All trustees were present for this meeting.  Carl Anderson(CA), Kevin Burns(KB), Fred Guidi(FG), Arthur Kowitz(AK), Louis LeBlanc(LL), Beno Rodi(BR), Luke Conner(LC), Brian Larrabure(BL), Debbie Poole(DP), Rob Poole(RP),  Pat Riley(PR) and Kelly Shane(KS)

Also in attendance were David Lamberth (DL) – AHRMA’s Executive Director and Cindy McLean (CM) – AHRMA’s Media Director.

The meeting was called to order by LC at 8:10 AM.

LC advised that the meeting was to be recorded during the open sessions.  It would not be recorded during the closed session portion(s).  Release and usage details of this recording will be determined by the board in the near future.

Each trustee and staff member present introduced themselves to the membership in attendance.

KS inquired of LC if the topics that he had emailed to LC would be discussed during the meeting.  LC advised that they would be discussed in either the new business section or during the closed session.

LC provided a quick overview of the Barber events (both road race and off road)

Approval of Soda Springs, CA Meeting Minutes

The first topic of the meeting was the approval of the Soda Springs, Ca meeting minutes.  AK moved to accept the meeting minutes with BL seconding the motion.  The minutes are accepted as written.

LC then turned the meeting over to DL for the Executive Director’s report and the Treasurer’s reports.

Treasurer’s and Executive Director’s Reports

DL directed the trustees to the statements from RBC for both the investment fund which had a balance of $137,283.86 and the benevolent fund which had a balance of $123,523.23 as of August 31, 2018.  Brief discussion ensured on the market results so far in 2018 and AHRMA’s investment philosophy of moderate risk.

DL then directed the trustees to the financial results for the year to date of September 30, 2018.  AHRMA had budgeted for a Profit of $90,790 for this period.  The actual results were $50,713 – which was a variance of $40,077 from what was expected.

DL went through the financial results explaining the differences in what was expected versus what the actual results were.    Revenues are $44,097 ahead of budget for the period while expense are over budget b y $84,000 for the period.    Higher than expected road race costs and insurance costs are the main driver of the expense variance.  Better than expected sponsorships and membership revenues are the main drivers of the income variance. Discussion took place on the financial results.

2019 Tentative Roadrace, Vintage MX and Post Vintage MX National race schedule preview

DL advised that the 2019 road race schedule was not assembled at this point due to the recent passing of Cindy Cowell.  LC advised that he was working with DL to assemble the 2019 road race schedule and that it will be assembled and finalized over the next weeks.  LC did advise that AHRMA has been able to secure a date in April at Sonoma International Raceway and that discussions are taking place with NOLA motorsports park in New Orleans as well.  AHRMA does have confirmation on dates from various locations such as Kershaw, NJMP, Road America, Talladega, Barber and Miller.  AK inquired if anything is ready to publish to the membership at this time with LC advising it is not to that point yet.

Discussion took place on the possibility of off road event on site at NOLA and at NJMP and that Roebling Road event will more than likely be a four (4) day event.

Discussion also took place at this time on the subject of multi-discipline cornerstone events.  The 2019 schedule will be reviewed to determine if there are any events that this type of event could possibly take place.

FG advised that the 2019 VMX and PVMX schedules are coming together with a good number of locations locked in for 2019.  Some are holding until the Loretta Lynn’s amateur schedule is finalized before they will commit to AHRMA – which is the normal process.

The meeting adjourned at 9AM and reconvened at 9:10 in Member open comment session.

Member Open Comment Session

Tyrus Wilson was the first member to begin discussion during the member open comment session.  He advised that there seems to be confusion as to the fee structure for riders who are 70+.  Discussion ensued with the board referring Tyrus to the 2018 Handbook which outlines the current fee structure.

He then inquired if rain dates are a possibility for the road race program.  Discussion ensued that such rain dates are not normal practice in road racing due to the majority of the tracks having each day of the week booked by someone.

