SMD Draft Meeting Minutes – 8 March 2020

Minutes submitted by Clerk Harvey Heyser

Division members met at the home of Jay Beckham near Berkeley Springs, WV.  24 or so were present.  After viewing Jay’s layout, Superintendent Alex Polimeni called the business meeting to order.

20.3-1 Paymaster’s Report:  Paymaster Ray Price reported that the Division has $3930.17 in its bank account.  That balance took into consideration the $40.19 spent for two Wheel Reports.  Purchase of the $150 Mainline Hobbies gift certificate for the Mini-Con raffle prize will happen soon.

20.3-2 Clerk’s Report (Meeting Minutes):  Clerk Harvey Heyser summarized the draft minutes for the February meeting (previously distributed by e-mail).  Jerry Skeim made the following motion (second by Ray Price):

Motion:  That the draft Minutes for the January 2020 meeting be approved as submitted.  The motion passed unanimously.

Old Business:

19.9-7 2020 Mini-Con:  [Because of the Corona virus emergency, the 2020 Mini-Con had to be cancelled.  That decision was made in coordination with Brian Wolfe of Mainline Hobbies.]  Chair  Pete Clarke’s report from the March SMD meeting is, therefore, summarized here:  Food, raffle, door prize, clinics (informal, formal, and make & take), venders, clean-up, and electrical needs were all lined-up.  The Superintendent volunteered to print and bring name tags for SMD members, who do not have them.

The Corona virus situation was discussed based on the very limited information available at the date of the SMD meeting.  Disinfectant would be available at the event.  Members were advised not to come to the Mini-Con if they have respiratory issues.  It was noted that attendance could not be predicted because of the fluid nature of the situation.  It was clear that Chair Clarke and Mainline Hobbies were taking the situation seriously and had given a great deal of thought to how to respond.

20.1-7 Nominations Committee for the May Election:  Committee Chair Ron Polimeni reported two members are considering running for Superintendent.  Alex Polimeni indicated that he will help with the transition and that past Superintendents have been extremely helpful during his terms.  Three members can also nominate someone (with the nominee’s consent).

20.2-4 SMD promotional pamphlet (tri-fold) giving specific information about Division activities:  Bob Johnson reported that 400 brochures had been printed (using the graphics and text reviewed at the February meeting) for the cost authorized at the last meeting.  The intention is to distribute them at the Mini-Con and to place them at Mainline Hobbies, HobbyTown – Frederick, and other hobby shops.

New Business:

20.3-3 Host Jay Beckham welcomed everyone to his home.  The SMD expressed thanks for hosting the meeting.

20.3-4 Membership privileges:  In answer to a question, it was pointed out that NMRA membership allows for attendance to any division meet; however voting privileges apply only for the division a member is assigned to by zip code.  It was also pointed out that the NMRA has a data field for changing division assignment for members who wish to belong to a different division from the one based on their zip code.

20.3-5 East Broad Top Foundation:  The news of the forming of a non-profit foundation composed of experienced railroad people (including Joseph Kovalchik and Wick Moorman) was greeted with excitement.  Membership in the Friends of the East Broad Top (FEBT) was suggested for anyone who wishes to support the Foundation and its work.  Tentative plans are to get the railroad operating soon using rail car M-1 and diesel switchers.

Adjournment:  The Superintendent accepted a motion to adjourn.  The next meeting is scheduled for May 17, 2020 at Steve King’s home in Fayetteville, PA.  [Because of the Corona virus emergency, this meeting was canceled.]

Following the meeting, host Jay Beckham presented a clinic on laser cutters for model railroading.  He followed the presentation with a demonstration – cutting out an outhouse.  (Yes the interior furnishings were included but, thankfully, not the smell.  May Whit Towers rest in peace.)  Members modeling the less advanced years of railroading got outhouse samples to take home.

Invitation; Annual 2020 NMRA (Virtual) Meeting

By Kurt Thompson, MMR®

President MER/NMRA

Due to the current Coronavirus pandemic there will not be a National Convention this year. Because of this the required NMRA 2020 Annual Meeting of members also cannot be held. A virtual meeting will be held as per the following reminder I received from Bob Weinheimer, MMR® the NMRA Regional Advisory Council (RAC) Director.

I encourage all that are interested to either participate or submit questions as directed below.

Region Presidents,

This is a reminder that the subject meeting will take place starting at 3 PM EDT Sunday September 13.  This is the event required by Ohio law and normally conducted one evening at the national convention.  As that wasn’t possible this year, this will be a virtual event.

To participate please send a note to John Stevens, Vice President for Administration at vpadmin@nmra.org by September 4.  If you wish to submit a question to President Pete Magoun MMR® please send the question to Rick Coble, NMRA Secretary, at secy@nmra.org by September 4. 

Please feel free to distribute this to members in your Region.

