ABATE of Indiana Inc. Board of Directors Meeting
August 30, 2008 --- Freedom Hall, Ft. Wayne, IN

The regular meeting of the Board of Directors began at 9:10 am. Those present were: Region 01-Al Putman, Region 02-Dave Frost, Region 04-Chuc Hunter and Jan Johns, Region 05-Joe Adams, Region 06-Dave Polanco, Region 07-Dennis Tyger, Region 08-Terry Penn and Dean Fark, Region 09-Jason Cissell, Region 11-Kenny Casey, Region 12-Dave Hawkins, Region 13-Skip Willis, LINC-Mike Meyer, State Office-Edie Seiler, Tina McCormack, Gary Williams, and Kim Tyger, Executive Director-Jay Jackson, Ad Com-Gino Johnson, ImPAC-Mike Seiler. Regions 00, 03 and 10 were unable to attend.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Gary Williams resigned his position to Ad Com. Jay appointed Al Putman to carry out the remainder of Gary’s term.

Jay shared various proposed titles for Gary Williams’ position within the organization. The board agreed to the title of Operations Director. The bylaws/policy committee will need to resurrect the job description for Administrative Assistant under the new title.
Gary will be concentrating on the remote properties and communications. Gary stated that he has been working at LCRP to obtain a 5000 gallon water tank for the showers in the bottoms. He reported that he has witnessed an increase in campers at the property. In October he and Rick Toy plan to complete the GPS mapping project at LCRP. He has also been working with Izzy on ideas for Freedom Hall. The $10,000 game will be in October. The State Office hours have changed to 8am-6pm. This will allow more opportunities for the membership to reach the office. Gary stated that both he and Jay have been attending meetings with Indianapolis Motor Speedway for Moto GP, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, etc.

Two tugs have been purchased through the government surplus program to be used in lieu of tractors at the Boogie. Joe Adams passed around pictures of the tugs. The intent is to have at least one of them at the Workers Party to use for the hay ride.

ITEM 1: Tina distributed May, June and preliminary Boogie financial reports for review. She stated that charity gaming is still down. We are receiving reimbursements from DOE for Motorcycle Safety. Discussion followed.

(Motion 1)

ITEM 2: Dennis stated that the Advisory Committee met prior to the BOD meeting. They discussed financials, Moto GP, the Operations Director, LCRP property and equipment, and the appointment of Al Putman to the Committee. Gino and Rod’s positions on the committee will be up for elections later this year.

ITEM 3: Jay discussed the Motorcycle Safety Newsbrief. Moto GP posters and magnets were available for distribution. ABATE was involved in a media event with IMS, IMPD etc. This event is giving the organization a great deal of exposure. We will be involved with parking, security downtown, rider/bike recovery and gear check. Edie is taking names of those interested in working the event. Bobby Coffey will be handling security. Terry Penn will be covering parking. Jay and Gary will be working with the rider/bike recovery. Discussion followed.

The Speedway Town Council had previously issued a noise/trailer ordinance containing motorcycle language. Members of ABATE worked with the Town Council to get this issue handled quickly. The Town Council has agreed to rescind the ordinance but could possibly look at it again after Moto GP.

The board discussed the need for scooter classification for the 2009 legislative session. A major concern with this issue is motorcycle fatality statistics. Scooter, motorized bike, and moped fatalities are being added in with motorcycle fatalities although the statistics are based on the number registered motorcycles. Currently, many of these “scooters” are not required to be registered. Jay stated that other countries have tiered licensing for motorcycles whereas the rider has to complete certain skills at each level in order to ride. ABATE will also be working on doing away the 30 day wait on the permit, the temporary motorcycle learners permit and the motorcycle only license. They agreed that ultimately, our position on scooters should be to make them a motorcycle therefore requiring endorsement, registration, and insurance.

ABATE MSD now has the ability to conduct license examiner training.

NTTSA is embarking on establishing a national standard for rider education.

Jay was in DC last week with the working group concerning a new crash causation study. The last one was conducted in the late 1970’s. The pilot study has started training and will begin collecting data in November for 60 days then refer that information on to the main study for compilation.

Flyers for the Ride with the Governor were distributed.

