BMW CCA Puget Sound Region

Board Meeting Minutes

December 5, 2005

 

The meeting was called to order by President Rick Gulstrom at 6:45 p.m. at the Mercer Island Fire Station, #91.  The regularly scheduled meeting on December 1, 2005 was cancelled due to snow.  Those in attendance were:

 

Rick Gulstrom, President

Mike Ellis, SIG Coordinator

Tom Cox, Past President

Evie Falkin, Member

Martin Hovenkotter, Treasurer

Lucetta Lightfoot, Zündfolge Editor

Alan James, Tour Coordinator

Bill Spornitz, Member

Jim Millet, Zündfolge Advertising Manager

Wes Hill, Member

Nicolas Hostein, Member

Walt Conley, Chief Driving Instructor

Don Robesch, Member

David Lightfoot, Vice President

Kim Burgess, Member

 

Opening Comments

Rick’s car is in the latest Griots Catalog again.

Introductions

 

President’s Report

Last Month’s Board Minutes  - any changes or additions?

 

National News:  BMW CCA Membership Drive – So far 256 members have signed up 353 new members.  The M5 has been added to the Membership Reward Program.  See the email Rick sent out dated Wednesday, November 23rd, with the News From National attachment.

 

Crisis Communications Workbook Forms – David Lightfoot reported Rich Milham read the workbook. Rich stated there was a lot more to it than previously thought.  David also read the workbook.   It will require forming a committee and getting someone from track involved.  The committee will need to make a list of what might happen, and have a plan for any crisis.  The committee should have a rough draft drawn up by the February board meeting. and a final document to present to the board at the March meeting.  It needs to be in place by the time track events begin for 2006.  Volunteers for the committee are: Tom Cox, Bill Spornitz, Wes Hill, and David Lightfoot.  David stressed the guidelines in the workbook are a template for each chapter to use to draw up their own final document.

 

BMW CCA Membership Drive

 

BMW CCA Chapter officer questionnaire – 2006

 

Treasurer Report

Bank Balance is $61,000 after paying all PR track event deposits.

Financial Status

 

General Meeting and Non-Track Event Calendar

Tour Governance policy/waiver/modifications – Jim Millet reported it is complete and on the website.

Tom Cox reported Fire Station #91 was not booked for the months of January, February, and March.  He does have the newly renovated Mercer Island Community Center booked for those months, at a cost of $125 per night.  Don Robesch offered to check with the Kirkland Senior Center for their fees.  There was discussion about the importance of staying on Mercer Island because of the central location for all board members and the closeness to the freeway.  The majority of those present wanted to stay on Mercer Island.  It was also suggested we change the date of the monthly board meetings to the last Thursday of the month, rather than the first Thursday, for the sake of the monthly Zundfolge deadlines.  That change cannot take place before March due to the February issue listing the board meeting date as the first Thursday.  The change in dates will take effect in April 2006.  Lucetta will send out an email to all board members with the new deadline dates for 2006. 

 

Upcoming Events:  Jingle Bells Fun Run – Dec. 11th.  Jim Millet looked at the website today and our team is smaller than deAnna planned for.  We did not meet our minimum pledges, so there might not be any Club T-shirts.

 

24 hours of Daytona – Jan. 28th at Bison Creek.  Bill Spornitz said we are co-hosting this event with the Alfa Club.  Doors open at 8:00am with the green flag dropping at 9:00am.  Speed Channel does not have their schedule posted yet.  We will have a speaker phone call made to Doc Doolittle, Team Manager, and his wife Gloria, to share in conversation while the action is going on at the track.  We may have the only Porsche 997 car at the event.

 

Past Events:

 

New Events: 

BMW Collectibles – Dec. 10th – Bellevue Library.  David Lightfoot says the event needs to be cancelled due to lack of interest.  He and Lance Richert are the only ones supplying collectibles, as far as David knows.  He will cancel by sending out a bulk email and posting it on the bulletin board.  Bill Spornitz will go by the library and post a note stating the cancellation.

 

Foster Wheel and Tire – Jeff/Lucetta   Lucetta reported his location is too small to host our event.  They are thinking of combining it with something else, with another vendor.  They are looking for March or April as a time frame. Jim Millet contacted a Toyo tire representative, but the rep was not interested.  Lucetta will ask Ben at Foster Wheel about combining with another business.   Group Two or Butler’s place were suggested.  Lucetta will consider the month of April, rather than March.

