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CONSTITUTION
AND BY-LAWS OF THE POTTSTOWN AREA AMATEUR
RADIO CLUB
CONSTITUTION
MISSION
Wishing to secure for ourselves
the pleasures and benefits of the association of persons commonly interested in
amateur radio, constitute ourselves The Pottstown Area Amateur Radio Club
(PAARC) an unincorporated organization, and enact this Constitution as our
governing law. It shall be our purpose
to further the exchange of information and cooperation between members, to
promote radio knowledge, fraternalism, and proficiency, and to conduct PAARC
programs and activities as to advance the general interest and welfare of
amateur radio in the community and to serve the public interest and safety.
ARTICLE I - MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 - All persons
interested in amateur radio communication shall be eligible for membership.
Membership shall be by application and election upon such terms as PAARC shall
by its By-laws provide.
Section 1 - The officers of
PAARC shall be: President, Vice‑President, Secretary, and Treasurer. All officers of PAARC must hold a valid
Amateur Radio license. Each officer, by
default, is a member of the Executive Board. The Officers are responsible for the
day-to-day operation of PAARC.
Section 2 - The officers of
PAARC shall be elected from a list of nominees selected during the regular
PAARC meeting in November, for a term of one year by a simple majority of the
votes tallied at the regular PAARC meeting in December. The term of office begins on January 1. Each officer shall serve for a term of one (1)
year or until his/her successor is named.
Section 3 - The affairs of PAARC shall be governed by an
Executive Board consisting of nine (9) members; the four PAARC officers, three
Executive Board Members at Large, the Repeater Trustee and the immediate Past
President. If the immediate Past
President is elected to another office, then this position shall be vacant. The Executive Board shall have control over
the property and affairs of PAARC and shall establish its policies. The
Executive Board shall have the power to hold meetings, appoint committees,
suspend or censure members and take any necessary and proper steps to carry out
the purposes of PAARC and to promote its best interests. Establishment of the Executive Board is
defined in the By-laws.
Section 4 - Vacancies must be
filled by special elections at the first regular meeting following the
withdrawal or resignation or as soon as possible to comply with the
Constitution and By-laws. Officers or
Executive Board Members at Large elected by such special elections shall hold
the office for the remainder of the vacated term.
Section 5 - Officers or
Executive Board Members at Large may be removed by a two‑thirds vote of
the current voting membership. Voting
membership is defined in the By-laws.
ARTICLE III – DUTIES OF PAARC
MANAGEMENT
Duties of the officers
Section 1 - The President shall
preside at all Executive Board meetings of PAARC and conduct the same according
to the rules adopted. The President
shall enforce due observance of this Constitution and By-laws, decide all
questions of order in accordance, and sign all official documents as authorized
by the Executive Board. The President
will turn over all items belonging to PAARC to the new President upon leaving
office.
Section 2 - The Vice‑President
shall assume all the duties of the President in the absence of the latter. The
Vice‑President will turn over all items belonging to PAARC to the new
Vice‑President upon leaving office.
Section 3 - The Secretary shall
keep a record of the proceedings of all Executive Board and special meetings,
keep a roll of members, submit applications for membership, carry on all
correspondence, keep a record of attendance, keep a record of the count of all
votes, and read communications at each business meeting. The Secretary shall, upon leaving office, turn
over all items belonging to PAARC to his the new Secretary. The Secretary
may delegate authorization for certain correspondence as approved by the Executive
Board. It shall be the duty of the
Secretary to keep the Constitution and By-laws of PAARC and have them available
at every meeting. The Secretary shall
note all amendments, changes, and additions to be acted thereon and shall
permit the same to be consulted by members upon request.
Section 4 - The Treasurer shall
receive and receipt all monies paid to PAARC, keep an accurate account of all
monies received and expended, and pay no bills without authorization of the
Executive Board. The Treasurer will
report a statement of accounts at each Executive Board meeting. The Treasurer
will turn over all items belonging to PAARC to the new Treasurer upon leaving
office.
Duties of the Executive Board
Section 5 - The Executive Board shall enforce due observance of this
Constitution and By-laws, create and appoint all committees and special
appointments, call special elections when vacancies in the Executive Board
occur, and make all proposals to the general membership for consideration. Any departing Executive Board member will turn
over all items belonging to PAARC to the new Executive Board member upon
leaving office.
Section 6 - Establishment of the
Executive Board is defined in the By-laws.
Committees and Special Appointments
Section 7 - The day to day
operations are for the most part conducted by committees and special
appointments. Establishment and
responsibility of committees and special appointments is defined in the
By-laws.
