Minutes of the General Meeting held March 15th, 2006

The Mission to Seafarers, Vancouver, B.C.

 

 

 

In Attendance:

 

Alistair Beaton (President)

Capt. Ieuan Lampshire-Jones

Capt. Don Tranter

Capt. Tom McLean

Pat Haliburton

Richard Smith

Roy Sluyter

Cecil Noronha                                                                     

 

Apologies:

 

David Atkins

Ken Rorison

George Patterson

Philip Oldham

 

 

1) Call to Order:

 

Alistair Beaton called the meeting to order at 19:00 hours.

 

2) Agenda:

 

Alistair Beaton asked the members present to read the Agenda for the meeting and called for any additions or changes. Items to be included were proposed by Alistair Beaton, Richard Smith and Pat Haliburton and these were as follows:

Included in Membership Directors Report – Honorary Membership for George Patterson

Included in Treasurers Report – Chamber of Shipping dues paid in full.

Included in New Business/Any Other Business – Misuse of AMSBC stamp by DeGroot

        New edition of Ports Handbook

        New place and time of Directors’ Meeting

        AMSBC change of address

        Affiliation with Naval Officers Association

 

The motion to accept the Agenda with additions included was proposed by Richard Smith, seconded by Capt. Donald Tranter and all members present voted in favour.

 

 

 

 

3) Minutes of Previous Meeting:

 

Alistair Beaton asked members to read the minutes of the previous General Meeting held on January 18th, 2006. The minutes were read by members present and Alistair called for a motion to accept the minutes as presented.

 

The motion to accept the minutes was proposed by Roy Sluyter, seconded by Richard Smith and voted in favour by the members present.

 

4) Matters arising from the last General Meeting:

 

Capt. Lampshire-Jones inquired about the payment of Liability Insurance for the premises and Roy Sluyter issued a check for $500.00 as was required.

 

Capt. Lampshire-Jones also pointed out that asking a member to return his seal and certificate when not in good standing; was usually ignored. Capt. Tom McLean suggested that a letter should be sent to the member 12 months after his default and his name should be recorded in the minutes of the General Meeting. This was agreeable to all members present.

 

5) Executive Highlights / Director’s Reports:

 

The minutes of the Directors’ Meeting held on March 13th 2006 had not been published prior to the General Meeting. The points discussed at that Meeting have been included in the present Agenda. (Section 2)

 

·         Directors Report – IT and Website:

 

Richard Smith stated that he would record points for members by noting the list of attendees at General Meetings. Members accumulating additional points could send a notification by e-mail to Richard. The possibility of creating a “Members Only” section on the website is being considered. Members could access this section using an individual password and update their points.

 

·         Membership Director’s Report:

 

Pat Haliburton informed the members that George Patterson had been accepted as Honorary Member at the Board Meeting held on March 13th 2006. A new stamp for Honorary Member would be ordered for him and for Capt. Lampshire-Jones who had not received his Honorary Member stamp. A new stamp would be ordered for Tim Amy who became a full member at the AGM on Feb 11th 2006.

 

Colin Jones had submitted reports as per the application requirement and these would be reviewed. Application forms sent to Ram Sudama had not been completed and returned and similar responses were awaited from Ashley Rego and Capt. Georgi Yorgakiev.

 

·         Treasurer’s Report:

 

Roy Sluyter reported that as of March 15th 2006, the balance of funds in the ING Direct account is $4995.07 and the balance in the chequing account is $570.17.

 

Membership dues for 2005 had not been paid by David Trickett.

 

Notices for Membership dues for 2006 were in the mail. Two members had already paid their dues for 2006.

 

Apparently there are no outstanding dues to be paid to the Chamber of Shipping and the finances of the AMSBC are thus in much better shape than reported at the AGM.

6) Old Business:

 

There was no old business to be discussed.

 

7) New Business:

 

Ports Handbook: Alistair Beaton presented a sample copy of the BC Ports Handbook and informed Members that copies for distribution would be available shortly.

 

Directors’ Meetings: In view of concerns expressed by one of the Directors; the Board had taken the decision to hold their meetings one hour before the General Meeting at the same venue. This was conveyed to the Members and is hereby recorded in the minutes.

 

Naval Officers Association: Alistair Beaton had attended the AGM of the NOA and met with their President and Board Members. It was suggested by Alistair that the AMSBC and NOA develop an affiliation whereby members could attend each others functions. This was agreeable to Grant Smith, the President of the NOA. The AMSBC members agreed to this proposal.

 

Richard Smith suggested that AMSBC members should have membership cards for such occasions and he, along with Roy Sluyter would look into the possibility of printing membership cards.

 

AMSBC Change of Address: Richard Smith informed the members that his attempts to contact the lawyers for the Association had been unsuccessful. It appeared that the lawyers were no longer in business and for the Registration of the AMSBC it had become necessary to carry out the process on line.

 

While completing this procedure of filing for Registration; it was required to provide the Legal Address which complied with the following criteria:

·         The address had to be a physical address and not a PO Box

·         The address had to have person or persons available at the premises during normal working hours.

·         The records and documents should be available and accessible at this address.

 

The above conditions were satisfied by the Certispec Office at 2813 Murray Street, Port Moody, BC. There were also two filing cabinets located at these premises which contained the records and documents of the AMSBC.

 

In keeping with the above requirements and the fact that there was no suitable alternative immediately available, members were asked to consider the above Legal Address of the AMSBC and to vote on their decision.

 

The motion to change the Legal Address to the one proposed was moved by Richard Smith, seconded by Capt. Donald Tranter and voted in favour by all members present.

 

Misuse of AMSBC stamp: Alistair Beaton informed the members that the AMSBC stamp had been misused by Mr. Jan DeGroot and Mr. Steve Stratton neither being current members of the Association.

 

Alistair has written to these individuals, informing them of legal action if they do not immediately stop misrepresenting themselves as members of the AMSBC and using the stamp. He has also asked them to return the stamp and any previous Membership Certificate/s in their possession.

 

These individuals are currently involved in a lawsuit where the misuse of the AMSBC stamp is an important issue. Alistair Beaton will be called to testify that they are not members of the AMSBC and the stamp was misused.

8) Any Other Business:

 

It was decided to discuss the Annual Boat Cruise at the next General Meeting.

 

9) Adjournment:

 

 The meeting was adjourned at 20:10 hours.

 

NOTICE

 

A General Meeting of the Association of Marine Surveyors of British Columbia will be held at the Mission to Seafarers on May 17th, 2006 at 19:00 hours.

 

The Mission to Seafarers (Flying Angel Club) is located at 401 East Waterfront Road, which is the port services road south of Vanterm (container terminal). Access is via the railroad overpass at the north end of Main Street. At the ‘T’ junction at the north side of the overpass, turn left (east) and the Mission to Seafarers is on the left (400 yds)