Minutes: October 7, 2017
The 10/07/17 face to face general membership meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association Board of Directors meeting was called to order at 4:43pm by Jerry Farnsworth, President. Directors present were, President Jerry (Dewey) Farnsworth, S/W Laverne Lehmann, N/W Tate Barwald and Phil Challoner, N/E Don Chrapla, S/E Jerry Kaszynski and Dan Horkan, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring, 1st Alt. Delegate Dwight Paulin, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins.
Absent for face to face meeting was N/E Josh Kroeplien and Jim Kroeplien, Treasurer.
Others present were Rick Tesker, Arlene and Dick Otto, Chops, John Coniff, Marilin Sydow, Carolyn Hosking, Steve and Carol Keeley, Jeff Recob, YZ, Brian Giese, Jamie Wilson, Kevin Longberg, Dennis Minks, Kelsey Lorenz, Bill Lorenz, Robert Blachowiak, Larry Allen, Bryon Fenning, Paul Brede.
Meeting started at 4:43pm
Treasurer’s Report:
Dewey passed out the treasurer’s report. There is $187,000 in the building fund; deposit of $7000 was paid to the builder. John Coniff asked if Jim has a projection of what expenses will be to cover us through to the state shoot next year. Jim is working on that so we won’t be short in the winter time to pay for pills. Jeff Recob asked that he has the ability to leave a receipt to someone when he drops targets each time he delivers. Jeff R. will take care of the rebate for the targets. Jeff does not project any increase in prices for targets and ammo for next year.
Don C. made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report; seconded by Dan H. So carried.
Building Update:
Dewey gave an update on the building. The soil test was done yesterday. The building is staked out now. The septic will be gravity run. Talk was about running septic for the east end of vendor row; however, that could be done in the future. Another 60 feet could be added later that would not affect the building. The building is 96’ long by 50’ wide with a 12’ overhang towards the trapline. John Denman will donate the doors. Chad Williams is working on trying to get some windows donated. There is a plumber in the Chicago area that shoots a lot in Wisconsin that has all of the bathroom fixtures to donate as well. Men’s bathroom will have two urinals, two toilets and two sinks. Women’s will be three toilets and two sinks. Each bathroom will have one handicap stall. There will be two offices as well. We are waiting for the permits to come back from the state. Adams County permit will cost about $650. Then, the town of Rome permit will be over $2000 as well. Jeff R. asked if there was a reason why the building is not back towards the parking lot more. Chops said that the overhang will tie into the cart path with the approach eventually. From the cart path to the overhang will be 24 feet. Tate suggested having a window on the end to have people register for shoot-offs so that the PA system and everything is kept inside rather than moving everything outside to the picnic tables like we have done it in year’s past. There will be an extra window added in the office in hopes to be able to utilize it for the camp host in the future. A round of applause was given to Chops for all the work he has done on the building. Discussion was held about the price of windows and the quality of them.
Don C. made a motion to go with the better-quality windows through John Denman size 4×6. Dan H. seconded it. So carried.
NW Zone Shoot:
Heart of Wisconsin approached us to host the 2018 zone shoot. Amy is in contact with Weston and Eau Claire to discuss. In order for the WTA to be in the rotation we would have to go to the end of the list; however, if Weston and Eau Claire were both willing to bypass in 2018 to allow the WTA to take it in 2018 it would work. In order for Homegrounds to hold it, it would have to be on the flip flop weekend (first weekend in June) in order to be able to accommodate Clay Target League which is always the 2nd weekend in June. Dewey asked if the WTA is interested in even holding the zone. Brian noted that it would typically be graduation weekend for Nekoosa. The 3S program that the WTA owns was on the computer that we sold to Dick Otto. Dick said it is 2 versions behind. Dick is willing to help set up the WTA one to the current version if needed. Weston called Amy and is willing to hold the 2018 Zone Shoot.
Dan H. made a motion to not get into the zone shoot rotation at this time. Tate seconded it and stated to not hold it until we possibly have someone to run the facility on a daily basis. So carried.
Mayville:
Bill Lorenz approached us to discuss with Mayville the possibility of moving the shoot to Homegrounds. Bill said that last year the main lady posted something on Facebook that she was done. However, they asked her to pull the post. At this point, now is the time to approach them since they are uncertain if they want to continue to hold it. The reason he suggested doing it in May was to keep it in the school year. Right now, it takes multiple weekends to hold the shoot at Mayville and the weather conditions are not the same every weekend and not fair to all the kids. Bill will talk to the person from Mayville and get back to us. The Board agreed that if Mayville is willing to give it up, the first weekend in May or the third weekend in May would be available at Homegrounds. Bill will speak to them and get back to us.