He then inquired in Thunderhill raceway was being considered by AHRMA for a future event.  Discussion ensued on this topic.  BL advised that AHRMA has looked into this venue but it has a very high rental coast.

He then inquired on if the board had a target date for the release of a policy on the recording of the AHRMA board meetings.  LC advised that a set date is not available at this point.

He then inquired into the various Face book pages that are using the AHRMA logo.  Discussion ensued that there is only one official AHRMA Face book page.  There is an AHRMA member’s only Face book page that is administered by Kevin Burns and there is an AHRMA Vintage Road Race page administered by Evan Hipp.  Discussion ensued on this topic with the consensus that AHRMA will be looking at these unofficial pages in the near future.

Pierre Rochat inquired if snowmobile motors are allowed in AHRMA sidecar racing.  RP and KB advised that while they are not specifically mentioned – they are also not precluded.

Maurice  Turgeau  introduced himself and his company which has the ability to help AHRMA with event exposure.  His company (Loroque Motorsports) runs swap meets, etc at events such as NJMP/NOLA and also at Barber.

Pete Essaff  advised he is available to help with sidecar rules.  LC directed him to contact the chairman of the Sidecar rules committee with his offer.

Dave Keister advised he is available to help AHRMA in any way needed.  The board thanked him for this offer.

Jon  Landwer advised he is available to help AHRMA with the road race program in 2019.  He has a background in track day administration and currently works with Moto-America.

Tyrus Wilson inquired into the recent changes to the VMX rules committee as to why the changes were made and how the process was handled.  LC advised that he handled these changes and that he did discuss with each person involved.  Discussion took place on the change in the timing with general discussion taking place on this topic.

Nick Bailey thanked the board for another great year of racing with AHRMA.

The meeting adjourned at 10:10 and reconvened at 10:25 for 2019 rules proposal discussions.

2019 Rules Proposals discussion and final votes

Please refer to the separate rules proposal document for the details of this portion of the meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 11:55 for lunch and reconvened at 12:30 for 2019 rules proposal discussions.

The meeting adjourned at 1:45 and reconvened in open session at 2:00PM.

Open Session

LC advised of a recent discussion with Alan Cathcart on the health of vintage racing in England.  LC advised that the ability to secure health coverage due to the Brexit plan is having a serious impact on vintage racing in England.

At this point, Jeff Ray of the Barber Museum stopped by the meeting to thank AHRMA for another excellent event and looks forward to the 2019 event.  He also expressed condolences to AHRMA for the recent passing of Cindy Cowell.  Jeff Ray also encouraged AHRMA to continue moving the timeline of vintage forward as the Barber Museum is currently doing.

LC opened discussion of two (2) safety items that the board needs to address:

The first is Dirt Track rule 14.5B which relates to rim width.  Issue is that proper tires are no available that comply with the rule as it is written.  Consensus is that the following will be done:

The rule will be left in the 2019 rulebook.  A note will be inserted into the 2019 advising that this rule will be suspended for 2019 pending 2020 rules proposals.

The second concerns rim size limits for the Premier 500 and GP 500 classes in road racing.  The same concern exists for this class as it does for the above Dirt Track rule.  Consensus is that the board does not have enough information to act on this issue at this time.  LC will provide the board with additional information to allow the board to determine a course of action.

Committee Chair Assignments for 2019

The next topic was the assignment of 2019 committee chairman/chairwomen.  This topic was deferred to a later date for assignments to be made.

At 2:45 PM the meeting shifted to the topic of New Business.

