Minutes: September 3, 2021
WTA Meeting
September 3, 2021
Homegrounds
The 09/03/21 Board of Director’s meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association was called to order at 9:15 am by Fritz Thistle, President. Directors present were N/E Ken Michels and YZ Weisensel, N/W was Aaron Katzenberg (zoom part of the meeting), Keith Lehmann (zoom), S/W LaVerne Lehmann (zoom), S/E Tyler Buchanan (zoom part of the meeting), ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring (zoom), 1st Alt. Delegate Tyler Buchanan, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Executive Assistant/Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins, Treasurer Taylor Katzenberg (zoom). Absent: S/W Bob Ebbers.
Also present were: John King, Al & Laura McCord, Chops, John Coniff
Meeting started at 9:10 am.
Treasurer’s Report:
Fritz read the report highlighting casual trapshooting income of $26,000, shell sales for state shoot were just over $67,000, beer and soda $2800…state shoot income was $113,000. Gross state shoot total was $296,000. Camping income of $42,600; gross profit $703,000, donations $34,741 from shooters. Expenses – targets $73,000; paid Nekoosa schools $50,000. Expenses for state shoot were $170,000. Insurance $15,000; property tax $21,000. Utility construction costs were $13,000, electric $75,000. Net income of $29,700. Balance Sheet – $161,000 in checking/savings to carry us until next year. Summit loan is $666,000.
YZ made a motion to approve the treasurer’s report. Ken seconded. So carried.
Secretary Report:
Amy gave an update on the camping. There are a handful of campers here for multiple months. There were some bus groups in the past few weekends. There was one camper that complained about the water. Fritz thinks that we need to look at installing a better filtration system in campground and vendor row. Shooting forms are starting to come in for the new target year. Amy is working on setting dates for five years for HSCTL and SCTP.
Old Business:
TV Responder/Antennae:
Kevin talked with Tom Roberts last week. He got the parts in and will test it at home and then begin installation at Homegrounds. He is hopeful that he will be able to get this installed yet this fall.
Target Management System:
Glen was working with Dan Haag and John King on getting it installed. It was kind of a mess during the state shoot due to using the traps for makeup as well as practice. Right now they are bypassed because no one else knows how to operate them. With Glen being out sick, Fritz just bypassed them to make them usable for people covering until Glen returns. The target management system will have a separate computer for loading the cards so there are no issues. We have a brand new laptop for this purpose.
State Shoot Review:
We had a great shoot with many people participating and helping out. The line help did a great job. John Coniff will list all of the helpers in his next email notification. Target setting went well. There were still issues with the PA system. The system was working perfectly before the state shoot started. During the fall classic we will test out some other things. We will have a separate meeting to discuss this. During that discussion, Fritz would like to have one person dedicated to making the announcements. Amy suggested that we do announcements 15 to 20 minutes prior to the start time so that we are starting on time each day. The days were long. Al McCord suggested moving the scoring stands closer to the line for singles and doubles events so that they can see the targets better. Stands were not always moved back up after handicap.
With the silent auction, it needs to be posted in the program what time it ends. There was lots of discrepancies on when it ended. Taylor said it is about 50/50 of people wanting to stay at the Ridges for the HOF banquet. She doesn’t know if we should try a different place next year. Arrowhead just recently remodeled. However, Fritz said years ago there was not a big enough room.
A discussion was held regarding the performance of the Nekoosa students during the state shoot. Problems with pullers and scorers were discussed in depth. Better training and supervision should correct these concerns. These concerns will be discussed during future meetings with Beth.
Grants:
We had an estimate for a storage building 50×96 for $69,000 in May; an updated cost now is $114,000. If we are going to put in an application for the DNR we have until Sept 15. If approved, you have to spend the money first and then get reimbursed after the project is completed. However, you can’t start the project until after it is approved. It would have to be completed in a year once approved. If they approve it and we do not have the 50% of the funds, we would just have to turn the grant down. Taylor said there is no way that we can pay for a storage shed for that price. DNR has stipulations to get the grant. You have to be open 100 days a year for 20 years. Taylor stated that right now we aren’t even covering Glen’s wages. The DNR has already given us grants for the bunker and lighted fields so we are locked in to staying open.
YZ made a motion to apply for the DNR grant for a new storage building. Ken seconded. So carried.
Fritz has an estimate for an addition to our building for a Hall of Fame. It is a 30×48 extension and would be added on the east side. The estimate is for $72,000. The NRA has a grant program available and Connie is working on this. This has to be in by October 1. We would not have to spend the money up front for this and it is not a 50/50 match. The decision will be made in early October who is awarded the grants.
