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This is to certify that the Lone Star Rotorcraft Club has met the necessary standards for chapter status in the Popular Rotorcraft Association (PRA) and is entitled to all rights, privileges and cooperation afforded by the PRA.

 Granted PRA chapter status June 1981.

 

 Club Constitution and Bylaws - January 10, 2003

 

 ARTICLE I - Chapter Name:

 The name of this Chapter of the Popular Rotorcraft Association shall be: "Lone Star Rotorcraft Club, PRA Chapter Number 62"


ARTICLE II - Location of Chapter Office:

The office of the Chapter for the transaction of business shall be located in the Houston area.

ARTICLE III - Chapter Purpose:

The principle purpose of the Chapter is to serve as an instrument of unification of people with the common interest of advancing the progress of rotorcraft for personal flying.

It shall be a voluntary, non-profit, non-partisan organization whose members are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge; public education and safety of privately owned non-commercial rotorcraft.

ARTICLE IV - Membership Eligibility:

Membership is open to any person of good moral character. No person shall be refused membership solely because of nationality, race, color, sex, age or religious belief.

ARTICLE V - Chapter membership classification:

An active Member, in good standing, has full voting and meeting participation rights.  The dues are $25.00 a year and are to be paid on January 1 of each year.  Dues are delinquent after January. 

New members are prorated at $2.25/month. 

A member in good standing is one whose dues are paid up.

ARTICLE VI.  Election of Officers:

Officer Qualifications: All officers, and officer nominees, must be members in good standing of the PRA and Chapter 62.           

1.      Nominations for officers will take place in September.  Self-nominations are allowed.  Nominations maybe submitted by regular mail or e-mail to the Secretary.  The Secretary will be responsible for verifying that mail-in nominations are valid.

2.      The election of officers will be by secret ballot at the regularly scheduled meeting the month after the nominations.

3.    An absentee ballot may be cast by sending it to the Chapter Secretary by regular mail or e-mail.  It must be received no later than five (5) days prior to the date the election meeting is held. 

The regular mail cancellation date or e-mail time stamp will determine the validity of the ballot.  The elected officers will make the final decision on the validity of absentee ballots.

4.      The Secretary will be responsible for casting votes from the absentee ballots and will not reveal who cast the votes.

5.      A simple majority (50% + 1) of votes cast will elect an officer.

6.      If an office is vacated for any reason then the remaining officers (or the board of directors) will fill the vacancy.  The new officer will serve until the next election.

ARTICLE VII. Officers and Duties:

President:  The President will preside at regular and special meetings and will be responsible for all planned activities of the group. He/she will plan and supervise, either personally or through delegation of authority, all activities necessary for the advancement and welfare of the Chapter and its members. He/she will represent the Chapter and coordinate matters with the headquarters of the Popular Rotorcraft Association and other organizations.  The President will maintain liaison with PRA headquarters and handle correspondence or delegate these duties to the Secretary - Treasurer.

Vice-President:  The Vice-President will assist the president in all ways possible. He will preside in the absence of the President and will keep himself informed on all matters and activities pertinent to the group's best interests. He will delegate authority as necessary to achieve orderly function of Chapter operations.

Secretary:   The Secretary will keep minutes of all meetings and send to the Chapter. He/She, if delegated by the President, will maintain liaison with PRA headquarters. And handle correspondence. He/She will maintain an up-to-date membership roster.

Treasurer:   The Treasurer will submit a financial report at all regular meetings, maintain competent financial records, and make financial records available to any member upon request.  All money that is submitted to the Chapter will be given to the Treasurer.  He/She will setup/maintain a simple accounting system that tracks all money in/out of the treasury.

Member-at-Large:  The member-at-large represents the Chapter membership as a whole.  He/she will be the Chapter member's conduit to the Board of Directors.

Parliamentarian/Timekeeper:  This person will be responsible for seeing that the Chapter meetings are conducted according to Robert's Rules of Order.  He/she will also serve as timekeeper on any discussion so as to keep the meeting on schedule and determine how much time a speaker has.

Safety Officer:  The Chapter will appoint two Safety Officers whose duty it is to assist new members in any way possible to assure a high level of safety in both the construction and flying of rotorcraft.

It is desirable that at least one of the Safety Officers has built and flown his own rotorcraft successfully.   The safety officers will have the final say on all safety matters at any outing or fly-in under Chapter jurisdiction.

Publicity Officer: The Chapter will appoint a Publicity Officer to advertise and publish information about any outing or fly-in under Chapter jurisdiction.

Webmaster: The Chapter will appoint a webmaster to setup and maintain a web site to further advance the goals of the Chapter.  The Webmaster will upload the minutes and other information to the web site. He/she will do this in partnership with the Secretary.

