November 16, 2013
CVAR Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Best Western Inn & Suites
602 N. General Bruce
Temple, TX 76504
(254) 742-1122
November 16, 2013
- Call to Order – The meeting was called to order by the President, George Curl, at 11:58 am.
Board Members present were: George Curl, Jeff Garrett, Roy Allen, Herb Hilton, David Griffith, Larry Reyburn and Merl Hansen. Bob Green, Chief Steward, advisor to board. Visitors present were: Don Hightower, Joel Anderson, Grover Maurer, Allen Johnson, and Bill Gardner. - Consent Agenda – George Curl handed out copies of the agenda .The consent agenda consisted of bill payments and transfer of funds between events. It is now possible to move funds to the next event rather than issue a refund. This has been requested by members for several years. If a member request a refund it will be cheerfully issued.The October conference call minutes were removed from the consent agenda and will be approved at a later date. David Griffith made a motion to accept the consent agenda and Herb Hilton seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
- Membership Report – Herb Hilton handed out a one-sheet membership report, which stated the following as of 11/16/13: 339 current members; 187 non-current members. 77 new members, 198 current competition licenses, 30 non-currents. There are 49 active members in the Novice program. There are 18 corporate sponsors and 7 honorary members. Herb gave a brief explanation of the non-current members.
- Treasurer’s Report – Although not able to attend the meeting, Bruce Revennaugh provided copies of a balance sheet as of 6 Nov 13, and a profit & loss statement by “job” (i.e., race events, entry fees, merchandise sales, garage rentals, etc.). Currently we are $12,828 to the good, but are facing a $21,000 loss at the December event. We have lost money at ECR and Sept TWS and are on line to lose again in Dec. The contract at TWS gives us a $2k discount per day of we are under 100 entries. We will have to pay $30K in deposits to pay by Dec 31. Hopefully we will have a cushion after deposits are paid. If the membership doesn’t support CVAR, CVAR will go away. Several questions were asked and a discussion followed about the financial report. Expenses are being reigned in at every opportunity. Merl also is exploring setting up an ACH account. This will cut credit card expenses by 75%. This would be an incoming account only. Herb asked that some type of accountability system for cash taken in at the track. Larry mentioned using a receipt book. A suggestion was made that we charge a percentage on refund to cover our cost. Motion made by Herb Hilton and seconded by Larry Reyburn to accept the treasures report. Motion passed unanimously.
- Registration Report. Merl reported that 72 people are currently registered for Dec. 68 people took advantage of the 3 for 2 registration offer.
- Tech Report– David inspected many roll bars Most are in compliance and all are agreeable to roll bar inspection. If there is a mechanical failure, the problem needs to be upgraded if possible. This should be handled by the group reps. Weights- where are we going? If they have a record of weight on file they are OK. There is no reason to re-weigh.
- G-6 Expansion– Larry Reyburn presented a proposal to expand G6.It was pointed out that G6 grid size has diminished dramatically. This would be a trial to see if there is interest in bringing Club Fords to join us. After a lengthy discussion, Roy asked that the proposal follow the existing procedure for rules changes. It should be submitted to the group reps. Larry will submit the proposition to the Group reps. The proposal was well received.
- Appeal Process for Driver Probation – Larry discussed a conversation he had with a member that was upset about being put on probation. Allen Johnson, Safety, went over the safety program and what goes into the decision making process. The process follows the safety program and gives drivers ample input. Allen stated that the driver’s are stricter than the Stewards. This particular driver was taken off probation after review. Proper communication is necessary and the drivers are not aware of the safety program or process. Herb asked Allen to write up the process for the next newsletter. Larry will contact the driver.
- Racing Venues/Marketing – Larry gave a review of what the marketing discussions have produced. The marketing committee is made up of Jay McClanahan, Tom Yemington, Bobby Whitehead , Skip Diplissy and Chalmer McWilliams. CVAR has been taking part in car shows in Dallas, Houston, Round Rock and Eagle Mountain Lake utilizing flyers, business cards and banners. There has been remarkable interest shown in CVAR. CVAR will also be in the Houston Autorama in Dec and Dallas Autorama in Feb.
