AGM 2009 Minutes
by John Senior, G7RSX
Minutes of the 35th AGM of the Leicestershire Repeater Group held at the East Midlands Electricity Social Club, Aylestone Road, Leicester on 7th May 2009
Attending: G6RRJ, M1GPO, M1NAS, G3TQF, M1EXO, G8SZX, 2E0SHB, M6JAB, G7DPU, M0CJW, G0UVP, G0ATR, G7RXS, G8OBP
Apologies: G3UOD, M1EWH, G7ODM, G4LRT, M1BPT, M0DBG, G3SBF, G7DQR, M1JPF
In the absense of Geoff Dover, G4AFJ, the start of the meeting was delayed. At 8.30 the meeting was called to order and John Senior, G7RXS, explained that in the unexpected absense of the present Chairman it was customary for the meeting to decide who should take the Chair. There were no volunteers and several members suggested that G7RXS should condut the meeting which he agreed to do.
1. Chairmans Welcome
The acting chairman welcomeed all the members, non members and guests and assisted by Mike Silver, G0ATR, a roll call was taken.
2. Minutes of 2008 AGM
The minutes has previously been circulated to all members and the acting Chairman asked for any comments. There being none, he asked for a proposer and seconder that they were a true and accurate record. Proposed by G8SZX, seconded by G6RRJ. Carried without dissent.
3. Treasurers Report
The acting Chairman then assumed his role as Treasurer and started by thanking Sandra Andrews M1EXO for her invaluable assistance in examining the accounts and producing the balance sheet and drew attention again to the 5 year view format which he said was of great value to the emmbers, the committee and even himself in giving an easy view of the Group's overall position and also highlighting any trends either good or bad. He commented that the Group's overall position was now at a better level than for many years and said that this could be attributed to the fact that we had managed to maintain all income streams in line with previous years and that expenses had been strictly contained. Particular thanks were due to Nigel, M1NAS, or engineer who had a knack of being able to mend things at minimum cost without having to resort to expensive replacements. The treasurer did comment that whilst our finances were in extremely good order we could not afford to be complacent as there could be surprises awaiting us on either the income or expenditure side. The Treasurer (acting Chairman) concluded by asking for a proposer and seconder that the approved accounts represented a true and accurate picture of the Group's fiscal position. Proposed M1GPO, seconded M1NAS. Carried without dissent.
4 Membership Report
The acting Chairman then assumed his role as Membership Secretary and advised that we currently had a total membership of 62 which was only 1 different to the same time last year.
All members approaching their renewal date received reminders and a second reminder was sent out before anyone was actually removed from the database. All this at no cost to the Group as we had an anonymous sponsor for postage in this respect.
5. Engineering Managers Report
Nigel M1NAS, succinctly reported that everything was working well. He expanded by saying that GB3CF needed some aerial work to improve it and that he was somewhat concerned about the anti-vandal barbed wire on the mast which he thought might to some extent be causing a rusty bolt effect.
He pointed out that there was still non engineering work required on site such as fence repairs and some painting work to the base of the mast. We have regular Sunday visits to the site but these are generally for essential engineering work. Some repairs have been necessary but have been completed with minimum expenditure.
David G8OBP, reported that following refurbushment to the aerial system and antennae GB3GV was now working better than for many years.
6 Site Managers Report
John M0CJW, reported that everything was mainly in order and at his last visit the pump was OK but the undergrowth was beginning to grow again. Fencing is OK but some work is necessary. This will be dealt with shortly.
7. Chairmans Report
Not available. (Hopefully this can be circulated in due course.)
8. Consitutional Ammendments
The acting Chairment explained that full details had been circulated and that postal voting had been allowed
The first proposal was to add a new final sentence to Section 5.1 to read "in the event that no volunteer comes forward to fill any of these posts then the existing post-holder, if willing, may stand for a further year subject to the usual electoral process" it was explained that whilst this section is commendable it may prove impossible for the Group to carry on without being in breach of its own Consititution.
