Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
August 16, 2020
Freedom Hall, Fort Wayne IN
Executive Director Jay Jackson opened the meeting at 12:10pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Those in attendance were: Region 00-Jerry & Sherri Gordon, Jeff Eads, & Jamie & Deb Swygart; Region 01-Wayne Kopec; Region 02-Terry Young; Region 03-Scott Bowman, Mark & Shannon Hughes, & Jeff & Mary Donelson; Region 04-Kent Taylor; Region 06-Mark & Carol Thomas; Region 07- Ken Harris; Region 08-Ted Borchelt; Region 09-Mo Kintner; Region 10-Suzanne & Bob Eckert; Region 11-Pat Haggard & Rick Terry; Region 12-Dave Hawkins; Region 13-Aaron Meyer & Christian Harper; AdComm- Rick Thompson; LCRP-Rayce Guthrie; MRF-Roberta Meyer; DIRT-Roy Garrett; LINC-Richard & Cheryl Dolson; Marketing Committee-Mike Seiler; Spiritual Director-Pastor Jack Smith; Rider Ed Coordinator-Kelly Jackson; Secretary/Treasurer-Tina McCormack; Region 05 is inactive.
ITEM 1: Tina requested a motion to approve the March/April financials.
MOTION 1
She then reviewed the current dashboard, financial highlights & director packet. She requested regions to submit monthly reports timely.
ITEM 2: Jay welcomed the group to Freedom Hall & introduced Elizabeth ‘Izzy’ Hanes. In addition to managing the building, Izzy is our Rider Ed Administrator & Coordinator for our Fort Wayne site.
He added that our financial status is improved, but we must continue to improve membership.
Jay informed everyone about an incident involving motorcycle clubs in Lafayette yesterday that resulted in a death.
Jay commended Izzy in efforts to comply with state guidelines regarding preventing the spread of COVID-19.
ITEM 3: Roy Garrett stated that we’ve been busy with Dirt Bike School (DBS) the past two months. Many students are from out of state. Jay added that we received considerable praise for our program & Roy from the father of a recent student.
Rayce Guthrie will follow up with the DNR on Monday regarding the grant that we have been approved for. The grant will fund the purchase of training bikes for DBS, but due to production issues related to the current pandemic, the bikes are on back order.
Roy added that off-road racing is proceeding. Rayce announced Southern Indiana Grand Prix Series (SIGPS) will hold a hare scramble at LCRP on Sept 12 & 13. SIGPS has been working to create new trails & repair current trails at LCRP.
Jay said that there’s a Recreational Trails Program (RTP) meeting on Tuesday.
Due to the pandemic, our Tiny Tots program is suspended for this year. Many of the hosting events have been cancelled as well.
ITEM 4: Jay reminded the board that our rider ed tuition increased this year. Our tuition is still less than most other providers. Sherri Gordon asked if they could provide region events info to the students in Fort Wayne. Jay answered that yes, officers local to sites routinely introduce themselves & our organization to students.
Kelly Jackson gave an overview of the current status of rider ed registrations, cancellations & reschedules. It has been a challenging year. It was necessary to cancel or reschedule 27 classes. We expect to end the season with close to 2,000 students taught; projections for rider skills test applicants is approximately 1,000.
Discussion followed on abilities to ride a 2 wheel motorcycle due to age &/or health issues.
ITEM 5: Roberta Meyer stated that the US Congress is in recess. Upon return, the Senate is to provide their version of the highway bill.
Jay announced that Tiffany Cipoletti, previously Director of Operations for MRF, is now working for the AMA. The MRF & AMA frequently work jointly on projects. The MRF also continues to contract with the lobbying firm HBS for their efforts, which is working well. Jay explained the manner in which William Fox (“Rocky”), the lobbyist representing the MRF, works with respective states when meeting with their legislators.
ITEM 6: Jay commented that the current transportation bill contains positive items for motorcyclists. We are fortunate that Indiana has a member on the Senate Transportation Committee, which is Todd Young. Jay encouraged the group to maintain a relationship with their state & federal representatives.
Richard Dolson discussed effects of grass clippings in the roadway & rumble strips when motorcycles travel across them.
ITEM 7: Discussion about this year’s Boogie ensued. We were able to comply with measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, & there were no reported COVID symptoms during the event. We fervently controlled expenses this year. There were many first time attendees at the event, & a lot of people from out of state.
Many ideas were exchanged for improving future events. Procedures are to be posted at the box office, office trailer & each shelter house.
Tina recognized the help our office has had processing Boogie memberships this year. Other than a handful of memberships we have questions on, all memberships received at Boogie have been processed. She confirmed that the membership recruiter credits are being kept current.
ITEM 8: Motorcycles on Meridian (MOM) was rescheduled earlier this year for October 10. Jay plans to meet with Indy Downtown Inc (IDI) & the Indianapolis Metro Police Dept (IMPD) on August 31st & should be able to confirm the status of the event. We need a number of volunteers for the event.
We rescheduled our Oct BOD & Workers’ Party to Oct 17th due to MOM moving to Oct 10th. The National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) Conference has now been rescheduled to Oct 17th. Thus, our BOD & Workers’ Party could be rescheduled to Oct 3rd. Jay expects to confirm before Labor Day weekend.
MotoAmerica has requested volunteers from ABATE of Indiana for their event, Oct 9-11, both for gear check & rider recovery.
Jay was recently contacted by the Indy Mile, asking for volunteers for this coming weekend, August 21-22.
ITEM 9: Jay reviewed topics discussed in the AdComm meeting this morning. Mostly, discussion was on ideas for projects to retain & grow our membership. Our ABC program is still on hold. Suzanne Eckert previously requested a list of non-renewals; we’ll research if our database is capable of generating that list. Scott Bowman shared that he receives recorded messages via a phone call from other organizations that he is a member of. Jay will discuss with Marc Falsetti & follow up with the board.
ITEM 10: Mike Seiler requested a motion regarding a multi-year membership that was discussed in the June BOD meeting.
MOTION 2
ITEM 11: Tina reminded the directors that their Workers’ Party invitation lists are due Sept 17th. She also reminded them to review election procedures, & to submit their sanctioned events list to her no later than the Oct BOD meeting.
Jay repeated the importance & necessity of meeting deadlines. He asked the group to market our organization, & to welcome new members. Jay introduced Pastor Jack Smith as our Spiritual Director. Pastor Jack spoke about a couple of projects he’s working on & offered his services.
ITEM 12: Jay began discussion on Meeting of the Minds (MOTM). ABATE will provide 1 hotel room per region, provided the region will have participants; volunteers working a reasonable about of time will be registered for the conference by ABATE, which includes meals. We need use of, preferably, a 15 passenger van. We also need monetary donations to cover ABATE’s expenses, as well as hospitality room & auction item donations. The regions are to confirm room needs with Kelly by Wed, August 19.
MOTION 3
Meeting adjourned, 2:45pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Tina McCormack
Secretary/Treasurer
The next scheduled Board of Directors meeting will be at LCRP, date to be confirmed before Sept 7th.
MOTIONS
Motion 1: Ken Harris made the motion to approve March/April financials, with a second by Suzanne Eckert. All regions present voted yes; motion carried.
Motion 2: Ken Harris motioned to offer the following multi-year memberships: single 3 year for $70, couple 3 year for $125, single 5 year for $100, couple 5 year for $180. Pat Haggard seconded the motion. All regions voted in favor; motion carried.
Motion 3: Ken Harris motioned to adjourn, Kent Taylor seconded. All regions present voted in favor; motion carried.