 

Dinan Tech Session with BMW Seattle – Jeff.  It was reported that BMW Seattle is not interested in hosting this event.  Northwest BMW may be interested.  Rick Gulstrom will let Jeff know he needs to do research on this matter.

 

Jon Shirley Museum Event, Feb. 11 – David Lightfoot confirmed event.  He is getting R.S.V.P.’s from members even though it is not necessary.  There are no limits on guests.  We will need security help and sign-in help.  Volunteers stationed throughout the museum can be in a certain area for a limited time, and then rotate so all volunteers can view the entire museum.

 

BMW Northwest Tech event – Jeff

 

Car Tender Tech event – Jeff    Tom Cox said Car Tender has hosted a women’s tech session in the past.  Their last event, however, was cancelled.  Rick Gulstrom will ask Jeff to check into this.

 

Club Shirts – Marty Hovenkotter has really nice shirt samples from Land’s End Company on display.  These shirts will be available to our members.  We will not inventory them.  They will be purchased and delivered.  It was suggested a few styles be made available and posted on the website.  Marty will look into the possibility of having them “drop shipped” to folks ordering them.  We need a minimum of 6 shirts for each order. That may not allow them to be drop shipped.  Marty would like to have monthly orders to simplify the process.

 

E30 Picnic – June 2006 – Lance.  The date has been set for June 11th at the Triple X in Issaquah.

 

Mary Hill Loops Road Hill Climb – May 20th ? – Marty.  There was a lot of discussion on this event.  Do we really want to do this?  Insurance for the club and automobile owners is a concern that must be addressed.  It was suggested to make this a track event rather than a tour event.  The track committee will get together with Marty and work on the idea.  It will take 4 hours to drive to the location.  The charge is $1000 for the day, plus insurance.  Where would folks stay for overnight accommodations?

 

Track Committee:

 

General Business/ financial status – Tom/Bill/Walt   We finished the year in the black.

 

2006 Chapter Track Event calendar – Preliminary dates:  Feb. 18th Driving School at PR, Feb. 25th Instructor’s Clinic at PR with the PCA, March 11th Car Control Clinic at Bremerton, March 18th Driving School at PR (open to Novice), June 7th Don Kitch Advanced Lapping Day (it will be run as a Performance lap day, but we pay for the track and insurance, details to be worked out), July 29-30 PSR 2-day driving school at Spokane (Scott Adare is taking care of corner workers and the Saturday night barbeque.  We should have good attendance.  Marty would like to do a tour that weekend, ending in Spokane on Sunday so the tour attendees can see a track event.  He asked if they could do a parade lap during the noon lunch break.)  Sept. 8th possibly having an autocross/novice event at Bremerton.  Sept. 9th – 10th Driving school at PR with the PCA. Nov. 5th Car Control Clinic at Bremerton.  Rates for 2006 will be $165, including lunch.

 

PRRCA – Report on last meeting and $200 dues paid – Marty/Bill   PRRCA stands for Pacific Raceway Road Course Advisory.  We are going ahead and paying the $200 to Pacific Raceway.

 

Off Season Instructor Meeting – Walt.   This will be in January, at Ray’s.  New location for us.  Will work out details with Tom.

 

ICSCC – Kathleen Whitworth – Jacqueline/Rick

 

Auto Cross – Nicolas Hostein – Martin.   Marty spoke with someone at Emerald Downs racetrack regarding renting one of the parking lots.   The facility would work very nicely for an autocross event. Nicolas, a new member to our chapter, has experience in attending autocross events in his former chapter back east.  He has volunteered to set up some events.  It was suggested that we start out with one or two events and see what the interest is, and how it goes.  Marty says the rental is around $1200.  Marty will talk further with the contact at Emerald Downs.  Nicolas stated his Boston chapter charged only $25 to attend the event, opened to all cars, but participants had to be club members.  Kim Burgess is a member of Western Washington Sports Car Council and he will look into what they offer for autocross events.

 

Upcoming Events?  Wes Hill said Ken Hill wanted to know if we are interested in an event at Laguna Seca.  We were offered a date very late in December.  The club would be interested, depending on the available date.

 

Past Events – Bremerton Novice School – Nov. 19th – Tom/Walt   There was discussion on the new drill station for braking in the corners.  There was not time to brief instructors regarding how to instruct students and the reason for the drill.  General feeling the sessions were too short.  These concerns will be addressed at future sessions. 

 

The Chief Driving Instructor contact, Walt Conley, will be added to the masthead in the Zundfolge magazine.

