RE: Annual September Club Meeting - minutes....not for profit

["BOB STETTNER" <bstettner@earthlink.net>]

I went thru the not for profit exercise at HOT we decided against it.  It's
a pain to apply for...a 37  page application as I recall.  The biggest
problem was the one going annual reporting.  Again from memory, HOT
determined it would take a CPA to do the annual filing.  There were more
negatives that I don't recall.  Bottom line HOT dropped the idea.

We did register our name (Heart of Texas G Gaugers) with the Texas
Secretary of State's Office.  That process was simple.  Download a form,
provide both visual and written description of name and mark.  Cost was
$40-50.

The name can be registered or the name and logo.  I believe that's called a
Service Mark.  Frankly I got confused with the legal terms so I called the
office, got to one of their lawyers and they walked me thru it.  I
delivered the paperwork in person (10th & Brazos?) and the again doubled
everything for me.  An attourney did do a followup call and wanted a
specific statement...something about not seperating the parts of the
service mark...which Faxed and that was it.


> [Original Message]
> From: Steve Wise <swise@aoot.com>
> To: <ttat-members@aoot.com>
> Date: 9/16/2004 12:51:28 PM
> Subject: Annual September Club Meeting - minutes
>
> Hello Tinplaters!
>
> For those of you who could not attend, here are the minutes I managed to
> capture:
>
> Board Elections:
>
> Welcome Mike Pauwels and Ed Weltens to the TTAT Board of Directors.  They
> are succeeding Ira and Scott.  Many thanks to the new comers for
> volunteering, and the old timers for all their help in making TTAT a
> succesful and fun club!
>
> Creation of an Advisory Board:
>
> The club voted to create an advisory board.  Outgoing board members will
sit
> on the advisory board for 1 year.  They will participate in the board
> meetings and advise as needed, but will not vote (like we ever have formal
> votes! :-).  Anyway, Scott and Ira are now our Advisory Board of
Directors.
>
> Treasury Update - Joe Maverick:
>
> As of 9/30/2004, the club has $675 cash on hand.  After pending expenses
due
> to members, we expect to have around $500.  We need to be careful as we
move
> forward to watch our bank account since we are doing less revenue
generating
> shows now.  There were discussions about the possibility of raising dues
to
> help compensate for this.  Everyone there seems to think it was ok to
raise
> dues if we are staying setup more at the Railyard, for instance.  IE:
> everyone likes the permanent layout in austin, and if we need to up dues
for
> this, then it is probably a good thing.  IF YOU DON"T AGREE with this,
> please email the club with your views asap.
>
> Upcoming Events:
>
> - temple show ready to go.
>
> - Czhilispiel - looks like we have someone to tow the trailer down
thursday
> evening and leave it ready for unloading friday.  See the event
coordination
> doc for more info on this.  PLEASE update the event coordination doc to
> indicate whether you plan to attend or not.  Even if you have to change
> plans later, its better to indicate your intended participation as early
as
> possible.
>
> - Austin Jamboree - The board decided to attempt to participate in this
> event in 2 ways:  1) setup the 4x8 at the event, 2) particpate in the
layout
> tours.  Two event coordination documents have been created.  Please update
> them with your intended participation for these events.
>
> - Railyard update - Craig is working hard with the land lord to get us
space
> again.  Currently, all places are rented.  However, the Republican Party
has
> a space there, and after the elections, we can probably move in there. 
It's
> a smaller space though.  Another possibility is to use some of the
> unfinished areas that have power but no AC.  Weather permitting, we might
> could do that.  The landlord is being very accomdating and Craig says
we've
> had a positive impact on the Railyard by bringing in more customers.
> Another proposal was made to perhaps setup a bulletin board if we get
space
> again and post ads for all the local stores in our space, so that folks
> coming to see us will perhaps peruse the board and go visit other shops.
> Anyway, it was agreed that we definitely want to try and get back in the
> Railyard asap.
>
> - Future Events - Adrian will create as 2005 calendar as he gets confirm
> event dates.  If you know of specific shows we normaly attend, then email
> adrian and he'll update the calendar.
>
> - Layout Tours - Steve will have a small tour of his Halloween D56/On30
> layout sometime in early November.  Since the layout doesn't have much
> operating, we'll also watch some Train shows, like Trains Unlimited and
> Trackside episodes.  Stay tuned.
>
> Operational and/or Layout Problems:
>
> - DCS is still only setup on one track (main 2).  Ira suggests we leave
this
> way for Temple to make sure its running 100% on just one track, then we'll
> try and add one other main and see how that goes.
>
> - Voltage problem.  We think there's some wiring problem causing a
> resistance on a few sections.  These seem to include the oil field
modules.
> Anyway, we need to do further debugging on this.  Problaby a bad solder
> joint or jones plug somewhere.
>
> - bad cab1 - one of the cab1 remotes is a little flakey.  It's marked
> somehow to identify it (I don't remember how).  If you end up using it and
> its not working, please put it somewhere out of reach so nobody else will
> get stuck with it.  We have a new one, so we should have enough cab1s for
> operating.
>
> New Projects:
>
> New members are encouraged to volunteer to help out on a module in some
> fashion.  Here are some simple projects that we need done.  If you are
> interested, please email the club and we'll work with you on how to
proceed.
>
> - transition modules need to be modified to lessen the curves needed for
the
> d->e transition.  This will make these modules much more friendly to large
> engines and cars.  Currently the transition is a pair of O72 curves
> back-to-back in an "S".  These need to be replaced with larger radius
curves
> and cut down with as long a straight as possible in between the curves.
>
> - 10" track replacement.  Many club modules still have 10" sectional
track.
> The club has decided to use 40" K-Line Shadow rail and replace these
> sectional pieces.  So you cut the 40" down to 38", and install it in
> existing modules, wiring everything up as needed.
>
> Not For Profit Status:
>
> Mike Pauwels volunteered to consult with a CPA and get info on how we
might
> become a non-profit org.  We will report back to the board with estimated
> cost, and whats needed to maintain this status on a yearly basis.
>
> Craig also discussed a possible scenario where we along with all the other
> austin clubs form a non-profit corporation. This could allow all the clubs
> to pool money for shared interests, like a permanent space for layouts.
> This also makes it easier for office space owners/leasers to "write off"
our
> using their space.   No conclusions were made on this.
>
>
> That's it!
>
> Please add your input if I missed something.
>
>
> Stevo.
>
> ------
> TTAT members reflector.