ARTICLE IV ‑ MEETINGS
Section 1 - The By-laws shall
provide for regular Executive Board and special meetings.
ARTICLE V ‑ DUES
Section 1 - As provided in the
By-laws, PAARC may levy upon the general membership such dues or assessments as
deemed necessary. Dues or assessments are further defined in the By-laws.
ARTICLE VI ‑ AMENDMENTS
Section 1 - Proposals for
amendments to this Constitution and By-laws must be submitted in writing to the
Executive Board. The Executive Board shall direct the Secretary to notify all
voting members, of the proposal, in writing by first class or e-mail. The
written notification must take place at least 20 days before the vote is to be
taken and must include the exact proposed amendment to be considered. This
Constitution may be amended by a two‑thirds vote of total voting members.
The By-laws may be amended by a two‑thirds vote of the Executive Board.
ARTICLE VII ‑ PAARC
REPEATER LICENSEES
Section 1 - PAARC repeater
licensees shall be a General class or higher and governs all use of PAARC
repeaters. The licensees shall be
appointed by the Executive Board. There is no specified term for PAARC
repeater licensees.
5/6/2010 - Constitution revisions
approved by PAARC Membership
BY-LAWS
MEMBERSHIP
PAARC has two classes of
membership. Those classes of membership
are Full and Associate. Each class of
membership is defined below. Applications
for new members shall be approved by a majority of voting members of the
Executive Committee.
Full Membership Full Membership is open to licensed amateurs
and includes all PAARC privileges as well as the rights to hold a PAARC office
and vote.
Full Membership is also open to
a licensed spouse, child, parent, or other close relative of a Full Member
residing at the same address as that of the Full Member at reduced dues.
Each Family Member will have full voting privileges but will not receive a newsletter.
Full membership is also open to
a licensed primary school student at reduced dues (Student Member.)
Associate Membership Associate Membership is open to unlicensed
persons interested in Amateur Radio and includes all PAARC privileges except
the right to hold office and vote.
DUES
Yearly dues will be assessed by
the Executive Board and approved by a simple majority of members of the
Executive Board in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Non‑payment of dues by March 1 shall
result in termination of membership.
PAARC has four classes of Dues
as follows:
1st
Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter
Full member $20 $15 $10 $20*
Each Additional
Family Member $5 $4 $3 $5*
Full Member Student $10 $8 $6 $10*
Associate Member $5 $4 $3 $5*
*
Dues paid in the 4th quarter will include membership for the
following year.
Dues may be waived to certain
members at the discretion of the Executive Board.
MEETINGS
PAARC will hold three types of
meetings, Regular Meetings and Executive Board Meetings and Special Meetings. The three types of meetings are described in
detail below.
Regular Meetings
Regular PAARC meetings shall be
held on the first Thursday of each calendar month at a time and location
specified by the Executive Board. Except for the November and December
meetings, PAARC meetings will generally be a social event and no business is
expected to done unless requested by the attending membership and a minimum of
four members of PAARC Executive Board are in attendance. Nomination of officers will be held at the
November meeting and elections will be conducted at the December meeting.
Regular Meetings are not normally held during the months of July and August.
Executive Board Meetings
Executive Board meetings shall
be held at least quarterly and as required, at a time and location specified by
the Executive Board. All voting members
of PAARC are invited to attend Executive Board meetings and will be notified as
to date and time.
Decisions of the Executive Board
shall be approved by a majority of voting members of the Executive Board. All Executive
Board members will have the opportunity to vote by first class mail or e-mail
if unable to attend the meeting. All
votes sent by e-mail must be received by a non-voting person and be kept secret
until the vote is counted. The Executive
Board shall meet at such time and place as determined by the Executive Board.
Special Meetings
Special meetings may also be called by the
Executive Board. Notices shall be sent, by the Secretary via electronic
or first-class mail, to all voting members, concerning special meetings and the
business to be transacted. Only such
business as designated shall be transacted. Meeting dates and locations shall be
determined by the Executive Board.
ESTABLISHMENT OF EXECUTIVE
BOARD
The affairs of PAARC shall be
governed by an Executive Board consisting of nine (9) members; the four PAARC officers,
the three Executive Board Members at Large, the immediate Past President and
the Trustee of the Repeater. The chairperson
of the Executive Board will be the President of PAARC.
The President, Vice President,
Secretary and Treasurer are elected to one (1) year terms. The Executive Board Members at Large are
elected to three (3) year terms, with one Executive Board Member at Large
elected each year. The Repeater Trustee
is appointed by the Executive Board.
