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This is your chance to hear directly from each board member. This section will include messages from the directors about upcoming initiatives that they are working on but also news that they want you to know about.
Treasurer Devin Campbell
This year has seen many changes inside and outside of the club. The world is opening up again but we are seeing supply chain issues and rapid inflation. Many organizations are trying to do more with less and we are not any different.
Some of the changes we have seen this year are:
- Replacement of the flat roof section
- Increase in all Aircraft costs (hangar rates, insurance, maintenance, and fuel)
- Replacement of IUK engine
- Bookkeeping
- Legal Fees
- Opening of the Club
Replacement of the Flat Roof
This was the second biggest expense to the club this year and made up the biggest portion of Clubhouse expenses totaling 42,380.
Replacement of IUK’s Engine
This was the largest cost that we had to deal with as a board this year. Once the dust settled the overhaul cost was $58,500, $13,000 more than what was in the overhaul reserve account.
Increase in All Aircraft Costs
Not only did we see an increase in the predicted costs of the Engine overhaul we also saw an increase in all the other costs. From fuel going as high as 2.90 per litre to insurance increasing by $500 for each aircraft and hangar costs increasing by $1000 for each aircraft. Many members feel that the aircraft should be charged at a lower rate than it costs to operate. Currently the rates are $180 per hour (plus GST and PST) plus a $30 fuel surcharge (GST only). The actual hourly cost for the aircraft in the last year was $218.85/hr for GGMA (a difference of 8.85/hr) and $439.43/hr for IUK (a difference of 229.43).
Opening of the Club
Over the last year we have seen a gradual re-opening of the club from the restart of TGIF and Dutch Lunch to 2 Wings and Wheels events. Even though the board has decided that it is still not time to open the club to in person meetings, the club has seen a gradual increase in use and we have seen a revenue of $300 in drink “donations”. This means that we are donating more than we are drinking, thank you and keep up the good work on this one.
We have also had to change our garbage pick up as we have just recently found the contract was canceled in 2020. We are now using the blue bin that is located in the back of the club house instead of the green one.
Bookkeeping and Legal Fees
Up until now I have talked about the increasing costs to operate the club and how this has affected us. We had to dip into the Third Aircraft Acquisition fund to help cover many of the costs over the last year. Now it is time to talk about some of the cost savings that have been found.
One of the cost savings is the sudden resignation of Janet for our Bookkeeping. We have had to incur some cost associated with this transition and over the year we have had some delays in billing as well. But with these growing pains have come some cost savings as well. We have saved over $4,000 in bookkeeping costs this year instead of increasing every year as has been the trend.
This year has also seen some of the lowest years in Legal Fees. This year we only spent $1,500 in legal fees down from $6,000 last year and over $10,000 the previous year.
Relationship with YXX
Our relationship with YXX has also changed over the last year. We have moved to a more collaborative approach. We still understand the need to keep our relationship with YXX at an arm's length, but not at the expense of knowing what is going on. This collaborative approach will lead to a greater understanding of the goals of YXX and how we can work together to achieve those goals.
Closing
There have been many changes over the last year, and next year looks to be the same. Not only with the way the world is changing but how our local communities are changing. Talking with other volunteer organizations around our communities indicates that they too are experiencing similar problems to us with a lack of volunteers and increasing costs of traditional items. We will have to look deeper next year not only for cost savings but possibly a different way to fund our organization (such as more volunteer hours) so that we do not see fees climb to a rate that is unsustainable.
P.D. The current rate for the Aircraft are $180/hr plus GST and PST and the current fuel surchagre is $30/hr plus GST
Newsletter Devin Campbell
Thank you everyone for the positive feedback about the newsletter.
This year we commenced with a format change with the newsletter. Instead of focusing on stories from the internet, we focused on the club and our membership. This has helped reintroduce us to each other again.
We look forward to continuing this effort next year.
Building Maintenance Director Devin Campbell
This year has seen us opening the club up more and learning what has been done and what needs to be done. Over the last year we held several work parties cleaning up the inside and outside of the club. We have also done a walk around and have started setting up a plan to continue upgrading the clubhouse
The most major undertaking that was done this year was the flat roof replacement over the storage and stage area. This was not without controversy as is normal for the club. The roof was deemed needing to be replaced approximately 5 years ago by a building inspection. The board at the time received 3 quotes with an average cost of approximately $10,000. 5 years later, last year's board decided that this could not wait any longer and went ahead and obtained 3 quotes and settled on Penfolds roofing due to their previous experience dealing with this company. Last year a deposit was made and this year's board finished the project and inspected the roof.
Hangar Repair
On Sept 10 you could have caught Bevan and Ken McKeen doing a repair to the Door Tracks in front of GGMA.
Fly-Out Devin and Ken Campbell
Regrettably flyouts were not as successful as we would have liked to be. With the Atmospheric Rivers in November followed by the cold snap from the end of December to mid January followed by the never ending spring rains that lasted into the end of June. Not only has the weather been difficult but COVID still has not allowed us to do many of the flyouts that have been requested.
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