Bob Weinheimer MMR®

NMRA RAC Director

SMD Draft Meeting Minutes – August 28, 2020

Minutes submitted by Clerk Harvey Heyser

This meeting was scheduled as a test zoom call, but during the test, participants realized that some South Mountain Division business had to be conducted in order to make Division membership meetings possible in the fall of 2020. The following minutes record actions taken in regard to the business discussed.

Participants: Alex Polimeni – Superintendent, Ray Price – Paymaster, Harvey Heyser – Clerk, Jerry Skeim – Assistant Superintendent, and Bob Morningstar, Mid East Region Director and technical advisor for the test zoom call.

Prior to the discussion of business, Bob Morningstar shared his extensive experience with zoom technology and participation in many zoom meetings with varying levels of security required. He shared his knowledge of zoom’s capabilities and features.

Items Discussed: (in rough order discussed)

1. Zoom License: Discussion of the need for a remote/distanced meeting format during the pandemic indicated there is a need for the SMD to obtain it own zoom license. The anticipated cost will be in the area of $150. Paymaster Price indicated that the Division’s bank balance is roughly $3900. Harvey Heyser made the following motion (second by Jerry Skeim):

Motion: That the Division obtain a zoom license for a cost in the neighborhood of $150.  The motion passed by a unanimous vote of the Division officers present.

Discussion following the motion led to a decision that the Superintendent in office will host and run zoom meetings.

2. Future Meetings: It was decided to try to maintain the customary meeting schedule (second Sunday of the month – September to May – 2 pm.) with the usual adjustments for the Mini-Con and Mother’s day.

3. Election (postponed because of the pandemic): Every effort will be made to hold the election for 2020-21 officers at the September remote meeting.All current candidates were present and participated; none made an objection. Members will be notified by immediate (8-29-20 date – two weeks before the date of the regular meeting) e-mail for those, whose electronic address the SMD has, or by USPS for those SMD does not have an electronic address. Superintendent Polimeni will handle the notification. The Wheel Report will also have a notice, but Editor Tom Fedor is currently busy enough with work that he may not be able to get the newsletter out immediately.

Proxy votes will be sent to the Nomination Chair Ron Polimeni and forwarded to the Clerk for casting.

4. Election process (at meeting): Superintendent Polimeni will preside over this portion of the meeting. 

First, a Division member needs to make a motion to waive the requirement for an in-person meeting because of the pandemic.

Second, Superintendent Polimeni will ask if there are any nominations from the floor.

Third, (if there are no nominations from the floor) a Division member needs to make a motion to elect the slate of nominees by acclimation. Otherwise, Superintendent Polimeni will call a vote.  The Clerk will vote all proxies and tally the votes.

Fourth, the newly elected Superintendent will preside over the remainder of the meeting (although turning over the zoom hosting capability may have to wait until the October meeting).

That concluded the Division business conducted during the test zoom call.

During subsequent discussion of the logistics of remote zoom meetings, Director Morningstar recommended holding at least one pre-meeting zoom test call for the members. He volunteered to run the test call(s). That will give technically challenged members an opportunity to get familiar with the technology. Director Morningstar also recommended starting regular meetings 1/2 hour before scheduled to allow everyone to get connected before business starts (especially for the first remote meeting). Once admitted to the zoom session, members can step away for a few minutes until the actual meeting start time.

Zoom Test Call Concluded: The participants hung up/disconnected.

NMRA Leadership Roundtable

By Christina Zambri, NMRA Marketing Consultant

The NMRAx Team is proud to bring you the first ever NMRA Leadership Roundtable Q & A on August 22nd at 3pm EDT! (Please adjust the time according to your own time zone.) That’s right –  NMRA National Leadership will be answering your questions! We’ll be joined live by:

Pete Magoun MMR – NMRA President

Gerry Leone MMR – NMRA VP Special Projects

Jack Hamilton MMR – At Large Worldwide Director

Frank Koch – Chief Financial Officer/AP Dept Manager

John Bate – Canada Director

Robert Amsler – NMRA Legal Counsel/Meetings & Events Manager

Join us during the event to ask your questions live in the comments, or submit your questions prior to the live event by posting them in the event (link below) or by clicking here to submit your questions via a form.

This event will be streamed live on the NMRA Facebook page and to the NMRA Youtube Channel. 

Don’t worry though if you can’t tune in live – this session will remain available on the Facebook page and will be uploaded to the YouTube channel once editing has been completed.

Full event details: https://bit.ly/LeadershipDiscussion

NMRA Facebook Page: https://bit.ly/NMRAFacebook

NMRA YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/NMRAYouTube

MER 2020 Election Notice

The Mid-Eastern Region of the NMRA is about to hold the Board of Directors Election for 2020. Voting will begin on 1 August and end on 8 September 2020. This election will select the MER President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary as well as decide the adoption of two changes to the MER Bylaws.
     

Those who are within the MER region will receive an electronic ballot on 1 August. Please participate. Our voter participation has averaged 29% over the last three years. Let’s break the record!
  You will find the candidate statements and the changes suggested for the bylaws in the July-August eLocal.