by John Miller, Secretary

• Director Rex Parker brought the meeting to order at 7:40 PM

• Rex Parker, Director; Larry Kane, Assistant Director; Michael Mitrano, Treasurer; John Miller, Secretary; Ira Polans, Program Chair; David and Jennifer Skitt, Observatory co-chairs; Gene Allen, Outreach Chair; Bill Murray, member and Tom Swords, member were in attendance.

• The Skynet remote imaging service renewal was discussed. Rex Parker made a motion to renew the service for an additional two years. Membership is $1,000 for the two year agreement. Approximately 280 minutes of imaging time was used by AAAP members during the past contract. The motion was passed to renew the service for another two year period.

• Treasurer: Michael Mitrano reminded our fiscal year ends in June. As of this date, the club’s account holds $15,117 with about $1000 pending accounts payable. Fiscal year payables have included: Speaker fees: ~$600. Observatory operation: ~$2,500. Receivables are primarily membership dues ~+$3,800, to date.

• StarQuest: It was reported that participation in StarQuest has lessened during the last five years and is running in the red. Rex proposed other venues closer to the Princeton/Hopewell area. The board agreed to cancel the current contract with the Hope, NJ facility immediately. Rex proposed an alternative site: The Barn at Gravity Hill in Hopewell, NJ – adjacent to Washington Crossing State Park. It was unanimously agreed to move forward with negotiations with The Barn at Gravity Hill.

• Equipment Donation: An 8 foot diameter prefab dome observatory and used SCT had been recently offered to the club by a private donor. It was decided, due to logistics, liability and other factors not to accept the equipment.

• Observatory: Bill Murray recommended that all public-night Team Leaders should be responsible for learning the operation and use of the telescope camera/video cameras and accompanying software. Gene Allen suggested managing large groups visiting the observatory into smaller groups.

• Social Media: The club has been paying for a “Meetup” site. This online promotional system has not been actively managed. Larry Kane volunteered to work on this. John Miller mentioned extensive previous Meetup site management experience and would offer assistance.