ARTICLE  VIII.  Chapter Board of directors:

If, on January first of any year, the Chapter has a membership that numbers thirty, or more, then a Board of Directors will be established to govern the chapter.  The five (5) member board will consist of the Chapter President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary and a Member at Large. 

A retiring president will serve on the board for a maximum of two (2) months as a consultant.  He will not have a vote on the Board of Directors.

The board will meet once a month or as otherwise deemed necessary.

The board meeting will take place before the Chapter monthly meeting for the purpose of reviewing proposals, status of projects and creating the agenda for the next meeting.

A quorum of three (3) of the directors, not including a retiring president, will be required to hold a legal meeting.

ARTICLE IX - Meeting Quorum:

A minimum of 33% of dues paid up members in good standing shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of Chapter business at regular or special meetings.

ARTICLE X - Meetings: 

The Chapter must hold a monthly business meeting unless a simple majority of  board of directors determine there is a good reason not to conduct one.  The President will be responsible for communicating any cancellation of a meeting with the reason given. 

The President will determine the location of each meeting .

The Secretary will send out detailed meeting information that includes date, time, place and agenda by e-mail.

ARTICLE XI - Conduct of Meetings:

 The Chapter shall adhere to the following standard agenda for the conduct of meetings.

1.    Appropriate opening ceremony and announcements.
2.    Reading and/or acceptance of minutes from previous meeting.
3.    Treasurer's report.
4.    Safety Reports
5.    Old business.
6.    New business.
7.    Reports of individual members, progress reports.
8.    Plans for next meeting
9.    Adjournment.

 The meeting will be conducted in accordance with the Robert Rules of Order.

 A motion will be considered approved if a simple majority (50%+1) of members present at a valid meeting votes for the motion.

Article XII - Chapter Communications:

 1.      The Chapter Secretary, or delegate, will send the minutes, of any meeting, to the Chapter members within ten (10) days after the meeting.  It will be sent by e-mail and by regular mail to those without internet connection.

 2.      The chapter members and officers will use e-mail as the principle means of documented Chapter business communication.  Phone communication is permitted but it is understood that this type of communication is subject to challenge.

 ARTICLE XIII -  Chapter Budget:

 A yearly budget will be submitted, in November, to the Chapter by the elected Board of Directors. 

 It will identify Chapter projects that require expenditures in excess of $100 (one-hundred dollars). 

 New projects can be presented at the monthly Board of Directors meeting for consideration. The new project will require a written description and timeline. 

 A project manager will be assigned to see that the project is executed according to timeline and budget. 

 Project status reports will be sent to the President for the monthly Board of Directors meeting.

 The budget and projects will be reviewed quarterly.

 ARTICLE XIV - Expenditures:

 Chapter expenditures will be authorized by a secret simple majority (50% + 1) vote of the members present at a legal meeting with the following exceptions:

 1.  Expenditures up to and including $50 (fifty-dollars) may be authorized by two of the four officers (President, Vice-President, Secretary or Treasurer) without a vote of the membership.

 2.  Expenditures of more than $50 (fifty dollars) up to and including $100 (one-hundred dollars) may be authorized by three of the officers without a vote of the membership. Such expenditures shall be announced to the membership at the next legal meeting of the membership.

 Expenditures are not allowed to be broken into segments that are smaller than the total, on any particular item in an attempt to circumvent approval by the membership.

 3.  Expenditures in the excess of $100 (one-hundred dollars) will be presented to the Chapter members a minimum of seven days before the monthly meeting where it will be brought to a vote.

 If the nature of the expenditure is such that it needs to be expedited then a simple majority of officers could conduct a poll of the membership by phone or e-mail and the results presented at the next meeting.

It will take 2/3 (two-thirds) of votes cast for an expenditure to be approved.

4.  Absentee voting will be allowed on expenditures exceeding $100 (one-hundred dollars). 

The rules for absentee voting are the same as for officers.

ARTICLE XV.  Miscellaneous:

1.      A vote on any issue, maybe by secret ballot if a simple majority of meeting attendees agree.

2.      These By-laws are subject to review and modification by a 2/3 vote of members present at any legal meeting.

3.      These By-laws, automatically get reviewed in odd number years, in the month of January, by the membership.

4.      A special meeting can be called by any member, at any time, if that member can secure approval from a simple majority (50%+1) of active Chapter 62 members in good standing.

The meeting will be valid if the quorum is as stated in these by-laws.

 

By-law modifications:

Article IV.  Eliminated the requirement that a chapter member had to be a PRA member after a vote at 12/02 meeting voted.

 

Article X.  Changed meeting day to third Saturday of month after a vote at 1/03 meeting.

 

Article XII.   Changed to reflect the discontinued use of a chapter conference line.

 

Article VIII.  Modified after odd year by-laws review at 2/19/05 meeting to trigger the establishment of a chapter board of directors once there were 30 or more members.