About Us|Bylaws:
The By-Laws of the Grand Rapids Amateur Radio Association, Inc.
SECTION 1 - MEETINGS
Meetings shall be held monthly, at least 10 times/year at such place as the President shall order. The meeting shall be designated the Business Meeting but will usually also include a short program activity or presentation of general interest to those members attending. In addition to the usual Web site meeting announcement, proper meeting notice shall be given to all members at least two weeks in advance. Normally such notice shall be by E-mail but any member may request meeting notices be sent directly to him/her via U.S. Mail. Such special requests can be made on the membership application/renewal form or in writing to any board member. Special meetings may be called by the President upon written notice from any five Full Members. All members shall receive written or E-mail notice of Special Meetings, again with at least two weeks notice. The president may also call open or closed meetings of the club officers at his/her descretion. No notice is required to the general membership for these executive committee meetings.
SECTION 2 - MEMBERSHIP & DUES
In accordance with the GRARA club constitution,
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SECTION 2-1 |
To avoid conflict with officer elections and position turnover, the membership term for GRARA begins at midnight, March 1 and ends at midnight the last day of February of the next year. Membership dues are due by the end of February for the following term's membership. If dues are required for a class of membership, and the membership has lapsed, all rights and privileges (including voting rights) of the member shall be suspended until required dues have been paid. |
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SECTION 2-2: |
Any currently licensed Amateur may become a Full Member of GRARA by payment of Club dues, currently $25.00, for the membership year. Members 70 and over will receive a 40 percent discount on their annual dues, rounded up to the nearest dollar. Past Presidents elected prior to 2003 retain Full Membership for life as described in Section 11: Past Presidents. Newly licensed Amateurs who are interested in becoming Full Members of GRARA will have their membership dues waived for 12 months, their next years dues to be determined by Section 2-7: Pro Rated Membership Dues, as described below . |
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SECTION 2-3: |
The spouse or one (1) other immediate family member of a Full Member, who is also a licensed amateur, shall be granted Full Membership also. |
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SECTION 2-4: |
For any licensed Amateur under the age of 18, the membership dues for full membership shall be waived until the first full membership year begins after the Amateur has turned 18 years of age. However, this membership does not qualify for additional spouse/immediate family membership described in Section 2-2. |
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SECTION 2-5: |
Any person interested in Amateur Radio, who is not a licensed Amateur may become an Associate Member of GRARA by payment of Club dues of the amount specified for full membership as described in Section 2-2. For Associate Members under the age of 18, membership dues shall be waived until the first full membership year begins after the Amateur has turned 18 years of age. Associate Membership does not qualify for additional spouse/immediate family membership described in Section 2-2. Associate members do not have voting rights. If the Associate Member becomes a licensed Amateur during the membership term, all rights and duties of Full Membership shall immediately apply upon the issuance of an Amateur callsign. |
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SECTION 2-6: |
Any person who has performed an outstanding service for or on behalf of the Association may be elected an Honorary Member. Honorary members are retained on the rolls for the Club for life. Honorary Members who hold Amateur licenses shall be considered Full members for the purpose of voting. |
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SECTION 2-7: |
Annual dues paid for Full and Associate membership may be discounted as described below for membership terms that begin mid-year. Note that Pro-Rated membership only applies to members joining GRARA for the first time or after one or more terms of lapsed membership. All others will be required to pay full dues for the current year.
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SECTION 2-8: |
Annual dues paid for full or associate membership in GRARA may also be discounted for individuals never previously members of GRARA. Currently the discounted dues for these new members will be $10/yr with the same pro-rating for membership terms beginning mid-year as described in Section 2-7 of the Bylaws. This reduction is only valid for the first year of GRARA membership. Thereafter regular dues apply. Youth and honorary memberships as described in the Bylaws remain unaffected as does the policy of granting complementary new-ham memberships to non-licensed individuals passing GRARA VE administered exams. |
SECTION 3 - EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
A committee consisting of the officers shall recommend certain expenditures, budgets, and special activities. The President shall preside at these meetings, any officer may request an Executive Committee meeting.
SECTION 4 - FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year shall be from the first regular meeting in December through the last regular meeting in November.
SECTION 5 - ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The election of officers shall be by ballot at the last regular meeting in November of the fiscal year. A majority vote of Full Members present at this meeting being required. Only members in good standing are eligible to serve an office of GRARA.
SECTION 6 - NOMINATING COMMITTEE
A Nominating Committee shall be appointed at the first regular meeting in September, and shall remain intact until after elections to assist the Secretary in checking the inventory of club property.
SECTION 7 - BY-LAWS
Changes in the By-Laws may be made when proposed by any Full Member and passed by a two-thirds vote of members present at any regular meeting. The By-Laws may not change any existing part of the Constitution.
