SOLO II Committee Meeting Minutes 5/11/10

Members In Attendance—Jackie Kmetz, Tasha Mikko, Dick Willy, Mike & Carol Leuty, Mark McCooey, Russell O’Connell, Glenn Austin, Gretchen Everett, Ron & Alyson Bauer, Joel Ferguson, Charles Aggenbach, Keith Brown, Jerry Lamb, Amy & Karl Coleman, Fast Mike, Aaron Pailthorp, Trenell Stevens, Mike Miller, Chris Kmetz, Rick Vomenici, Peo Orvendal.

Minutes Review— Moved to approve and seconded.

NWR Board Report (Jackie) - A fairly quiet meeting. No big issues discussed. Mainly, the wrap-up of the PRG Rally side of things. Some discussion regarding BMP. Mostly frustration with restriction on the autocross side of things. The Port does not have the funding to finish the road development, so this eliminates our losing the site in the immediate future. The Port is aware that Solo/autocross is one of the heaviest users, so there has been a lot of discussion behind this. BMP is looking for other locations, and has one possibility, so there is a definite commitment on their part to keep motorsports around in Bremerton. Fast Mike, who actually works in the paving industry, had a chance to meet with Bruce Fields while setting up the course for the last BSCC event. They had a positive discussion regarding the possibility of fixing some of the issues with the pavement. Mike volunteered to help cover some of the labor himself. A suggestion was made that we create a BMP site committee that can help lead the charge of making the necessary repairs, and coordinating with the additional clubs that are running on this site to help come up with funding to get it done. Fast Mike and Kevin Dietz have volunteered to start this process and try to get the necessary quotes to determine the overall cost.

WWSCC Report (Keith) - Since the last meeting, there were three events, US/OS and the Miatacross. Keith missed the last WW meeting, so he is not aware of what is currently going on. There is an event coming up in June. US/OS was a great event, with an incredible course! A big thanks goes out to Kevin Dietz. The Miatacross was held in Shelton and had a nice, quick flowing course. All three events were approved as Championship events.

NORPAC Report (Keith) - Conference call on Wednesday covered Divisional series’ around the country. SFR will eventually put on a Divisional event, but it will more than likely, not be at Golden Gate Fields. Since Tire Rack has sponsorship for both the Divisional and National events, there will be $1000 worth of Tire Rack gift certificates (20 x $50) to be used as prize money at each Divisional event. This is not enough to give something to each first place winner, so they will probably determine a list of “specialty” awards such as top PAX, or best poker hand, etc. that will determine how these certificates will be distributed. The Wendover National Tour is part of the Western Championship Triad event for the West Coast. SCCA did not do a very good job of advertising this. The group felt this was a big mistake. Doug Gill has been promoted and is now the Manager of Technical Services.

Drift Report (Russell) - Held the third annual drift school. They used the Motorsport Reg website for their registration. This seems to be working really well on an operational basis. There is a 3.8% processing fee, but it helps with the pre-registration for the drift group and helps prevent last minute cancellations which is a huge bonus for the school scenario. The “non-driving” student section of the school was very successful. At the last minute, they were presented with several course/site restrictions, so they were forced to develop a narrower course. This was not the optimal situation, but everyone seemed to have a great time. No major problems, and overall the event was a great success. Their next event will be on July 3^rd. There are no other clubs running on site, so they will get to set up a course using the entire site. On a national note, Russell noticed that the Snake River Region is holding a Drift event in August. It is exciting to see a new region enter into this type of racing. Rick Vomenici, event chair for the BSCC event did not seem pleased with the way waivers were handled during the event. The single BSCC morning opening waiver worker did not want to require BSCC participants to sign the SCCA waiver. To comply with SCCA rules Russell required all participants entering the site to sign the SCCA waiver requiring two signatures, and wrist bands. Russell had SCCA workers at the waivers shack for most of the event except for a couple of periods up to an hour during non peak times. The BSCC worker indicated that they would not mind handling the SCCA waiver as well and willingly signed weekend membership form to do so. Rick relayed that some of the waiver workers were unhappy with how SCCA handled the waivers indicating that it was more of an issue than Russell thought. Drift will pay greater attention to this area in the future, anytime they are sharing the site with another club. Rick also had a few questions regarding the lunches and the number of vouchers that were redeemed. Rick is concerned that in the future these volunteers will not be making enough revenue to make it worth their time to come out on site. A motion has been made and approved that $5 per student be paid to the Lions Club during Novice schools, regardless of whether students redeem their vouchers or not.

Treasurer Report – Everyone reviewed the summary report presented by Kristi. The invoice for Torque Steerers portion of the port-a-potties at Packwood has been sent out. Russell will send Kristi instructions on how to set up herself up as a user on the Motorsport Reg web site.

OLD BUSINESS

Sound Meter Rule – Initially, we discussed using the same written rules as the National office, but Keith Brown feels what they are using is not written very well. According to these rules, the first two times the car goes over the limit, the vehicle receives a warning and then the third time, the run is disqualified. San Diego has a written rule that states anytime a car goes over the 100 mark, their run is disqualified. Keith feels that we should have a combination of both rules for our region. Jerry has volunteered to write something up and will present it at the next meeting. He will be adding a phrase that says turn-aways will be considered unsportsmanlike behavior and will not be allowed.

