by cvaradmin

2013 Board of Directors Minutes – August

August 10, 2013

CVAR Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Best Western Inn & Suites
602 N. General Bruce
Temple, TX 76504
(254) 742-1122
August 10, 2013

  1. 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, Don Gwynne, Roy Allen, Herb Hilton, Bill Johnson and Merl Hansen. Visitors present were Bob Green, Bob Crow, Bill Gardner, Scott Barrett, Gregg Rodgers, Art Summerville, Linda Yates, Reed Yates, Steve Smargiasso, Skip Duplissey and Bob Kramer.
  2. Consent Agenda – George Curl handed out copies of the agenda and the treasurer’s report.  George explained that to avoid a recurring charge for “cloud” accounting services, CVAR has purchased a copy of QuickBooks for the use of our Treasurer. An advertisement in Vintage Motorsports was purchased for $840. This is in the Monterey issue, and approximately 10,000 people will receive a copy. There are 14 CVAR members racing at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion next week. Herb Hilton moved that the Consent Agenda be approved.  Roy Allen seconded, approved unanimously.
  3. Appointment of BoD Members – George Curl briefly discussed the resignation of Tom Yemington. Herb Hilton recommended the appointment of Bruce Revennaugh to act as Treasurer until the next elections. Larry Reyburn was appointed to serve the remainder of Jay McClanahan’s At Large position following Jay’s resignation. Jeff Garrett moved these appointments be affirmed. Don Gwynne seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously.
  4. Membership Report – Herb Hilton handed out a one-sheet membership report, which stated the following as of 08/10/2013: 329 current members; 190 non-current members. 70 new members. 189 current competition licenses, 30 of which will expire before the September races at TWS. There are 54 active members in the Novice program.
  5. Treasurer’s Report – Although not able to attend the meeting, Bruce Revennaugh provided copies of a balance sheet as of July 21, 2013, and a profit & loss statement by “job” (i.e., race events, entry fees, merchandise sales, garage rentals, etc.). Bruce Revennaugh will be at the next Board meeting to answer any questions.
  6. By-Laws Committee Update – Bill Johnson discussed the status of updates to the by-laws. He distributed a draft to other committee members, and received some inputs from Art Summerville. Bill recommended that a corporate address, not someone’s home address, should receive all correspondence from the Texas Secretary of State’s office. He recommended the address of his law firm, and said that his secretary would be responsible for distributing correspondence to whoever needed it. There was discussion regarding a reduction in the number of Board positions, as was suggested by some of the current Board Members (e.g., the positions of Tech and Registration may not need to be Board positions). Procedures for admitting new members are being streamlined. The need to provide for some lesser sanctions than membership termination was discussed, as was the need for a defined appeals process. Also discussed was a need for a defined process for members to submit complaints to the Board. Changes to the Nominating Committee process were recommended to make it easier to add a candidate to the ballot. During discussion, it was stated that some of the CVAR membership believes that the Board and Officers receive payment or compensation for their services, which is not true. It needs to be made clear to the membership that all Board Members and Officers are volunteers who receive no compensation whatsoever. In most organizations, the general membership elects the Board of Directors, and then the Board of Directors elects the Officers (i.e., President, VicePresident, Treasurer and Secretary). There was discussion regarding making this a part of the By-Laws update, but no firm conclusion was reached.
  7. Hallett Filming Project – Skip Duplissey briefed his plans to film a pilot episode for a series on vintage racing at Hallett in October 2013. The director he’s partnered with directed the series “GT Racer” several years ago which primarily covered historic racing in Europe. The same videographers will be involved in the Hallett project. It will focus primarily on CVAR’s Group 1 and Group 7 cars at Hallett in October 2013. There was discussion as to why only G1/G7. Skip explained that in a show such as this, the producer must focus on a story line, and the people involved, and not let it get too broad. It is not specifically intended as CVAR publicity but his objective is to promote vintage racing and he expects the benefit to CVAR to be significant. It represents a great opportunity for CVAR racers to participate in a professional film production aimed at showcasing vintage racing to the general public. It was asked that each person in the room call 5 friends about attending Hallett in support of the filming.
  8. Member Inputs
  • Skip Duplissey discussed ways to “get new people hooked” including finding ways to give rides at events.
  • Don Gwynne supported Skip Duplissey with comments regarding rides at a Shelby Cobra Association of Texas (SCAT) event at MSR-Cresson and at the annual Mid-America Ford Performance & Shelby meets at Hallett in June.
  • Gregg Rodgers discussed the natural tensions between “period correct” vs. expansion of participation. He noted that all race organizations, including SCCA, are having to “get creative’ to get new participation. Track day events for street cars are becoming more popular. CVAR used to have a Group 5 “Exhibition” class for non-conforming cars. RMVR opened up to 1981 and experienced several problems. Don’t do it the same way learn from them. SVRA rules, while relatively liberal, are well defined and say what you can and
  • can’t have.
  • Art Summerville noted that the old Group 5 got stopped because it was getting out of control. He said was never intended to be a permanent place to run.
  • George Curl emphasized that any proposed changes to CVAR eligibility have to be coordinated well with the membership and can’t be rushed into place.
  • Steve Smargiasso thanked the club for the way he was treated (i.e., entry refunded) when a tornado severely damaged the building his tow truck and race car were in the day before the February TWS race.
  • Reed and Linda Yates noted that they had never attended a Board Meeting before. They voiced concerns about the need for free speech on the CVAR message board, but noted the board should have a moderator who can take down anything false or offensive, like most other discussion boards. Reed said he hopes to have his MG TF up and running for Hallett or TWS in the fall.
  • Bill Gardner discussed the Group 2 survey results and a proposal for Group 2 rules changes. He said he was having difficulty getting a reply from Roger Linton, SVRA’s technical contact.
  • Don Gwynne provided Bill Gardner with contact information for Tony Parella, SVRA’s President and a CVAR member.
  • Scott Barrett noted that he is the new CVAR webmaster and handles e-mail message distributions to all CVAR members when directed.
  • Art Summerville said he felt that discipline concerns and voting concerns were both a big can of worms and thanked George Curl for stepping back in when needed.
  • Bob Crow asked if anyone knows of a trust attorney. He is looking to start a charitable trust. Bob also said that the Houston MG Club is coming with about 12 cars to TWS in September. It was noted that efforts were underway to provide them with a designated “MG Corral” area somewhere in the paddock.
  • Bob Kramer is heavily involved with Friends of Triumph, and said FOT plans to attend Eagles Canyon next May. Tentative plans are for an all-Triumph Kastner Cup feature race on Sunday, dovetailing with the British Small Bore Festival race on Saturday. Kas Kastner is expected to attend.

