Potomac Chapter National Railway Historical Society, Inc.
| Zoom video conference with participation by: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Bill Holdsworth, Secretary |
| Not participating: | |
| Jay Creswell, Treasurer Rick Davidson, National Representative |
Chuck Greene, Director at Large |
Gordy called the meeting to order about 8:19 p.m. Even though there wasn't a quorum, the group agreed to discuss the issues on the agenda.
Bill made minutes of previous meeting available.
Jay sent a preliminary treasurer's report in advance of the meeting.
Directors discussed Clay Moritz's retirement as editor of Potomac Rail News.
John has had discussions with Tim Moriarity about editing a combined High Green/Potomac Rail News. Tim was initially receptive to the idea. However, some issues have been raised that need to be resolved. Bill will send Tim a copy of Clay's mailing list, so that Tim can assess the level of effort required.
Directors were comfortable with the idea of having a retirement lunch for Clay in early January.
Directors discussed recent meetings:
Directors discussed future meetings. The December 17 holiday social will be held in the second floor meeting room in the Rockville Library. For 2025, they agreed to repeat the 2024 pattern for membership meetings
Directors discussed the need to get membership approval of the proposed bylaw revisions at the November 19 meeting. The revisions will shrink the size of the board to seven. Assuming the revisions are approved, we need to be ready to conduct an election. Gordy, Bill and John are willing to seek re-election. Stephen has a year remaining in his term. John will confirm Rick's status. Bill will touch base with Jay and Chuck.
Particpants agreed to schedule 2025 board meetings for February 11, May 13, August 12, and November 11.
The meeting adjourned at 9:09 p.m.
On August 31, 2024 directors passed a motion to recommend membership approval of revisions to the chapter bylaws. The primary purpose of these revisions (below) is to reduce the size of the board from nine to seven.
Voting in favor were Jay Creswell, Bill Holdsworth, Gordy Bjoraker, Chuck Greene,Rick Davidson, John Sery, and Stephen Sery.
ARTICLE IV: BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Section 1. There shall be a Board
of Directors (hereinafter called the Board) consisting of the four elected
Chapter officers, the National Representative, and the four two directors at large which shall conduct the
corporate affairs of the organization. The Board shall meet at the call of the
President or at the request of two-thirds of the members of the Board to
conduct required Chapter business and shall have the authority and functions
normally delegated to a Board of Directors with its actions subject to review
of the membership. Authority to approve expenditures without membership review
is limited to $1,000. Larger expenditures must be approved by the membership at
a regular membership meeting. A quorum of the
Board shall consist of six
members, Under normal circumstances, a quorum of the Board shall consist
of five members. If there are one or more vacancies on the board, a majority of
the remaining members shall be sufficient for a quorum, but. Members
may cast their vote by phone or mail, without their physical presence. Simple
majority vote of the quorum of Board of Directors in contact shall prevail. The
Board may adopt procedures to conduct business via alternative communication
methods, such as email.
Section
2. The directors at large shall be members in good standing elected for two-year
terms to fill seats of directors with expiring terms. They shall take office on
the 1st day of January following their election.
Section 3. …
Section 4. As provided in the
bylaws of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS), the Chapter may
designate a National Representative to the national organization. The National
Representative shall represent the Chapter on the Advisory Council of the
National Railway Historical Society. The Chapter's representative may not hold
office or directorship in the NRHS. The
Chapter’s sitting National Director shall assume the office of National Representative upon completion of the
transition by the NRHS to the organizational structure adopted in the
new NRHS bylaws of June 24, 2011. The first election for National
Representative will occur at the next annual Chapter election. Thereafter The
National Representative shall be elected by the membership annually at the same
time as the officers and other directors. The National Representative will take
office the first day of January following his or her election and serve for the
ensuing year or until a successor is installed.
ARTICLE X: QUORUM FOR MEETINGS OF MEMBERS
At least 10 percent of the
Chapter membership or 10 eight members, whichever is greater,
shall constitute a quorum for conducting business at a Chapter meeting.
| Zoom video conference with participation by: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Jay Creswell, Treasurer |
| Not participating: | |
| Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large (recently resigned) Rick Davidson, National Representative |
Penny Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large (recently resigned) |
Gordy called the meeting to order about 8:07 p.m.
Bill made minutes of previous meeting available.
Jay didn't have a formal treasurer's report.
Directors discussed recent meetings:
Directors discussed future meetings. The December 17 holiday social will be held in the second floor meeting room in the Rockville Library.
Stephen reported that the chapter's YouTube channel is successful. We have over 500 subscribers. One video has over 44,000 views. Directors discussed whether that popularity be leveraged for fund raising.
