Welcome to the MARC Newsletter a publication of the Michigan Area Repeater Council. This news letter is published quarterly in conjunction with the quarterly business meetings. If you prefer a non-columnized version of this newsletter click here for the wide version.

President’s Column:

We need help!
Dave, WD8DJB, our database manager, Webmaster and Treasurer is retiring from MARC after many dedicated of service. (Over 20 years). MARC can only continue provide coordination services to Michigan and surrounding states if volunteers take on the various jobs for a time.

MARC holds one physical meeting in the Lansing area each September. The other quarterly meetings are held on line. This is great for retirees, or anyone who is on the road, as most of the MARC work can be done online from any location with a computer and Internet access. There are several different jobs involved besides the normal elected positions. It’s a great way to serve the amateur radio community as a volunteer. Other MARC board members will help you as needed during the initial break in/training period, as well as any other time you have a question.

If you are interested and would like to help, just send an email to mail@miarc.com for more details. Thanks!

73, Phil W8IC

Annual Business Meeting Information:

Meeting Location: Saturday Sept 7 2019 1:00 pm EDT Delta Township Fire Station 811 N. Canal Rd. Lansing, MI

Directions: Take I-96 to M-43 exit 93, go East to the first traffic light at Canal Rd. Turn left (North) on Canal Rd, go 150' to Administration Dr turn left (West), the new fire station will be on your right. Take the first driveway on the right to the West parking lot. Enter the building at the South entrance on Administration Dr.

Annual Business Meeting

This month brings the annual business meeting where we hold a physical meeting in the Lansing area. This includes the elections for board positions that will expire. This year, the Vice President, Treasurer and one Director position will be up for election.

If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please contact any one of the board members in person or by sending email to them using their [callsign]@miarc.com. Please note that candidates must also be current MARC members.

The absentee ballot is available for you to print and mail in. We can not accept votes via email at this time. Your ballot must appear in the MARC postal mailbox no later then Friday September 6th to be included. Please also note that in order to vote, you must be a paid member.

Membership dues may be mailed to the postal address listed on the main page of the website, or by clicking on the link to "Pay Your Dues" on the same web page.


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MARC Meeting Minutes

Date: June 8, 2019
This meeting took place via internet and phone connection.

Officers:

President: Phil Manor, W8IC
Vice President: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Secretary: Ann Manor, KT8F
Treasurer: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB
*Director: Jim Kvochick, K8JK
*Director: Jeff Oberg, KB8SXK
Coordinator: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Coordinator: Phil Manor, W8IC
Coordinator: Jeff Oberg, KB8SXK
Bob Walchli, N8ZCC
Newsletter Editor: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Database Manager: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB

Absent: Indicated by * above
Visitors: Mike, W8VPC, Jack, NY8D

Note: call signs of board members are not repeated in the minutes as they are listed above.

Meeting called to order by Phil at: 1:02pm.

Minutes of the last meeting were read by Ann. Motion to approve minutes from the March 2, 2019 meeting was made by Dan, seconded by Dave. Vote taken, minutes approved.
Treasurer’s report provided by Dave. Motion to approve the report was made by Ann, seconded by Dan. Vote taken, motion passed.
 

Old Business:

None.

New Business:

Phil read Resolution #17.
Resolution #17 - 4 June 2016. Modify bylaws ARTICLE III Part A #6 as follows:
Coordinator(s) - no more than four. Exception: up to four additional coordinators may be appointed to help the coordinators who are board members. The four additional coordinators are not considered board members, and therefore are not included in the quorum requirements.
Motion by Dave WD8DJB, second by Jim K8KJ: Motion passed.

Dave made a motion to move #17 into the bylaws. Seconded by Ann.
Discussion. Vote taken, motion passed.

Phil read Resolution #18, as follows:
Resolution #18 - 4 June 2016. The coordinator may assign an access code (CTCSS or Digital Code) to a new or re-coordinated repeater if the applicant's code is in conflict with an adjacent state's access tone or digital code plan.
Motion by Jim K8KJ second by Dave WD8DJB, Motion passed.

Dave made a motion to move # 18 into the bylaws, seconded by Dan.
Discussion. Vote taken, motion passed.

