Minutes: December 31, 2022
WTA Meeting
December 31, 2022
Homegrounds & Zoom Meeting
The 12/31/22 Board of Director’s meeting of the Wisconsin Trapshooting Association was called to order at 9:05 am by Ken Michels, President. Directors present were N/E Ken Michels and Andy Wondrash, S/E YZ Weisensel, Bob Ebbers (zoom), N/W Tate Barwald and Aaron Katzenberg (zoom), S/W Tyler Buchanan, ATA Delegate Kevin Doerring (zoom), 1st Alt. Delegate Tyler Buchanan, 2nd Alt. Delegate Fritz Thistle, Treasurer Taylor Katzenberg (zoom), Executive Assistant/Shoot Coordinator Amy Jenkins. Absent: S/W LaVerne Lehmann
Also present were: Chops, Andy Hall, Bill Ohrmund, Tom and Nora Bristol, John Coniff, John and Julie Atkielski, Bruce Wiegmann, Kevin Schutz, Jon Denman, Gary Witzke (zoom), John King (zoom), Karlie Klas (zoom)
Meeting started at 9:05 am.
Treasurer’s Report:
Account balances are as follows: Checking account $121,000, Camping $51,000, Savings $13,500, Expansion fund is $62,500. Summit Loan is $630,000. Target stock is $15,081. The 2021 tax return has been filed. The 2022 WI GFI corporate annual report has been filed. All W9s have been received and will be sent to the accountant. Sign on Hwy. 13 has been renewed. Taylor will not be available for the May shoot unless we change the date to the weekend prior. If we moved it to the Kettle Moraine weekend, she would not be available that weekend either. YZ suggested keeping the date as is which is May 6 and 7. The WTA sent $1000 donation and flowers for the Robert Hunter memorial. Property taxes are $45,373. She will pay the first half in January. We have to pay sales tax on camping, hall of fame, etc. She confirmed that because we are a 501C3 we should be exempt from paying property taxes. Since we dissolved the Homegrounds and everything is under the WTA, we should be exempt. You can only file the exemption on even years so she will have to fill this out in 2024 before March. Taylor will be the point person for the Hall of Fame banquet. She prefers all tickets be purchased in advance rather than selling them at the state shoot. Steve and Mary Downs are actively working on the trophies. Taylor will have everything delivered to her and she will go through them and deliver to the state shoot. Taylor will be arriving on Sunday, July 9 for the state shoot and is asking for everything to be cleared out of the back room and cleaned prior to her arrival. Taylor is asking for a raise starting January 2023; she is asking for $12,500 per year (currently at $8400); she had to purchase a new laptop, she is involved in the trophies, paying of the kids, etc.
Tyler made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s report. YZ seconded. So carried.
Secretary’s Report:
State shoot camping forms are still coming in; Amy continues to work on camping which is like a jigsaw puzzle to fill in the spots with the size campers she has on the waiting list. Discussion was held about the shoot calendar and whether or not to continue to print and mail it or just go digital. Tyler suggested posting it on the website and facebook. Tate agreed. Amy will talk with Carol to see if it will be a hassle or not to go to digital only this year or if we need to wait until next year.
Discussion was held about the minimum payouts for the zone shoots. Tim from Sauk suggested that the amount be dropped or eliminated as it is costing the clubs money to host the zone shoots to make it worthwhile for the shooters to attend. Many of the clubs go out and ask businesses to donate money. Right now there is $1800 minimum for added money. If you lower it to $1000, that remains about $100 to the champion in each class. Tate suggested if someone is going to drive to the zone shoot that is paying $100 to win vs. going to the zone closest to you, most people aren’t going to drive across the state for a chance to win $100. He said he will attend the shoot that he wants to and not go by the added money. YZ agreed and said it will cost you that in gas to go to a zone on the other side of the state.
YZ made a motion to no longer do a print version of the shoot calendar. Tyler seconded. Amy will talk with Carol to see if it is too much of a hassle to go digital only this year. If it is, it will be printed and mailed this year and be digital only in 2024.