Board members discussed the upcoming election and the two new vacancies on the board. John Sery offered to call John Morris about serving on the nominating committee. Bill raised the possibility of shrinking the size of the board. He will circulate a possible bylaw change.
Directors agreed that we should regularly remind members about our effort to recruit an attendee for next year's Railcamp.
Directors approved a motion to make $100 donations in memory of Bill Hopkins and Rudy Volin. We will contact their families about their preferences for the donations.
Board members discussed possible efforts to make sure their photos were preserved.
Board members discussed whether to take possession of Rudy's complete set of chapter calendars.
The meeting adjourned at 9:09 p.m.
| Zoom video conference with participation by: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Stephen Sery, Director at Large |
| Not participating: | |
| John Sery, Vice President Jay Creswell, Treasurer |
Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large Penny Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large |
Gordy called the meeting to order about 8:10 p.m.
Bill made minutes of previous meeting available.
The meeting lacked a quorum. Directors discussed issues, but approved no official actions.
Directors discussed recent meetings:
Directors discussed future meetings.
Stephen has obtained an alternate Zoom account that will be used for the June meeting.
Bill raised two options for the December holiday social. The Executive Office Building cafeteria has become expensive, over $300. The Rockville Library is cheaper, but a little smaller and a little less convenient. He will poll other directors.
Rick reported that the chapter has 46 members, but that might not include PayPal renewal Jay has handled.
Directors agreed that the chapter we should try to recruit an attendee for next year's Railcamp.
Directors agreed to shift the next board meeting from August 13 to July 30.
The meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.
| Zoom video conference with participation by: | |
Gordy Bjoraker, President |
Stephen Sery, Director at Large |
| Not participating: | |
| Rick Davidson, National Representative | Bob Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large Penny Dixon-Gumm, Director at Large |
Gordy called the meeting to order about 8:08 p.m.
Bill made minutes of previous meeting available.
Jay reported that he is trying to resolve a small discrepancy before finalizing the year-end financial reports. Once he resolves the issue he will distribute the reports via email. He said the chapter's deficit for the year was about $8,000. The operational deficit was about $3,000. The other $5,000 can be attributed to our donation to the excursion train celebrating the 150th anniversary of the B&O. Metropolitan Branch.
Directors discussed the small grants program. Jay recently mailed a $750 check for the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway Historical Society acknowledged our $750 donation. The situation with the historic South Side Depot in Petersburg is uncertain, so it didn't seem like a good candidate for a grant.
Board members discussed recent membership meetings. Stephen and John reported that they had trouble with the Zoom recording for the August program and were unable to make it available on YouTube. Bill said he had the Zoom recording for October meeting and would share it with John and Stephen.
Directors discussed recent membership meetings. Renting the EOB cafeteria for the holiday social cost $300, which is high. John suggested that we consider the Silver Spring Station as an alternative. We will discuss further at the next meeting.
Directors discussed future meetings. Bill has reserved the COB Lecture Hall for March, May, July, and September. Because Bill will be in Europe for the June meeting, directors thought the chapter should pursue getting its own Zoom account, using the chapter's Gmail account. Bill will investigate the cost. (Post-meeting information: Bill's Pro plan costs $150 annually. A 50% discount is available for non-profits, but it might not be worth the hassle.)
There is an issue with Zoom recordings, when Bill both runs and records the meeting. The small gallery view in the upper right hand corner appears in the recording, which isn't ideal. Maybe a setting can change that. If Bill has advance notice, he can try recording the meeting on his laptop, while running the meeting on his desktop.
Jay reported the membership is down to approximately 55 with the most recent round of renewals. That's down from about 70 last year. Jay will distribute a roster to the board. Gordy said that the Perryville Chapter has been very successful using Facebook to promote membership.
Board members discussed sponsoring a RailCamp attendee. RailCamp East is scheduled June 23-29. It will be headquartered at the University of Delaware in Newark, DE. Tuition in 2023 was $1,575. The application deadline is April 1.
Directors approved a motion to ask the membership to authorize up $1,750 to sponsor a 2024 RailCamp attendee, providing that the board can find a suitable candidate.
Directors briefly discussed a banquet, but reached no conclusion.
The next board meeting is scheduled for May 14. We may need to reschedule the August 13 meeting.
The meeting adjourned about 9:15 p.m.
On January 9, 2024 directors passed a motion to schedule in-person membership meetings in March, May, July, September, and December 2024.
Voting in favor were Jay Creswell, Bill Holdsworth, Bob Dixon-Gumm, Gordy Bjoraker, Chuck Greene, Rick Davidson, and Penny Dixon-Gumm.
