MEETING MINUTES FOR CNYR SCCA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by R.E. Ed Leubner.

R.E. REPORT: Ed welcomed everyone to the Sept. meeting, noting that the attendance was the best for a regular business meeting so far this year, with 23 members and one guest attending.
Ed asked for a motion to approve the July, 2016 meeting minutes as they appear on our web-site (noting that there was no business meeting in August as August is our annual picnic. Leo Sawyer so moved, Jay Cartini seconded, motion carried.
Ed said that our usual Chump Car contingent did well at a recent event at the Calaboogie track in Ontario, with Wes Davis finishing on day one then having a wheel bearing issue on day two.

ASST. R.E. REPORT: Mark Bizzozero reported that during the recent SVRA weekend at Watkins he and others from Burdick Toyota traveled to The Glen to drive Toyota trucks back to Cicero that were used to take drivers around the track during NASCAR. Mark said it was a fun day because he also got to see loads of gorgeous old, rare cars attending SVRA.
Mark also thanked three region members who offered to help remove a trailer that was creating an unpleasant background at a recent outdoor wedding ceremony. All 3 returned Mark’s last minute phone calls. Thanks to Mark Mangicaro, Jay Cartini and Mike Donofrio (driving at Chump Car), especially Mark M. who moved the offending trailer so the bride could have a perfect background for her wedding photos.

TREASURER REPORT: Jay Cartini reported that we took in more money than we expended during August. We still have some outstanding audits for SOLO and Rally Cross. Our starting balance for August was $9,071.22 with income of $2,734.00 and expenses of $2,007.03 leaving a balance of $9,798.19.
The new SOLO trailer has been (due to NYS and insurance requirements) registered in Jay’s name and with his home address, since that is also the official CNYR address. The trailer is now titled with a new NYS license plate.
Jay still needs to collect advertising money from Wes/Charlie Davis, otherwise we are current.

SECRETARY REPORT: Bob Holcomb again reminded members that he would not be a candidate for Secretary due to his upcoming move to Florida.
In the absence of Membership Chair Andrew Beyer, Bob mentioned recent anniversary dates for some CNYR members. Gerald Doner, 40 years (applause followed as Gerry was at the meeting), William Moore, 25 years. Ed Leubner added the following: John & Denise Croasdaile, 20 years, Jay Cartini, 15 years and John Scruton, 5 years. Congrats to one and all.
Bob put out a challenge to the members to try and get more women involved in our meetings and events. Our current membership is approx. 179 with just 28 female members of which roughly half live close enough to regularly attend meetings per the information provided by Andrew Beyer. However, the normal monthly female attendance at our meetings is zero. Bob asked the members to ask their girlfriends and wives to come to our next meeting, to give input on what we can do to make the region more female friendly, etc. He reminded some of the longer term members how in the mid-1980’s often 25%+ of those attending meetings were females and all seemed to have a good time.
Bob also said that the region needs a regular Merchandise Chair and that items should be available at all of our functions…volunteers are welcome to fill the position.
He also said that our attendance at various car related functions in the CNY area seems like a good idea and although not showing spectacular results so far, they do seem to be increasing interest in our revenue generating specialties, SOLO and Rally Cross.
Bob had a few others items to discuss but will wait until our October meeting as the Sept. meeting was pretty busy and the issues to discuss were all minor.
Apparently wearing a magnet, Bob did mention having not one, but two crashes at his flag station (4 start of back straight) during the Watkins Glen Indy Car weekend, Aleshin blowing a tire and hitting the Armco ending his day, then later Kimball & Power touching, with Kimball continuing and Power tagging the Armco ending his day.
That was followed by the #2 Audi R8 at SVRA crashing directly at his station (2 start of Esses), then slowly driving back to the pits.

ACTIVITIES REPORT: Ted Barbuto gave a very special thank you to Alice, Lee and especially Lynn Hidy for their assistance with our August picnic held at the Onondaga Lake Yacht Club. It was a huge success with good attendance, tasty food and nice member cars on display. Two eye openers were a Ford GT-40 owned by John D’addario and an Empire Super Sprint car driven by guest speaker Brandon Kidd and brought to the picnic by car owner and former GT-1 driver Doug Emory. 1,400 pounds with driver and 650HP from a 360cu.in.engine…WOW!
Ted is taking suggestions for a possible new location for our winter awards dinner.
Ed Leubner suggested having a guest speaker such as at the picnic and possibly having videos too.