YZ made a motion to apply for the NRA grant for a new HOF building. Ken seconded. So carried.
Fritz did talk to Recob’s about some storage containers. We could get some of them up here to use as storage. The back door of the work trailer rusted off and is no longer usable. The spare parts being stored in the hoop building should not be kept there; they are just too exposed. Chops said that we could at least purchase one container to get a place to securely store items.
Ken made a motion to approve the purchase of two storage containers 40×9.5 not to exceed $10,000. Aaron seconded. So carried.
Brine:
The brine is still working even after having graded the roads after they got all full of pot holes. It does work great.
Expansion:
The top priority on our list was to expand 10 more trap fields. Two more trap fields could be added fairly easily. We have donations for two more traps and two more shelters. Kevin stated that by adding two more traps it would definitely allow shooting to be done sooner and not fight against daylight. Al McCord stated that we would then need to have more kids to score as well. Fritz will try to pull some numbers together by the next meeting to see what the cost is going to be.
Read Reclamation:
After the next state shoot, it will be the 10th year. Bruce Davis sampled it after this state shoot and said it is ready. Fritz has six people on the list that would like to do the reclaiming. We would have to get proposals from everyone. Bruce originally said that he would do the dirt work for our expansion at the same time. Fritz will put something together and get it sent out the people that have shown interest.
Friends of WTA:
$62,000 in account after the last deposit. Raised $1700 at 50/50 raffle, live auction $4670, silent auction $2715, youth gun raffle $7525. He would like the youth clubs to request grant money in September and October and approve the requests in November and send checks to the recipients in December. Original plan was to allocate $2000 to the clubs via the grant program; but we raised $5875. Amy suggested donating $4000 in grants for the youth clubs and use the remaining to purchase the guns for next year’s raffle. If it weren’t for Esther and Bernie selling tickets at all events, this easily could have failed. They will not be able to sit at the ticket kiosk for the entire week of the state shoot next year. John said that HSCTL is asking us to pay a $250 vendor fee in order to sell the youth raffle tickets at their state shoot next year. Amy will talk with Josh Kroells about this before next year to ensure this is not a problem.
There needs to be a formal thank you to Jeff Mainland. He ended up donating the gun to us this year so it did not cost us anything. We had many tickets unsold and the revenue was $20,800. If we are going to do this again next year, we need to have more people selling tickets. We could look at a lesser price gun. John will talk with Jeff. Chops suggested making a one-of-a-kind for the 10th anniversary.
New Business:
WI Fall Classic:
YZ’s Body Shop will donate $500 to the doubles event ($250 to the doubles champion each day). Gateway Gun Club will donate $500 to the handicap ($250 Sat and $250 Sunday). Targets will need to be loaded before that weekend. YZ will be here at noon tomorrow to load. Tate and Amy will be here to help.
WTA Officials Expenses:
Taylor has asked to be reimbursed for her camper rental for the state shoot of $1200. LaVerne stated he didn’t think he should be reimbursed for his lease cost and he purchased his own camper. Rhino stated he stayed at a motel for over that amount and doesn’t expect to be reimbursed. If you do it for one, you have to do it for all. How do we make it fair for everybody? Fritz said that directors and officials that incur an expense for the state shoot should be reimbursed for something. Discussion will be held at the next meeting. Please bring ideas to the next meeting.
YZ made a motion to table this discussion. Ken seconded. So carried.
Shoot Date Projections:
State Shoot:
- July 12-17, 2022
- July 11-16, 2023
- July 9-14, 2024 (tentative based on Grand American)
- July 8-13, 2025 (tentative based on Grand American)
- July 7-12, 2026 (tentative based on Grand American)
HSCTL:
- June 11 & 12, 2022
- June 10 & 11, 2023
- June 8 & 9, 2024
- June 7 & 8, 2025
- June 6 & 7, 2026
SCTP:
- June 25 & 26, 2022
- June 24 & 25, 2023
- June 22 & 23, 2024
- June 21 & 22, 2025
Plumber Proposal:
Fritz received an estimate from a plumber that said he could clean up the iron in our water. Right now the estimate is for $9500 and that is to just fix the main building. It includes a sanitizer, water softener, tannin unit and sulfur unit. Fritz wants to have a proposal to fix everything including the campground.
Donation Review:
Trap fields – Hunter Brothers, Jack Duwe, Paul Becker have paid for a trap field. Mark Zauhar and Jeff Arendt have each pledged for a trap each. Nancy Knotwell paid $350 for a gun rack. Dennis Gervasi paid $500 for the general fund. Hunter Brothers donated $30,000 in memory of Robert Klobuchar. They suggested putting this money towards another trap or two.
