RASC Kingston Centre Board Meeting Minutes - May 9, 2013

Transcription

1 RASC Kingston Centre Board Meeting Minutes - May 9, 2013 Attendance: Susan Gagnon Kevin Kell Kim Hay Walter MacDonald (via Internet) Absent: David Maguire Location: Richardson Laboratories Room 102, 88 Stuart Street, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario Start time: 4:30 pm Using Anymeeeting.com for recordings. - Start 4:38 pm We have Quorum. Accept Agenda. Motion Moved: Susan Gagnon No dissent. Passed. Accept minutes from last meeting (2012Nov27). Motion Moved: Kim Hay Seconded: Susan Gagnon No dissent. Passed. Accept minutes from last meeting (2012Dec17). Motion Moved: Kim Hay Seconded: Susan Gagnon Meeting started, no quorum, meeting adjourned. No dissent. Passed. Old business (check to see if old motions acted on) 1 Madoc Rock order placed and received- follow up on motion made a few meetings ago, ordered. 2 Whitecourt meteor order placed and received -- Ordered and have given one to guest speaker Nathalie Ouellette. 3 P.O. Box dropped--post office box dropped, and mail going to Susan's house. No charge for lost key.

2 New Business 1 Review and approve e-motions made since last meeting. North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve endorsement/sponsorship E-motion: Motion Moved: Kim Hay Seconded: Kevin Kell Motion by Kim Hay that the RASC-Kingston Centre sponsors the North Frontenac Dark Sky Preserve. Upon reading its content and offering recommendations on changes, which have been incorporated. We have stated our limited volunteer base on helping with monthly observing nights. No objections from the board. Approved. 2 This was discussed and noted in minutes with approval by attending board members. 3 Queen's Torus Telescope lease agreement and custody- Letter received from Geoff Lockwood, Head of Queen's Physics Department of agreement. There were some informal s. Kevin Kell wanted to make note of all volunteers from the May 4th move of the Torus Telescope.Hark Bartlett, Doug Angle, Susan Gagnon, Mark Kaye, Kim Hay, Paul Winkler, Kevin Kell, Andrew Hill and Bernie Ziomkiewicz. Kevin Kell also expressed concern over the fact that the RASC-Kingston Centre did not have to sign anything. Susan Gagnon did state several times that she was available to sign documents, but Stephane Courteau states it's a release agreement. 4 Fallnstars2013 Mark Coady chair -- Mark is progressing, and needs to get the details out about pricing. Date September 6, David Levy speaking tour motion for approval, costs.- One nights room reservation in place, and a 2nd night also reserved. Not known what expectations are. Dinner will be covered by the Centre. Susan to pick up David from the train station. Travel arrangements paid for by the RASC Travel Grant. Rooms and dinner to be covered by the RASC Kingston Centre. Room rental also covered by the Centre. Approximate cost of $500-$600 for the Honorary President- David Levy. Goal is to have David Levy leave happy, and have a great time in Kingston. Advertising for event. In papers, online, Facebook. Have Terry Dickenson send the ad from Sky News. Randy Attwood to send the National promotion release. Posters are available for posting. Kevin Kell to try and get them in

3 the Queen's. One poster to be signed by David and put in the future RASC-Kingston Centre Observatory. Motion Moved: Susan Gagnon to cover expenses of David Levy's Tour to Kingston. Amount at present up to $600, could be more. No dissent. Passed. 6 RASC-KC wooden storage shed proposal --Preassembled Liberty kit from Lowes. Looking for kit to come apart for moving to future site. Kit does not include shingles. To be delivered. Motion Moved: Kevin Kell Moved that the Centre authorize $ plus taxes and delivery to purchase an 8 x 10 ft. Liberty garden shed to hold all Centre equipment. No dissent. Passed. 7 CRA report completed and confirmation received.-on the website under the Executive Section. We are fine, and our numbers are good, reports Kevin Kell. 8 New centre bylaw and policy manual status -- Kevin Kell wants to have our Centre Bylaw's and policy manual updated. Need to take into account the new National Bylaws that may be passed at the Annual GA Need to have more people on the Board. Have more people come on as directors with no portfolios. Wait for the National Bylaws for the template. Look at the local bylaws- do a draft version. Kevin Kell would like to see our Bylaws updated at the November 2013 AGM. Susan would like to see 6, 7, 8 on the Executive. Need to relieve the volunteer recruitment. There are two vacancies at the moment. President, Vice President, Treasurer up for election in National Council Rep open. Terms of office referenced. Try to get 9 board members, with quorum of 7, 50%+1 equals' quorum. Met with Denis Grey and Colin Haig on the new Society Bylaws. 9 Outreach activity report/details for the records - e.g. girl guides- Susan Gagnon did a Girl Guide presentation with 9 Guides and 3 leaders. Enjoyed the presentation. The night was cloudy. Baby went along to show a telescope. A meteorite was passed around. Setup from someone to Caruthers House. Susan to get a random member to help at a park close to her home to help someone find

