Minutes from the April 8, 2019 Meeting President Bernie Hanmore called the FCVRRHS membership meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. in the conference room of the U.S. Bronze Foundry & Machine, Inc., located at 18649 Brake Shoe Road, Meadville, PA. Attending the meeting were Bernie Hanmore, Dennis Mead, Ed Cronin, Carl Timko, Bill McComas, Jack Sheets, John Snyder, Stan Niwa, Ron Stafford, Nick Ozorak, Al Reibel, Jim Saulsbery, Pete and Jenn Gifford, Mike Shannon, Dan and Casey Pfeiffer, Charles Webber, Terry Martin, Rich Roberts, Dr. Dean Spencer, Scott Ladner, Steve Grzegorzewski, and Don Porter. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Jim Saulsbery to approve the minutes of the March 11, 2019 membership meeting. Dennis Mead seconded the motion and the minutes were approved by everyone attending. Treasurer's Report After the approval of the minutes, Treasurer Ed Cronin read the financial report of the FCVRRHS. Included were current balances, income, and expenses. Restricted funds were for the Meadville Depot and Meadville Model Railroad Club. Income and expense figures read were mostly from the beginning of 2019 to the present. Income was from fundraising for the Depot, dues, program services, the sale of the baggage car, the model railroad club, general contributions and special events. Expenses were for the Depot, program services, the model railroad club, fundraising, administration and miscellaneous costs. Ed mentioned that a donor is gifting an annuity to the FCVRRHS and another donor is setting up a payroll deduction to donate from their paycheck. Ed also informed the membership that those that have an IRA are reminded the IRS requires a minimum distribution starting at the age of 70 1/2. If funds were donated to the organization via direct transfer, there would be no penalty or taxes charged. Treasurer Cronin then read from a 5-year Performa report for the Meadville Depot that was prepared before the acquisition of the depot. It compared estimated and actual figures. The first year of fundraising for the depot has exceeded the estimated income. Expenses are slightly under the initial prediction; taxes are the same, while insurance was nearly double what was expected. He also read what the utilities might cost in the first year, how much was budgeted for renovation costs, and the total first year expenses. Ed then read estimated donations and grants for the second year. All other figures were about the same as the first year. After Ed completed his report, Nick Ozorak made the motion to approve the treasurer's report. John Snyder seconded the motion and the motion carried by an unanimous vote of the attending members. Committee Reports Budget/Financial/ Insurance/Compliance The organization received funds through a GBU program that Stan Niwa had informed everyone about earlier. Historical/Archive There was no report from the Historical/Archive Committee, though research is continuing for the history of the depot. Membership The membership is growing. At last count, there were 66 individual memberships and 11 family memberships. Two junior members were included in the individual memberships. One of our newest members, Don Porter, introduced himself to the members attending the April meeting. There are more people interested enough that they are considering signing up. Model Railroading No report was made on the progress of the Meadville Model Railroad Club layout. In past reports, it was said that the last day for the club semester would be in June. Another issue concerning the Davies Foundation Intern Program is covered later in this report. Museum To all members who wish to help out with projects at the Meadville Depot, work sessions are scheduled for Thursdays and Saturdays, starting at 10 a.m. for the most part. The Service Saturday, however, started at 9 a.m. on April 13. Service Saturday is an Allegheny College program where students volunteer to help non-profit organizations with jobs that are needed to be done. About 10 students were to arrive at the depot and help clean up the grounds. Protective equipment, rakes, and wheelbarrows were to be needed. (Editor's note: This event has occurred before the publication of this edition.) Bernie Hanmore thanked all the volunteers who gave their time to help restore the depot. There is a lot more work to do and all help is greatly appreciated. To work inside the depot, volunteers must be an FCVRRHS member. Any member that reports to work must sign in so the collective number of hours can be used in obtaining grants. There will be release forms also to sign to work inside. The Meadville City government is working with the FCVRRHS to get a building permit. One of the last items needed to obtain a building permit is an elevation reading by a surveyor. Bernie reported that the organization qualifies as an assembly, where the minimum floor space per person is 30 square feet per person. This equates to a maximum of 85 people in the depot at one time. Drawings have been given