Board Meeting Minutes from February 3, 2016

Arctic Orienteering Club
Board Meeting: Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Meeting was held at Regan’s home, and called to order at 7:08 by President Trond Jensen.

Members present: Trond Jensen; Joyce Goodell; Anne Billman; Dan Billman; Shelly Laws; Jill Follett; Regan Sarwas; Chris Tomsen; Ian Moore; Cory Smith; Lia Keller

2016 Budget: Dan reports we have $6000 in the checking account to start the season. This is after paying OUSA dues. Trond sent them a hardship letter and we were awarded a discount of $400.

2016 Schedule and Meets: Anne reports activity has been fairly inactive. She is confident she can find directors for open meets on the schedule. There are 6 members probably committed to open meets currently. The Annual “Party-O” will be the meet on 6-22. We will plan on a sign up for new board members at this time. So far, no activity from the party planning committee.
Dan has stated he can provide the club with a couple white boards for club use.

Permitting: HS “O” is an ASD event, put on by ASD. AOC provides supplies, organization, set up, but ASD covers the insurance and permit on the meet. Start fees are collected by OUSA, so it was discussed that start fees should be collected for AOC members. Collecting a start fee (by OUSA) for each HS student was left open for discussion, as the meet is actually a ASD event.

Misc-Chris: He will work on exploring an option for a MatSu meet. Possibly using Crevasse Moraine, and holding the meet on a weekend. He’s also promoting Biathalon/Orienteering to the MatSu ski club.

Website: Regan is developing information for early season meet information such as basic start times, Wednesday venues, etc.

Mapping: Ian reports ERNC has spectacular terrain and looks like a fun place to try out. Starting location would be a ways away from the Nature Center (approx.. 1 mile), so a bit of a hike to the start. It would be a good venue for an advanced type meet, but not suitable for something like a HS “O”. Trond will check in with Chugach State Park Board (he’s on it) for possibilities. Barriers could be parking fees, location. Art has expressed interest in making maps around a couple schools (Muldoon Park), but no report recently from him. Trond reports area around Upper Huffman Trailhead has very good potential, and presented a rough map. We could try a “test meet” in this area. There are many trails, but some off trail terrain/vegetation could present difficulties. Cory and Trond will make a test map.

Equipment: Regan reports the equip. is in pretty good shape, and needs to purchase various small items. He will set up the 50 new controls we have for use, and retire the oldest controls. These old controls will be used for training O’s, off season courses, and also available for use by members who want to set something up. Waiver sheet will be revised for 2016 schedule, with current fees and thanks to donors on the form, as well as a spot for “mapping donations”. He will reorder 2016 meet calendars, and free pass forms, and also include a “lost and found” box.

Training: Anne reported that a family and home school group would like O training, and was willing to pay for it. Board does not do a fee for service training, and Chris T volunteered to take part in this training. Cory feels meet director training is a fun thing, but are we really accomplishing our goal of training new people. He suggests we target people who haven’t put on meets to come to training, and then we can assign them to an experienced meet director to help with meets. The goal is to set up this training (with food and beverages) early in the season. He will set up date and venue, and we will find people who want to do this training.

Other Business: Board agrees to “first time free” again for 2016, and all kids O for free, as we are again expecting the $1000 donation from Healthy Futures. Chris suggests we all get orange vests to keep in our car for any upcoming emergency. Anne brought to our attention upcoming O’s in Arizona in mid February. Jill volunteered Eric to vet any course (as he is retired) and would love to do this.

Next meeting – TBD.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45
Minutes respectfully submitted by Joyce G. Secretary

Minutes also available as PDF.