FROM: Kathie Balogh, Northwest Area President
Below, please find the Governing Board Report, I have put some items in red and blue to highlight them, as I feel, all of us will be affected by these decisions! This report is also available on the Northwest Area website www.fmcanw.org
At the annual Governing Board Meeting on August 3rd in W. Springfield, MA. A quorum was established with 55% of the delegates present. The Northwest Area was well represented by 24 voting members.
The meeting was called to order by President Charlie Adcock at 9 am.
Percy Bell, Treasurer, gave his financial report stating that so far this year we have an operating profit of $81,539. The membership decline of the past years has leveled out and FMCA has had a membership increase in 5 out of 6 months this year. Thanks to all who have recruited new members. Retention is now our goal. The Executive Board agreed to give $250,000 to RVillage for social media membership recruitment. This was discussed at great length.
The chair and members of committees were introduced as the report of each committee was placed on file.
A motion was made, seconded and passed to increase dues $10/year. Two budgets were presented for 2017, one with and one without the dues increase. Having passed the motion to increase dues, budget A, without the increase was set aside. A motion was made and seconded to accept Budget B which included the dues increase. Budget B passed with no changes. The dues increase is effective Oct. 1, 2016.
Ross Boyer, chairman of the Policy and Procedure Committee presented changes to three P&Ps that required Governing Board approval; all three passed. P&P #2023 now requires that an Area VP shall be a resident of the area represented. P&P #1015 now requires members to promptly inform FMCA and chapter secretary of any change to their membership information i.e. address, email address, marital status, etc. P&P #2031 relates to travel reimbursement requests.
So far in 2016 FMCAssist has had 73 claims (increase over prior years) and the average cost per claim has been $4,089 (decrease over prior years). Total premium paid by FMCA in 2016 is $295,442.39 and the total claims by Seven Corners are $298,470.63. FMCA paid $100,000 to settle a golf cart incident. A motion was made, seconded and passed to renew the FMCAssist for 2016 – 2017.
Jean Pryor L12913 was awarded the Kenneth T. Scott Pipe Dreamer’s Award. This award is presented to “someone who has earned the gratitude of FMCA by some exceptionally worthy or beneficial service to FMCA or to family motor coach owners in general”.
The convention committee chaired by Jon Walker presented proposals for the following International Conventions. Winter 2019 – Chandler, AZ; Summer 2019 – St. Paul, MN;
Winter 2020 – Perry, GA; Summer 2020 – Redmond, OR
After some discussion all were passed as proposed. The 2017 winter convention will be held in Chandler, AZ. If Chandler isn’t a viable location, a potential new site for 2019 will be researched.
After President Adcock’s report a motion was put forth from the floor to update the Articles of Incorporation on file in Ohio to make them less restrictive. The motion passed. A copy of the proposed change along with a ballot will be in the October 2016 FMCA magazine. To pass, a majority of those ballots returned must be “for” the proposition. The deadline for returning the ballot is December 31st. The ramifications of this change in FMCA’s future have yet to be discerned. The meeting was adjourned at 12:30pm.
FMCA’s 94th International Convention was attended by 1,059 family coaches and 246 commercial coaches for a total of 1305 coaches.
PLEASE NOTE:
The statement in RED announces the dues increase effective October 1, 2016. If you decide to add to the length of your membership and in the future cancel your membership, for whatever reason, as per Policy and Procedure 1017, you will receive a refund of the unused full years of the membership. You may renew before 2 pm ( Pacific Coast time.) Friday September 30, 2016 by calling 1-800-543-3622. Or online www.fmca.com before October 1, 2016.
The statement in BLUE announces a change in the Articles of Incorporation for FMCA. I encourage you to read President Adcock’s report in the October Magazine and cast your ballot, as soon as you can. I know that if I don’t do things right away, I tend to forget to do them. Remember, FMCA is member owned and it is your Association.
The Business and Planning Meetings at Cowlitz County Event Center were a great success and the minutes and rally report will be out to you in the next couple of weeks!
Thank you all for everything you do for the Northwest Area! For the Northwest Area members attending the Indio rally in January, please put January 12, 2017 on your calendar—-about 30 minutes after the parade, we will have our Northwest Area Gathering in the Queen’s Gallery.
Happy and Safe travelling!