidates were identified as the first part of November, the middle of January, or sometime in March.
Trophy Supply – Mike Dillon indicated that he had picked up enough trophies for the remainder of the season and beyond. The possibility of personalizing the trophies with stickers at the track was discussed (faux engraving). MaShaun indicated that he would investigate this (Action 6). Bob Strawser reiterated that it would be useful to have a podium and to take pictures of the top finishers. MaShaun Jones indicated that these could be posted on the website.
Endurance Race – Bill Bruce expressed concern about planning the endurance race on one of the unused rain dates, as had been discussed previously, now that at least one of the rain dates would be needed. It was agreed that a dedicated date for this event, if a reasonable one is available, should be established. October 15 and October 29 were identified as likely candidates.
New Business/Club Promotion – Layman Cobb led a discussion pertaining to better ways to promote club participation. He suggested that one way to do this was to offer pre-paid, discounted entry fees at the beginning of the season for the full season. Members who plan to run the full season would benefit from the discount. The club would benefit by having those funds available from the beginning of the season. He also indicated that there were untapped opportunities in terms of sponsorships from local business. Mike Dillon suggested that Layman Cobb should get in touch with Bob McConnell, who is the Promotional Chairperson for the club, to discuss these ideas.
Next Meeting – As always, the next meeting will be at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of the month, which is July 20, 2006. The venue for the meeting will be Station House 81 in Commercial Point, Ohio, unless otherwise announced.
Actions – The following is a list of action items from the meeting:
Adjournment – The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:35 PM.
Bill Bruce
Secretary
MSOKC Board of Directors