Minutes: November 10, 2018
WTA Meeting
November 10, 2018
The 11/10/18 face to face Board of Director’s meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association was called to order at 9:05 am by Fritz Thistle, President. Directors present were S/E Dick Otto, N/W Tate Barwald and Richard Johnson, N/E Don Chrapla, S/E Jerry Kaszynski, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Arlene Otto and Taylor Ebbers, Secretary/Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins. Absent was N/E Bob Ebbers, S/W LaVerne Lehmann, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring and 1st Alt. Delegate Dwight Paulin.
Also present at the meeting: Esther Thistle, Chops
Meeting started at 9:05 am.
Secretary’s Report:
Amy gave an update on unpaid memberships that she received from the ATA. Question was if the club that did not collect for the membership fee should pay the dues? Unknown how that works with the ATA. There are still three unpaids and Amy has been able to collect from three of them already (there were six to start with). If we do not get these collected, the money is subtracted from our rebate. Amy will post on the forum for the unpaids to see if we can find them. Yes, Amy should try to collect from the club if possible.
Amy reported that she turned the cell phone off for 90 days so there will be no bill. After 90 days, in order to keep it suspended, it will be $4.95 per month until we turn it back on for the season.
Treasurer’s Report:
Arlene has met with Taylor and feels it will be a smooth turnover in the next two months. There is currently $134,000 in the checking account; last year at this time we had about $7000 more. Fritz said we will have $16,500 coming back from DNR for lighted fields. Amy will be depositing almost $12,000 for camping.
Taylor reported that they met with the accountant. If we merge the WTA with the campground, we would need to make sure we are under 20% sales for the campground in order to not lose the 501(c)(3) status. We are still way below the threshold of 20% for camping. We are delinquent with Dept of Financial Institutions (DFI); Homegrounds has been filed but it has not been filed by the WTA. The accountant will take care of it now. Taylor will see if the accountant can update it so that the paperwork now comes to Taylor for future. We are still likely to get audited; a letter was sent in hopes to not get audited. Arlene has not yet received an answer from the letter. The accounting firm has been working very hard to keep us functioning the way we should be.
Taylor talked about the computer issue. She has a Mac and it would be hard to convert. The computer that Dick and Arlene gave to her has been working great. Dick is willing to sell this computer to the WTA for Taylor for $250. Taylor would also need a multi-function printer to do the treasurer job. She found one for $140. We would need to purchase something for the new building as well so that it can be kept there full time.
Don made a motion to approve Taylor to purchase Dick’s computer and a printer for no more than $500 total. Dick will assist with the purchase. Tate seconded it. So carried.
Tate made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Richard seconded it. So carried.
Accountant/Attorney Meeting – Fritz, Otto’s and Taylor met with them. If we want to dissolve the campground, there would not be a lot of work to do. The attorney would handle it and we would need signatures from the Homegrounds BOD. We would also need some minutes for the meeting documenting this. We just need to file the final tax return at the end of the year and then ideally we would be done with the Homegrounds being a separate entity. Amy gave Square paperwork to Taylor and it doesn’t appear that Square uses an FEIN for Homegrounds so there would be no issue there. It would be so much easier from an accounting standpoint as well. Homegrounds owes the WTA dollars for use of the grounds which is now to $227,000; which would be a paper loss when we dissolve. She did suggest keeping camping income in a separate account under the WTA. Taylor will find out what they are sending to the state quarterly for state sales tax usage so we know what is being sent in. The raffle department wants to do an audit. It isn’t really an audit, but they just want to make sure we are doing everything right. That likely will be done in January or February and the state auditors will come to Arlene’s house.
Campground membership fee was discussed. If we aren’t close to the 20% threshold we would not have to do this.
Fritz suggested that both Arlene and Taylor get paid the treasurer wage since they are both going through so much to make this transition smooth.
Don made a motion to pay the Treasurer wage to both Arlene and Taylor from November until the transition is complete. Dick seconded it. So carried.
Security System:
Mobile Lock and Security came out in July to give an estimate. Someone from Weston came as well but we still have not received an estimate from them. A member recommended someone from Illinois that has a branch in Sussex and Fritz has received a quote from them. The quote from Mobile Lock was $1939 and the other one was about $4000. Bill Doucette was present at the meeting to discuss his options.