There were 6 postal votes for and none against. The proposal was put to the meeting and carried unanimously.
The second proposal was to make the existing section 6, 6.1 amd then add a new subsection 6.2 as follows. "In the event that it has been impossible to elect or co-opt a Secretary for whatsoever reason then section 6.1 above shall not apply" The reason for this is that for several years recently we have been without a Secretary (other than the period when G6RRJ admirably fulfilled the duties), and this amendment is to bring the Constitution into line with what has been normal practice.
There were 6 postal votes for and none agains. This proposal was put to the meeting and carried unanimously.
9. Election of Officers
CHAIRMAN - There were no volunteers from the floor and in the unexpected absense of Geoff Dover, the acting Chairman asked the meeting if they were happy for Geoff to continue subject to his agreement and for him to be co-opted at the enxt committee meeting. Unanimously agreed. A question was raised from the floor as to if an EGM was required to elect a Chairman in the circumstances pertaining and the acting Chairman ruled that it was not necessary as the Constitution, as amended, permitted both the continuation in office and co-option and that the matter would be dealt with at the next committee meeting.
SECRETARY - Richard Unwin, G6RRJ, indicated his willingness to stand for office again andf there were no other volunteers.
Proposed M0CJW, Seconded M1GPO - carried unanimously
TREASURER - (and MEMBERSHIP) - there being no new volunteers John Senior G7RXS agreed to continue in office
Proposed M1NAS, Seconded G8SZX - carried unanimously
ENGINEERING MANAGER - There being no new volunteers, Nigel Swann M1NAS, agreed to continue in office.
Proposed G7RXS, Seconded G0ATR - carried unanimously
SITE MANAGER - There being no new volunteers, John Dilks M0CJW agreed to continue in office.
Proposed G7RXS, Seconded M1NAS - carried unanimously
COMMITTEE (three members) - There being no new volunteers the existing officials agreed to continue in office - namely Gordon Otter, M1GPO, Mike Silver, G0ATR and David Payne, G8OBP
M0CJW proposed all three and G7RXS seconded all three - unanimously elected.
VOTE OF THANKS TO SANDRA (our accounts examiner)
The acting Chairman asked the meeting to join him in thanking Sandra for her excellent work in checking the accounts and preparing the balance sheet. The meeting responded warmly. Sandra responded by saying even though she was an accounting professional she actually enjoyed doing our books.
FORMAL CLOSURE
At this stage the acting Chairman formally closed the AGM and thanked members for their attendance. The meeting then moved on to the Open Forum where it was explained that members could express opinions and make suggestions but that no binding decisions could be made. It was pointed out taht any ideas or suggestions of merit would be taken back and looked at by committee.
OPEN FORUM
LENS EDITOR - Richard G6RRJ agreed to take on this task and asked that members should send him any appropriate material.
CONTINGENCY FUND - The question was asked if the value of this was just a guess or if it was based on hard figures. The Treasurer said that whilst it was based on hard figures they were some years out of date. However in these litigious times it was impossible to get an informal new figure for removal, repairs or likely life. The only way forward was to pay for a proper professional survey and quotation which was likely to cost many hundreds of pounds. The suggestion was made that whilst our accounts were in such good order it may be appropriate to make and additional payment into the contingency fund. This will be taken back to the committee.
NEW PROJECTS - The possibility of new (or revisited) projects was raised in the hopes that some response may be forthcoming from the floor but there were no ideas put forward. APRS, D-Star, Internet Linking and 23cm repeaters were all mentioned briefly and the acting Chairman said these would all be looked at again by the committee and re-evaluated.
L.A.R.S. - It was mentioned that the 2009 event was going ahead but that the future was uncertain for various reasons. Members were reminded that this was our main source of income. Comment was made that in reality LARS was nothing to do with our group but as it is our main income stream, and without it our books would not balance, it was necessary to keep it to the forefront in any of our plans.
FINAL CLOSURE - The acting Chairman again thanked members for attending and for their input into the Open Forum and declared the meeting closed.