The CRES Amateur Radio Club held its first general membership meeting
of the year on Wednesday, 18 February 2009, at the New Albany library.
The following members and guests were in attendance:
    Bill Erwin / N9CX		(President)
    Al Mecozzi / WA8LBZ
    Dave Brown / K8AX
    Mike Mickelson / KD8DZ
    Steven Katz / N8WL
    Fred Saas / WA8PGE
    Len Hayes / KD8FZK		(guest)
    Gordon Lashley / WD8CZG
    Mike Stansbery / WD8EBS
    George Foy / N4DLR
    Tom Foy / N4HAI
    Wally Blackburn / AA8DX
    Kevin Lewis / KD8JWD
    Dave Woolf / K8RSP
    Art Grandle / KD8ZG
    John Lawson / W8AGS
    Rob Stampfli / KD8WK	(Secretary)
    Andy Elliott / K8LE
    Doug Gibbs / W8NFT
    Dan Merrick III / K8TX

The meeting was called to order by President Bill Erwin at 7:00 PM.
Len Hayes introduced himself as a visitor to the club.

The minutes from the December meeting were approved.

Bill Erwin gave the following Treasurer's report in Treasurer Bob
Cartwright's absence:

    $ 7,554.03 in Telhio CDs
    $   854.08 in Telhio Share Savings
    $   533.14 in Telhio Share Draft Checking
    $    31.65 in our cash account
    ----------
    $ 8,972.90 Total

Art Grandle reported for the VE Team that our next VE exams will be
held on Saturday, April 4th, at the Parkview Presbyterian Church in
Reynoldsburg.  We understand that a ham class may be attending to
all take exams at this session, so this may be an busy day.

Bill announced the audit committee had finalized the audit of the
Treasurer's books and signed off on it.

Gordon Lashley motions that a $25 donation be made to qsl.net for
hosting our club web site.  Rob Stampfli pointed out that the previous
donation check was never cashed.  Gordon pointed out that the site
was under new management.  By voice vote, the motion carries.

Bill discussed a proposal first raised at our previous Excomm meeting,
that people at our VE exam sessions who earn a ham license or upgrade
be granted a free year's membership in our club.  The consensus view
among those present was that this was a good idea, but it should only
apply to those who are not already members of the club.  The Excomm
will take the feedback under advisement in formulating a policy.

Bill announced that the Excomm had filled three of the five appointed
positions:  Dave Woolf will retain his position as Station Trustee
and Repeater Manager, and Art Grandle was reappointed as VE Liaison.
The positions of Contest Coordinator and Internet Manager have not
been filled.  We are still looking for a volunteer for the Contest
Coordinator position, and have three people who are interested in
the position of Internet Manager, so the Excomm will wait until our
Treasurer returns to Columbus to vote on that position.

While we deal with our lack of a Contest Coordinator, the Excomm is
exploring dividing up the job.  Bob Kenyon / K8LJ, our Vice President,
has reserved Infirmary Mound park for Field Day weekend on speculation.
We can release it without penalty, but we must make up our mind in
two weeks.  The rent would be $150, the same as last year, and the
park would give us a key to get in and out Saturday evening.  Al
Mecozzi expressed concerns about the facilities there and recommended
exploring the possibility of operating from a Metro Park, but overnight
accommodations at one of these might be tricky.  There was also some
concern about the CW accommodations at Indian Mound park, although the
CW ops present stated they had no problem with it.  Steve Katz
suggested perhaps using the OSPOTA Buckeye lake site again.  The
general consensus, though, seemed to favor Infirmary Mound for the
coming year.

Bill suggested that if people would like to pursue a different location
for next year, it should perhaps be something we address this Fall.
Dave Brown called for a decision, and as no one was opposed to Infirmary
Mound, it was decided to go with this site again for our 2009 Field Day.

Mike Stansbery requested a membership list.  Rob Stampfli pointed
out the list is on our website.  [ http://w8zpf.cboh.org/member-paid ]
Dan Merrick pointed out that a long-lost friend had found him via
the website.

Bill showed off the certificate we had received for participating
in the Ohio State Parks on the Air (OSPOTA) contest last September.
We scored 5th place among the Multi-Op participants.

Steve Katz announced that he has been appointed by the ARRL to lead
the effort to get a PRB-1 bill passed by the Ohio Legislature.  He
asked if anyone knew a representative well enough to approach them
about introducing the bill.   Steve would like to talk with them
about it if they do.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:53 PM.  Following a short break, Al
Mecozzi gave a thorough detailed presentation of the history and use
of QSL cards, including how they are disseminated today.  He also
gave a second presentation on the Logbook of the World online contact
confirmation website offered by the ARRL.  Following that, those
present perused interesting QSL cards that had been brought to the
meeting.

Respectfully submitted,
Rob Stampfli / KD8WK
CRES-ARC Secretary