 

Tours/Rally – Jeff Schlimmer. Jeff is retiring.  We need another volunteer to take his place.  Tom Cox will report back with any progress on getting members involved on a committee for setting up rallies.  No new events have been planned for 2006.

 

 

SIG Groups/Events – Mike Ellis SIG Coordinator

 Past Events –E46 SIG - We are getting together regularly, about once a month, for social gatherings.

E36 SIG – Kim Burgess will take on the group.

Coupe SIG – This group has almost 50 members.  Lucetta says Doug is willing to be the contact person in the Zündfolge magazine.  We are working on a tech event and other events.  Jim Millet reports there will be a tech event at Haury’s. Lucetta says Doug Barritt is thinking of doing a tour.

Due to the lack of participation David Lightfoot may cancel the mini-SIG group.

 

2005/2006 Banquet – de-Anna, David & Lance

                Date:  Jan. 21, 2006

                Speakers – Ken & Wes Hill

                Theme – BMW in Paradise

                Location – Seattle Design Center.  There will be a tent in the parking lot for the convertibles.  They are not allowed on the banquet floor.  We will need security for the tent cars and for the front door.  Speakers Ken and Wes will talk about their own experiences.  They will have pictures and talk about their plans for the following weekend race “24 hours at Daytona”.  They will have 45 minutes for their presentation.  A projector and screen will be provided. Lance and “Vanna” will do the auction.  Donations need to be secured.  Talk to Lance for the list of donations.  Dale Beuning’s wife, Mary Jo Stojak, may be interested in doing the banquet for next year.

 

Concours – Lance

Next year the Z3 Coupe is the featured car.

 

Zündfolge – Lucetta/Jim  Nov/Dec

Deadline for January 2006 Zundfolge was Nov. 29th.  Lucetta will give Evie the deadlines for 2006 to put on the club calendar. 

Report on Stoneguard – Jim Millet reports he cannot get any contact with anyone from the business.  They have a website but no building.  Town and Country Motors is now using their building.  Jim advised he has two or three new ads for the January issue.

Jim will contact Past Due advertiser accounts (60 days or more)

Board List for Zundfolge

 

Roster/Membership – Lynne/Louis 

National membership – 65,853 including 9225 associate members.

Need local numbers – Louis

Lucetta says we are sending about 40 more magazines out this month.  We will mail 3071 issues this month, including the ones we send to all the chapters across the U.S. and to our advertisers.  Associate members do not receive a magazine.

New Members Meeting – Lynne.  In Lynne’s absence Wes reported Lynne would like to look into a different location for this year’s new member meeting.  She was thinking of the Woodland Park Zoo, on a Sunday afternoon.  Folks attending the meeting can take their families to the zoo before or after our event.  Discussion followed with the suggestion of March 25th, a Saturday afternoon, at Bison Creek if no other location can be found. If we use Bison Creek, Lynne would need a budget to serve some snacks. It was suggested Lynne look into the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field, and the new annex they opened at Paine Field.  Maybe we could get discounted tickets for admission, have lunch served, and use the auditorium.

 

Web Site - Dale

 

Next Board meeting – Thursday, Jan. 5th, at the Mercer Island Community Center

Tom Cox will talk with the Mercer Island Fire Station #91 about them charging a rental fee for the room in 2006.

 

Food Provider:  Lance Richert

 

 

 

Roundabout: 

Rick - received an email from a club member who is looking at an E30 M3 car for sale in Vancouver, WA.  The member wanted suggestions on where to take the car for a new buyers’ checkup.  Bill Spornitz suggested he take it to Michael O’Hara in Portland.

Tom Cox – Will work with Kim and Walt to schedule a mini-tech session on replacing RTABs to be scheduled shortly after New Year’s Day.

Marty – Knows about a 1938 BMW for sale.

Bill – Brought two umbrellas that were left in his trailer from the last race.  No one here owns them.

Wes – Had a wonderful Pro-3 post season dinner with approx. 20 couples.  Mike Olson hosted this event.  Mike is not a BMW club member, but he attended an IRDC school.  Wes and Ken are committed to raising $82,000 to run in the Daytona 24 hour fundraiser race.

Lucetta – Lance is gathering data to do a Club racer’s bio in the February issue.  She has a friend selling a house on Mercer Island with a 4-car garage and high ceilings that will hold a lift.

Kim – He has not seen promotions on our speakers for the banquet.

David – He is going to the Rolls Royce media launch in Newport Beach, CA, three years after the car came out!

 

Adjourn - The meeting was adjourned at 9:35pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Evie Falkin, Member