New Business

The first item discussed under new business was the Trustee Election process.  Discussion initiated by AK.  Each item discussed and the related decision(s) are noted below:

1. who is eligible to vote.  AK made the motion that AHRMA use the two classifications noted in the by-laws.  These are Full members and Associate members.  Full members can vote while Associate members cannot.   In addition, any current associate member (listed as non race previously) will be allowed to vote in the 2019 election if they are active as of October 31, 2018. KS stated that the By Laws do not allow the Board to give Associate members a grace period to continue voting.RP seconded the motion.  11 trustees voted in favor of this change.  KS voted no.It is noted that all forms and the website will have to be edited to convert to these classifications.
2. Establish a cutoff date for new member voting eligibility.  KS made the motion to set this date to be November 30, 2018.  FG seconded this motion.  All 12 trustees voted in favor of this change.
3. Proxy voting will only be allowed if the voting member provides written approval to be sent along with his/her ballot to the CPA firm administering the program for AHRMA.  AK made this motion with FG seconding it.  9 trustees voted in favor of this change.  3 trustees voted against this change (KS/PR/RP)
4. LL made the motion to provide the AHRMA membership list to any trustee candidate if the candidate provides a non disclosure and improper usage statement to AHRMA.  This was seconded by FG with all 12 trustees voting to accept this motion.
5. Discussion took place on the role of the Secretary of AHRMA and his/her role in the voting process.  No change will be made on this topic.
6. Discussion took place on changing the CPA firm administering the voting process for AHRMA.  Discussion ensued with the no change to be made.  AK strongly objected to this decision. DL will send a letter to the current CPA firm discussing and clarifying that no contact can be made to anyone other than DL on the election results or process.
7. Discussion took place on if a different format for the ballot needs to be developed. KS stated that the By Laws specifically require the ballot to be mailed  to the members and being available on line does not follow the By Laws LL made the motion to keep the format the same as in prior years and to keep the downloadable ballot available on the AHRMA website.  BL seconded this motion.KS stated that by voting to make  no change and to continue allowing the ballot to be downloaded from the AHRMA website that the Board was voting to not follow the By Laws.LL agreed.

8 Trustees voted in favor of this motion.  4 Trustees voted against this motion (PR/DP/RP/KS)

The next topic of discussion was the search for a new attorney for AHRMA.  KS advised that he feels that AHRMA should search for a qualified not for profit attorney and not an attorney who specialized in motor sports. The Board needs to be very careful to maintain the non-profit status. KS suggested that the ED conduct the search for the new attorney and provide the Board a list of attorneys to review.  AK advised that he may be able to assist in this search.

The next topic of discussion was the search for a replacement for Cindy Cowell in her role as Road Race Director.  KS commented that he felt that we should look outside of AHRMA.  Discussion ensued on this topic.   KS suggested that along with a RR Director  AHRMA also have a Western and Eastern Assitant Director as volunteers. He stated that the roadrace members in the West feel like red-headed step children due to the East Coast   location of the previous RR Director. Having a  regional Asst Director would give the East and West both a voice. provide assistance for the RR Director at races, and they could serve as a temporary  Director if the Director was unavailable.  The topic of having an Eastern and Western associate director was discussed.  LC provided the board with the lead up to the Barber event.

The meeting adjourned at 3:55 and reconvened at 4:05 in closed session.

At this point, the closed session ended.

Open Session

2019 meeting locations were discussed:

KS suggested that the first meeting of 2019 be held in the first month after the election is finalized, either in Feb or Mar. He also suggested that it be a 2 day meeting held over a weekend and should be attended by the new lawyer. He stated that the Board always has unfinished business due to the time constraints of the regular one day meetings. Each Trustee would request for items to be placed on the agenda for discussion and action. After business is concluded on the first day the remainder of the weekend would be a work shop to familiarize new Trustees (if any) with how the Board operates and to bring all of the Trustees up to speed on the duties and obligations of serving as a non profit trustee as well as AHRMA policies and procedures.

First meeting will be in the west in either February or March.  This meeting maybe over a weekend.  Discussion took place that this location could also be held near the office of the new attorney if one has been selected by that time.

The second meeting will be at NJMP (in conjunction with the event) and the third meeting will be at Barber in October.

KB made the motion to adjourn.  FG seconded the motion.  All 12 trustees voted in agreement.

The meeting adjourned at 5:00PM