Impaired riding advertisements are on TV and radio. These ads are being paid for with 2010 funds. US DOT released figures stating that fatalities are down across the board except for motorcycles. Alcohol related fatalities among motorcyclists are down over previous years but are still higher than other modes of transportation. Discussion followed.

ITEM 4: Mike Meyer stated that LINC sent off five questions to each of the gubernatorial candidates concerning their stance on supporting motorcyclists and motorcycle safety. Jill Long Thompson plans to reevaluate government contracts which could interfere with the licensing program.

ITEM 5: Marc addressed the board concerning laptops for the directors. Laptops were obtained through the government surplus at no cost to the organization. Marc has checked them all out and plans to have them ready to go with spreadsheets already on them for the treasurers and secretaries by Fall Seminar. These will be for ABATE business only. Discussion followed.

Marc discussed advertising in the magazine. He cannot choose where color pages fall in the magazine. He apologized for an ad for a conflicting event that fell next to Region 12. The current agreement is that when an advertiser has an event in a region that conflicts with an ABATE event, Marc will contact the Region Director. In this instance, the ad was not for an event in that region.

Marc stated that the website had been hacked and destroyed. He has been working on putting up a temporary website. The webmaster has been trying to get into the website and repair it. We may need to recreate the website in an encrypted code to prevent this from happening again.

ITEM 6: Bingo $10,000 game is on October 4th. Overall, gaming is down statewide.

ITEM 7: 2008 Boogie was discussed. Frosty asked why security was not at the front gate on Sunday as was previously agreed upon. Both Jay and Gary thought that Bobby said he had placed security there. They will address this with Bobby. SMRO memberships were discussed. Frosty recommended putting a “Thanks for coming” sign at the front gate. Chuc addressed individuals, golf carts, etc stopping on Hummel Hill causing issues. Signage and some security patrol would help. Chuc would like more control over vehicles being parked in the bottoms. Jay discussed the security sweep on Thursday morning prior to opening the gates. Jason stated that the individuals working check points said that several people told them that they were working for someone and had to get their vehicle to the bottom. Kenny addressed vendor stickers and camping areas. Chuc asked that we place a medical team in the bottoms. Vehicles being routed through the grounds going to the parking area was brought up. Motorcycles exiting the property on Sunday were discussed. Frosty stated that they keep a lane for motorcycles only in order to expedite their departure. Ideas to combat these issues were discussed as well as ideas for caring for the property on a region by region level or hiring an on premises caretaker.

Joe Adams discussed the Region 05 camping area. They would like to put in a walkway in their area to get pedestrians off the road between the RV Park and the Big Top. Mike Seiler asked that LTA deliver the tents on Saturday next year. Radios were discussed.

ITEM 8: Fall Seminar was discussed as to whether or not to have break out sessions. Training date is November 22.

ITEM 9: Putt thanked the board for voting on a life membership for Steve Sherwood. They delivered his membership to him and he got a big kick out of it.

Frosty discussed issues with the State Charity this year and how/when the board votes on a new charity. Jay reiterated that the ride belongs to ABATE and therefore we should not rely on the charity for assistance. Discussion followed.

Chuc brought up the name of the State Charity events. Discussion followed.

(Motion 2)

Joe asked when he can bring life membership recommendations to the board. This can be done at anytime.

ITEM 10: Each region should have their election procedures on file in the office. Nominations should be conducted by October and elections should be completed prior to the November Fall Seminar. Kenny Casey asked about the qualifications for running for region director. The by-laws were reviewed and discussed.

ITEM 11: Jay, Gary, Mike Seiler, Mike Meyer and Dwayne Morgan will be attending the Meeting of the Minds to represent the organization.

ITEM 12: The next BOD meeting will be prior to the Worker’s Party in October. Directors need to send their list of attendees to Tina within the next two weeks.

(Motion 3)

MOTIONS

Motion 1: Chuc Hunter made the motion to accept the March and April financials. Dave Hawkins seconded the motion. Vote was unanimous. Motion carried.

Motion 2: Chuc Hunter made the motion to rename the State Charity Ride to “ABC”, “ABATE Bikers Care”. Kenny Casey seconded the motion. Vote was unanimous. Motion carried.

Motion 3: Dennis Tyger made the motion to adjourn. Dave Polanco seconded the motion. Vote was unanimous. Motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,

Kim Tyger