A survey was done, we had nowhere near 50, it seems less than 10 had interest in a club outing via bus. A nearly $2000 expenditure. for 10 people seems wasteful, there are cheaper options for that size group. If Deloy, for example wanted to ride the bus it would need wheelchair access.
It seems the biggest issue was interest (lack of) and we already polled the membership during the election. Via, the constitution the expenditure would need to be approved in a general membership meeting. We would first need a firm count of people before a cost could be decided. Erik
This argument over chartering a bus for the upcoming eclipse in May needs to be put on hold until the next meeting. First, I agree with Siegfried and Chuck that there needs to be restrictions on how the club expends its funds. Has a survey been taken to establish just how many club members would be interested in a chartered trip to St. George? Is it possible to do one before the February meeting? I would be happy to volunteer and do a phone survey to see if the interest is there in the membership. I do have a suggestion however. If there is enough interested members in making the trip by bus, perhaps we could come up with a compromise. I just talked with a representative at "Le Bus" about options for such a trip. She says if we had 50 members take a turn-around trip (drive-down, view the eclipse and then drive-back the same day) it would be about $40 per person. The group would have 5 hours to work with once off the bus to view the eclipse due to the fact that the bus operato r has a 15-hour driving time limit once he leaves the bus yard. She gave me the price of $1,017.90 for that option. I asked her about a over-night option so members could do some stargazing and then sleep over in a motel in St. George. That bumped the cost up to $1870 since they'd have to pay the operator an extra day's wages. Now for my thoughts on a compromise. Since this wouldn't be a public outreach adventure by any means, perhaps the membership could vote on a one-time 50/50 deal. The club would pay out $20 towards a member's seat (for a total of $1,000) and the member would be responsible for the remaining $20 (based on the 50 riders on a turn-around trip). The member would of course be responsible for any taxes, luggage fees, etc. Once a member has reserved a seat, they must keep to their commitment unless a valid emergency comes up and he/she can fill that seat with another member who couldn't get a seat due to the bus being filled. As for the over-night option, it's basically the same, except the member would be responsible for their room as well. And perhaps a motel/hotel can be contracted for a discount for such a large group. Another thing to consider is food. Members could either bring their own lunch bags or maybe the club could find a vendor who would make a quantity of "box lunches, " in which the cost is shared equally by each member. A couple of large coolers with dry ice should do the job. Just my two cents. As I am now a retired bus driver this month, I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends and meeting some new ones in February!
Tom Sevcik
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