Myron Bumstad:
In September 2020, the WTA sent a letter of appreciation to Myron for his 20 years of service to the WTA. He started in Waukesha and then came to Homegrounds. Fritz received a card from Myron thanking us for having one of the best shoots in the country. He stated he was glad to be a part of our dream and stated that this was the best shoot he ever worked at.
Business Parcel:
Someone has approached Fritz to purchase two acres from our business parcel to build a gun shop to sell and repair guns.
EMT Services:
We always have them at our shoots. However, they wanted to start charging us. The fee was waived for us this year. It would have been $448 a day for them to be here, but it was all donated to us. The total for all shoots was $5824. They stated that an annual donation would be welcomed.
Kevin made a motion to approve a $2500 donation to the Town of Rome EMT Services. Rhino seconded. So carried.
Skid Steer Service:
Fritz had it serviced earlier this spring. There was an estimate of $5000 to $6000 of work to be done to fix everything that is needed on it. Fritz will speak with Tate to see if the work is needed, etc.
Round Table:
Fritz:
Discussion was held regarding a letter that will be sent to a shooter regarding an incident that occurred during the state shoot.
YZ made a motion to send a registered letter to this shooter. Kevin seconded. So carried.
Umbrellas – Fritz took pictures of what they use at the Grand. He is going to see if Baraboo Tent and Awning can make them for us. The wind damages the current umbrellas that we have purchased and we were short at the state shoot.
Post Office – Fritz is having issues getting mail and getting it forwarded correctly. There was a letter and package there from June and July.
Target price increases should be thought about as we will need to discuss this pretty soon.
50 yard stakes were placed some time before the state shoot due to some of the youth groups asking for them. Kevin stated that the stakes are not needed and this was voted and approved on in the past. People use that stake as a crutch; Kevin stated during a handicap event at the state shoot, the targets were not reaching the stake, but they were set for the correct speed but there was a strong wind which was causing the target to be short of the stake. This will be tabled for next meeting. Kevin said the only reason to leave them in would be to center the field for doubles.
YZ:
We need to get the PA system fixed. Ken will talk to Aaron about possibly getting some plexi-glass to cover them as they are not waterproof. Directors were not wearing their green shirts that they were provided and people are not able to identify who the directors are. He said there were also issues with the golf carts; it is issued to you for working and should be used for that. There needs to be more help during the shoots. People need to step up and help. We all have to help the entire event and not just sit around and do nothing.
Chops:
Did someone take pictures for the Trap and Field magazine? Taylor took some photos this year but someone will need to take these in future years. She forwarded the pictures that she took to Trap and Field. He suggested we have a sign/banner made like in Tucson that you stand in front of for your picture; that way the background is the same for all the photos. Chops suggested signage in front of the building to show what is here. People like to take pictures by the sign. Amy agreed that the curb appeal here is not very good. Chops said we need to work on designing a t-shirt for the 10-year anniversary next year. Suggested not having Fine Design here next year so that we are the only ones selling shirts. Larry Heinrichs will be selling coffee and donuts for the WI Fall Classic.
John:
He asked if we had pursued refinancing. We are not at a point where we can refinance right now. Taylor is aware of when we are able to.
Ken:
He suggested checking with a local landscaper to see if he could do something out front. Fritz said that the guy that plows for us is a landscaper so Fritz will check with him.
Kevin:
Delegate meeting was canceled at the Grand due to someone having COVID. The meeting was last Saturday night during the Heartland Grand. Discussion was tabled about raising daily fees by $1 due to lack of shells and increases in target prices. Discussion was held about new ATA members not being a full member until money was received by the ATA and entered into the computer system and that was voted down. As soon as a shooter fires the first shot, they are an ATA member.
Amy:
Amy asked where the mulcher attachments went for the mowers. When Tate mowed last weekend he wondered where they were. They should be on the mowers so when someone is mowing in the campground, rocks are not thrown towards anyone’s camper. No one remembers these being purchased. Fritz will talk to Tate about them. Amy asked who is going to be a camp host next year. Fritz said we will need to find someone. YZ said Amy has a good point; we better start looking now as that isn’t going to be an easy task.
Tyler:
He suggested the shoot off lights be adjusted. Fritz talked to him about this. Should be able to take care of this at the fall classic.
Next meeting will be Friday, October 15, 2021 at 9am at Homegrounds. Next meeting will be December 3, 2021 at Homegrounds. After the meeting on 10/15/21, we will close the grounds.
Rhino made a motion to adjourn. LaVerne seconded. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 12:51pm.