New Timer Display – Glenn has not heard anything back from the company, so he can’t determine whether this will work with our wireless system or not.

BSCC Display Case - Jerry Lamb will purchase the new display case and get it shipped directly to Rick.

Registration Canopy - Tasha did the research for a 10’x20’ tent. Costco has one available for $280 along with a $55 set of weights that fill with water, so they are easily transportable. The industrial strength E-Z Up is available for $1100. Kevin suggested that this is a purchase we not skimp on. The pieces are fragile, and will break being put up and down several times. It was determined that since the BMP road project has been cancelled, it may be possible to move the original canopy back to where it used to be. Kevin Dietz has agreed to loan us one of his tents for the next SCCA event on May 30^th. This will give us an opportunity to determine exactly what the situation is going to be. Thanks Tasha!

Event # 3 SCCA - Kristo and Mike Miller will be co-chairing this event. Please remember getting a bus driver is the responsibility of the event chair. IF the event chair has a problem doing this, they should contact Jackie, or send a note out to the list.

Timing Van (lifespan, investment, tabs) - The tabs have not been replaced. Jackie is trying to coordinate with Lou Ann to get the address changed for where the reminder is mailed to. Mike Miller has volunteered to go to Kevin’s shop and get the registration taken care of before the next event.

NEW BUSINESS

Pro Solo #1 recap - There were a few issues with trying to determine exactly who will be running in the challenges. This is especially difficult when it’s raining and people are not really interested in being out in the elements. Overall, it was a good event despite the poor weather. It was brought up that all Specialty Chiefs should fully understand that ALL regional events (including Pro Solos) are their responsibility. The group understands that the timing being used is different than what we typically use, but there is no reason it cannot be covered by our regular workers. Everything is clearly marked and easily understandable. This has continually been a disconnect with the communication for these types of events. A HUGE thank you goes out to Jerry Lamb, Enrique Garcia, and Brett Wilson for all of the hard work they’ve done to make sure these Pro Solo events can actually happen.

Event #2 recap – Everything went well. Things ran smoothly and people were off-site at a decent hour. There was only one sound issue (Don Nimi), but he was aware of the situation and was working on a change. The rule will not be enforced until July, so he still has time to deal with it. An issue was brought to Jackie’s attention. Back when we made the three-run rule, there was something that has obviously been overlooked. With the change of only counting three runs, must come the change of how we are currently sending out our reruns. Currently, all reruns are sent after the entire group has been completed. A motion has been made that from this point forward, ALL reruns will be made before the end of the active runs are completed in the affected class. This motion passed. A second motion was made that Event #2 results for the OPEN PAX class be thrown out. There was a precedent presented from the past: in 2001, the results for PAX at event #2 were dropped due to a rain issue. It was also brought to our attention that at that time, there was a regional supplemental that allowed for this. The motion did not pass.

Software - The WW software that Brett Wilson created and actively manages has been offered to SCCA at no charge. Since Scott Cytill has basically asked that SCCA stop using his program (rather than re-write the programming), this is a great opportunity. There are no compatibility issues with this program and the equipment we are currently using. A motion was made that we move to the new software. A vote was taken and it was decided we will be moving to Brett’s Scorekeeper program no later than event #4. Jackie will coordinate this with Jodi and Brett.

Novice School - It will be held at Shelton on Saturday, June 19^th. Rick is looking for instructors to help out with this event. Instructors will be allowed to do fun runs during the lunch period, and after the event. Registration will be pre-paid and pre-registered using the Motorsport Reg website. Lunches will not be provided since vendors are not allowed on-site. Each student will receive one half day entry to any event this season.

NT and Pro Updates - Mike Miller has volunteered to work with Joel Ferguson as the NT Event Chair. Thank you Mike. There is currently an opening for Chief of Grid. Tasha Mikko has also volunteered to help with registration. Everything is also coming together fine for the Pro Solo. Geoff Clark has volunteered to design the course.

Goat Blower as work assignment - Blowing the course should be the responsibility of the course designer and their helpers. There will not be a separate position created to cover this.

AED software update, cold weather, retraining - It was brought to our attention that we cannot keep this unit in freezing conditions, so it must be removed from the bus over the winter.

Stopwatch for Grid - Now that we have changed the rule for reruns, there is a necessity for a stop watch. A motion was made and approved to use up to $50 for two stop watches for the grid workers.

Fare Start - Kristi and Keith have been associated with a group called Fare Start for a number of years now. It is a job training program that teaches job and life placement skills. They have volunteered their friends to be servers on Thursday, July 8^th. They will be sending out emails with additional details in the future. A motion was made that we make a $500 donation to this organization on the night of the event. Motion approved.

National Tour Donations - A motion was made that we donate two separate prizes, the first being a complete set of entries for the 2011 Solo series, and a second prize being entries to both Tight n’ Tidy regional Pro Solos. Motion passed. Another motion was made to donate one entry to our 2011 National Pro Solo to be used in a drawing for those willing to volunteer to cover the challenge at the National Pro Solo in August. This motion was also approved.

Meeting adjourned at 9:55 p.m.