EXECUTIVE BOARD EXCEPTIONS
The Executive Board hereby
authorizes the following delegations of its authority:
- Payment of expenditures for any PAARC activity with
monthly or aggregate expenses of less than $100,
- Payment of expenses for printing and mailing of PAARC
newsletter and special PAARC activities, and
- Payment of utility bills and other expenses of less
than $50/month.
COMMITTEES AND SPECIAL
APPOINTMENTS
All committees and special appointments shall be appointed by the
Executive Board by majority vote. There
will be two types of committees, standing and ad hoc. Standing committees will continue forever and
ad hoc committees will exist only for the period of time to complete the
business for which the committee was established. Examples of ad hoc committees might be Field
day Committee or Election Committee.
Membership Services
Committee
The Membership Services Committee is a
Standing Committee. The chairman of the
committee is appointed by the Executive Board upon recommendation of the
committee members and will report to the president.
The Membership Services
Committee shall oversee activities carried out for the good of the membership,
which may include licensing classes, license testing, the newsletter,
on-the-air bulletins, membership recruitment, transmitter hunts and other
services which may prove beneficial and feasible. This committee will also be responsible for
maintaining PAARC membership database.
Public Relations Committee
The Public Relations Committee
is a Standing Committee. The chairman of
the committee is appointed by the Executive Board upon recommendation of the
committee members and will report to the president.
The Public Relations Committee
shall send news releases pertaining to PAARC activities to local news media and
shall carry on other appropriate publicity activities concerning PAARC and
Amateur Radio. The Public Information
Officer will be a member of this committee.
Public and Emergency
Service Committee
The Public and Emergency Service
Committee is a Standing Committee. The
chairman of the committee is appointed by the Executive Board upon
recommendation of the committee members and will report to the president.
The Public and Emergency Service
Committee shall be the point of contact with served organizations, designate a
Field Day chairman, appoint one or more Net Managers as necessary for operation
of any nets sponsored by PAARC, and maintain liaison with officials of organizations
such as RACES and ARES. The Emergency
Coordinator will be a member of this committee.
Program Committee
The Program Committee is a
Standing Committee. The chairman of the
committee is appointed by the Executive Board upon recommendation of the committee
members and will report to the president.
The Program Committee shall
arrange for speakers on educational and informative topics for PAARC meetings. The Committee shall also plan other functions
in accordance with the purposes of PAARC.
Technical Committee
The Technical Committee is a Standing Committee. The chairman of the committee is
appointed by the Executive Board upon recommendation of the committee members
and will report to the president.
The Technical Committee shall
maintain the Amateur Radio stations owned and operated by PAARC. The licensee(s) and/or trustee(s) of PAARC
repeaters shall be permanent members of the Technical Committee.
Special Appointments
Special Appointments are given
to individuals that perform a discreet function such as Public Information
Officer, Emergency Coordinator or Regular Meeting Moderator or Sergeant at
Arms. Special Appointments are appointed
by the Executive Board and will report to the president.
SIGNING OF CHECKS
Disbursement of PAARC funds must
be made by check. The signature of the Treasurer is required on all checks.
HOLDING OF MULTIPLE OFFICES
No voting member may
concurrently hold more than one of the following positions: President, Vice‑President,
Secretary or Treasurer.
OFFICIAL FRIENDS OF PAARC
As a mechanism to promote
goodwill and communications to those outside of PAARC, certain organizations
and individuals can be declared to be "Official Friends" of PAARC. Official Friends are entitled to complimentary
copies of PAARC newsletter and other broadcast communications.
Official Friend designation may
be granted by recommendation of any PAARC member and approval by a simple
majority of the Executive Board. Official Friends have no PAARC privileges, but
are welcome to participate in any PAARC activity or communications. The ARRL EPA Section Manager and Atlantic
Division Director are automatically declared Official Friends of PAARC upon
their election to office. Other Official
Friends can include other ARRL officials, neighboring ARRL affiliated clubs,
and any other approved organization or individual.
VOTING.
All voting for elections of
Officers shall be by written ballot. All ballot votes will be supervised and
tallied by an Election Committee. All
voting members will have the opportunity to vote at the meeting or if unable to
attend, by first class mail, or e-mail. First class mail or e-mail ballots must be
received by the Secretary, or his designee, at least 48 hours prior to the
meeting.
MISCELLANEOUS
No pets, except for service animals as defined by the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), will be allowed at PAARC sponsored functions.
8/5/2010 - By-Laws revisions approved by PAARC Board
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