Minutes: December 3, 2016
General Membership Meeting
Face to Face, December 3, 2016
The 12/03/16 face to face meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 9:06 am by Jerry Farnsworth, President. Directors present were, S/E Jerry Kaszynski, S/W Dan Horkan, N/W Tate Barwald, N/E Don Chrapla, President Jerry (Dewey) Farnsworth, 1st Alt. Delegate Dwight Paulin, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Jim Kroeplien, Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins. Absent for face to face meeting was N/E Pat Schuette, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring and Secretary Theresa Howland.
Also present at the meeting: Gary Gerhartz, Rick Tesker, Chops, YZ, Mike May, Fred Kasten, Dick Otto.
Meeting started at 9:06am
Treasurer’s report by Jim:
$80,502 is the NRA money in a separate account. $7815 is money for lighted fields and bleachers in a separate account. $93,181 is opening balance, bills paid brings it down to $78,710. December bank payment is paid. There will be $20,000 for property taxes due in January. We did purchase the golf cart for $3000; they will fix it, store it and deliver it in the Spring. Dewey reported the rear seat was broken, the canopy was bent and there was paint on the car. They stated that they would need to repaint the cart. YZ stated that he wished he would have known because he may have been able to fix the cart for free. Fred asked if our insurance doesn’t cover that; it is likely that filing claim would have been more to pay the deductible. This year we will ask for a contract when we do the rentals. YZ suggested to have a list of what WTA members can do for services so that we aren’t paying for money for things that members can do. YZ will check to see if there are other carts out there for sale as Homegrounds will need multiple carts to use every summer. Last summer we had two at Homegrounds here for the season. Jim stated the long-term loan with Summit is down to $1.5 million. Last year we paid off $102,855 off at Summit.
Jerry K. made a Motion to accept treasurer’s report. Tate seconded it. So carried.
General Meeting:
Fritz knows that we want everyone to have a say at the meetings. However, he states that if someone wanted to push something through all they have to do is bring 6 or 7 people to get a motion through and would be outvoted for the board. Dewey stated that we are trying to get more people from the membership to help out with things. Dewey suggested that if someone wanted to do that, maybe they should come forward and be on the board. If the membership has better ideas, then the board is willing to let the membership come to the meeting and help build the WTA to what the members want. Jim stated if the board needs to meet without members, then that needs to happen behind closed doors without the membership. BOD meetings are open meetings and anyone can attend. Tate said that he sees both sides of it; however, he stated there is no election because there is no one that wants to be a director in the N/W zone. He was appointed by Bruce Stitely; no voting done. Dick suggested if no one wants to be a Director from the zone, appoint someone from a different zone to represent that zone. However, this goes against the by-laws. Dick suggested that we change the by-laws. Mike suggested that having an east and a west zone or a north and south zone instead of 4 zones. If people don’t like it, now they have an opportunity to run. We have asked for people to step up for a Director and no one does. Dwight says that we need more help, so we need more directors, rather than less. He agrees that we need to draw from the whole state if we need to in order to get the help. We did a by-law review; however, the revisions were never finalized. In the past, if you missed three consecutive meetings, you were removed from the board. However, now, we do not have the people to step forward to be a director to fill those spots if someone is removed from the board. Jim suggested meeting one more time to review the by-laws in order to finalize them and vote on them. By-laws need to be reviewed at three meetings and voted on the general meeting at the state shoot.
Fidelity Account:
Jim was on a phone conference this week regarding the account. Jim is working on a simple IRA that WTA was the beneficiary on to get about $34,000 deposited. We should have that money in two weeks. Most of the information cannot be given to Jim because he is not the beneficiary/trustee. Denny would have to answer any questions. Jim does not know when that money will be in the WTA accounts. Denny talked with Dick last week and Denny stated that he is not in the loop anymore and doesn’t really know where the money is. Dick thought it was all taken care of and John Atkielski was appointed as a trustee if something happened to Denny. He is hopeful there will be $700,000 or $800,000 when the money does finally gets to the WTA account. Everything is lined up on Jim’s end to move forward when the money is deposited (re-amortize the loans, etc.). Jim said it is very complicated because we are almost working against the trust in order to get the money into the WTA account; even though the money is ours. The money is at River City Bank, according to what Jim knows. It was almost a year later, after Ray’s death, before things were posted that needed to be. Jim has not received any bills for Ray in quite some time. If Jim gets the big check, he will go to Summit and pay that off and will post something on the Forum if/when that happens. Dwight asked for the gross income for the Campground; Jim will look it up and get back to him.
