Hoping all had a nice summer enjoying time with family, friends and some relaxation. Typically summer is a quiet time for the club, however a number of notable activities took place to prepare for the upcoming year.
A "Kick off" item in need of immediate attention is the addition of one more member to participate in the audit of the club's operation over the past 2 years. This is required to meet AGCL requirements for compliance with the Casino funding. This is neither an onerous task nor one that requires a professional designation or a formal accounting background to complete. Please consider this short term volunteer role. Email, Jim Weisert, VE6GO, CARA Treasurer for further information.
In May, members present at the meeting approved the appointment of Jim Leslie, VE6JF and Gerry MacDonald, VE6QLT to the Facility Coordinator roles for the Club Station and Club Repeater facilities. These roles were established to provide leadership regarding the sustainability and relevance of these facilities to current and future members of the club and the amateur radio community in Calgary and surrounding regions. Both have been addressing the major challenges of keeping the "lights on" and preparing for the upcoming club year.
Jim and others undertook the task of tidying up the areas available to us for storage at VE6AO, the club station located in and on the leased property of the Calgary Sports Car Club. Item accumulation of over the years had overrun our leased area as well as the room adjacent to the operating positions. A modest expenditure on shelving and a basic culling of bits and pieces of cable and inoperable or obsolete gear resulted in confining our presence to the allotted area in the lease agreement and the potential for additional activities in the freed up space.
Periodic problems with drainage and the reoccurrence of mould in the basement washroom facilities at VE6AO resulted in a member motion at its April meeting warning of its presence. The Board undertook a professional mould assessment in May that produced two quotations for remediation. These were then presented to the CSCC President for actioning and have been followed up to determine progress. I have been advised by email from CSCC to seek an alternate meeting location for the September club meeting. This is underway and will be announced shortly.
The current lease arrangement at the CSCC location runs until the spring of 2019. Notice to renew or not is required six months in advance of the end date or the lease automatically extends for 5 years. This is a key issue for CARA. Member input and the club's primary goals as established last year, will guide the decision to renew, or investigate other locations/options for delivery of the facility's services to members.
In a similar manner, Gerry MacDonald and others undertook the task of maximizing the use of the rented storage at Lo-Cost Storage. The compartment primarily houses Repeater Facility items as well as the paper records the club has accumulated over many years. The installation of shelves and culling of accumulated boxes and unused items left over from earlier club eras has increased its capacity and usability as well as identifying items that were thought to be missing.
During the last 3 months a number of the club's Repeater Facilities have been accessed by Gerry MacDonald and others to provide and document each ones's current state. When this is complete and with Member input and fit to the strategies to address the club's primary goals as established last year, will guide further planning and investment.
The fourth goal established in the first year of the new Board was to reach out to the other amateur organizations in the Calgary region to seek complementary opportunities to have fun and serve our communities. Over the summer preliminary discussions with Foothills Amateur Radio Society look promising. At September's Program meeting, this will be fleshed out for CARA member consideration and input.
In closing and on behalf of The CARA Executive, thanks to all members for your support and participation in club events and activities in the past year. We hope you can continue to contribute and ask all members to participate as time, circumstances and interest in amateur radio enable.
73 de VE6TI
Gordon Hungerford