Venues- Larry made a list of tracks in Texas that we don’t run on. Grand Sport Raceway in Houston, Motorsports Ranch in Houston, COTA (expensive), Driveway Austin, Harris Hill Road, TWS, Motorsports Ranch Cresson, TMS and ECR. Larry has spoken to TMS looking for open dates. Their cost is 47K for a 3 day weekend. Hallett, NOLA and Heartland Park in Topeka were listed. Larry wants to know if changing racing venues would generate more interest and bring out more members. Mark Mcilyar is very interested in NOLA. He feels that the open dates would be disruptive to our current schedule. He asked that we conduct survey asking for input on changing venues. A brief discussion about running TWS backwards took place. Include running TWS backwards to the survey. Survey needs to take place before the first of June.
Break 1350-1400
- Member Inputs –Dan Hightower introduced Joel Anderson- Joel said that CVAR needs to evolve the Production Car rules. A long discussion ensured about Datsun preparation and the need to allow later rules preparation for Datsun production cars. Joel and Dan were encouraged to use the rules change process to make adjustments in rules. Roy Allen pointed out that rule change needs to come from the bottom up, not for the top down. It is not the board’s place to make a level field for all cars in a specific class.
- Authenticity – G2 Petition- Roy Allen presented the G2 Rules Change petition. George Curl ask that CVAR General item #1, concerning allowing driver’s from other organizations be tabled.Bill Gardener was in attendance in support of the petition.
- Item 1: Fiberglass fender flares are allowed but will incur an authenticity deduction per Flare.
- Item 2: Fiberglass body panels are allowed but will incur an authenticity deduction per panel.
- Item 3: Roller rockers with stock rocker geometry ration are allowed with an authenticity penalty. Roller rockers with an increased rocker geometry ration will incur a higher authenticity deduction for engine.
- Item 4: Engine cylinder bore .060 is allowed with an authenticity deduction for engine
- The four items were a direct result of the G2 survey from May-June 2013. The first two items concerning fiberglass parts were meant to increase participation. Items 3&4 are presented as reliability items. Roller rockers will add durability to the valve train, while the over bore to .060 on blocks will give blocks a longer life span.
- A discussion concerning fiberglass fenders and hoods and weight ensued. It was determined that cars still will have to make the 1972 PCS weight limit. Group 2 voted on and accepted the proposal and the Group Reps approved this as well.
- After considerable discussion, Roy Allen, Authenticity Chairman made a motion that items 1-4 be approved with the authenticity deduction to be determined at a later date. Seconded by Larry Reyburn. Motion passed unanimously.
- Item 5. Cars 1972 or older prepared to a later version of the GCR are allowed to compete in classes FP2, EP2 and CS2. This item is an effort to increase grid sizes by allowing these cars to participate. Motion made by Larry Reyburn and seconded by Herb Hilton to approve item #5. These cars will run on a CVAR temporary log book and have an 18 month review date. Motion passed unanimously.
- Chief Steward’s report. Bob Green yielded his time. He was in attendance to support other items.
- President’s report –
A. Long vs short course: George Curl explained the reasoning behind the decision to run the short course. He expressed his dismay with people and that no lessons were learned from the turmoil of spring of 2013. If running the long course keeps people coming, then run the long course. A decision was made to run the long course.
B. The Hallett contract: The Hallett contract was discussed. A decision was made to counter Connie’s contract and keep negotiations open.
C. The 2014 schedule was discussed. COTA is the week after our Hallett Fall event and F1 is on top of our Nov event. Herb Hilton suggested that CVAR not change the schedule to accommodate SVRA/COTA or F!. Therefore the schedule will stay as it is.
D. Numerous items were reported from the VMC meeting the preceding weekend. The inclusion of “Foreign” licenses was discussed at some length. A proposal will be made at the Dec. Conf call meeting to include SCCA licensed drivers without going through the CVAR School.
3:10 PM At this point the CVAR board of Directors went into executive session to discuss other matters.
At 3:40 PM the board came back into open session.A motion was made to adjourn at 3:41. Motion passed.
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