General Monthly Meeting Minutes for November 2021
Members in Attendance –
Attending the November meeting were Mike Allen (President), Larry Laskorski (Secretary), Cory Samuell (Membership), Henning Carlsen (Treasurer), Al Holtsberry, Terry Smith, and Jason Alexander.
Call to Order –
Mike Allen called the meeting to order at 8:02 P.M.
Previous meeting’s minutes -
Larry Laskorski then read the minutes of the October 20th meeting. Al Holtsberry moved to accept the minutes, as written, and that they be entered into the organization’s records. Terry Smith seconded the motion. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was carried.
The treasurer's report-
Henning Carlsen provided a short financial report that indicated the treasury balance. If you need that actual number, please reach out to Henning (see Membership Manager for email and/or phone number). The club is solvent.
Membership -
As of this meeting there were no new members.
Old business -
Activities Board Member Search - We are still searching for an Activities Board Member to replace Michell Matheron. Any ideas or suggestions?
Alternative meeting locations – We have begun to hold the monthly meetings at different locations around Columbus to make participation in the club more attractive and accessible to local BMW motorcycle riders.
The November meeting was held at The Paddock Pub, 1005 Richardson Road, Groveport, OH. We were provided with the use of their private meeting room. Again, the overall reaction from the members in attendance was that this was a good location that featured a large parking lot and a private dining area where we could socialize, eat, and meet. The food and service were very good, as well.
Mike Allen continues to research alternative meeting places. He is still seeking suggestions from the membership for alternate meeting locations. The plan is to be able to announce the location of the following month’s meeting at the close of the current month’s meeting. As there is historically no meeting scheduled for December, the next meeting will be at the annual banquet to be held in January.
The potential dates are January 15th, 22nd, and 29th (All Saturday’s). Mike advised the membership that Michelle Matheron has provided him with the contact information at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus and Restaurant. Mike will reach out to Schmidt’s to see what dates they have available.
The historical cost of the annual banquet, as well as the membership participation cost, was discussed. Given the current state of the economy, it is thought that the cost of the banquet will be greater that the last banquet which was held in 2020 (pre-COVID 19 restrictions). The historical membership participation cost has been $20/person which required the club to subsidize the cost of the function. A suggestion was made to consider raising the participation cost. After discussion, Al Holtsberry moved to increase the amount to $30 per person. The motion was seconded by Henning Carlsen. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was carried.
New Club Tent - The new club tent as approved at the August meeting has yet to be ordered. Mike Allen has developed a draft rendering of the tent’s design, which is still a work in progress, with the members in attendance. The feedback from the members was all positive. Mike will continue to refine the design,
New Club Website – Cory Samuel presented an initial look at the website that he has begun to develop. The website (buckeyebeemers.com) will be a replacement of the Blog for which technology now provides more updated and robust options. The website will have a home page with club background and information and will provide us with the ability to post club photos, meeting minutes, activity/dinner ride calendars. There will also be a “Members Area” for which access thereto will be restricted only members of the club. This area would identify the club officers in addition to the members. This area could also contain a members’ directory like that of BMW MOA that would contain the members’ name, photo’s, address, phone number, email address, bikes owned, interest, etc. The website could also be developed to provide us with the ability to process membership applications and renewals.
The annual costs of the website are $155 plus $12 for the ownership of the domain name. If we chose to add the option of adding a member, only section to assist in the management of the member database there would be an additional cost of $30/month. This option would provide us with the ability to process dues payments, via credit card, through a secure third-party provider portal who would be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the members’ credit card information. There is an additional 4% transaction fee for each charge processed. Total annual costs for the website, excluding the 4% credit card transaction processing fees would be $527. Cory offered to personally pay for the first year’s cost of the website.
The topic of raising the membership dues to support the future costs of the website, annual banquet, and other club related activities was discussed. Mike Allen stated that once we accomplish the backend tasks (website development & identification of the Activities Board member) he will pay the current years’ membership dues for any purchaser of a new BMW from Motohio.
After further discussion, Larry Laskorski moved to continue the development of the website, as proposed by Cory Samuel, the motion was seconded by Al Holtsberry. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was carried.
Mike Allen stated that he checked the activity status of the club with both BMW MOA and RA. He advised that the club’s MOA number (“99”) as reflected on our blog does not show as active on MOA’s website. Henning Carlsen stated that he has been paying the annual dues for this membership and had recently phoned MOA within the past few days. MOA advised him that the club is currently in active status and that they will be sending our club’s certificate to him. After some discussion and online research, it was determined that the actual number for the club is “CC099.”
Mike also advised that BMW RA number (“38”) lists our website incorrectly as “buckeyebeemers.org.”
New business –
Renewal of Ohio Corporate Registration – Mike informed the members in attendance that Michelle Matheron had forwarded to him the renewal notice that she had received from the office of Ohio’s Secretary of State. That notice advised us that as a nonprofit corporation, we are required to file a “Statement of Continued Existence.” Our current registration with the State is scheduled to expire on February 17, 2022.
Larry Laskorski also noted that Michelle had filed the last registration document using her personal address as the corporation’s address. Henning Carlsen stated that the club maintains a P.O. Box 154 at the main post office in Columbus. Larry additionally noted that Michelle was listed as the corporations Statutory Agent. Larry volunteered to serve in this position for the club and prepare the renewal the necessary documents and forward them to Henning to issue payment of the fees and mail the documents to the Ohio Secretary of State. Larry’s suggestion was supported and moved by Mike Allen and seconded by Henning Carlsen. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was carried.
2022 Membership Dues - Al Holtsberry then moved to increase the annual membership dues to $35 which was seconded by Cory Samuel. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was carried.
Sunday morning breakfast meetups – Henning Carlsen informed the members in attendance that the quality of food and service provided by Denny’s for the Sunday morning meetups has gone dramatically downhill. He has identified a possible new Sunday meet up spot: Sunny Street Café, located at 7573 Sawmill Rd., Dublin, OH, 43016. Henning suggested that we give this new location a try on Sunday, November 28th at the same time as normally scheduled (9:00 AM). Please note that this is a trial run with Sunny Street Café. No action was taken by the members in attendance to make this change permanent. We await a report from Henning and any other members that join him, as well as any other suggestions for an alternative to Denny’s. Larry Laskorski will send out an email to the membership advising them of the different location for Sunday, November 28th.
Meeting Dates – The topic of changing the weekday for the monthly meetings to the third Tuesday of the month to allow the membership the opportunity to participate in Motohio’s weekly Wednesday dinner rides. After some discussion, it was decided to table further discussion of this topic until the February meeting.
Activities –
None.
Questions raised -
None.
Next Meeting –
Just a reminder that there will be no December meeting. The next meeting will occur on the date of the annual banquet. Date to be determined and announced to the membership via email, as well as potentially the blog and Facebook.
Adjournment - A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Mike Allen at 9:18 PM which was Seconded by Terry Smith. All members in attendance voted in favor, with no objections, and the motion was carried. Meeting was adjourned.
