Committee Meeting – Albury Wodonga Motorcycle Enthusiasts Club (Inc)
Committee meeting Minutes
Date: 2024-02-01 Time: 5.35 pm
Venue : Quantum Printing 49 Catherine Cres, Lavington NSW 2641
1. Welcome & Attendees: Michael Sarroff, Clinton and Sandy Van De Stadt, Kelly Coutts-Smith, Paul Bullock, David Lutton, Chris Brosolo, Neil Hillas, Stewie McLean.
2. Apologies: Mike Yerbury
3. Previous Minutes:
As attached. Minutes of Committee Meeting 2024-01-09 – as circulated via website and email.
Moved by – Chris Brosolo Second by – Kelly All in favour – Carried.
4. Business Arising from Previous Minutes:
A. New member packs update – Kelly. Emailed to Clinton – work in progress.
B. Annual Motorcycle Club Calendar – Kelly to organise.
C. Raffle merchandise and storage – Kelly and Sandy. – Lee has kindly allowed us a storage room at the ‘venue’ to store all our club regalia etc. There will be a Key to the room. Storage space for Rally Committee as well.
Chris Brosolo – Concern about air conditioning at Venue – Clinton to speak to Lee.
D. Certificates – possibly to be awarded for bike categories from the 2024 Butterball. Clint and Sandy. – Neil to consider.
E. Annual Donation – AWAR have been invited to the February meeting.
F. NSW Historic Association, regarding club liabilities of bike inspectors. – Paul received a letter leaning towards road worthies. Our machine examiners are covered by our insurance for inspections only. This is an area that may change in the future. ( See below the action plan )
G. Audio concerns / options at The Venue – Michael – seems to be working better. Michael has added his own lapel microphone to aid in clarity.
H. Club Participation Rule – Has been announced to members, this will be put to the members at the next meeting in February. The Management Committee revisited the benefits and disadvantages of the Rule and feels confident in the sound reasoning for a positive change.
I. Butterball Survey – In General Business as a priority.
J. Consultation with Ride Committee – I have consulted with Stewie to pass onto Ride Committee – Next round of Ideas – Will move to General Business. Still a work in progress.
5. Reports/feedback from Office Bearers (not normal reports as presented at meetings).
A. Secretary Reports/Feedback:
Clinton and Sandy Van de Stadt, Secretary – All good. No issues to discuss.
B. Treasurer’s Reports/Feedback:
David Lutton, Treasurer
Propose an increase to the transaction limit from $2000 to $3000 for the Cheque account and from $500 to $2000 for the Rally account. This to prevent splitting invoices and reduce the work for anyone processing those invoices.
Proposed by Paul Bullock. Seconded. David Lutton. All in Favour. CARRIED
C. Membership Officer’s Reports/Feedback:
Chris Brosolo, Membership Officer -199 Financial Members and 18 non-financial. Chris will send emails and call these before cancelling their memberships. We have found it beneficial to have Membership cards collected from the Members Meetings, or directly from Chris at Autoscreen Lavington. ( Only a couple of expectations require Postage )
Michael to do an email for members to order name badges.
We will not be posting out Membership cards, members must collect them at the meeting. ( Rare exceptions )
D. Bike Register & Vic Roads/RMS liaison’s Reports/Feedback:
Paul Bullock Bike Register Officer – Club registered bikes – Members: 49 NSW and 80 VIC, have club registered bikes – aka Historic Plates. ( Records are not 100% up to date – work in progress ) 129/130 members with club plated bikes. 199 active club members with bikes the balance of about 70 are social members of the club.
As previously discussed with Paul, we have a requirement for the machine examiners to have a get-together for a catch-up on the correct procedures for inspections and renewals. Especially in light with the advice from the NSW Historic Association. Paul and Stewie to coordinate and work on a protocol. Doug Flack’s paperwork is exceptional and can be incorporated.
Bike Registration – Stewie Mclean
There was an issue with a particular member that Stewie was having – Michael to follow up and problem solve the concerns.
The other issue was with a member not having his bike checked correctly with the examiner – Michael will follow up with this member.
Members need to note;- No committee/member will accept CASH payments without a receipt book ready to provide a written club receipt upon CASH payment.