Security Alarm system vs. Camera System:
Burglar Alarm System:
He looked at all points of entry; a key pad would be installed at the entry door. The codes can be changed at any time. Due to no phone line or internet on site, he suggested a CDMA unit which would be mounted out of site. It is tied into the brain of the system and communicates with central station. There is a yearly fee. If someone does break in, it goes to the sheriff’s department who will dispatch Rome PD. You also get an app on your phone. It will give you the events of who turned the system on, off and at what time. You can turn the system on and off from the app on your phone in case someone needs to go do some work on the building, we would not need to give them the code. The CDMA unit will cost us $240 a year and it is also $240 a year for central station which is who monitors the system. There is an option for CDMA or GSM.
Camera System:
He installs Speco Tech cameras. He brought cameras to show. The cameras are now TVI that gives crystal clear pictures/videos when you zoom in. He suggested having two of them outside; one pointing towards the gate and the other pointing towards the hoop building. Suggestion was to put one under the canopy out front. He also suggested one indoor camera pointing towards the office. He does a 4-camera system and then up to an 8-camera system.
He has been in business for 30 years and believes in using quality equipment. It comes with a terabyte hard drive and it re-writes itself on a rolling basis.
There likely would be a discount on insurance if installing the burglary system. An extra camera is $189 and the original bid was for three cameras.
Don made a motion to accept the bid from Mobile Lock and Security. Tate seconded. So carried.
Building Update:
Drywall is finished, textured and waiting for final paint. The painting will require a sprayer and about three people rolling. We have to pick the paint colors before we can start. It will have to be done before Gary comes to do the ceiling. The eye had to be cleaned on the north heating unit as it had drywall dust on it. The furnace filters have been replaced as well. The cheapest bid for tile in the bathroom was about $9100 but Chops is working on another bid as well. Chops thinks there is about $3000 in the FoWTA account after paying the drywall work. Chops would like to schedule the tile to be completed in April and it would take approximately a week. Fritz will follow up with Gary DeSmidt on the ceiling and insulation. Chops has enough trim to do the whole building (doors, windows, etc.). He does need to buy pine casing and it would be about $431. For the wainscoting, we would need 93 panels which run from $9 to $20 a panel and are 4’ by 32”. He estimates $1000 for them. Top and bottom molding would either need to be bought and stained or buy the one that is more expensive but all finished. He would like the directors to go with him some time to check it out. Looking at $2000 to finish the trim and wainscoting. Richard volunteered to get the trim purchased and then he will stain and varnish it so we can save the money on having to purchase the finished stuff. John Filtz would like to come to the December meeting to discuss and he would prefer to do the work in January when it is cold outside. The countertop was cut and put into the office on each side. Chops gave an update of what needs to be done in the spring with the water lines and the well house. We have a donor that would like to purchase round tables and chairs for the building. When they did the fertilizer this fall, they drove the spreader down the cart path and there are now 243 broken pavers. Chops has talked with them and is waiting for a response back.
FofWTA Update:
John Coniff was not present for the meeting but sent an email with some things to think about for the future.
Strengths – what we did well or what went well
- All raffle tickets were legal, and available to respective booths on time
- Had FFL on site to facilitate gun transfers
- Had a better system to record and identify auction donors
- Better division of labor – Paul didn’t have to do everything
- All auction items sold
Weakness – hiccups, what we can improve on, what didn’t go well
- Had too many raffle tickets resulting in wasted money
- Need a money manager to collect and record live auction sales
- Identify who is in charge of what, with regard to money collection, recording, etc
- Develop a time line of action – what to do when, by whom etc
Opportunities- ways we can be better or more effective and have more fun
- Advertise in the state shooting calendar- highlighting what we have accomplished and asking for support.
- Have display tables and banners to better showcase auction items.
- Implement Constant Contact- a) how often to contact, b) how to build up the data base, c) who writes the messages, etc
Threats- obstacles to success or what will rain on our parade
- Sooner or later we will be accused of something egregious. How to we prevent this or respond to it.