Tate made a motion to eliminate the minimum added money (now $1800) for zone shoots. Tyler seconded. So carried.
Friends of the WTA:
The balance in the checking account is $55,769. John will be speaking with Jeff Mainland about having Turkish walnut for the Kolar raffle gun. John gave an update on the SCTP meetings. He is proposing that we charge $30 per hundred and set up a system to count targets and we provide loaders (not scorers). The machines would be checked the morning before shooting starts. It would allow 8 targets per round (4 for broken targets and 4 targets for look birds). We would do this for one year to get to an exact per target price. He stated if we are charging $6 a round for practice, we are losing money. Last year we threw 1,369,305 targets (2022). SCTP will not register their targets for 2023. Chops asked if the WTA is covering the cost of the targets thrown for setting targets and yes, that is the cost of doing business. John suggested we raise the price of practice targets. Fritz stated that we charged case price of targets for sporting clays and make-a-break. Last year they paid $22.50 per case. This will need to be increased.
Tyler made a motion to charge $30 per hundred for SCTP and HSCTL pending the target prices for the year. Kettle Moraine will be raised $1 per hundred to $26 per 100. Andy seconded. So carried. Case price for fun events will be determined at a future meeting.
Old Business:
Deferred
Jon Denman asked what is going on with the lead reclamation. Ken explained that the company was waiting for a new machine. Jon said that we should fire them. Jon gave numbers of how many targets have been thrown vs. the price of lead, etc. He suggested we could purchase the equipment to do it ourselves. He wanted to know why we want to give away 70%. Fritz explained the issues that the company had at Minnesota and stated that they would be finishing our reclamation in 2023.
New Business:
Bruce Wiegmann – Museum:
Bruce stated that he went through hip surgery a few years ago and heart surgery this year. He sat down and talked with his family and discussed what will happen to his assets that have built up. He told his family that if something went wrong during his heart surgery, he wanted a large sum of money to go to the WTA. Bruce stated that he would like to see the work done now before something happens to him so he can see what is done. He has some real estate that he put up for sale. He is in the preliminary stages at this point but will need some architect work as well. He is willing to donate up to a million dollars to a museum. He knows that it will increase the taxes and will likely require a manager to staff the museum as well. He understands it will increase our costs so it is something that the board will need to discuss if they want him to move forward on this. He also suggested having a kitchen to do our own cooking. He suggested 20,000 square feet and could go towards the hoop building and incorporate a storage shed with it. He is not willing to fund the operation costs once it is built. Bruce would like to set up a trust fund to put the money so when his property sells but the money would only be used for the museum.
Tate asked about the 501C3 for the facility. Taylor said it was done years ago before her. She has to fill out a 35-page document annually to remain a 501C3. Kevin thought originally that because Adams County was a poor county the decision was made by the WTA to pay property taxes. It is not a sure thing that we will not have to pay property taxes in 2024 but Taylor will submit the paperwork at that time.
Tyler made a motion to have Bruce Wiegmann move forward with the museum plans. Andy seconded. So carried.
Trapline help:
Gary said that he will still help with the trapline help. The school has backed out so we need to figure out a way to get people to come and work. Taylor suggested that we put an ad in the paper and post on Facebook and try to get help hired. They will be paid on a 1099. Gary suggested even attending a job fair to get people to apply. Last year they were paid $12.50 per hour. Kevin Schutz would be interested in getting a volunteer list of shooters that would be willing to score. He said that he scored some events last year and it was kind of fun. Amy said that last year Minnesota did Adopt-a-Trap for the state shoot and the group was responsible for scoring and loading an assigned trap for the entire state shoot. Gary will start working on ads for the newspapers, etc. He will get everything approved through Ken.
YZ made a motion to pay the trap help $15 per hour. Tyler seconded. So carried.
PA System/Wifi:
Ken handed out quotes that he received from four different companies. Bob said that he has a guy that he works with on systems that he works with all the time. He does systems for football fields etc. Discussion will continue at the next meeting as a decision will need to be made as soon as possible to get something lined up for the shooting season. Bob has 15 poles that he will be donating to the WTA. The speakers are rated outdoor and can be left outside. Kevin asked what the life expectancy of the speakers are. Ken thought they would last well over 10 years.
