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Board of Directors Meeting
June 8, 2001 - Kerrville, Texas

Members Present:
Randall Dodd, Vice-President
Michael Yosko, Secretary
Tim Lovett, Treasurer
Mike Andrews, Director Region II
Ed Johnson, Director Region III
Joe Montgomery, Past President
Conrad Dippel, Past President
Ric Sadler, Past President
Tom Wettstein, Past President

Members Absent:
Larry Self, President (excused)
Ken Britten, Director Region I (unexcused)
Jeff Tippit, Director Region IV (excused)
Antonio Alvarado, Director Region V (excused)
Ed Robinson, Director Region VI (excused)

Others Present:
Ron Brandin
Matthew Potell

Vice-President Randy Dodd called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Dodd called for the reading of the minutes from the last Board meeting.

Motion by Johnson to accept the minutes as previously published, 2nd by Andrews. The motion passed. The minutes have been posted on the TAARS web site.

Dodd called for a Treasurer's Report. Lovett gave the report, which will be attached to the meeting minutes. Additional money has been received for dues renewals and meeting registration, which was not reflected in the reports

Motion by Johnson to accept the report, 2nd by Andrews. The motion passed.

Committee Reports:

Dodd called for a Secretary's report. Sadler reported on the difficulty in locating a computer that meets the specs agreed upon at the last meeting. Yosko & Sadler will discuss the needs and expedite the purchase. In the mean time, Yosko will continue to use the old program.

Dodd called for the Membership Committee report. Yosko presented three applications for membership, two for Associate membership and one for Regular membership. The Regular application lacked any documentation and a request has been sent to the applicant.

Motion to accept all three applicants as Associate members by Andrews, 2nd by Johnson. Motion passed.

The membership suspension notices will be mailed to delinquent members within the next two weeks.

Dodd called for the Newsletter Committee Report. Johnson reported he will publish the newsletter within the next month.

Dodd called for a report from the Meeting Topics Committee. Jim Moore was not present and had not submitted a report. Topics for the Annual Meeting will be discussed under Old Business.

Dodd called for a report from the Archives Committee. Randy Pazzaglia was not present and had not reported any information prior to the board meeting. Dodd will forward the results of the testing done this weekend to Pazzaglia.

Dodd called for a report from the Dry Goods Committee. Ed Johnson reported that he had purchased several new items which are now available. Information and an order form will be included in the next newsletter.

Dodd called for a report from the WREX 2000 Committee. Dippel has received and paid the final corrected invoice from TEEX and is now waiting for final reports from Kelly Adamson before the CDs can be produced and distributed.

Dodd asked for an update on the E. R. Williams Scholarship program. Yosko reported no new nominations had been received. A final request for nominations will be included in the next news letter.

Dodd reported that Mike Andrews was the first recipient of the Continuing Education Scholarship. Rolf Krueger received the Annual Meeting tuition.

Montgomery reported that he will apply for ACTAR testing dates for the future meetings.

Old Business:

The Board reviewed the final draft of the proposed amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws. Dippel will forward the proposed changes to Dale Felton for legal review. If approved, the proposed changes will be distributed to the membership by mail and will be brought to the Annual Meeting for a vote.

The videotapes from the Annual meeting have been obtained from Jeff Tippit and have been given to Mike Andrews. Andrews will now begin the editing process and will contact Kirk Parks for assistance in the production of the CD's for distribution.

Dodd opened discussion regarding the upcoming “combined conference”. TAARS will send a representative to the conference. Self will contact SOAR president David Lohf, to determine if TAARS money is still needed for the production of the conference. If the seed money is not needed, TAARS will withdraw the offer of financial support, due to the changes in the way the conference sponsorship was set up. (SOAR president, David Lohf has indicated that his organization is not planning to continue the traditional SOAR, TAARS, WATAI type of combined conference this year, since WATAI has opted out. SOAR has been advertising a SOAR-CAARS combined conference and has indicated that TAARS may be a co-sponsor, but not an equal participant, as in the past.)

The 2001 Annual Meeting was discussed, with the following suggestions and recommendations being brought forward:

1. Tentative dates still being the 1st or 2nd week in October, with a possible weekend in September as a backup,
2. Offer a combination of dynamic testing and classroom presentation,
3. Present a variety of topics that would appeal to people of all levels of training and experience,
4. Change the format to Friday, Saturday, Sunday, instead of the traditional Thursday, Friday, Saturday schedule,
5. Present a main topic in a 4 hour general session, followed by 4 sets of 2 hour breakout sessions,
6. Hold the conference at Lakeway Inn, a resort near Austin. Dippel presented information about the resort's advantages:
   • The price for the meeting rooms, break refreshments, lunch on Saturday, audio/visual equipment, and other amenities is given as a flat rate of $170.00 per attendee, rather than a separate fee for each item or ranges based on the number of rooms. This will make it easier to estimate the cost and set the registration fee. It was observed that the flat, all inclusive fee is lower than most conference centers that charge separately for each item.
   • Lakeway Inn is close to Austin historical sites as well as recreation areas,
   • Costs can be more easily calculated after we contact and arrange for speakers,
   • Austin is centrally located in the State.

Motion to hold the conference in the Austin area on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday by Johnson, 2nd by Lovett. Motion carried.

Dippel and Sadler will continue to investigate and negotiate with Lakeway Inn and report to the Board members by July 1st.

1. General session –
   • continue the acceleration studies in the meeting area, A class on the latest studies in perception/reaction times and process
2. Breakout sessions –
   • Steve McKinzie has information on automobile brake proportioning valves. Montgomery will contact McKinzie to check on availability and expenses.
   • Invite members of the DPS to talk about truck and driver's log inspections. Dodd will contact DPS.
   • An overview of methods for scene mapping, to include measuring with tapes and more advanced methods. Dodd will check on presenters.
   • An opportunity for vendors to present their products in detail, in a classroom setting, rather than booths in a hall.

After the general discussion, a tentative schedule was developed:

Friday –
Continue data collection for intersection acceleration of various types of vehicles and drivers.

Saturday –
AM – General session
PM – two sets of breakout sessions, each to be presented twice

Sunday –
General session topic and Business meeting

Additional information will be sent out via e-mail, as well as in the newsletter and/or special mailing.

New Business:

Dodd called for new business. There being none,

Motion to adjourn by Johnson, 2nd by Andrews. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

Submitted by:
Michael Yosko, Secretary

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