- Hopefully this won’t happen but how do we resolve any potential conflict with the WTA. Conflict resolution isn’t fun but needs to be addressed for the good of all.
Information received from John Coniff on 11/15/18:
Since October 15th there have been three checks written and one deposit made. Check to Chops for $172.53, this was reimbursement for expenditures he made. Check to Von Briesen, this was for required state filings. Check to Joe Ruesch Drywalling, this was for the building. There was a donation received in the amount of $1,000.
Current balance is $7377. $1300 is restricted, leaving us working capital of $6077. I anticipate writing out a check today either to Menards or as a reimbursement to Chops. This is for wainscoting. This expenditure was approved by the WTA board. I’m guessing the amount will be between $1200 and $1400.
State Shoot:
– Marathon Monday – There were some concerns with this as you can not run it through the 3S system. Everything has to be done by hand. We will definitely want to publish shooting hours and everything will be ran separately from the state shoot so not to make it confusing at the cashiering counter. Fritz will talk to Glen Grabski to see if he can help out with the squadding and cashiering. Targets will be priced at the regular practice which is $6 per round and the daily fees on top of that; first round be a total of $30 and $24 for additional rounds.
Tate made a motion to charge $30 for the first 100 and $24 thereafter for the Monday Marathon prior to the State Shoot. Don seconded it. So carried.
– Camping – Amy gave an update on camping. Forms were due on 10/31. She had contacted everyone two weeks prior and sent a final message to them yesterday letting them know the sites will be released to the waiting list. There are currently about 20 names on the waiting list. There was one camper that said he needs to save some money and wondered if we would hold his spot. There was another one that said it was too early to collect. Amy has explained the reasoning for collecting camping forms and payments now so that when calls are received she is able to say if sites are available or not.
Don made a motion for 2020 camping that all reservations will be for the full week at $225 or $175 paid by October 31st regardless if they stay the full week or not. There will be no nightly rates. Dick seconded. So carried.
– Target Prices – We had a target increase last year, but we did not increase our target prices for our events. Other states had increased last year.
Don made a motion to charge $34 per 100 for targets for state shoot. Dick seconded it. So carried.
– Schedules/Sponsors – Fritz and Amy went over the list of questions that Sandy and Dennis had regarding the changes to the program based on sponsors and events. There will be no 2nd place in class trophy for Event 3. There will be no 3rd place trophy for Event 5, 14 and 15. We are still waiting to finalize the sponsorship for Thursday; if White Flyer sponsors the entire day, we will eliminate “Class Championship” from Event 4 on Wednesday. Event 7 will remain as Singles Class Championship and Event 9 will be Doubles Class Championship. If White Flyer chooses to do a $1000 added purse for High All Around on Thursday, this will be an option and not an extra “event”. Discussion will be held at the December meeting on the Husband/Wife or Patient/Child event.
Don made a motion to cancel the Club Team Championship event. Dick seconded. So carried.
– Meals/HOF Banquet – Fritz will talk to Butcher Block about the HOF banquet. Fritz would like it to be a nice event and not something on paper plates where we have to clean up afterwards which is what would happen if the banquet was in the new building. Discussion about even possibly moving the banquet to a different time, not during the state shoot. This will have to be a discussion at the Annual Meeting. The HOF banquet will remain on Saturday for the 2019 State Shoot and likely will be held offsite until a discussion can be held at the annual meeting. Discussion about possibly holding a pig roast free to shooters on Tuesday night; we would see if we can get a sponsor for the food if possible.
– Shoot Program – Amy has been working with Tim from Champion Programs and John Atkielski to figure out how to make it work. Champion can only accept the program in Word and John has routinely done it in Publisher and/or a PDF. John was going to try to speak with Tim to get things straight to ensure we are not incurring ridiculous charges for having it in the wrong format. John said that he has many issues with this company when he worked with them in 2012 when they did the last program for us. Typically, we put an ad in our state shoot program for the ATA. However, if we want to put it in the 2019 program, there would be a charge to include this ad. Amy will find out who pays for this; she will check with some other states as well.
– Annual Meeting – Annual meeting will be held on Friday morning at 8am and will try to keep it to one hour.
