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pbholmes · Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 167 Location: Dalgety Bay

DALGETY BAY ASTRONOMY CLUB

MINUTES OF THE SECOND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 20 JANUARY 2009 AT 7.45 PM IN THE KABIN, DALGETY BAY

1 Welcome

Paul Holmes (P Holmes) - Chairman thanked all members present for attending and as there was a quorum of members present the AGM went ahead.

Membership Forms were handed to those members who had not yet re-joined.

2 Minutes of the Inaugural AGM held on 15 January 2008

The Minutes were approved.

3 Chairman’s Report

P Holmes reported that this was the first year of being a proper Club although it had been in existence for some. P Holmes acknowledged the donations received and went on to note the Club’s achievements:

• Two external visiting speakers
• Hire of premises
• Stand at the 2008 Dalgety Bay Gala
• Joint Meeting with Dundee Astronomy Club
• Family Star Party
• St Leonard’s Primary School visit
• 2 Quiz nights
• Identified dark site for observing (although it was not part of an official agreement)

P Holmes went on the say that the Club had plans to undertake further school visits and organise further Family Star Parties as both had been very successful. In addition, it was noted that involving the Community and children in the Club activities would help build up a portfolio that would help with any future funding applications.

In closing P Holmes thanked everyone at the Club for their support over the past year.

4 Treasurer’s Report

Brian Wright (B Wright) - Treasurer confirmed that Club had an end of year cash balance of £213.99, after expenditure had been taken into account. It was noted that the end of year cash balance included donations of £233.13 therefore B Wright felt the club was not yet self-sufficient and proposed a slight increase to membership fees to:

Full Membership £12.00
Family Membership £18.00
Concession: £7.00

It was suggested that members who had already paid membership fees would still pay the 2008 rates for the current year.

B Wright commented that the increase in membership still represented good value for money and would allow the proposed events to go ahead.

P Holmes put the change in membership fees to the vote - the motion was carried and agreed.

B Henderson asked if the Club had applied for charity status and B Wright confirmed this was the case but a decision had not yet been made on the application. If charity status was awarded the Club could claim back the tax element from the Inland Revenue and B Wright agreed to take the relevant forms to the next meeting.

5 Committee Nomination and Elections

P Holmes thanked the current Committee for their work and support to date and confirmed that C Thomson (Secretary) would be stepping down due to new study commitments. P Holmes and the members thanked C Thomson and wished her well in her studies.

P Holmes also advised that the Committee had formed a publicity sub-committee and had invited Geoff Ruzgar (G Ruzgar) to join. P Holmes thanks G Ruzgar for his hard work so far and proposed creating a Publicity Officer post that was agreed by all members.

Nominations for each position were:-

Chairman - Paul Holmes
Treasurer – Brian Wright
*Secretary/Publicity Officer – Geoff Ruzgar
Membership Secretary – Bob Henderson
Publicity Officer – Geoff Ruzgar
Officers without Portfolio – Iain Johnston and George Smith

*There were no nominations for the individual post of Secretary therefore G Ruzgar volunteered to undertake a combined role of Secretary/Publicity Officer

The vote was carried unanimously

6 Any Other Business

Future Events

G Ruzgar asked for members to e-mail him with suggestions for events

Club’s Objectives

A discussion took place and it was agreed that the Club’s aim was to have it’s own observatory. P Holmes confirmed that to achieve this aim the Club needed to secure funding (via grants) and to secure a grant the Club would need to increase it’s membership and to have a track record of involving communities and offering education within the field of astronomy.

B Wright suggested that it was unlikely to Club would secure funding this year but the proposed activities would help an application next year.

School Visits

P Holmes advised that visiting schools would form part of the Club’s activities in 2009 and G Ruzgar confirmed that Astronomy formed part of the national curriculum.
C Thomson suggested this item be added to the next Committee Meeting agenda.

2nd Club Account

Bob Henderson proposed opening a 2nd club account to which donations could be made to support the long term aim of having a Club observatory and offered to make a donation.
The motion was carried unanimously.

2009 Events

P Holmes mentioned some planned events:-

17/02/09 - Family Star Party. It was suggested that the Family Star Party be held earlier in the evening and it was agreed to raise this at the next Committee Meeting.
19/03/09 - Talk by Andy Tennant (adt175) on astrophotography and possible joint meeting with Dundee Astronomy Club
21/04/09 - Talk by G Ruzgar on the Russian Space Programme
20/06/09 - Solar Observation session – B Wright

(Editor's Note: Dates and details are subject to change. Watch website for latest info.)

Vote of Thanks

C Thomson proposed a vote of thanks to Makbule, Ruyana and Melissa Ruzgar for providing refreshments at the Club meetings.

Donald Wallace proposed a vote of thanks to P Holmes for his Chairmanship

There being no other business, a vote of thanks was proposed to Paul for his Chairmanship of the Committee.

The meeting was closed.