Break – 1:35 pm to 1:46 pm

  1. Fall Schedule – CVAR’s fall schedule appears in the current Vintage Motorsport ad, along with the first half 2014 schedule. George briefed the 2014 schedule as follows:
  • TWS February 21-23, 2014
  • Hallett April 11-13, 2014
  • ECR May 17-18, 2014
  • TWS September 12-14, 2014
  • Hallett October 10-12, 2014
  • TWS November 7-9, 2014
  1. Lunch Touring at TWS/ECR – Bob Green discussed lunch touring, in street cars only, behind a pace car, to let visitors get a good look at the entire race course. It is not meant to be a thrill ride. Dropping back and charging forward will not be allowed. Corner and medical workers are having lunch, so safe conduct is essential or lunch touring will not be continued. Don Gwynne also noted that there are opportunities to ride in the pace car which should not be overlooked.

    Bob Green also discussed the possibility of allowing rides at near race speeds at the end of the day on Friday. Details to be worked out, not all drivers will be allowed to give such rides. The passenger will require full personal safety equipment, 5-point harness, etc. just like the driver. Skip Duplissey volunteered to work with Bob Green towards making this concept a reality.
  1. Discussion of Survey Results – George Curl stated that CVAR sent out 329 survey  invitations, and received 194 responses, which he considered a very good rate of response. After discussion regarding sharing the survey results with the general membership, the Board asked George to post the results on the CVAR list server the next day, and to include a request that they not be forwarded (outside the CVAR membership).
  2. Discussion of the December TWS event – Merl noted that typically, 2/3 of all registrations are received within the last two weeks prior to an event. There was discussion of ways to encourage earlier registrations. Don Gwynne moved that for this event only, the entry fee should be $300 for all three days (i.e., free test/tune/practice on Friday) for anyone who registers on or before November 10, 2013. Seconded by Herb Hilton, approved unanimously.
  3. Assignments of Committees/Action Items –
  • Bob Green – develop rules and procedures for lunch drive around opportunities.
  • Roy Allen – review survey results and prepare recommendations regarding changes to eligibility, on a class by class basis, not necessarily for all classes or groups.
  • Scott Barrett – get selected survey results information from George Curl for posting on the CVAR website.
  • Bill Johnson – submit draft of proposed By-Laws to the next Board Meeting.
  • Don Gwynne – call all active Group 7 drivers urging them to support the Hallett filming by Skip Duplissey’s crew. Each person in the room was charged with contacting 5 friends about attending Hallet in Oct.
  • George Curl will work on trying to renegotiate the December TWS contract.
  1. Adjournment

The next CVAR Board of Directors Meeting was scheduled for noon, September 14, 2013, at the Best Western in Temple, TX. The meeting was adjourned at 3:02 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Don Gwynne
CVAR Secretary

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