NORTHERN RECON GROUP
GUIDELINES
PROCEDURES AND ETIQUETTE


ADOPTED BY THE MEMBERSHIP 04 JUNE 2014 [Updated 15 Feb 2020 Facilitator Term to 3 Years]


1. Name, Purpose and Mission

A.     The name of this group shall be the Northern Recon Group, herein referred to as the NRG.

B.     The NRG is made up of individual persons or other entities each with equal standing, rights and responsibilities within the group and in all group activities.

C.     The mission and purpose of the NRG is to promote the history and safe use of military vehicles, equipment, uniforms and accoutrements of all periods and all nations to all interested persons, groups, and the general public through activities established from time to time by the members of the NRG.

D.     The NRG Core Values are: Integrity, Respect, and Excellence in All We Do


2. Members and Membership

A.    Regular members are those persons and/or entities that agree with the purpose and mission of the NRG and have an interest in preserving, or helping to preserve, all military history regardless of nationalities or time period.

B.     Regular members have all the rights, privileges and responsibilities as defined in these Guidelines.  Regular members have voice and vote in all meetings and elections of the NRG.

C.     Persons wishing to establish Regular Membership in the NRG must submit their name, residence address, phone number [s] and private email address to the Editor/Information Coordinator. The membership list will not be sold, distributed, published or copied at any time or in any form or in any medium.

D.  Membership in the NRG is 'free'.  No dues or fees are assessed.

E.    Guests - Guests will only be admitted to meetings by invitation of a regular member and shall have no voice, unless approved by the members present, and no vote.

F.   The NRG is an affiliate group of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA). The MVPA requires that 'officers' of affiliate groups be MVPA members.  To maintain group membership, the NRG shall annually complete and mail, an affiliate group application form, naming group 'officers', and providing  an NRG Membership list .

 
3. Facilitators

A.    President - shall be chairperson of all meetings and, when requested by the membership at a meeting, shall be spokesperson of the NRG and master of ceremonies at certain events unless prevented to perform these duties for personal or other reasons. The President, or acting President, shall have a voice but no vote in the meetings except to break a tie. The President shall have the ability to appoint additional Facilitators and make special duty assignments at a meeting, with approval of the members present at that meeting, to fill the absence at that meeting or longer if it is required.

B.     Recorder/Secretary - shall provide the agenda and take minutes of all meetings and submit same to the Editor/Communications Coordinator for electronic delivery to the membership.  The Recorder/Secretary shall also act as President in the President's absence. The Recorder/Secretary, in order to open a meeting or an event in the absence of the President, shall then have the members elect a President pro-tem for that meeting/event.

C.     Financial Trustees (Three - 3) - shall be in charge of any and all finances, bank accounts and other property of the NRG.  They shall all be signers on all accounts but must have authorization by a vote of the members at a meeting (as described in these Guidelines) with two of their signatures on all financial transactions. Such authorization must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.  In an emergency dealing with the activities of the NRG, the Trustees, may authorize the payment of expenses, not to exceed $200.00 (per instance), for those activities by a 2/3 vote. This payment and the nature of the emergency must be explained and approved at the next meeting.

D.   Editor/Communications Coordinator - shall be in charge of maintaining a correct membership list to be shared with the trustees and shall deliver all information regarding meetings or other activities of the NRG to the members of the NRG electronically via the internet. This Facilitator shall advertise activities electronically via the internet, the NRG website, or in other similar group's or club's periodicals or website.  An annual events list shall be prepared near the first month of each year, updated as necessary, and delivered to the membership electronically via the internet
.
E.     Additional Facilitators, or specific duty assignments, may be appointed by the President at a meeting, with approval of the members present at the meeting, for a specific task, event or activity.  There is no term limit for these appointments.  The appointees serve at the pleasure of the President and the NRG membership.  Some of the recognized possible assignments are:

a.   Webmaster - would be in charge of maintaining the NRG web site for the purpose of recruiting and advertising events.    The Webmaster would be the primary person maintaining the web site.  The Editor/Communications Coordinator or the Recorder/Secretary are alternates with access and control over the NRG web site.

b. Correspondent - would be responsible for news items submitted to military vehicle publications, web sites or other media.

c. Sargent-at-Arms - would have the responsibility to maintain order at any NRG meeting or event.

d. Parliamentarian - would be responsible for business meeting procedures as outlined in Roberts Rules of Order.


F.    Term of Office [Changes Adopted by the Membership 15 February 2020]


1. The term of office for all Facilitators shall be three (3) years.

2. A Facilitator can run as a candidate for the same Facilitator position for another consecutive three (3) year term [a total of six (6) years].

