Minutes of 9-1-2012 General Membership Meeting

Thanks to everyone who was able to come to our quarterly meeting and party this past Saturday. Thanks for the wide assortment of culinary contributions, and thanks to Dave for hosting the event. Thom has submitted the minutes, which are detailed below, but here are the headlines for the benefit of anyone that wasn't there: (1) We are finally making progress on the permit process for Kualoa. (2) To comply with changes in our national insurance program, we will be implementing a policy of sponsorship for low airtime pilots. (3) We are initiating an annual program to give back to the communities where we fly, starting with a tree planting project at Kaaawa Elementary.

Preliminary Minutes
HPA General Meeting
September 1, 2012
Dave and Patti's house

1. We recognized visitors and new pilots: Rodney from Maui, student Jeff.

2. Treasurer's report: we have just over $1,500 in our account.

3. Site Reports

A. Makapuu

LZ sprinkler status update: Thom is working with Goto and city maintenance staff on repairing damage to some of the pipes before the system goes live. Windsock status update: Dave says there's been no progress, so we're making do with the status quo.

B. Kahana

A reminder was made to all tandem pilots about the prohibition on commercial tandems at Kahana. Thanks to everyone for their ongoing cooperation. Alex reported that a renewed permit insurance certificate was submitted to the state.

C. Kualoa

Alex spoke with the park manager, and she supports us seeking a permit from the city. Alex will meet with the city permit office to get ground handling and towing permitted under existing regulations.

4. Risk Management Plans

Changes in our national insurance program require all chapters to submit risk management plans for all flying sites. At the meeting, we circulated the plans we are implementing for our three insured sites: Makapuu, Kahana, and Nanakuli. The point of the plans is to reduce exposure to liability by keeping all portions of our flights clear of people or property (50 feet), as well as power lines or trees (100 feet). If any one of these minimums can't be met because of the layout of a given site, we are required to put procedures in place to mitigate any risks. These plans will be subject to ongoing updates, but at least we have something in place to start with. Random audits of management plans for chapters all across the country will start in September.

As part of these new plans, we are designating all our flying sites as P3 sites, but they can be flown by P2 pilots under a new sponsorship program. This was an idea suggested by Pete, based on similar programs successfully used at other sites around the country. We are still working out details, but the point is to have high airtime pilots helping lower airtime pilots make good decisions. This is really just a formalization of the informal process we already tend to use, but the insurance changes require us to spell out the details and make sure it's really working. As we get the details set within the next few days, we will post them in an article here and also update our online site guide.

5. Tree Trimming

A reminder was made to pilots not to trim trees in public areas without written permission from park personnel. Even if a glider is occasionally stuck in a tree we need to make an effort to minimize the damage to the tree. If in doubt, please discuss your plans with one of our directors. Thanks to everyone for their cooperation.

6. Cloud Safety

We had a discussion about cloud clearances and safety. Many pilots have accidentally gotten too close and become disoriented in numerous incidents over the years, with some notable recent incidents that prompted this reminder. Let's all make a concerted effort to help each other remain safely clear of clouds.

7. Complaints

A reminder was made for all pilots to get a board member involved right away, either in person or on the phone, in the event of complaints from anyone about our flying activities at any site. We rarely get complaints but when we do it's important to let your elected directors handle the situation whenever possible. Please just politely decline to argue about the situation, and just get us involved. Thanks for your cooperation.

8. Community Outreach

Over the years we've been involved in a lot of impromptu efforts to pitch in with various community projects, mostly beach clean up events, but also fish pond restoration, roof repairs, vegetation clearing. This year we've decided to initiate a new annual program for our club, where we designate a worthy cause for the donation of our club resources (funds and/or expertise and labor) in a local community where we fly. We want to make a recognizable effort to give something back to the communities that have supported our flying activities for so long. We will start with the Kahana community this year: Donna and Thom found out that Kaaawa Elementary school is pining for shade trees, and we will be working with the school administration to help get some trees planted there before the end of this year. Let us know if you're interested in being involved with that effort.