A point that came out of the discussions with Stewie about the examination of bikes by the examiners, it is noted that: “The NSW examiners Mark ,Tony and Stewie, every bike must be viewed on signing the registration.
Members need to note;- We will have some changes to rego and renewals protocols shortly.
E. Editor/Web Manager’s Reports/Feedback:
Michael Sarroff, Web Manager/Editor – all working well.
F. Welfare Officer’s Reports/Feedback:
Michael Yerbury, Welfare Officer – Mike absent tonight.
G. Meeting Activites Co-ordinator Reports/Feedback:
Kelly Coutts-Smith, Meeting Activities Co-ordinator – All good.
H. Constitution & Rules Officer Reports/Feedback:
David Lutton, Constitution & Rules Officer
Due to not having the Bikes and Blues any more
Consider rewording Policy 3.5 RESPONSIBILITIES FOR EVENTS RUN BY AWMEC SUB COMMITTEES to remove reference to’ Bikes & Blues ‘and replace with’ EVENTS ‘and the subcommittee to organise the pre-event actions and the logistics of the day. All payments will go through the Treasurer.
Proposed by David Lutton. Seconded by Paul Bullock. All in Favour. CARRIED
6. General Business:
A. Butterball Survey Results. Neil Hillas – The consensus was positive and favourable. Key thoughts are the location and distance. Valuable comments that Neil will consider for future Rally’s.
Thank you to all who participated in the survey. Neil will have new ideas to put forward to members at the next general meeting.
Paul bullock: suggest to have rides in the year that have catering supplied “ Hammond’s” as an example – to encourage more participation on rides
““““““““““““““““““““““Neil’s thoughts tonight – To have a rally that runs from a central Point IE: Albury /Wodonga. General discussion consensus seems to be from all present – is very positive.
B. Club Participation Requirement –
As per the Management Committee Minutes on 9th January 2024 and the outline provided at the Members Meeting on 23rd January 2024, we wish to address a matter of significant importance regarding our Club’s Participation Rule.
The AWMEC Club Participation Rule currently requires members with club plated bikes through the club, to participate in a minimum of two club events per year (a mix of meetings, rides & events) to have their club permit renewals endorsed in the following year. This rule was suspended for 2020 & 2021 due to Covid but re commenced from 2022.
Since commencing in 2015, the Club had implemented this rule using the Clubs in-house database/spreadsheet however in 2019 the club (for various reasons) moved to an off-the-shelf database to manage the clubs memberships (OurCarClub – OCC). Since re-implementing the participation rule after Covid in 2022 using the new database, it has become evident that the OCC reporting limitations makes it very difficult to manage & implement the Clubs participation rule as it currently stands.
This raises the fundamental question: Is the Participation Rule truly a benefit to our Club?
After much deliberation, the Management Committee has reached the conclusion that the Participation Rule is no longer applicable given the diverse nature of our membership within the Club. Instead, we believe it is more prudent to adopt an approach that greatly encourages participation without mandating it.
As a result of this situation, the Management Committee proposes the removal of the current Participation Rule (Rule 1) and its replacement with a new Policy. This Policy will encourage, rather than enforce, members’ participation in our Club’s activities. Acknowledgement and incentives will be provided to stimulate participation.
Proposed Motion by the Management Committee :
“The current AWMEC Club Participation Rule (Rule 1) be removed and replaced by a new Policy which encourages (but doesn’t enforce) participation in Club events by members.”
We believe this shift in approach will better align with the evolving dynamics of our Club and foster a more inclusive and engaging environment for all members.
We look forward to providing the members their opportunity to discuss this topic at the members meeting in February.
As a reminder from minutes of Committee meeting 9th January 2024
“ Taken from Minutes of Committee meeting
A. Current Club Participation Rule – Is it a benefit to the club and members? 1. AWMEC CLUB PARTICIPATION RULE – Rule 1 in the Clubs rules
The AWMEC Club Participation Rule currently requires members with club plated bike/s through the club, to participate in a minimum of two club events per year (meetings, rides & events) to have their club permit renewals endorsed in the following year.
This rule was suspended for 2020 & 2021 due to Covid but re commenced from 2022.