Signage:
Fritz applied for a grant from the DNR for signage for $10,000. The application was delivered to the DNR on November 15; it was 73 pages long and was a lot of work. We are waiting to hear back from the DNR to see if we are approved. Dewey gave an example about Sauk doing some work at their club; the work needs to be done ahead of time and then DNR determines how they are going to reimburse the club for the work. DNR will reimburse half; and sometimes sets up payments to reimburse. Dewey gave an overview of the decision made at the conference call on November 9, on how much money to spend on the sign. Jeff R. asked Dan H. how much he spends on his billboards around the state. Most of Dan’s billboards are about $300 a month. Rick T. asked how many people have seen a sign on the road and decided to go to that gun club because of that sign. Jeff R. stated that we are trying to sell the campground, not the gun club portion of it. Jim stated that we only asked for one quote for the sign and following on YZ’s idea earlier, we should be checking with some of our membership to see if they have a business or do signage. Jim received a few quotes from other members for signage to compare to the one received from TLC Sign. We will need to review what permits are required and what the set backs are from the road. Jim will continue to follow up and Dan will check into some billboard prices.
State Shoot Program:
Dewey received an email from John A. and he will no longer be doing the shoot offs at the state shoot; in addition, he will not be doing the state shoot program. The only thing he will be doing is the hall of fame committee. Jim’s wife Chris, daughter Rachel, and Amy will work on the advertisements for the program. The state shoot dates are July 11-16, 2017. Ads are $200 for a full page and $100 for a half page. Dewey went through the program and discussion was held on changes that need to be made for the 2017 program. Everyone should review last year’s program and bring a copy along to the next meeting to review it page by page and make changes as needed.
Golf Carts:
We will ensure that we get a contract. Jerry K. will talk with Don Mittag about the previous conversations and places that we have rented from. YZ and Jerry will discuss and update Amy with the information so that she knows the prices and rental periods for the summer shoots and renting them to shooters.
Grants:
We will be putting in a grant for lighting with the ATA and the DNR. The ATA grant is due in April.
Camping Update:
Amy gave an update that there are 11 campsites left for sale in the campground. Jeff R. will call and talked to MEC about fixing the trap and about their $90 vendor fee for the state shoot.
Chops said that Berlin has a spare trap that could be brought up here. He will see if he can have the trap here from SCTP thru state shoot in case one of ours breaks down.
Tate talked about being out of space for vendors and that we really don’t have any sites dedicated handicap accessible. Last year there was an issue with parking due to campers being parked on the south side of the parking lot. We are almost at full capacity with vendors, campers and food vendors for the 2017 state shoot.
Discussion was held about camping rates for 2017 (not for the state shoot).
Don C. made a motion to charge $40 including tax per night for camping in the campground or on vendor row with full hook-up (water, electric, sewer). Dan H. seconded it. So carried.
Dan H. made a motion for primitive camping (no electric, water, sewer) to be $20 including tax a night (including state shoot). This will be for one unit per site (one tent, etc.). This was seconded by Don C. Dwight P. against. So carried.
Homegrounds Website/Wind River and WITrapshooter Website:
There have been issues with the hosting company for the witrapshooters.com website. Elizabeth was to have some information for this meeting; however, nothing was presented to us. She has a plan to transfer to a new company that they have been using without issues. Our contract is up in January. Amy will ensure that Elizabeth will make the transition and make sure that the information is given to Jim as far as costs/billing. The website was down for multiple days in October and many times during the summer.
Jim discussed how the money is working with Wind River. He stated that we need to stop the discount for camping; because it is two transactions; one for the charge and one for the discount and Wind River charges us two transaction fees.
Discussion was held about shutting down the Homegrounds RV park website and just running all reservations through the phone. This would eliminate the issues we are having with Wind River and all the fees they are charging us. In addition, it would be easier to manage and the information would be easier to give to the Camphosts to know which sites are available for sale. Fritz asked if we would allow discounts at all and it would be on an individual basis. For example, the BOD may decide to do a group rate for some of the shoot weekends in the summer. Tate suggested the possibility of getting a landline and that number can be forwarded to whomever is answering the calls that month or however long it is. One person needs to be answering the phone for selling camping. For example, Amy would answer calls for camping, however, it could easily be transferred to the camphost during the weekends if needed. Mike M. stated that he uses and answering service and the calls are $1 per call. He stated this way there would not be a monthly charge for a landline. Amy will follow up with the local phone company and the answering service and determine what options are available. It would be ideal to shut the website down before the end of the year if possible.