4 a Purchased Star in honour of a passed loved one. Star is located in Virgo meeting calendar review (again to get on the books) - discussion on telescope clinic- Discussion on Lake Ontario Park, when it reopens in the fall.-bbq, telescope workshop? Discussion on change of date for Sept 2013 onward into 2014 due to Holidays on Fridays and Mondays, low turnout for Monday meetings. Kevin Kell suggests Thursday as a meeting night. We want to make everyone happy, but there will always be a date that interferes with another meeting... Ask members at the May 21st meeting on what night might be best. Mon 2013 Jan 21 Ellis Hall Room Nathalie Ouellette Tue 2013 Feb 19 Ellis Hall Room members Mon 2013 Mar 18 Ellis Hall Room Tom Field Fri 2013 Apr 12 Elbow Lake - cancelled due to bad weather Tue 2013 May 21 Mac-Corry Hall Room B Terry Dickinson and assorted members Mon 2013 Jun 3 Ellis Auditorium Mon 2013 Jun 17 Mac-Corry Hall Room B Sep 2013 Oct 2013 Nov - AGM 2013 Dec 11 Schedule next board meeting(s) - at least 3 every year... shows good intentions for records 12 September: Have an online meeting 7:00 pm. September 26, December Executive Meeting December 5, Welcoming in new members and get everyone up to date. 14 Board Insurance, Susan, can you resend the survey you did- I would like us to contact a Centre to see what the policy covers.-kim & Kevin were digging into the personal house coverage for the Torus, and because we do not own the property, and would be covering for $10,000, it was a substantial amount on the personal insurance per month. Directors insurance to cover the board in case of any litigation. New Board members may feel more like volunteering if they are covered. Susan Gagnon in favour of the insurance. Kim Hay suggests to put in the amount of $500 for insurance, we will see real numbers. The Centre saved over $900 for moving Regulus

5 to electronic and not print. Point was brought up about insurance. Joe Public is covered by the liability insurance. B&O insurance covers the Board, so that the personal property is not pulled into the litigation... There has never been any indication of the Policy looks like, nor does the National Society send any information to Centres on any legal issues. Let's investigate the insurance, and put into the budget for Walter suggests that we do a cost comparison. Susan to contact Deborah to get a sample contract, and cost. Also compare with Volunteer Canada. Also to contact Centres directly to see what they pay and any information on the subjects. Kim Hay sees the insurance as a tool for future volunteers. Susan suggests that they do their own research on the topic. 15 Discussion on the bylaws (national bylaw roadshow 2013May06 results) and what we took away from it, how to present to the Centres. - Meeting with Denis Grey and Colin Haig at Boston Pizza -- Susan Gagnon, is concerned that the GA may dissolve since the whole National Layout is changing. The travel policy, covering people who have no power. National Advisory Board has no power, but they could do good work for the Society. Having a term on the Chairs of Committees is a good thing, Kim Hay states, but as in the past as it was suggested, this was always blocked by the same people now bringing this forward. Susan to confirm on the $85.00 package for online voting for the members of the National Advisory Board. Discussion. Encourage members to sign into the National RASC Page, for the updated Bylaws and Policy Manual. Inform the members, but that we have no recommendation on which way to go. There will be no changes or suggestions brought forward at the GA, as this will be discussed at the Council meeting before the AGM. More power at the board level than with the Centres, since the Centres have no real representation. It's a take it or leave it proposal. The whole idea is there is no way to change what has been presented due to the CRA restrictions on Not for Profit groups. Final outcome of discussion is to present to members to log onto the National site and read the information so they can make their own informed decision on voting. 16 Summer BBQ and work bee for the shed(which should be ordered soon) and the Torus calendar layout for work days- Order the shed, sit down and set a date on the construction of the shed. Construction in June.

6 17 Opportunity for raising the profile of member observing.- Brian Gaffney Observatory --Nutwood Observatory- Brief description of an observing site, and list on the website. Measure the Sky Quality and location facilities listing of what the site is like, e.g. Camden Lake, South end of Lemoine's Point, Camping areas, and description on area. Get people out to observe, and know what to expect. Kim Hay asked if the Kingston Centre site could have an online forum, so members to also list their sites. Kevin Kell states that Drupal will be coming online. Meeting adjourned. 6:25 pm.