3. A Facilitator can run as a candidate for a different Facilitator position than was held in the previous three (3) year term.

4. A Facilitator who served two consecutive three (3) year terms [a total of six (6) years] in the same Facilitator position must wait three (3) years before running as a candidate for that same Facilitator position but can run as a candidate for any other Facilitator position.


G.   Qualifications

1.  All Facilitators must be Regular members of the NRG. [see Section 2-A and 2- B]

2.   All Facilitators must be a Member of the MVPA. [see Section 2-F]

 
4. Meetings

A.    All meetings of the NRG shall follow Roberts Rules of Order unless agreement can be reached by consensus.

B.   The agenda for meetings, including any items submitted by the regular members, shall be prepared by the Recorder/Secretary and delivered electronically by the Editor/Communications Coordinator at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting date detailing the day, date, and time of the meeting.
 
C.   If a meeting of any kind is proposed, the meeting shall be announced to the membership in the manner outlined in item [B]
.
D.     Suggested outline for the order of business for meetings

1.      Call to order

2.      Introduction of members and guests

3.      Approval of the minutes of the last meeting

4.      Financial Trustees report

5.      Posted agenda items

6.      Other business

7.      Items of concern from the members

8.      Next meeting date time and place

9.      Closing

E.    Minutes of the meetings, as prepared by the Recorder/Secretary, shall be transmitted to the Editor/Communications Coordinator for distribution to the membership either electronically or with the next meeting agenda.

F.    The quorum at all meetings of the NRG shall be at least 8 regular members.

G.   Any matter or motion brought before the membership is approved by the membership if it receives an affirmative vote of a simple majority.


5. Finances and Trustee Responsibilities'

A. Membership in the NRG is 'free'.  No dues or fees are assessed.

B. At the pleasure of the Facilitators, funding for NRG operations may result from any or all of the following:

1. A markup donation added to the cost of items purchased for resale [i.e.; tee shirts, mugs, camp site fees, etc.]

2. Fund raisers when needed for special activities.

3.  Donations from the membership, or other entities.
 
C.    Standing Expenses

1.    Upon receipt of an invoice, the Trustees shall pay from the NRG account(s) recurring expenses such as office supplies, MVPA liability insurance, website maintenance, copying/printing, name badges, postage or other approved expense required for the continuing operation the NRG.

2.  The signature of at least two Trustees shall be required to approve a request for reimbursement.

D.    Financial Accounts

1.    The Trustees shall be responsible for all NRG accounts and financial transactions.

2.  All Trustees shall have signature authority.

3.  The Trustees shall present a Financial Report on Current Operations at every NRG meeting detailing income and expense since the previous meeting.  The report must indicate a profit or loss on current operations, detail current liabilities, approved future expenditures, current checking account [s] balance and total cash assets available.

4. The Trustees shall present an accounting of Promotional Items in Inventory and a Fixed Asset Report periodically or at least each year in January.

5.  The Trustees shall assist with, or conduct the Annual Audit.

E.   Voting on financial expenditures

1.   All extraordinary expenses, other than Standing Expenses described in Section  5 C-1 and 5 C-2 , may only be paid by the Trustees after a vote in the affirmative by Regular members at two consecutive meetings. I.E. - motion to suggest on the 1st meeting, vote to confirm on the 2nd meeting
.
F.  Audit

1.   The Regular members shall form a committee of three Regular members, to be assisted by the Trustees, to perform an audit of all accounts of the NRG on an annual basis.

2.   The audit shall take place in January of each year.

3.  The completed audit shall be presented to the Regular members at a meeting for approval.

4.  The audit shall be retained by the Recorder/Secretary with minutes of the meetings..


6. Facilitator Elections

A. Facilitator Elections shall take place at the first meeting in January every three years.

B.  An Election Committee shall be formed at the October meeting, consisting of three regular members who are not candidates in the election.  The election committee shall have charge of the election process and voting, subject to the laws of the land and any rules as established by the Regular Members of the NRG.  The procedure for the receipt, counting, distribution of the ballots or other issues shall be determined by the Election Committee.  The election committee will be disbanded when the new facilitators take office.

C.  Candidate Nominations

1. Candidates must be a Regular member of the NRG and a member of the MVPA [see Section 3-G 1and 2]

2.. To be considered a candidate, nominations must be transmitted electronically to the Editor/Communications Coordinator no later than 30 November.

3. Both self-declared candidates and candidate nominations put forth by an NRG member, with the consent of the nominee, shall be acceptable.

4. The current Editor/Information Coordinator shall transmit electronically the candidate nominations to the Election Committee to be placed on the ballot.

    D. Candidate Statements

    1.  All candidates shall have the right to offer a statement of candidacy by sending the statement to the current Editor/Communication Coordinator.