Since commencing in 2015, the Club had implemented this rule using the Clubs in-house database/spreadsheet, however in 2019 the club (for various reasons) moved to an off-the- shelf database to manage the clubs memberships (Called OurCarClub – OCC).
Since re-implementing the participation rule after Covid in 2022 using the new database, it has become evident that the OCC reporting limitations makes it very difficult to manage & implement the Clubs participation rule as it currently stands.
As a result of this situation, the Committee is proposing that the Clubs Participation RULE 1 be removed and replaced with a new POLICY which encourages (but does mandate) all members to actively participate in our Clubs activities with acknowledgment or incentives to encourage participation.
At the January general meeting the Committee expects to raise the following motion for discussion and then voting at the February general meeting;
That – ‘The current AWMEC Club Participation Rule (Rule 1) be removed and replaced by a new Policy which encourages (but doesn’t enforce) participation in Club events by members.’
BACKGROUND TO OUR CURRENT PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENT
- The current Club Participation requirements (see full Participation Rules below) only apply to members who have club permits through our club & the reason for the participation requirement being introduced when we formed the new club in 2015 was that the Committee (& majority of members at the time) felt is was reasonable to ask members who benefited from accessing the club permit system (both NSW RMS & VicRoads) through our club to meet minimum participation requirements (initially this was six activities year which was subsequently reduced to two – the Clubs year is January to December). There was no intention to require members without permitted vehicles to participate as they were members by choice who weren’t getting direct benefit from the being in the club & joined presumably because they enjoyed motorcycles & the activities or were friends or partners of members or were hoping to get a bike/s on plates in future; under our constitution we are a club for motorcycle enthusiasts & anyone interested in motorcycles or motorcycling is welcome to join weather they have a bike nor not.
- As participation as outlined above was the requirement from the outset, the Clubs database (developed by Sue Haberfield & Phil Stuckey, on a complex spreadsheet) was set up to give a report matching those members with current club plated bikes to the number of events that they had participated in for the year; so it was relatively easy to identify those with plated bikes who had not met participation requirements for the year provided the Clubs bike register was being kept up to date and that attendees (members) at all rides, meetings & events had been entered onto the database soon after each event. This report was used by our Machine Examiners (for RMS) & Executive (for VicRoads) to know which members had not met participation requirements. As per the rules below, the sanction for members not meeting participation requirement in one year was that they could not get their renewals signed (or new permits) the following year until they had met their participation requirements for the previous year plus pro rata for the current year (i.e. if a member with club plates hasn’t attended any event this year 2023, they can’t get renewals signed next year 2024 until they have participated in two events to make up for 2023 plus one event for first half of 2024 or two events if second half of 2024).
It should be noted that participation requirement has no effect on membership status of members, and it cannot under our current constitution.
- Our participation requirement system as above was working pretty well until the end of 2019 when two significant events occurred. Firstly, it became obvious that as good as the
Club’s database was in terms of doing exactly what we needed it to do, because it was built on a spreadsheet trying to perform a database function, it was going to run out of capacity fairly quickly. Also it wasn’t cloud based which meant it had to reside on the club computer which was problematic as at least three office bearers (Membership Officer, Bike Register Officer & Secretary) needed access to the system which became too difficult. For these reasons it was decided to find & readily available cloud based database system that could do what we needed at reasonable cost. As with any off the shelf system, none of the ones we looked at did everything that we wanted but the Our Car Club (OCC) system which we now use was the closest to doing most of what we needed. Unfortunately one thing it doesn’t do is provide the plated bike owners vs participation report that the old system produced & although it is possible to cross reference the information on OCC, it is time consuming, tedious & not totally reliable. This problem wasn’t really highlighted initially when we moved to OCC as in 2020 Covid hit & without many rides or meetings for two years (2020 & 2021) the Committee suspended participation requirements for those two years so they haven’t applied again until 2022 which means this year (2023) is the first year that we have had to administer & enforce the participation requirements for permit renewals using the OCC system & it is proving to be very difficult.
