ner opens the road racing & solo season dog track rallyx results

New England Region Board of Directors Meeting Minutes—
March 8, 2006
Directors attending: Kathy Barnes, Tim
Chevalier, Paul Faford, Marianne Lyons, Doug
McCormack, Peter Perrault, Jeremy Sheppard
and Karen Paul.
Directors not attending: Chris Franson,
Stacey Sawyer
Also attending: Dick Patullo, David White
and Sam Gardella Meeting called to order at
7:38pm.
The Secretary acknowledges that these minutes
are not in chronological order.
Secretary’s Report: Motion: Chevalier/Lyons:
to approve the minutes from the February,
2006 meeting, as amended to correct date.
Approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Current Profit & Loss
statement sheet was presented to the board.
An outstanding bill from SCCA Corp for
March was also discussed. There appears to
be a discrepancy between SCCA and NER.
Reviewing the information to determine where
the miscommunication resides. Information to
complete IRS Form 990 has been sent to the
accountant.
Program Reports:
Solo: It was reported that there are discussions
with the Devens site for the National Tour
weekend. Need to finalize times that NER is
allowed access to the site for registration and
course setup/walkthroughs. No other report
given.
Rally: O’Neil Rally Cross was cancelled due to
weather and safety concerns at the site. Frost
Heave and Slip-N-Slide continue. Currently
looking for a site to hold an April event, as Loon
Mountain has discontinued use of their site.
Road Racing: Contracts with tracks have
been signed and deposits have been sent out.
Sanctions for April Driver’s School/Regional
have been sent to National office for review.
Pre-season tech sessions and Open House
are scheduled and are ready. Supps for May
National event are almost completed. Currently
working on Supps for Memorial Day Regional.
Race-A-Rama was a success with a full booth of
cars and many interested spectators.
Merchandise: Sales have been good for
January and February—on target with budget.
Attended a Rally Cross in January and will be at
both of the open houses (March and April).
Membership: No report given
Publicity: Continuing with the Daytona-N-
Friends radio show, many mentions of NER
events via on-air interviews with various
members. A potential publicity chairman has
been identified and is working on some details
to possibly take over from Doug McCormack.
A motorsports based radio show near
Springfield, MA (95.3 FM) approached Doug
at the Race-A-Rama show. Doug will follow
up and see what we can do with them in the
future. Job description for the Ops Manual
and for replacement of Publicity Chairman was
presented to the RE for review. Will be posted
on Website and in Pit Talk.
Old Business:
New Track Committee: Application permits
were filed with the town of Palmer, MA on
March 8. www.palmermotorsportspark.com
went live with the help of Doug Koza. Will be
linked from NER site and a return link posted
on the new track website. Greg Vincent has
volunteered to help present the plans to the
town meetings. Submission materials were
sent to the town with site plans, traffic reports,
etc. 21 E Hazardous Report given to the RE for
review. Press releases to be sent to local papers,
Pit Talk and SCCA. Questions were raised
about funding for construction costs. Discussion
revolved around hiring consultants for funding
and other aspects of the project.
Miscellaneous: Commonwealth corporation
papers will be sent to Marianne Lyons.
New Business:
Annual Meeting 2007: January 2007
Annual Meeting, Fall 2007 Mini Convention and
the Fall 2007 NARRC Banquet are to be hosted
by the 2006 NER Board of Directors. Planning
has begun for all conventions. Invitation was
made to Jim Julow, President, SCCA to attend
Annual Meeting. Annual Meeting currently
is scheduled for the first weekend of January
(5,6,7) 2007.
NER Picnic: In 2005 NER hosted a picnic at a
state park for a mid-summer get-together. Initial
plans were discussed as to whether to hold the
same type of non-racing party again in 2006.
Dates and ideas where presented. Marianne
Lyons to review and present at the April Board of
Directors meeting.
Car Show: Peter Perrault was approached by
the Nashua Rotary Club about their “Rock-N-
Rib” festival at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in
Merrimack, NH. On Sunday, June 11 during
the festival, they have a local car show and were
requesting a few racecars if available. Paul
Faford and Tim Chevalier volunteered to help
plan NER’s involvement in the car show. There
is a NER National at LRP and the Solo National
Tour on the same weekend. We will have Rally
and Regional Club Racers’ involvement in the
show to minimize conflicts for volunteers.
Search Committee: The Board of Directors
is forming a search committee to help find
candidates for the 2007 Board of Directors. In
addition, there was some discussion as to how to
make the member voting process more efficient
for 2007.
2006 NER Board of Directors Goals: The
2006 BoD developed the following goals to help
NER and its membership:
• Improve communication within the Region
• Increase community involvement
(RAL weekend, etc)
• Decrease non-renewal of members
• Increase recruiting and retention of volunteers
• Improve development of Regional leaders
Development of a competition facility continues
to be our primary long term goal to ensure the
future of all our programs.
Motion: Paul/Perrault: to adjourn at 9:20pm.
Approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Sheppard, Secretary
PIT TALK May 2006 19