    2. The current Editor/ICommunication Coordinator shall deliver their statement electronically to the membership no later than 20 December.

     E. Ballots

    1. Elections shall be by ballot in every circumstance, never by acclimation. Votes will not be 'acclaimed' by a show of hands or by voice.

    2. Write-in candidates, or nominations from the polling place floor, shall not be permitted.

    3. To assure that each member casts only one ballot, the ballot shall require the name and signature of the NRG member.

    4. The ballot shall not be distributed by U S Mail.

    5. The ballot shall be delivered electronically by the Editor/Communications Coordinator to all NRG members who have provided a private email to the NRG.

    F. Voting Methods

    1. Physical Polling: The ballot shall be available to attendees at the January meeting polling location for members to cast their vote in person.

    2. Mail-In Absentee: The same ballot will be delivered electronically to all NRG members no Later than 20 December.  The recipient must print, mark, sign and return the ballot by U S Postal Service not later than 10 January.

    G. Ballot Counting Procedures

    1. Mail-in ballots shall be set aside in a secure container unopened until two or more members of the Election Committee are present.

    2. If ballot envelopes are received at the mail-in address after the deadline of 10 January, the date received shall be noted on the face of the unopened envelope and set aside in the container.

3. When the ballot envelopes are opened, the lower half with the name shall be folded under and the name written on the record sheet. When all ballots are verified as from a member, and the names are recorded, the ballot shall be turned over and the votes shall be recorded on the Election Tally Report.

4. The Election Committee shall review each ballot:

    a. Determine if the ballot was cast by a member on the NRG membership list.
    b. Create a name record of all members casting a ballot, which must be kept as part of the record.
    c. Disqualify and set aside ballots lacking name/signature, received after deadline or unrecognizable.
    d. Assure that members on record as having voted by mail do not vote again at the     polling location.

5. A simple majority of the qualified votes cast shall determine the winner.

6. Prepare an Election Tally Report to be submitted to the Recorder/Secretary and retained with the Minutes.

7. Ballot results shall not be announced until voting concludes and the Election Tally Report is prepared.

8. Announce the results at the polling meeting as a percentage of votes received.

9. Retain ballots until the Election Tally Report is accepted and new Facilitators are installed

10. Copies of all ballots shall be destroyed by the election committee immediately after new Facilitators are installed.

H.   Newly elected Facilitators shall take their office immediately following the announcement of the results by the Election Committee.


7. Communications

A.  The NRG shall not publish or distribute a printed newsletter or a membership directory.

B.  Information will be delivered to the membership electronically via the internet.
    1. An email address shall be maintained at nrg-news@comcast.net to provide two way communications between the membership and the Editor/Communications Coordinator.
    2. Members are encouraged to send details of events, after action reports, photographs, and other information relative to the hobby to the Editor/Communications Coordinator at nrg-news@comcast.net .
    3. Information submitted by the membership shall be resent electronically to all members on the email membership list by the Editor/Communications Coordinator after a review to assure the content is appropriate and relative to the hobby.

C.  A membership list shall be maintained by the Editor/Communications Coordinator as required by Section 3-D of these Guidelines.  The membership list shall be available for review at every NRG meeting by any NRG Regular Member, as defined in Section 2-A
 and 2-B of these Guidelines.  The membership list shall not be sold, copied or distributed in any manner as detailed in Section 2-C of these Guidelines

D.  The NRG shall maintain a website at www.northernrecongroup.org to serve as a recruitment format, provide information about the group, its' activities, after action reports, a membership application and other information to promote activities and the hobby.  The Editor/Communications Coordinator, or a delegate, shall be responsible for the content and maintenance of the website.


 8.  Proprietary Items

A.  The name "Northern Recon Group" identifies this membership group and only this membership group and cannot be used by any other entity.

B.  The NRG membership list is a proprietary document not be sold, copied or distributed in any manner. [see Section 2-C].

C. The NRG logo, as it appears at the top of page one of these Guidelines, is the property of the NRG and may not be used, copied or duplicated without the written, signed approval of the President, the Recorder/Secretary and one Trustee.


9. Liability Insurance

The Military Vehicle Preservation Association (MVPA) offers liability insurance to all affiliate groups to indemnify members and Facilitators against liabilities.   Annually the NRG shall purchase a liability policy from the MVPA to insure group activities [see Section 2-F].


 10.  Indemnification

    Participants at NRG hosted events, other than business meetings, shall be required to sign a Release of Liability document to indemnify, release and hold harmless the NRG, the MVPA, their facilitators/officers and other entities from any injury, disability, death, loss or damage associated with participation in, or presence at, the event.