1. CLUB PARTICIPATION -Rule as it stands
It is a requirement of AWMEC that members accessing the conditional Club Permit Scheme in Victoria (CPS) or N.S.W. (HCRS) or in any other jurisdiction through the Club, actively participate in Club activities. To meet this requirement, Club members with CPS/HCRS plated vehicles are required to;
- From January 1st 2016, participate in a minimum of two (2) official club events per calendar year. This participation can be any combination of; scheduled Club general meetings, scheduled Club rides, Club rallies or other Club events which the Committee deems to meet participation requirements. For new members the participation requirement is pro rata e.g. minimum of one (1) event for each six (6) months of membership.
- Scheduled Club events and meetings will have an attendance register and it is the member’s responsibility to ensure that they correctly and accurately complete the appropriate register for all endorsed events they attend.
- It is the member’s responsibility to establish to the Committees satisfaction that they have met minimum participation requirements in each calendar year.
- Club members not meeting these minimum participation requirements in a calendar year and who are not exempt under subrule 5), will not be eligible to have their CPS/HCRS permit renewal forms or any new permit applications endorsed by the Club in the following year until the minimum participation requirement is met for the previous year and pro rata of the current year.
- Members exempt from the above participation requirements are;
- Members who do not currently have club plated (CPS/HCRS) vehicle permits
issued through the Club,
-
- Life members of the Club,
- Members granted special leave of absence by the Committee for reasons such
as long-term illness, living or travelling away from the Club area for an extended period (without having moved away from the area), or other acceptable reasons. Requests made to the Committee for special leave of absence under this rule must be supported by evidence if requested by the Committee. If the Committee grants a request for special leave of absence it will confirm such approval in writing & state the period for which the leave applies.
d. Members 75 years of age and over.
ALL IN FAVOUR of this proposal – Yes – Passed. “
(Back to minutes)
C. How to Encourage Participation on Rides and other Events as concepts –.
Due to a shortage of time we had to briefly run-over the next few topics quickly, but will discuss them at the next committee meeting.
As per our discussions. We would like to encourage participation in a positive way. A Carrot rather than a Stick approach to increase the Club Participation on rides.
1. Ride Committee input –
Concerns the Ride Categories were too elaborate – Michael confessed he always overdoes things and was sorry to have concerned anyone with the complexity. Michael gave reassurance that he wishes the Ride Committee to consider the concept as a ‘make-it-their-own’. Simple and easy is always the best approach. It was only an example to work upon. See point 2.
2. Trophy Room ( sort of leader board list ).
A page on the website that is updated monthly. A fun and easy way for the Ride Captains to record keep during the year and then have the results displayed on the website as a running record. We will have a presentation at the end of the year on the final numbers etc.. Presented to the Ride Captain to pass onto the Ride Committee as a suggestion for their view and input. Here’s hoping they are able to make it into something of their own with their own categories that may suit them and increase members’ enthusiasm to participate.
3. Consider a Ride Participation Leaderboard Lottery. The more members that participate on rides the more tickets into the end of year lottery they claim. The prize could be a sum from the Club, or we might be able to source advertising sponsorship. A whole year of advertising on the website, and monthly meeting announcements, could be very attractive to a Motorcycle business. I would like to consider a sum of $500 to $1000 fuel card up for grabs in the lottery. Members participation on ride points would be 2 rides equal 1 ticket. Thus most members wanting at least 1 ticket into the lottery would have to attend 2 rides in the year. Those members that come along to all the rides have the greater chance of winning the Lottery as they would have accumulated more tickets into the Lottery.
It would be a great way to give back to members and also increase the ride participation.
4. Establish a Catering Expense Budget for Rides – Example the Hammond’s BBQ – We could consider adding 3 more ride events where the club subsidizes the catering costs ( @ $500 each ). 1 opportunity we have is with Michael and Kim at Ournie Hall. They are very keen to host a great event out there. This could be one option, just need another 2 that can go towards making at least 4 Ride Events in the year. Budget of $2000 for the 4 events @ $500 each.
D. AGM – All roles are open for any member wishing to join the Committee.
David has reached his maximum 4-year term as Treasurer – who can fill in as Treasurer.
Stewie has expressed his wish to retire after 4 years as Road Captain Chair. Time for someone else to step-up and take on the role.
E. Restriction on New Memberships concept ideas.
For discussion at the next meeting.
7. Meeting Close and next meeting.
Closed 7.50pm. Next meeting – General Meeting at the Venue 2024-02-27