SECTION 8 - CLUB PROPERTY
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SECTION 8-1: |
An inventory of all Club property will be kept by the Secretary who shall log all pertinent information on all equipment. |
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SECTION 8-2: |
The Nominating Committee shall assist the Secretary in checking the inventory of the Club property. |
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SECTION 8-3: |
The inventory log will be available to any Full Member for viewing at their request. |
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SECTION 8-4: |
Any executive office change at any time will warrant a full check of the inventory. |
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SECTION 8-5: |
Insurance will be maintained on that Club property in the inventory, in case of theft, accident, or termination of the club. |
SECTION 9 - GRARA ACTIVITIES/ASSETS
No part of the net earnings of the corporation shall
inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members,
trustees, officers, or other private persons, except that the
corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable
compensation for services rendered and to make payments and
distributions in furtherance of Section 501(c) (3) purposes. No
substantial part of the activities of the corporation shall be the
carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence
legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or
intervene in (including the publishing or distribution of statements)
any political campaigning on behalf or in opposition to any candidate
for public office.
Notwithstanding any other provision of
these articles, the organization shall not carryon any other
activities not permitted to be carried on (a) by a corporation exempt
from Federal income tax under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code or any other future section of Federal Tax Code or (b)
by Corporation, contributions to which are deductible under Section
170 (c) (2) of the Internal Revenue Code or any corresponding section
of any future Federal Tax Code.
Upon dissolution of this
corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt
purposes within the meaning of Section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal
Revenue Code, i.e. charitable, educational, religious or scientific,
or corresponding section of any future Federal Tax Code, or shall be
distributed to the Federal Government, or to a State or local
government for a public purpose.
SECTION 10 - BOARD OF DIRECTORS
There shall be a Board of Directors consisting of the previous president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer of the past fiscal year, and the current officers. The Board of Directors shall meet as requested by the president or by three or more members of the board.
SECTION 11 - PAST PRESIDENTS
All past Presidents elected prior to 2003 shall continue to be considered Full Members for life providing they served their complete terms as President and fill out an annual membership form. This consideration is hereby revoked for presidents elected in 2004 and afterwards. All officers are expected to serve the club without any special perks other than reimbursement for approved personal expenses. (This is not meant to conflict with Section 2-6, Honorary Life Memberships, however.)
SECTION 12 - EXPENDITURES OF CLUB FUNDS
Expenditures of Club funds in excess of $75.00, except for emergency repairs of Club equipment, shall be authorized by the membership at a business meeting. Expenditures under that amount can be approved by the Treasurer without a vote provided the total amount requested by any one individual does not exceed $75 in any one month and $150 in any one calendar year.
SECTION 13 - RECRUITING POLICY
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SECTION 13-1: |
In order to provide for the ongoing financial health of the Club, it shall be the policy of GRARA that all members will actively engage in the recruiting effort, particularly towards newly licensed Amateurs or those local active Amateurs whose memberships have expired, to the organization. |
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SECTION 13-2: |
The Membership Chairman shall regularly contact, on an official basis, non-member users of the Club's equipment and request their support and membership. |
SECTION 14 - REPEATER USE AND FEATURES
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SECTION 14-1 |
All repeater systems owned and operated by GRARA shall be considered "open repeaters" to the extent of the use of said repeater systems as an aid to communication among properly licensed Amateurs using the repeater system as a "repeater," that is using the repeater to extend the distances of an Amateur's communication using the standard input and output frequencies of the repeater. |
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SECTION 14-2: |
GRARA may allow as a free feature to aid local Amateurs, the use of an "open" autopatch on one or more of the club's repeater systems. This "open autopatch" feature may be rescinded at any time by the Trustee or a majority vote of the officers. All users of the autopatch should show good Amateur practice. |
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SECTION 14-3: |
GRARA may provide other features on one or more of the repeater systems, including but not limited to "closed" Autopatch facilities, reverse Autopatch facilities, remote base transceivers, voice mail, Internet audio links, etc. These features may be reserved for the exclusive use of Full members, except for special events authorized by GRARA. |
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SECTION 14-4: |
The Technical Director may add or enable other features to any or all of the GRARA repeater systems for the purpose of determining if these features should be added permanently or to provide a temporary or special feature for a special event. These features may be reserved for a select few users. |
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SECTION 14-5: |
As the W8DC callsign is the legal responsibility of the
Trustee, the Trustee is fully empowered, without prior permission
of the Officers, to request and demand that any particular user,
Full member or not, immediately cease using any or all of the W8DC
repeater systems (or any individual feature such as the
Autopatch). If the affected user is a Full member of GRARA, he may
request a closed session of the Officers of GRARA to plead his
case in front of the Trustee. The officers may discuss the case,
but final judgment is reserved for the Trustee. The Trustee may
appoint the officers of GRARA and Control Operators (on an
individual basis) to act on his behalf in an emergency situation.
It shall be the duty of any authorized person acting on behalf of
the Trustee to notify the Trustee of their actions as soon as
possible, so that the Trustee may make final judgment. |
Revised: 05/06/05.Ron Fredricks K8DMR
Last Revised: September 2008 Ron Fredricks K8DMR (mphill)
Reformated for new website: October 26, 2008 Mike Hill