District 3 – October 2012

October 10, 2012
Opened at 7:00 pm.

Traditions were read by: Debbie C.

2 Officers Were Present
DCM –            Bob M.
Secretary –    Sheila H.

3 Meetings were Present
Sheila H. Lincoln Foxhall Group
Diane H. 60 Minutes
Debbie C. Sunday Noonish Group

Secretary’s Report:  Sheila H. read the September 4, 2012 District 3 Meeting Minutes which were approved.

Treasurer’s Report:  None

Intergroup Report:  (for full details, full report can be found on lincaa.org )

DCM Report: Bob M.

Attended Area 41 meeting which was interesting.  They did push back the hand book revisions at area, and The corrections chairperson requested that this item be tabled.   A vote was made and tabling the Voting item passed For = 38, Against = 0.  The item will be tabled until GSO could be contacted about the patent rights and other items relating to the issue.

Old Business:

Continue to talk to groups that District 3 is still seeking people to serve as Alternate DCM & Alternate Intergroup Rep.

New Business:

There was discussion about the four corners workshops.  GSR’s should seek input from their groups to see if there is an interest in District 3 hosting the 4 corners workshop, which would be in the 4th quarter of 2013. This would involve finding a location for the workshop, Ideas of what the workshop would be about and the need for service work/manpower.  Bob will get more information about what it would entail.

Area 41 will be doing the group inventory, Questions are as follows:

What is the purpose of the Area Committee, and are we fulfilling that purpose?

How could the Area Committee Meeting be improved?

How effective is our communication?

How well do we select and support our Trusted Servants?

How well are we using contributions to provide services to the groups, the fellowship, and the still suffering alcoholic?

Do we operate on the general principles of the Concepts?

Right of Decision

Right of Participation

Right of appeal

Right of Petition

Is our meeting an arena for spiritual action?

Are there any issues or questions that have not been addressed by this inventory?

District 3 will Vote on November 6, 2012 for November 10-11, 2012 Area 41 Voting Items

There will be Elections of the nominee for Trustee-at-Large in November at the Area 41 Meeting Saturday night

AGENDA ITEM 2012-03-10 004 Finance

Area 41 would reimburse two nights hotel stay for Area 41 officers and committee chairs who live more than 300 miles from the meeting site.

Original Background: Past discussions of the Area 41 Financial Guidelines and fiscal policies have always stressed that personal finances should not be allowed to keep someone from serving on the Area 41 Committee. In keeping with Tradition Seven, Area 41 provides reimbursement for mileage expense to and from the meeting and hotel expense during the meeting. Concept Nine states that “Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety.”

For someone living a long distance from the site of the Area 41 Meeting, a choice between personal finances and good service leadership is often necessary. It is difficult to be a good, effective service leader when one must drive four to six hours before the start of a 9:00 AM meeting because one cannot afford the hotel cost for the extra night.

Additional Background: The Area 41 Finance Committee voted to re-word the original item by removing the phrase “service positions.”  The sense was the “service positions: included some non-funded positions and this item was not intended to include those not funded by Area 41 for lodging.  The committee unanimously recommends this item after considering where Area 41 meetings are usually held and where a larger percentage of our trusted servants reside.  For example, when Area 41 meetings are in North Platte, trusted servants from Lincoln and Omaha live within 300 miles so would not be included in the extra night.  Impact to the 2013 budget would not occur, as all current Area 41 officers and committee chairs live within 300 miles of North Platte.

AGENDA ITEM 2012-03-10 004 Finance

Area 41 would reimburse mileage to officers and committee chairs at 40% of the federal rate, rounded up to the nearest nickel for ease of calculation.

Original Background: This is not an attempt to raise the mileage rate that was just set last year.  It is an attempt to set it so the Area, in theory doesn’t have to re-visit this issue again.  The previous Finance Committee recommended the 40% rate, but it was only submitted as background, and was not presented as an item on the agenda.

Additional Background: The original agenda item stated “Area 41 reimburse mileage to officers and committee chairs at 40% of the federal rate.”  Finance committee referenced background material for agenda item 2011-1-22 #004, which was passed by area 41 in September of 2011 by a vote of 35-0.  A repeat of the background information is:  The Finance Committee is recommending an increase in Area 41 mileage reimbursement due to increased fuel costs.  The last revision to the Area 41 mileage rate was in 1998, when gas was $1.03/gallon.  The average cost for Nebraska fuel in 2010, however, was $2.71 (IRS fuel ratings website).  In 1998 the Federal standard mileage reimbursement rate was $0.33. Hence the $0.15 rate was 46% of the Federal rate.  In 2010 the Federal rate was $0.50. Hence, the $0.15 Area 41 rate had dropped to 30% of the Federal rate.  The Area 41 Finance Committee recommends and is proposing the $0.20 reimbursement rate, which is 40% of the Federal rate.  The Finance Committee recommends that future Area 41 reimbursement rates maintain this 40% rate mark.  The current Area 41 Finance Committee recommends that the 40% of the Federal rate should be maintained so that the mileage rate might go up or down, but does not have to be discussed and voted upon every time.  The majority vote of the committee was that the rate should be rounded up to the nearest nickel for ease of calculation.

AGENDA ITEM 2012-03-10 006 Finance
Approve the Area 41 2013 budget as published in the November 2012 NEBRASKANEWS.
Background:  See the proposed 2013 budget

Group Reports:

Lincoln Foxhall Group – Sheila H.
The Foxhall group is a weekly speaker.  The speakers this last month were amazing and attendance great.

Sunday Noonish Group– Debbie C.
The meeting has moved to the Good neighbor Center, look for the new flyer and come down and see us.  The group is also is discussing bringing back some speakers back to the group.

60 Minutes Group – Diane H.
The group is working on making contributions, and the new GSR will be attending the November Area 41 Meeting.

Closed at 8:41 pm.   Next Meeting will be held November 6, 2012 at 28th and “S” streets 2nd floor at 7:00 pm.