Dear Friends,

As many of you know the OPARC VHF (146.07/146.67) repeater suffered a casualty in October 2020 which necessitated the replacement of the transmission line on the WAYR tower which hosts our system. This event was costly and time-consuming, but we recently finished the repairs and returned the machine to service.

This event depleted the club treasury and additional funds were needed to satisfy our annual club operating costs. Several members made donations to the club, and we have been able to recover from this event. However, we learned many lessons from this situation. Issues like adequacy of insurance coverage, membership, member dues both annual and Life membership and the impact the dues’ structure exerts on club operations. 

As a club we must address these issues. The Board of Directors has discussed the issues and has several recommendations which we want to bring before our members. It appears that the financial situation must be remedied. At present our bank accounts are costing a monthly fee since we have dropped below the minimum level of deposit. We do not have the capacity to recover from a future event like that which we just experienced. It appears that we must increase the annual dues and suspend new applications for Life membership since the sustainability of that program has become questionable.

All these issues will be addressed in our budget for next year (which will be presented at the monthly meeting in October). In the meantime, I ask that each of you consider these issues and offer your ideas toward the best solutions to our problems. Please provide your input to any of the members of the Board of Directors and at our monthly meetings. There is no idea too small or too large to be discussed. Transparency in our operations and discussions is invaluable as we wish to make the best decisions for our club.

73,

Ted, K4YLX
President
OPARC