SOLO REPORT: Scott Newton said we’ve had 3 events since the July meeting, all at the Cayuga Community College location in Fulton. The Aug. 21st event was wet with just 13 entrants, each getting about 20 runs, the Aug. 27th event had 28 entrants with 10 runs and the Sept. 10th event had 38 entrants with 10 runs. The latter event was our 9th and also the last of the season.
Scott said he’ll be looking into purchasing more dash plaques and trophies as he ran out before the last event. Scott said we also need to purchase more cones.
Mark Mangicaro said there was some confusion at TECH for at least one event.
Scott will be looking into adding the Oswego County Airport (actually in Fulton) to the 2017 calendar.
Leo Sawyer said the Adirondack facility is still an option for 2017 with Frank Beyer adding it could also be used for Rally Cross, which brought up the possibility of holding a dual event, SOLO & Rally Cross on the same date. It was mentioned that an event at Adirondack may bring in entrants from Watertown and Fort Drum that might not care to drive to Fulton, Lafayette or Elbridge/Weedsport.
The topic of whether or not to allow late arrivals to participate at SOLO’s was brought up and resulted in a long discussion by numerous members. Apologies if some are missed, but the end result was a suggestion by Jay Cartini to table the discussion and bring it up at a meeting of the SOLO Comm. The topic was originally brought up due to ONE entrant arriving late for at least one event and wanting to run.
The following were mentioned:
Ed Heffron said currently an entrant must make it to TECH and the Driver Meeting on time to be allowed to compete. Others agreed.
There was concern that a late entry may show up, miss the required meetings, compete and end up with FTD without working a shift, etc.
Frank Beyer said if that happens then the entrant should get no points/awards.
Jim Quattro said he considers it a safety issue.
Bob Holcomb said that if an entrant shows up late, explain that they cannot compete, then give them a voucher or coupon (value to be determined by the SOLO Comm.) for a future SOLO event. This seemed to be favorable to some members.
Rex Franklin asked if the shelves he has in storage are still needed for the SOLO trailer? They may or may not be used per Scott.
Mike Gagliardi offered some file cabinets that he has stored at home, no takers on that so far.

RALLY CROSS REPORT: Jim Quattro said we have had 3 events since July and that CNYR has held more Rally Cross events than any region in the country so far. A combined event with FLR had 27 entrants.
Jim is working with Rolling Wheels Raceway Park for future events (possibly a 3 event deal) which will have CNYR SCCA as a track sponsor, including signage, in lieu of payment for use of the facility.
Jim is also in need of more cones as our cold weather events are not cone friendly, causing many to crack or break into pieces when the weather hits 20F or below. Jim needs an inverter and Scott Newton said there was an extra from the old SOLO van which Rally Cross could have. A new E-Z up has been performing well. Ed Leubner suggested that Scott and Jim compare shopping lists to avoid unneeded duplication, or to reach a discount quota.
Jim said the next event will be a double event on October 15th and 16th, the 15th being at the Walczyk Farm in Weedsport and the 16th being at Rolling Wheels in Elbridge.

F&C REPORT: Mick Levy said we are nearing the end of the season at Watkins Glen with approximately one month to go, which includes the FLR “Fun One” and the Glen Region “Last Chance” weekends.
Mick will work S/F for the “Fun One” then head to Mid-Ohio for the SCCA MAJORS Runoffs, then return to Watkins.

CNYRP: Mike Gagliardi had no updates.

OLD BUSINESS: Ed Leubner said he had received less than a dozen replies to our By-Laws update e-mails, some of them critical of our use of electronic media to send out the By-Laws update info and some critical of a “no response” being considered a yes vote for the proposed updates. As a result, the planned revisions to our existing By-Laws will be put on hold pending further review.
While many prefer hard copy vs. electronic, the cost of hard copy is very expensive for the region.
Leo Sawyer suggested putting proposed updates on our web-site, while Ed Leubner said we could try to coordinate our Website and our use of Facebook.
Ed Heffron asked how many members are needed to pass a vote, which Ed Leubner said was a “majority” but further discussion and a question by Mike Donofrio asked for a percentage, as most meetings requiring a vote (such as election of officers) require a quorum considered as 10%. Mick Levy reported that a former member (per Membership Chair now with FLR) claimed we are not following our own By-Laws. After much discussion, as stated, the matter is on hold.
Frank Beyer said even though his e-mail is on file, he does not receive updates from the region.

NEW BUSINESS: Ed Leubner said anyone interested in running for office please contact him.
Ted Barbuto asked about having a SOLO point system such as FLR uses.
Scott Newton said there will be a SOLO meeting in the spring to discuss a points system, whether like FLR or Glen Region uses and discussing a possible combining of street classes into one award group.
Chris Murphy displayed a Christmas “Stocking Stuffer” item, a key chain size “Rescue Me” item that combines a cutter with a window breaker for emergency use. Chris needs a minimum order of 200 pieces and they will retail at $10, allowing a slight profit for the region. The question of adding our CNY logo was asked, but cost may make that prohibitive vs. simply adding a sticker to the outside of the package as other groups do when selling the item.
Frank Beyer reminded members that the Black River Rally Stage is this coming weekend, Sept. 17th.
50-50: The 50-50 was won by Paul Grover who donated his winnings back to our general fund. Thank you Doc!

ADJOURN: Rex Franklin made a motion to adjourn, Mike Donofrio seconded, motion carried, the meeting was adjourned at 8:32 p.m.

Submitted by:
Bob Holcomb, Secretary.