Camping Rate:
Don C. made a motion to give Amy the ability to negotiate group camping rates at her discretion. Jerry K. seconded it. The Homegrounds Board gave approval as well. So carried.
Secretary Position:
Discussion was held about the vacant secretary position and that Amy is handling all of the secretary duties plus a lot of other duties. If she is going to continue doing the duties, she would like it to be a paid position. Dewey asked Tate if he was okay with Amy taking the position; in the past he preferred that she not take on any more duties; however, she is already doing everything now anyway. Tate explained that hopefully everyone understands what she does because if a day comes that we all get fed- up and leave, he said good luck because she does A LOT. Right now Amy does the secretary position, the shoot coordinator position, answers all calls coming in to the facility, all of the camping, state shoot camping, state shoot vending, state shoot program and advertising, helps with trophies, webmaster, event coordinator for youth shoots, and probably some other miscellaneous duties.
Don C. made a motion to make Amy the secretary and it be a paid position. Jerry K. seconded it. So carried.
State Shoot Program, etc.
Amy is working on it with John A. on the state shoot program. Carol Keeley is willing to help as well and willing to check with the printer that does the shoot calendar. John Coniff stated that he will help as well.
Closing Homegrounds:
Closing weekend of the campground will be October 28 and 29. Dan will have his compressor here to blow out the lines. Jeff R. is willing to take the skidsteer to his shop and service it over the winter.
Brian Giese:
A round of applause was given to Brian for the great work on running all of the trap help this season. The contract enabled the kids to do a lot of things through the school this year. The WTA has given over $100,000 to the kids of Nekoosa over the years. The athletic board is going to be helping Brian out so that he doesn’t have to be here all day every day. The parents and others are going to start helping him out. Nekoosa is willing to work with us again for next year. Brian doesn’t see much difference in price needed for next year. He is hoping that his recruitment is easier next year and has more return students coming back which is very helpful. Tate suggested that next summer we try to load the houses on the fly with the numbers growing every day.
Matt Harn:
He gave a proposal to get $400 for the wood shed that he built for his son to store his firewood. Dewey asked if the price was negotiable. Matt then said that he wants to put up a sign out on Hwy. 13 that is 8 x 12 back to back, with the American flag, support your local auxiliary and all of the signs of each division of military. He is not asking for any money but it will cost him about $2000 to build the sign. He would like a 10-year lease to put his sign up on the WTA property. If any money does come in for donations for the sign, he would give the money back to the WTA. The sign will be made by Rapids Sign and it will be down by the next road; it won’t be on the corner of Akron Drive. Dewey proposed giving Matt $200 for the wood shed and we will allow him to put the sign on our property. The WTA will be able to hang a banner on the bottom that says the WTA supports our vets.
Dewey made the motion to pay Matt $200 for the shed and allow him to put the sign up on our property. Jerry K. seconded it. So carried.
Porta Potty:
We will need to keep one unit here for the contractors working on the building. Billy Jo will pick up all the other units after this weekend.
Camp Hosts:
The camp hosts from this year will return in the spring. We would like to have at least three camp hosts next summer. We would like them to also run the traps if possible.
Friends of the WTA:
There is $5000 that they kept in their own account. John C. stated this was for organizational fees. He said that there are attorney fees to get everything set up and $300 for stationery. Dewey said that he reviewed the original agreement and it has to be agreed upon by both groups in order to spend any money. John C. agreed.
WTA Memberships:
Discussion was held about the 73 unpaid WTA memberships not paid at the state shoot; plus others unpaid from local clubs through the 2017 target year. We have to get better about this going forward. Going forward we should allow Dick the ability to collect on these memberships and send out letters since he is willing to do it. Rick Tesker stated that a shooter should not be allowed to classify unless they have paid their WTA and ATA dues. At that point, they would be sent back to the membership table.
Ken/Carol:
Ken bought out MC Sports building in the Rapids. They have all the gun racking and showcasing stuff and wants to donate it to the WTA. Right now, he wants to get all of the stuff out of his trailer. He will bring the trailer back tomorrow and we will load what he has into the hoop building for the winter.
State Shoot Bar Money:
Glen Hammerly gave us a breakdown for the bar. The gross was $3337. Expenses were $734 to S&S Distributing, $603 to General Beer, Coke $697 and unbrellas were $199. After expenses was $1104.
Laverne made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Kevin seconded it. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm.