The meeting was held at the new Boxford Community Center at 10 Elm Street in Boxford, as well as via Zoom. There were 35 participants (29 in-person and 6 on Zoom). A quorum of members was present, and the Business Meeting was official.

Guests and new club members were asked to introduce themselves:

Guest(s): Chris from Marblehead

New Member(s): None Present

Officer Reports:

President – Jim Holland:

Jim called for approval of the February Business Meeting Minutes, which were approved by acclamation.

Jim presented the membership growth trends, and an update on the total due paying members who have renewed.

Vice President – Justin Murray:

Justin presented the 12” f5 Dob that’s for sale as part of the Telescope Sales Committee. Offered to Club Members for $350, that includes some eyepieces that were received from Ed Ting when he came to present to the club earlier this year.

Treasurer – Ron Sampson:

Ron reported no updates.

Secretary – Tolga Yazicioglu:

Tolga reported no updates.

Membership Director – John Gall:

John was not able to attend the meeting.

Collins Observatory at Salem State – Dennis Gudzevich:

Dennis provided an update on the Collins Observatory, which has a Meade LX200 12” ACF. The observatory is typically open on clear Mondays 7pm-10pm when school is in session.

The observatory was closed every Monday in February.

On Tuesday 2/4 had Girl Scout and Cub Scout troops back-to-back.

3/3 – Opened to 39 visitors in attendance.

Mendel Observatory at Merrimack College – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster provided an update on the Mendel Observatory, which has an Optical Guidance Systems (OGS) 20-inch Ritchey-Cretien reflector. The observatory is typically open on clear Wednesdays.

2/5 – Ran a normal format session with 25 guests across 3 time slots.

Star Parties – Brewster LaMacchia:

Brewster noted that he is working on scheduling Star Parties for the Spring. Have received the typical number of requests so far. Check the website for the latest Volunteer Opportunities to sign up.

Scope Clinic – Bryan Stone & Ron Sampson:

If you have anything on your telescope that you need help with, or if you need help with your telescope, Bryan & Ron can assess your scope, making recommendations, and performing some minor repairs.

Bryan provided a quick reminder of the scope clinic purpose, and noted it is the club’s “Pride and Joy” with a tradition that dates back over 20 years. Not sure how to set it up, or how to assemble, happy to assist. Procedure is to sign up in advance so we can bring the right tools or if necessary, recruit the right people to help. Send an email and we’ll see what we can help with. No assignment is too simple or too complex.

At Large Board Members – Bryan Stone & Cyndi Hopping:

Members at Large are the go-between, so if anyone has any questions or concerns bring them to one of the two of the ALBMs and will pass along to the Board at the next Board Meeting.

Bryan provided a quick reminder of the ALBM purpose.

Old Business:

Telescope Sales Committee:

No updates aside from Justin’s earlier update.

Club Banner Committee:

Jason noted that the Committee is getting back together, planning on getting a design in front of the BoD soon.

New Business:

Club Dues Discussion:

President Jim Holland led a discussion about increasing annual dues. At the last BoD Meeting, the board talked about some ideas and wanted to hear what NSAAC membership thinks. The purpose of this is to open a discussion and get feedback.

Jim presented the following data:

Club Checking Account: $4k

Club Reserves (Held in CD): $10.5k

Other Club Assets: Projector, laptop, donated telescopes, coffee maker, etc.

Club Liabilities: None

2024 Operating Income & Expenses:

Income: $3,378 (Interest: $500, Scope Sales: $488, Donations: $250, Dues: $2,140)

Expenses: $2,263 (Laptop: $550, Insurance + All Other: $1,813)

Net $1,015

Idea Presented by the BoD: Increase dues to $30/year (currently $20/yr)

Club has not increased dues since 2001. Dues were $18 in late 90s, and $15 in mid-90s

Example:

@$30 per member x 120 members = $3,600

@$20 per member x 120 = $2,400

Also offer a family membership at $50/year (2 or more adults of same family)

Note that consultation with membership/membership vote still required for each item over $150 and for more than $300 aggregate per month (see Bylaws Section 3a).

Purpose of Dues Increase would be to give the club more flexibility moving forward, enable more programs and outreach, and enable reimbursement of Members for expenses like Monthly Meeting Refreshments.

Many Club Members engaged in a spirited discussion:

One member voiced that a suggestion of a 50% increase when the club has $14k in the bank is “ludicrous”. The club was started with low dues specifically to make accessible for everyone. If the club wants more money for programs, the club should make it easier for donations to happen at programs – club members should work harder to solicit donations at Star Parties.

One Board Member noted that in intermediate past, the club received substantial amount of donations from Star Parties, but last few years donations have been much smaller than pervious. If can’t rely on that, considering what other clubs are asking for dues, don’t think that $30 vs $20 will be a barrier to entry.

Another member noted that what’s worked well at another club they are a member at is QR codes so that people can do online donations. NSAAC would likely get a great response if we implemented something similar. It’s wise to try to see if we can get a younger demographic into the club, but $30 might be tougher instead of $20.

One Board Member noted that the suggestion of having club members, who are volunteering their time, to solicit donations at Star Parties is ridiculous. The club has not increased dues in a very long time, and the current rate of $20/year is significantly lower than $20 in 2001 dollars.

Another member noted that we’re heading into star party season, so might be good to see the star party QR code implemented. $30/year dues is not bad. Might be worth including a student rate.

Another Board Member noted that their research showed that the earliest reference to $20 was in 1999, which is $34 in today’s money. We are currently charging the equivalent of $10. We don’t know what cash reserve we should have, and that’s a separate discussion, but the cash reserve shouldn’t be spent on annual expenses. Currently we rent the Community Center for free, we’ve long dropped the number of activities we do, we no longer do the Young Astronomer Program (YAP). What we had to do to maintain $20 is to drop a lot of programs. Don’t feel its right that the board members buy the cookies for us. Back in 1999 dollars we’re charging the equivalent of 10 dollars. Considered student rate, senior rate, but thought to keep it simple.

Another member noted that a 50% increase over 20 years is less than 1% per year.

Another Board Member noted that savings get tapped over time, membership historically goes up and down. When membership is flat or going down we’ve had to tap into the savings to cover shortfalls. That’s the only thing we have, we can’t borrow, that’s our fallback. It’s another discussion about what the reserves should be, and we don’t want to be saving just to be saving, but it will be good to have a backup fund.

Another Board Member noted that during covid, membership was down to 33. The club experiences cyclic membership, and need to have the reserve. We should be pushing QR codes, see what we can do without being obnoxious while making it easier for people to donate without being too proactive about it. We should do it through the spring/summer seasons and see if we see an increase in donations. The Board has been pinching pennies on the laptop and insurance to make sure we stay in the green. The club has been proactive to get moving on telescope sales, which has provided real income to the club but we’re not in the business of selling for profit.

A Board Member also noted we could bring back the rent-an-astronomer program, where club members could support birthday parties, confirmations, bar/bat mitzvas, gender reveal parties, etc.

Another member noted that we’re overlooking what we’d be receiving for $30. Just the speaker at meetings is a great benefit. If you were to go to a show you’d pay at least $10 per night.

A Board Member also noted that some of the benefits of the club are intangible but invaluable, like the scope clinic. Often been said that the best accessory is the membership to an active astronomy club that has a lot of experience of enthusiastic members. All kidding aside, that’s us.

Justin proposed a Motion to Table the discussion due to Time, which was seconded and approved.

Annual Club Election:

Our annual Club Elections were held. Per Constitution and Bylaws, VP runs the election. Justin Murray presented the Slate of Candidates listed below and recommended the slate be accepted as a whole. The club agreed and elected the following to serve one-year terms:

President: Kathi Freeman

Vice-President: Justin Murray

Secretary: Tolga Yazicioglu

Treasurer: Ron Sampson

Membership Director: John Gall

Members At Large: Cyndi Hopping

Business Meeting was Adjourned by President Kathi Freeman at 8:12 PM

Following the Business Meeting, we were joined by Dr. Diana Hannikainen, Editor-In-Chief of Sky & Telescope Magazine. Dr. Hannikainen’s presentation was titled “The Radio Sky: How We Capture Cosmic Radio Waves”

Respectfully submitted,

Tolga Yazicioglu, Secretary

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