 
11. Changes to these Guidelines

A.    All changes to these guidelines must be adopted by this procedure: First meeting - introduction and 1st review.  Second meeting - 2nd review. Third and final meeting - 3rd review, and vote for adoption (requires 3 consecutive meetings). Changes shall only be allowed at the 1st and 2nd review meetings.


12. Other

A.    Committees may be appointed from time to time by Regular members at a meeting. Volunteers will have first priority, however if there are no Volunteers the President shall appoint at least 3 members to serve on the committee. All committees, however formed, shall be given a starting date, a clear task to perform, a reporting date to the regular members and a definite ending date at which time the committee shall be disbanded.

B.     In all issues not covered by these Guidelines, Roberts Rules of Order shall govern the operation of the NRG.


13. Procedures and Policies

A.    The Regular members may, from time to time, establish operational procedures and or policies for the operation of the NRG. These procedures and or policies must not conflict with these Guidelines, Procedures and Etiquette for operation of the Northern Recon Group.

B.     These policies and/or procedures must be submitted to the Regular members at a meeting and be voted to adopt or deny at the next meeting.


14. Severance Clause

A.    Should any of these Guidelines for the operation of the NRG be found to be in violation of law, they may be removed or altered, without affecting the remainder of these guidelines.


    15. Addendum


15 - 1 Northern Recon Group Policy

Authority:  Section 13 of the Northern Recon Group Guidelines states that Regular members may, from time to time, establish operational procedures and or policies for the operation of the NRG.  These policies and/or procedures must be submitted to the Regular members at a meeting and be voted to adopt or deny at the next meeting.

Resolution:  Regular members voted to accept the following procedure at the Camp Gridley Fall 2016 meeting on Saturday 15 October, 2016
 
Policy to Assure Neutrality in Communications and Representations

The Northern Recon Group Guidelines states the purpose of the NRG is to promote the history and safe use of military vehicles, equipment, uniforms and accoutrements [section 1-C]; that the Editor/Communications Coordinator shall deliver all information regarding meetings and other activities [section 3-D]; and that members are encouraged to send details of events, after action reports, photographs and other information relative to the hobby to the Editor/Communications Coordinator [section 7-B-2]. 

To assure the integrity of the above sections of the Guidelines, it is the policy of the Northern Recon Group to maintain neutrality in communications and anything that represents the organization.  The NRG will not promote or endorse any position or point of view regarding partisan politics, political parties, political views, ethnicity, religion, creed, gender, etc. in communications on the NRG Website, NRG Newsletter, Facebook page, photographs, other publications, forums or on promotional items that represent the NRG such as T-shirts, banners, flags, signage, cups, pens, give-a-ways, etc.

It is the primary responsibility of the Editor/Communications Coordinator, with the assistance of the President, the Trustees, the Webmaster and the Facebook Page Administer to assure that any and all communications and representations comply with this policy.  Communication submissions or representations that do not comply with this policy will be rejected by the above Officers and Facilitators.

Action:  This policy was included in the Recorder/Secretary meeting minutes, retained in permanent records and attached to future issues of the NRG Guidelines as an Addendum.


15 - 2 Northern Recon Group Procedure

Authority:  Section 13 of the Northern Recon Group Guidelines states that Regular members may, from time to time, establish operational procedures and or policies for the operation of the NRG.  These policies and/or procedures must be submitted to the Regular members at a meeting and be voted to adopt or deny at the next meeting.

ResolutionRegular members voted to accept the following procedure at the Camp Gridley Fall 2016 meeting on Saturday 15 October, 2016


Procedure to Replace a Facilitator in the Event of a Vacancy

In the event of a vacancy in any Facilitator position due to resignation, illness, death or other cause,
the following shall apply:

1] The President [or the Recorder /Secretary in the President's absence] shall query the Regular NRG membership for a suitable candidate [s] who is willing to serve the unexpired term.

2] At a meeting of the NRG, in which a quorum of 8 Regular members is present, the name [s] of the candidate [s] who consented to serve the unexpired term shall be put forth for a vote.

3] All Regular members in attendance at the meeting shall write the name of the candidate on a slip of paper and submit it to a person selected to tally the votes.

4] A simple majority of votes confirms the choice.

5] Should a candidate fail to win a majority of votes, the process shall be repeated after another suitable candidate agrees to serve the unexpired term.

6] The person chosen will serve the unexpired portion of the vacant term and will also be eligible to run as a candidate for the same Facilitator position, or another Facilitator position, in the next Facilitator election.

Action:  This operational procedure was included in the Recorder/Secretary meeting minutes, retained in permanent records and attached to future issues of the NRG Guidelines as an Addendum.





To return to the main page click here