Jim brought up at the last meeting that we should disconnect the phone because it is costing $120 or more a month. Denny stated he would take care of it. Denny wanted to keep one phone and will keep it and pay for it himself. He wanted to keep the phone to be able to answer questions and didn’t want to lose the number.
Dan. H motion to shut down the Homegrounds RV website as well as the Wind River account that is used for the camping fees. Don C. seconded. So carried.
Dan H. made a motion to check with the local phone company about options for a landline or an answering service. Jeff R. seconded it. So carried.
Amy will get the information to Fritz ASAP for the Chamber for advertising purposes. She will then shut down the website and WindRiver ASAP. Amy will also look at getting a Square for credit card payments.
Camp Host:
We need expectations on what we want for a camp host. Dewey talked to the ones that were here in October when we were shutting the campground down for the winter. They suggested a little shed with a board so that if someone pulls in after hours or the camp host is in town or unavailable, they can look to see what sites are available. Dewey is working with the truss company out of East Troy to get a little building put up for this. The trusses will be free. We will be able to get this little shed built for free. Likely will put it on skids in order to move it if we need to. They also suggested a playground. Carol Keeley has some connections and possibly can get the equipment and we would just have to construct it. Tate suggested that we check with the insurance company. Dewey talked about fire extinguishers. Our insurance agent does not want any flammables stored in the Hoop Building. YZ will follow up on this. Kevin S. couldn’t make it to the meeting; however, he has a rough draft done on a job description for the camp host. Even without a job description, we should talk with Bill and Helen about moving forward for next year. They said they would mow the lawn, clean the bathrooms, work on the trap line, etc.. They are not shooters; however, are willing to do whatever is needed for free camping. They will move out for the state shoot. Jeff R. will contact them and let them know that we are happy to have them back for next summer.
2017 Calendar/Shoot Dates:
Kettle Morraine Shoot – May 13 (600+ athletes) (Bruce Nelson and Gary DeSmidt contacts)
WI Junior Olympic Bunker Qualifier – May 20/21 or May 27/28 (30 athletes) Date approved in Feb/Mar
WI SCTP International Bunker Trap – June 3-4 (30 athletes)
High School Clay Target League – June 10 (600 – 800)
WI SCTP Championship – June 23-25 (1200 Sat/400 Sun)
January 27 and 28 – WI State Coaches Meeting – MEAD Hotel
Registered Shoot at Homegrounds:
May 6 and 7 – registered shoot 100 singles, 100 handicap, 100 doubles each day
July 1st – registered shoot 100 singles, 100 handicap, 100 doubles
July 2nd – Five-man team shoot – registered and non-registered (YZ will donate $1000)
July 11-16 – State Shoot
October 7-8 – WI Fall Classic
Work weekend will be scheduled for April 22nd to open the Homegrounds.
Round Table:
Gary G. has been looking into trying to get the WTA tax exempt status for property taxes. Two different attorneys both suggesting not pursuing it as we would not be approved for that. One attorney did suggest that we get a private individual appraisal and then go to the Open Book (board of review) in order to try to lower the tax amount. The one attorney thought that we were taxed way too high. Gary will continue to work on this and bring an update at the January meeting.
Dewey spoke to the coach for Adams Football and Wrestling to discuss the possibility of their athletes working the shoots for the WTA. They stated that all of their students have to do community service and if they were willing to make a deal with us they would definitely put the money in their athletic programs.
Jerry K. would like to do another booze raffle next year. If anyone wins any bottles of booze, Jerry would be happy to put them in the raffle. He would like to sell tickets and a winner will get to pick a bottle from the table. He would like to have 50 bottles.
Fritz:
The newsletter for the WTA needs to be completed for the shoot calendar. Jim and Amy will work on it and make sure it gets to Carol Keeley before the deadline date in January or February. Fritz said that the Homegrounds is gated now; however, there are tracks driving into the grounds. Fritz has given keys to the fire department in case they need to get in. Fritz has talked to the Chamber and what they can do for us. If we are a certain level member, they will take information and hand it out for Homegrounds. They attend every sport and travel show in the state. Sarah Michaels, from the Town of Rome is aggressively trying to market us as well. Brandon Jack was at Homegrounds in October and took some counts and samples for lead reclaiming. Fritz has not heard anything back from him. We threw about 1.4 million targets so far. Fritz has estimated about 220,000 lbs. of lead. He would like to get some other estimates. They recommend reclaiming lead about every five years. Fritz had the Adams County ATV map and recommends putting an ad on their map. Dan H. will follow up on this. Fritz reiterated the importance of having a full board of directors. Fritz stated that we need to discuss a manager and having someone here at least for the 6 months. Dewey stated that if we are going to hire a manager again we have to have all the ducks in a row…insurance, worker’s comp, etc. Jim stated that will put us in the same spot we were in prior; we will not have money to pay the manager and we will be in the same financial state as prior.