Loan Negotiations:
Fritz suggested going to Bank of WI Dells and River City Bank where we currently bank. He suggested that we let them know that we may have a trust fund coming forward, etc. John suggested we pursue some insurance companies for loans to see what our options are. Ken will start working on this with John Coniff. Summit was not willing to negotiate the last time Fritz talked to them. The loan comes due in September.
HOF Inductees:
Nominations were Don/Jeff Mainland and Dwight Fitzsimmons. Chad Blanke will be inducted this year as well as Don/Jeff Mainland. Dwight Fitzsimmons will be inducted in 2024.
Tyler made a motion to induct Don and Jeff Mainland into the Hall of Fame. YZ seconded. So carried.
HOF Guidelines:
The guidelines clear up if a shooter has not been a member of the WTA for 15 years. It also clarifies special considerations for a woman shooter. These items would be things that the HOF committee would vote on before it comes to the WTA board for approval.
YZ made a motion to accept the HOF guideline changes. Tyler seconded. So carried.
All State Team:
Tyler read the draft All-State Teams. Jon Denman asked if all the members were from Wisconsin. Kevin stated this was discussed at the last meeting. Discussion will continue at the next meeting for WTA residency. All State Team names will be finalized at the next meeting.
Fees for 2023:
Camping fees: Discussed how Campspot charges with tax included vs. tax included. Amy will review Campspot for the best way to proceed.
Dump fees: $10
Building Usage: review per request
Shells: Market value
Weekend WTA Shoots: no fee
2023 Event Dates:
May 6 & 7 – WTA Shoot
May 20 – Kettle Moraine
June 3 & 4 – NE/SW Zone Shoots
June 10 & 11 – HSCTL
June 17 & 18 – NW/SE Zone Shoots
June 24 & 25 – SCTP
July 10 – Marathon Monday
July 11 to 16 – Wisconsin State Shoot
July 19 – Cheesemakers
August 18 – Mid-State Technical College
September 23 & 24 – WTA WI Fall Classic[
2023 Food Vendors:
Need to do walk through to determine if this will work. This will be reviewed at the next meeting to determine if there is enough space to put all the food vendors out the back door. Bob will need to determine if more power will be needed in the new location.
State Shoot:
- Hall of Fame Banquet: Taylor will take the lead on this; she will see if we can move the banquet to Tuesday night
- ATA membership fees: We need to get better at this; discussion was held on how to ensure shooters are paying their ATA fees. Amy received a list of about a dozen names that did not pay their membership fees at the state shoot. This affects our rebate amount.
- Pig Roast: The pig roast will be moved to Friday night and will be done in conjunction with the silent/live auction.
- Golf Carts: Chops will get a quote from Master Karts; Andy will get a quote from Jim’s Carts
Round Table
YZ: Wished everyone a happy new year and thanked to Bruce Wiegmann.
Tate: He has been contacted a few times about the zone shoot schedule. Some clubs are holding the championship doubles on Saturday rather than on Sunday like the other clubs. He has been asked if all zones can run the same schedule. Tate will talk to Weston and Eau Claire. Kevin said there is nothing in writing that says all zones need to run the shoot program the same.
Kevin: Laverne is no longer in ICU however still has feeding tube but recognized Rhino.
Fritz: Canceled Workamper News membership. EMTs were here for the state shoot; we need to do a donation. Engineers are coming in February and Ken will need to contact the town for permits. Ken will need to confirm when they are coming to level the ground. Andy said that he didn’t think the school had plans to come level the ground in 2023. Fritz wants the engineers to make a road in front of the traphouses to be able to drive down there to load the houses.
Andy made a motion to donate $1000 to Town of Rome for the EMTs for present during our events. YZ seconded. So carried.
The next meeting will be Saturday, January 28 at Homegrounds.
Andy made a motion to adjourn. YZ seconded. So carried.
Meeting adjourned at 1:23pm.