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MARS Meeting Minutes

January 4, 2023

Meeting called to order at 1912.

Attendance: In-person were Dave Stratton, Tom Ha, Dan MacNeal, Todd Smith, Bill Clune, MaryBeth Clune, and Dougy Snyder. Online were Tom Broad, Sue Broad, Chris Jezewicz, and Robert Hilton.

President’s report was delivered by Todd Smith. He expressed his appreciation for the outgoing Board members. He also read the Secretary position description from the bylaws and asked for a volunteer to fill that role on the Board. The duties and a request for a volunteer will be posted online.

Treasurer’s report was delivered by Dan MacNeal.
The balance in all accounts is $11,100.59
Income for 2023 was $7,569.10
Expenses for 2023 were $5,644.83
Motion to approve the Treasurer’s report made by David Stratton, seconded by Bill Clune and approved.

Todd reviewed the process for nominations and voting, then asked the Vice President to introduce himself.

Member concerns as expressed to the VP through various channels were reviewed. Further review of the ignition of composite motor clusters will be made. Questions about the website and equipment were resolved, as Bill and MaryBeth are not leaving the club and will continue in roles (as noted later in these minutes).

Committee Reports:

Membership Committee: Reported by Bill Clune. Membership renewals are now available. The member database is tied into the website.

Equipment and Capital Expense: Reported by Bill Clune. The club has 14 12V batteries, of which testing has indicated that we need to replace five of them. These are former UPS batteries that were swapped out at Bill’s employer. New replacement costs are approx. $25 each.

Bill reported that the output of the solar panel that charges the batteries is still solid. The charge control system is also good.

Bill mentioned the MARS club items stored in his barn and that he would like to have them stored elsewhere when possible. Bill asked if we want to consider a storage container again, as that had been considered in the past. The items are: launchpads, old PA, bins for NYPOWER. MaryBeth stated she had provided a list of MARS equipment in their barn to the new Board. It was noted that Greg Young no longer has club equipment, but that Tom McCarthy does.

Bill recommended trashing/recycling the old launch controller and the old PA system, that the club has $4500 in the launch controller but cannot find a buyer for it. We use a wireless Wilson system now. No motion was made in the meeting to trash the old equipment or purchase a container.

Discussion of the standing committees took place and the following people volunteered for each committee. No additional reporting was made by the committees.

Membership: Bill Clune (tied to website),

Education: Chris J., Sue Broad. Todd will reach out to other past members NYPOWER: Robert Hilton, Dave Stratton, Chris J, MaryBeth

Launch Operations: Tom Ha

Equipment and Capital Expense: Tom Broad

New Business:

NYPOWER.

The date of NYPOWER was noted as being two weeks before LDRS in Potter NY. Discussed options of canceling, changing to a different date or leaving it as is. Discussion ensued with determination to leave as is date-wise.

Robert volunteered to lead NYPOWER vendor relations. Noted there were five vendors last year. The challenges he stated from the previous event were:

• Contests did not get Discussed reasons.
• Raffle prizes were less in quantity and

Bill noted they used kits and items from past donations to the club. Robert has ideas that he will submit to the Board.

Nobody volunteered as the Launch Director, which will become critical to fill by or at next meeting.

Meeting dates and times were discussed, including changing them to combine the public meetings with a build session on Saturdays. Tom noted that people who do not have rockets to build could assist with repairs to the bucket ‘o rockets that the club loans out, or build rockets to be given away through the Fly IT, Take It program. After discussion, a motion was made by Dan and seconded by Bill with all in favor.

Todd will verify with the Museum that this is okay with them, then publish new dates.

MaryBeth noted that work was needed prior to NYPOWER on some equipment including new heads on several pads and alligator clips to be soldered.

A motion was made by Dan, seconded by Doug to authorize Bill to purchase 5 batteries, cost not to exceed $150. Motion passed.

A motion was made by Dan, seconded by Doug, the authorize Bill to purchase copper alligator clips, cost not to exceed $100. Motion passed.

Tom spoke on the Section Advisor’s role and safety, including calling out unsafe practices. He also will be reviewing our rules and procedures in light of MARS change to being a NAR Section and not a Tripoli Prefecture.

Bill read his statement on MaryBeth and Bill’s role in the club. See attached.

A motion was made by Bill to provide honorary membership and President Emerita status to MaryBeth Clune for her contributions to MARS. Motion seconded by Dave Stratton. Motion passed.

A motion was made to adjourn the meeting after a last call for additional input, by Tom, that was uncontested.

The meeting ended at 2042.

Respectfully submitted. Tom Ha

MARS Vice President/Section Advisor

After the meeting, VNARCON was mentioned as a great opportunity to learn and explore a wide range of rocketry and space-related topics.

(Meeting minutes notes: All motions are noted in italics. All headers are noted in bold. All corrections should be noted to be raised at the next meeting before the minutes are approved by the members)