Our Annual General Meeting was held on Monday night (March 11, 2024) with 104 members attending.
The meeting minutes are as follows:
President Mike Kelly opened the meeting by welcoming all in attendance and beginning with a short update on the 300m range development which covered the progress to date with the major excavation work done and is currently being in a holding pattern while we build up capital to continue with the construction. Depending on Club finances, the construction will continue as the money allows.
A discussion on range safety officers and the requirements to be one for booking the range was had. The Secretary requested we create a clear policy on this, as it is a topic of friction that gets raised to him on a regular basis. After much discussion amongst the members and executive a Motion was put to the floor by Ian MacNeil and Seconded by Tom Kummer as follows:
“An RO has to be present in order for anyone to shoot on any Metro Rifle and Pistol Club Range. The RO has to have the NFA Range Safety Officer Course or an equivalent as determined by the Club President, Vice President or Club Chief Range Safety Officer.”
A vote was held and the motion was passed. This is now the most up to date policy for range use for our Club.
There was a discussion around the Cape Breton Trap and Skeet Club. We were informed by the President the Trap and Skeet Club no longer exists and that the former members are now members of the Metro Club. They have expended the majority of their former operating funds, and the Trap and Skeet range is almost complete. The CFO is requesting several final items like signage and flagging be completed before he will issue an operating permit. We were informed that the planned shot mitigation curtains have not yet been addressed, but that the range will go into operation without them, and they will be added at a later date. The question was raised wondering if this was outside what was promised to CBRM when requesting our Development Permit, and the President stated the curtains were never a requirement and went over the permit with the group.
The President did his annual report and covered the placings of multiple shooters in various competitions over the last year. We had many of our shooters win and place high in the rankings in pistol, rifle and shotgun events. Congratulations were given to all for their great performances.
The Secretary read the Financial report. Notable in it were that club membership had dropped significantly to 360 members for 2023-24. The mortgage on our range was renewed this year and the interest rate on the loan has increased. Our mortgage payments have raised slightly but not significantly because our remaining balance is less than $20k on the loan. Land taxes have increased but not prohibitively so because most of our property is under a forest management plan.
An Election of Officers was held.
There were no challengers for President, Vice President or Chief Range Safety Officer, so Mike Kelly remains as President, Terry Eldridge remains as Vice president and Sheldon Whitty remains as Chief Range Safety Officer.
Myself, Andy Maxwell, tendered my resignation, citing having served as Secretary and eventually a combined Secretary/Treasure after the resignation of former Treasure Fred Martell several years ago for a combined term of 15 yrs.
I suggested that the position of Secretary/Treasure be split again, as it traditionally was. This allows for a five-person Executive Committee which prevents tie votes should there be dissention amongst the Executive on an issue in the future, where currently we have had a four member board which allows that possibility.
A call for nominations was made.
Ian MacNeil nominated Noah Anderson, former treasurer for the Trap and Skeet Club, for the position of Treasurer. The Nomination was seconded by Tom Kummer and Noah accepted the nomination. Failing to find any other nominees, a vote was held and Noah Anderson is now the incoming Treasurer for the Metro Club.
Sven Kummer nominated Ryan Ledrew as Secretary, and it was seconded by Bert Hooper. Failing any other members accepting nomination, a vote was held and Ryan Ledrew has accepted the position of incoming Secretary for the Metro Club.
A motion was made by Allan Spinney that the outgoing Secretary be given a Lifetime Membership as recognition for his 15yrs of service to the Club. The motion was seconded by Allan McEachern and the vote passed.
A discussion was held around increasing Club competitions and events and Section coordinators were discussed so that the responsibility could be shared around to help lighten the load. As such the Club called for nominations for 3 Coordinators to help the Executive committee, a Rifle Section Coordinator, a Pistol Section Coordinator and a Shotgun Coordinator.
Nominations were held and went as follows:
Rifle Section Coordinator- Gary Latimer, Moved by Andy Maxwell, Seconded by Terry Eldridge
Pistol Section Coordinator- Terry Eldridge, Moved by Joe MacHoll, Seconded by Tom Kummer
Shotgun Section Coordinator- Noah Anderson, Moved by Jason Reid, Seconded by Bernie McViey
All were called to a vote and approved.
These Minutes respectfully submitted by
Andy Maxwell,
Outgoing Secretary/Treasurer
Metro Rifle and Pistol Club
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I want to add my thanks and congratulations to our new incoming Secretary, Treasurer and Section Coordinators. I hope you enjoy your time on the board as much as I have over the last 15 yrs. I would also like the to thank the members for the Lifetime Membership voted on on my exit. It’s much appreciated though unnecessary.
When I took over as Secretary many years ago the Club was realing from the loss of our indoor range and membership was under 50 members. Over the years we have managed to build back to membership levels we couldn’t dream of at the time,reaching highs of over 500 at one point. We have built a shooting structure at the DNR range, a pistol bay at DNR and now have our own property again with our own range and more in development. These achievements seemed insurmountable at the time but the Club has bounced back from the brink and grows stronger every year. The credit goes to the members. Without your continued support our Executive team could not have done it.I want to thank those on the Executive I served with over the years for their work and commitment to the Club. Many don’t relaize the amount they do behind the scenes to grow our Club.I look forward to seeing where the new Executive members take our Club over the coming years.
Thanks-Andy