to the building inspector. Some of the work planned includes blocking off the loading dock, refurbishing or replacing doors, flooring, installing a tin dropped ceiling, insulation, dry wall, bead board, handicap accessible restrooms, a kitchenette, a workshop, heat ducts, a storage area, and move the furnace. An education/research area is planned also. The city does require a licensed plumber to be hired. The museum will initially be 30 feet x 56 feet. A Launch Event is scheduled for Thursday, May 2 at the Italian Civic Club, located on Water St. in Meadville, between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The ICC will host the event, taking care of every detail. Beverages, however, will be subject to a cash bar. Jenn Gifford will have a Power Point® presentation for the event. Flyers will be released soon, in the newspapers and on social media. Members are asked to donate to help fund the restoration of the depot. Donors will be honored with a "donors wall" inside the museum. Applications for grants are being sent out. Our grant writer, Maryann Martin will continue to look and apply for grants to help fund the restoration. Property/Equipment There are a few things to do to complete restoration of the Russell snowplow. The lettering will be applied once warmer weather settles in. All of the window and door glass will be replaced. A proposed program is for members to buy a pane of glass. Also needed is fencing installed between the snowplow and the WNYP Railroad. Fence from the depot will be used, though it has not been determined if it would be enough to surround the entire snowplow. Jack Sheets has been busy painting the interior of the caboose and the 518. He said at the meeting that the caboose is ready for visitors. The frame of the caboose is to get a fresh coat of paint soon. The railroad display at Pomona Park is expected to open on Memorial Day weekend, likely to be Sundays only until the museum is opened. Ed Cronin has donated a John Deere lawn tractor/snowplow to be used on the museum grounds and possibly at the snowplow display. The floodlights at Pomona Park will be replaced by LED lights, but now, they won't be fitted to existing fixtures. Instead they will use the posts that are already in place. Special Events/Programs Upcoming train shows will include the following in the general vicinity: * April 27 - Pittsburgh Model Railroad Jamboree - in Yorktown Hall at Robert Morris University in Moon Township, PA. Registration opens up at 8 a.m. The cost is $35 for NMRA members and $45 for non-members. * May 2 - 5 - NMRA Mid-Central Region Convention "The Bullet 2019" at the Holiday Inn Boardman, located at 7410 South Ave., Youngstown, Ohio. This would actually be in the suburb of Boardman. Registration is not cheap. They are charging $90! * May 4,5 - Painesville Model Train Days at the Painesville Railroad Museum, located at 475 Railroad St., Painesville, OH. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5. There is an excursion that will appeal to many railfans. The Strasburg Railroad will be hosting the N & W 4-8-4 #611 starting September 27 through the 30th, then October 4 through the 7th, October 12 through the 14th, October 19, 20, 26, and 27. It is expected to run with Strasburg's N&W 4-8-0 #475. One of the programs is firing one of the steam locomotives. Excursion schedules can be seen on www.strasburgrailroad.com. The first run of tickets have already been sold out. Buy your tickets now before they are all gone. Secretary Carl Timko reminded everyone at the meeting that the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad's 150th anniversary is in October 2019, and that we should be planning to do something to celebrate. The FCVRRHS does have a B&LE boxcar and now the Meadville freight and passenger depot. Carl mentioned he and Vanessa had talked with Scott Woods of the Greenville Railroad Park about coordinating events at Greenville and Meadville. Other notes Near the end of the meeting, Terry Martin questioned why the board hadn't dug deeper into why it was paying $250 to help fund a intern with the Meadville Model Railroad Club, that is funded largely by the Davies Foundation Interen program. Terry also thought that with three instructors overseeing three students was wasting money. Nick Ozorak, who heads the model railroad club program responded that the intern's job was to oversee the program and help generate public interest in the program. Terry asked the board to revisit and decline the motion. As there would be no intern until fall, a motion was made by Al Reibel to rescind the previous motion. John Snyder seconded the motion, which then carried by full agreement of the attending members. The program will be revisited in the fall, if an intern from the Davies Foundation is deemed beneficial. Next Meeting The next membership meeting will be Monday, May 13, 2019 at 6:30 p.m. at the U.S. Bronze Foundry & Machine, Inc., located at 18649 Brake Shoe Road, Meadville, PA, in the conference room. See you then!