Phil reported on applications that had received waivers, however, the applicants were not responding to the the waiver agreements. Dan discussed some issues that he has had as well. Both W8DC and NK8X applications will be set aside and remain uncoordinated for now.

Dave will change database to report that W8DC and NK8X are currently operating uncoordinated. Dan will be checking on both of these repeaters.

Mike, W8VPC, stated that he hasn't been able to work on the tower due to the winter weather issues. Will work on it during the summer. Phil requested that Mike send him a TDS when completed by the end of this summer.

Jack, NY8D, stated that he is currently on the board at the IRA, no problems reported. Dave requested a list of the updated IRA sites. Jack will contact the technical committee and inform it of the necessary reports.

Dave announced that he would like to retire from the MARC board by the end of the year. Dave has been on the MARC board for 20 years. He would like to have a replacement found to take over the database manager position by September, if possible. He will also not be running for Treasurer in September.

Meeting date discussion. The consensus was that the meetings from now on will be conducted the first Saturday after the first Monday.

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn made by Dan, seconded by Dave
Motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 1:40pm.
The next meeting will be conducted September 7, at Delta Twp Fire Department in the Lansing area. Directions will be in the MARC newsletter.


Respectfully submitted,
Ann Manor, KT8F, Recording Secretary

Vice President's Thoughts

For the past year, Bob Walchli, N8ZCC Has been working through the database and helping to keep up with coordinations that are not up to date, contacting Trustees or Sponsors and helping resolve delinquent data and getting new or updated contact information. This has been a major step forward in the ability of MARC coordinators to respond to our neighboring states coordinators and to have accurate records. This has been more important than ever since MARC moved our database to an updated and online system that allows immediate updates, and created tools to help in the management and use of this data.

With recent discussion the board has come to the decision that we need to make the position of Coordination Compliance Officer an official and documented position, that is performed by a person appointed by the board. This discussion will certainly continue at the September meeting.

Among other things of discussion, as Phil stated in his newsletter column, after more than 20 years, Dave Johnson, WD8DJB has decided that it is time for him to retire from MARC activities. Dave has been one of the longest serving MARC officers ever and has done as much or more than any other board member has done. At this time Dave holds three positions with MARC, Treasurer, Webmaster and Database manager. Discussing how he came to take on all of those jobs is a long story and I would be happy to discuss that after the meeting on September 7, 2019.

We need volunteers! For someone not acclimated to the work involved with MARC, two of the jobs Dave has done are appointed positions, the Treasurer part is an elected position. The position of Treasurer will be open this year as Dave has decided that he wishes to retire. The elections will be held at the September meeting. The other two positions are Webmaster and Database Manager.

Database manager is a large part of what keeps MARC ticking and involves both data entry and compliance checking and basically keeping our data straight, protected and backed up frequently. Since the other job of webmaster was something that came into effect somewhat as a process of the database manager, this job was defaulted to Dave and he never complained about the extra work. The recent discussion of the board however continues to believe that we need to spread these jobs around a bit and as a result can use at least two people if not three to cover these jobs, or to take on some of the other appointed jobs so that other board members can take on some of the work that Dave has done for so long.

The September meeting we will be discussing more and looking for more ideas on how best to distribute the jobs that Dave will be leaving behind as he retires.

I would also like to thank Dave publicly for his many years of service in an all too unknown and thankless position that aids the amateur radio community on a daily basis. Thank you for your service.

To access the online portion of the meeting, please see the June Newsletter and follow the instructions. If we are able to make it work we will be there.

Dan Thompson, N8WKM

Annual Business Meeting And Elections:

This is a reminder that the September meeting will be a physical meeting to take place in Delta Township (Lansing Area) where annual elections will be held. If you have nominations for open positions please email Dan N8WKM or Phil W8IC using their_callsign@miarc.com. Nominations will remain open until just prior to voting.

Offices that will be open for election this year are:
  Vice President: Currently Dan Thompson N8WKM
  Director: Currently James Kvochick K8JK
  Treasurer: Currently Dave Johnson WD8DJB

A printable version of the 2019 Ballot is available to print and mail.