BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING February 29, 1996
Reno,
Nevada
These minutes and those of March 3 have not
been approved. Watch Endurance News
for corrections.
The meeting of the AERC Board of Directors
was called to order at 6:10 p.m. Answering to roll call were Vonita Bowers,
president, Steve Johnson, Barbara McCrary, Bob Morris, Courtney Hart, Amy
Whelan, Maggy Price, Crockett Dumas, Dean Jackson, Stagg Newman, Brad
Patterson, Larry Kanavy, Jim Baldwin, Dane Frazier, Earle Baxter, Mike
Tomlinson, Ronald Waltenspiel, Randy Eiland, David Clinton, Louise Riedel, Lynn
Golemon, Susan Kasemeyer, and Miki Morrison, Executive Director.
B. McCrary was appointed director of the
sanctioning committee for the duration of the
convention. S. Newman moved to seat Brad
Patterson, the newly elected Mountain Region director in place of Terry Dye.
Motion carried.
The secretary reported that the minutes of
the midyear board meeting had been approved as corrected. (A vote concerning
the Pioneer award had been reported as affirmative rather than negative).
TABLED ITEMS:
The International Committee report will be
presented on Sunday.
Ride Managers’ Award. A sub-committee of the
Awards Committee, consisting of C. Hart, B. Patterson and D. Jackson was
appointed to report at the Midyear meeting.
M. Price moved to drop a proposal to add a
separate 50-mile national championship.
Motion carried.
A proposal had been made to define limited
distance as any distance under 50 miles. This was remanded to the limited
distance committee for the Sunday meeting.
TREASURER’S REPORT: R. Waltenspiel reported
that we have gone to the accrual system of accounting. Omar Bardales has been
retained as our new CPA. Bookkeeping will be done by the firm of 2N2R5 which
will send a monthly statement consisting of a profit and loss statement,
balance sheet and cash flow statement to the Board. Mr. Bardales reviewed our
financial statement, explaining that a financial statement will alternate with
an audit every other year.
NATIONAL OFFICE REPORT:
Mark Holmes, the computer director, reported
that the new computer is in place. He stated that 13 million miles have been
ridden and recorded. He and Joe Long are presently completing some of the data
conversion. The current lease on the computers expires in June, and plans need
to be made for negotiating a new contract.
AERC member Joe Larkin addressed the Board
regarding the computer system.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
PROTEST AND GRIEVANCE: V. Bowers
reported that three protests had been filed--one from a non-member which was
not addressed; one concerning the Race of Champions, which was denied; and one
which was withdrawn before going to committee.
EDUCATION COMMITFEE: B. Morris reported on
the progress of the Procedures Manual. Miki is still working on the Office
Procedures section.
There has been a proposal for AERC to go
"On-Line" in the Internet. Stephanie Teeters has voluntarily
run an unofficial program of endurance news. She suggested that AERC give it
official standing. A second option was for AERC to obtain a "domain"
at a cost of $50 per month. Remanded to.committee.
Roger and Garret Ford presented a computer
program designed for ride managers. He inquired about the possible use of
AERC’s data base. No action was taken.
A video program on helmets and safety is
being shown at the trade show.
AWARDS COMMITTEE: D. Jackson reported having
an offer from the Mule Association to donate an award. M. Price moved to
approve this award if donated. Motion carried. D. Jackson stated that the cost
of awards for 1995 was $5000 under budget.
LIMITED DISTANCE COMMITTEE: A. Whelan spoke
of the need for standardization in light of the proposed presentation of a
national award. Valerie Kanavy described a system whereby limited distance
riders would be rated according to the grades appearing on the rider cards.
Remanded to committee.
SANCTIONING COMMITTEE: B. McCrary reported
that a request to sanction a special events ride at Gladstone NJ was approved
by the board.
COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE: S. Johnson proposed
that an addition to the Junior rule be implemented which would provide for a
rider, who is the last place junior, whose sponsor is pulled, to be able to
receive a completion. The proposal will be acted on at the Sunday board
meeting.
The committee discussed splitting the junior
division to create an intermediate division
covering juniors from 14-19. The committee
was not in favor.
The National Horse Show Foundation had
proposed donating an award based on a series of rides.
The committee suggests that this proposal be
reworked to apply to the national championship series.
The committee denied a proposal to require
400 lifetime miles on the horse only instead of the horse-rider team as a
qualification for the national championship series.
C. Hart reported on a study of the impact of various
factors such as weight and time on best condition on 100-mile rides. The
results did not warrant a change. He also reported on the numbers of multi-day
riders who entered more than one multi-day event. It does not appear that very
many of the same people enter a large number of rides.
C. Hart suggested a new award to honor
horse-rider teams for numbers of years and miles
over a period of time. The rider might be
asked to contribute to the cost of the award. Remanded to committee.
A proposal had been made to reinstate the
National Points Championship system. The committee denied the request.
VETERINARY COMMITTEE: R. Beecher reported
that the drug testing program will be implemented at a higher level in 1996,
and will be carried out by veterinarians recommended by the AHSA at a lab of
our choice. The committee has considered non-traditional modalities of
treatment during a ride including anything invasive or anything mechanical. A
motion covering this proposal will be presented by the veterinarian committee
Sunday.
ELECTIONS COMMITTEE: C. Hart proposed a more
defined procedure on elections nomination dates. This proposal will be
presented Sunday.
L. Riedel moved, at the request of residents
of extreme western Nebraska, / "
Mountain Region boundary eastward to coincide
with the Mountain timezone
directors of both the Midwest and Mountain
regions agree with this request. Motion carried.
TRAILS COMMITTEE: A request had been made
that AERC furnish funds to send representatives to local trail symposiums. It
was the consensus that funds are not available at this time.
Meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.
Louise Riedel, Secretary.