Grounds Caretaker/Custodian/Manager:
Glen Grabski is very interested in running the facility. He has been asked to come to the next meeting. Arlene had prepared a report of casual income for shooting for the past year to look at numbers. If so, we would need to come up with a job description on what would be expected. We need to be prepared for the next meeting. Bill and Helen would like to come back next year.
Briley Trap Repair:
Trap 1 has been shipped to Briley. We don’t know how long before it will be back.
Midway Foundation has some money that they want to fund 10 bunkers throughout the country. Fritz has the application to fill out. He has talked to Bob Ebbers on what it will cost for the electrical. The application is due in January.
Grants
Fritz has been working with Jessica. They are just about done finalizing the one for the lighted fields. We hopefully will be able to recoup the $16,500.
Improvement Projects
Fritz suggested that we come up with a list of things that we would like on our wish list. One of the things at the top of the list should be signage on Hwy 13. Another item would be a storage shed. The land that Bruce purchased, he would like us to put some traps on that in the future.
Round Table
Fritz:
Biker Rally – They want to have a three-day event in August 2019. The organizer is trying to get Ted Nugent and would like to get him out here to shoot trap and advertise and fundraise for us. He will keep us posted.
WTA Policies and Rules – Arlene will send it out again and it will be reviewed at the December meeting.
Fritz reminded everyone that we need to keep track of any lessons for sales tax purposes and the 501(c)(3) status.
Fritz started looking in to what needs to be done for the expansion on the W101 site. Fritz will contact DATCP to ensure it is okay to add a site as we pay them an annual fee. Paul had suggested that the WTA contract everything and they would pay for the expenses.
Don:
Suggested possibly doing some smaller gun raffles throughout the year like some smaller gun clubs. Fritz will be meeting with John Coniff and will discuss.
Richard:
Suggested taking off the three-day minimum off holiday weekends on the website. He will send the location to Amy so she can update the website. He would be interested in volunteering his time and attend the WACO show. It is very expensive to have a booth at these events. Lisa from Greenway attends most of these shows as well. He thought our camping prices were higher than most in the area.
Dick:
Dick found a zone map that is out of date. He will find the location on the website and get it to Amy so she can update. He asked if he should continue to do the shoot programs for our shoots. He suggested moving the Fall Classic to an earlier weekend. Fritz will contact Janesville to see about a date in September. Don will donate the same amount as he did last year. We will try to get updated donor information in order to publish it in the Shoot Calendar that is published in January.
Amy:
Kevin sent the all-state team information to Amy last night since he wasn’t able to be at the meeting. Below is what he has determined to be the All-State Team.
All-State Team:
Men’s|
George Hass 95.90
Dwight Fitzsimmons 95.56
Jon Denman 95.23
Gerald Demulling 95.13
Gerald Tenor 94.43
Dan Haag 94.16
Mike May 93.61
Shawn Lepple 92.90
Keith Lehmann 92.83
Tate Barwald 92.74
Ladies
Cathy Wehinger 93.41
Sandra Jo Jack 92.03
Janet Reding 90.05
Karlie Klas 89.23
Carol Keeley 86.04
Veteran
Mike Nawikas 93.75
Bill Simonar 92.43
Don Mittag 91.67
Ken Beutler 90.83
Andy Hall 89.93
Sr. Veteran
Bruce Wiegann 92.30
Dwight Paulin 91.77
Ed Borske 91.37
Don Chrapla 91.17
Steve Keeley 90.77
Sub-Junior
Robert Gropp 88.89
Hunter Knotwell 88.11
Logan Denman 87.31
Kendra Doberstein 81.32
Juniors
Devin Doucette 90.38
Cody Barwick 87.86
High Average Awards
Singles – George Hass = 99.10; 1900 in-state targets
Handicap – George Hass = 93.10; 1900 in-state targets
Doubles – Dwight Fitzsimmons = 97.42; 2600 in-state targets
Don made a motion to approve the All-State Team and High Average. Dick seconded. So carried.
Next meeting will be December 8th at Sherwood Lodge at 9am.
Jerry made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Don seconded it. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 1:41 pm.