Minutes of the Business Meeting

of April 3, 2012

I. The business meeting was called to order at 6:34 PM by President Chip Borona.

      Officers attending:  President Chip Borona, Vice-president Steve Grenot, Treasurer Bill Little, Secretary Reed Ostrander,

      Members: Tim Beers, Heather Cable, Banks Edwards, Joe Garcia, Marion Johnson, Bob Murphy, Connor O'Brien, Art Sherman, Richard Simmons, Mike Wishnacht.

      A. Announcements

            1. The next run session will be on at 6:00 PM at Bill Little's home Tuesday, April 17th. A spray painting demo will be presented (see item E.3. below).

            2. The next business meeting will be held at 6:30PM at Trains by Johnson's on May 1, 2012.

      B. Minutes of the previous meeting of March 6, 2012 were read by Secretary Reed Ostrander.

            1. Banks moved acceptance and was seconded by Tim.

                  a. The minutes were accepted as written.

      C. The treasurer's report was presented by Bill Little.

            1. As of this date there is $1634.84 in the treasury.

            2. Bill noted that there is approximately $500.00 in outstanding dues.

                  a.  There was no motion to accept.

      D. Old Business

            1. The Fairhope show was discussed by president Chip.

                  a. He felt the show went well with good attendance and the take - down effort was very good.

                  b. Layout master Reed seconded Chip's comments and added that he thought that asking members to get ready 30 minutes before their run time was scheduled worked well to keep trains running.

                      He also pointed out that the two toggle switches on the red line must both be turned toward the desired exit or entrance line. Center position is off. Note the labels on the throat.

            2. Tim made a motion to go all DCC control by October 1, 2012. He was seconded by Reed.

                  a. Chip pointed out that there are no sources to repair the DC controllers nor other similar products available.

                  b. The motion was passed.

            3. Tim made a motion that an electrical schematic of the entire layout be prepared.

                  a. The motion was seconded by Reed.

                  b. After discussion the motion was passed and Banks agreed to prepare the schematic diagram.

            4. It was noted by various members that the tree box for the lumber mill and woodland corner trees needs repair.

            5. It was also noted that alignment pins between modules would speed up layout assembly

            6. President Chip kindly auctioned off the return of cars left behind at Fairhope.

            7. The Flomaton, Alabama Heritage Day will be Saturday, September 29, 2012.

                  a. Tim made a motion to table a decision on whether to attend or not pending more information. The motion was seconded by Joe.

                        1) The motion failed.

                  b. A second motion was made by Banks to attend the Flomaton Heritage Day and was seconded by Bob.

                        1) The motion passed.

            8. The roundhouse proposal was discussed and the meeting adjourned to the storage shed where the roundhouse study committee presented a new design for modules.

                 This design incorporated hollow door tops with commercially available folding legs. A rolling cart for 2 or 4 tables was part of the presentation.

                  a. Committee members provided a demonstration of the table workings and construction. A discussion of the merits thereof by club members followed. President Chip pointed out that the charge of the

                     committee was to propose a design for a new roundhouse module which must be compatible with existing modules. He asked the committee to continue their planning with these stipulations in mind.

                  b. The president also noted the quick set up and take-down design of the tables which is a positive step in the design development.

      E. New Business

            1. President Chip reviewed the potential merits of the Shalimar show at Uptown Station in Fort Walton Beach.

                  a. Banks made a motion that we attend the Shalimar show and was seconded by Bill.

                        1) The motion was accepted.

                  b. Chip volunteered to be show coordinator and appointed Reed as Layout master and Tim as load master.

            2. Reed presented a layout plan with options for the Shalimar show.

            3. Chip announced that he had set up a spray painting demonstration by Dave Brizzard from Bobe's Hobby Shop. The demo will be presented at the run session on April 17th.

      F. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM

Respectfully Submitted by 

D. Reed Ostrander

Secretary

PMRC HO Division