Dick O:
If we would like the same program for the shoots for next year, he will prepare the program and send it out for review to the BOD and then it will be included in the shoot calendar. Dick has the WTA mailing lists and the unpaid lists. Rick T. asked Dick if the computer programs and computers that he uses for the shoots is his own equipment or the WTAs? Dick stated that the equipment is all is. Rick suggested that we have a plan for what happens if Dick is no longer available to run the programs and run the shoots. Jeff R. stated that we have a large amount of retired members that we hopefully can rely on for helping more in the future.
Fred K:
Village of Marshall Fire Department is putting their water truck out for bids and he thinks that it should go for less than $2000. It is a 1986 Chevy truck. Fred will have a friend go out and look at it and find out the deadline on when the auction is going to close. Jeff R. still has the cash register still at home and is willing to get it set up once the prices are set for the 2017 season. Fred suggested the possibility of needing a safe. Fritz stated that the money is secured in the Kolar trailer. Jerry K. thinks he may have one and will let us know.
Jeff R:
Bill and Helen (camp hosts) will be back to Wisconsin the first week of May and looking forward to coming to Homegrounds to help out as camp hosts. He is more than willing to donate 2 cases of shells to help generate an email and cellphone mailing list in order to contact members when help is needed.
Rick T:
Why do we do pay outs for our shoots by check instead of cash. Jim stated for a paper trail. Rick suggested that if checks are going to be mailed out, a payout sheet should be included with the check. Rick is willing to donate $1000 to the Fall Classic if the name of the shoot changes. Rick suggested that since the zone shoots are dwindling in size, he thought about maybe having one shoot every weekend in June; making it that there would be four shoots in June; rather than two of them being held on the same date.
Don C. made a motion to change the name to the WI Fall Classic. Bill M. seconded it. So carried. Rick T. will donate $1000 for the shoot.
WI Fall Classic – Red Wing Kennels will donate $500, Don C. will donate $500, Log Home Doctors will donate $1000. Tesker Manufacturing will donate $1000 for a total of $3000.
$200 for HC Champ on Saturday; $200 for each yardage group = $1000
$200 for HC Champ on Sunday; $200 for each yardage group = $1000
$500 for Singles for Saturday and Sunday ($100 per class per day) = $1000
Tate:
He stated that he has no problem opening up the zone directors to the entire north side of the state. There currently are only two directors from the entire north side. Definitely something that we need to work on before the state shoot to change the by-laws. Tate suggested starting to get some estimates for the $80,000 to start looking at a building. Dewey stated that Chops would like to get on that committee. There are many members that are willing to work on the extras once a shell is up: plumbing, electrical, etc. The committee will be: Dewey, Tate, Chops, Jim, Dan, Gary to move forward on using the $80,000 grant money that was received in the past by the NRA.
Jim:
Accounting firm has billed us so far this year, however, he doesn’t think that we should switch firms until we have the Fidelity accounts taken care of. He talked to Lisa at Greenway and she suggested that we change the name of the campground because Homegrounds RV Park doesn’t draw attention. This is something that needs to be determined before we put up signage. He asked how our logo was designed and how we became a blue state. Just something to think about before we start making signage. Jim asked if we are a member of WACO; Fritz said yes, but Jim needs to know what level we are. Fritz will talk with Denny to find out. Jeff stated that he would prefer not to have a foundation and it will be his job to try to talk and discuss this with Paul. Jim doesn’t think that we are able to have a foundation, but Jeff will talk about this further. Jim believes that we have enough money to make it until shooting starts up in the spring; therefore, Jeff thinks that they will just sit on the $60,000 that is in that account for now (to ensure we can make it until then). Jim passed around some ideas that Josh drew up for signage ideas.
Rick T. made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Don C. seconded it. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 2:57 pm.
Next Meeting: Face to Face Meeting, January 21st at 9am at Sherwood Lodge.