Open letter to Mt. Joy members

**vetman03** · September 9th, 2014, 01:34 PM

To the members of the Mt. Joy Sportsman club:

After attending the September meeting it is obvious that the club is still active but is in need of help. Unless some new blood gets involved in running the club, the club may not survive, in my opinion.

About the rumor-Yes the former president of the club embezzled/misappropriated funds from the club in the area of $11,000. Legal action was taken but it seems unlikely that much if any of the money will be returned.

That same person sold the board a bill of goods on the proposed new outdoor range. Somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 was spent on engineering, surveys, land tests, applications to the township. (Exact amount was unclear.) Either way that money is gone. The cost of the proposed range was misrepresented. When the real amount was determined to build the range, it was cost prohibitive. I think $250,000 was thrown out as one quote. The board was lax in monitoring what was going on and needs to take some responsibility. Actions were taken by the former president that should not have been happening under the club rules/charter. The rest of the board appeared to be asleep on what was happening, again my opinion.

The treasurer who quit and then came back to help straighten things out has an accurate bank balance now. He is to be commended for doing that and helping. He expressed concerns about meeting the 2015 property tax bill. Every penny now needs to be watched. Someone needs to take that position since he is done soon as treasurer. After hearing his attitude and sarcasm though, that is a good thing to happen. After all that was misrepresented to members, his belittling of one member who canceled a renewal check was unwarranted. It cost the club a few dollars for the check cancellation, yet the financial improprieties under his watch with the rest of the board, began over a year ago (mid 2013?) and strong actions to stop or reign in actions by the former president were not taken for at least 6- 9 months by him and the rest of the board, from what seemed to be said between the lines at the meeting, to the tune of thousands of dollars.

In order to save every penny possible and get the outdoor range on its way back to original condition, volunteer work is going to be needed from other club members, beyond the 30 some that seem to show up monthly. If ANYONE knows of a contractor who would have excavating equipment that could donate one day to help get the berms up to a height of 15’, please let the board know ASAP. Some heavier equipment is needed.

Major kudos to the one member who took on the project of getting the outside range repair underway. It sounded like he did more in 30 days than the board did over the last six months the range has been closed. A building permit for the work was issued 9/8/14. They want to assure the neighbor who found bullets on his property that the work to be done will insure that farmer’s safety. Understood and necessary. Once that is done, work needs to begin ASAP. If lucky, with member’s help, the 100 yard range may be workable by the end of October with the other ranges returning after that, assuming money and again help is available.

To the board:

Sitting through a meeting is like watching paint dry. Start meetings on time, maybe even at 7 PM. Move them along. Make some of the reports available to read online instead of reading each and every item from other sources. Post an agenda online and more importantly post minutes of meetings online for members to read. A few members of the board appear to have no clue what they are doing. That is the perception if it is not the reality.

The board appears to have no clue on how to communicate with members. One member expressed frustration about the lack of communication to the rest of the club by the board. It was well deserved. The new website is still unworkable. When told there was no way to register to make comments, the current president thought signing up for email notices was that function????? The former president started a Facebook site. People did use it to check for updates. No one responded to comments. Does the board even know the email and password to access that site? Get it and start using it. I liked the idea given that once you have a method for communicating with members for updates, work schedules, needs of the club; send each member a letter or postcard telling them where to go for information. Then USE those methods and keep people updated on what you need. People will help but they have to know in advance what you need.

Hindsight is great, but the board knew of financial issues with the former president well back into 2013 and it sounded like no real action was taken to stop him until 6-9 months later. That is the board’s fault.

Unless more club members get involved, the club is headed down a slope to bankruptcy and closing. Unless the outside ranges get workable, club membership is going to drop off, causing that downward slope.

Before the comments attack me, I am going to do what I can and will make time available to work on the ranges IF someone lets us know what is needed and when.

The rest is up to each member. Whoever reads this, please let other members know what is going on. Word of mouth is the only information path between members available right now.

**jack76590** · September 9th, 2014, 09:17 PM

I was at the meeting as well and vetman03's presentation reflects my understanding of what was said at the meeting.

Vetman03 also did a good job of separating information presented at the meeting from his opinions. I also share many of the opinions he expressed. However, I hope the Treasurer will stay on. He seems to have a good handle on what has happened. The Treasurer's expression of frustration at a member who cancelled his renewal check rather than asking for a refund is to me understandable.

**CRDNLPLT** · October 15th, 2014, 01:22 PM

Docket here: https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Docket...R-0000239-2014

**streaker69** · October 15th, 2014, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by CRDNLPLT

Docket here: https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Docket...R-0000239-2014

Any members here that have left firearms with him should probably be contacting Mount Joy PD to find out if there is anything that can be done about getting them back.

**OlGunner** · October 16th, 2014, 09:26 PM

Originally Posted by streaker69

Any members here that have left firearms with him should probably be contacting Mount Joy PD to find out if there is anything that can be done about getting them back.

Think that'd work for parts? He has a 1911 slide and new Wilson sights that I foolishly trusted him with.
Actually I think I'll give it a try...I have photos of the parts and email from him acknowledging he has them. Who knows--maybe I'll get lucky.

**streaker69** · October 16th, 2014, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by OlGunner

Think that'd work for parts? He has a 1911 slide and new Wilson sights that I foolishly trusted him with.
Actually I think I'll give it a try...I have photos of the parts and email from him acknowledging he has them. Who knows--maybe I'll get lucky.

It can't hurt to talk to the police at this point. I would call the department, see if you can set up an appointment to talk to the officer that filed the charges against him.

**OlGunner** · October 24th, 2014, 03:21 PM

Steve may be trying to clean up some lesser issues in preparation for his "big" court case. On Tuesday, out of the blue, he emailed me a tracking number and the simple message, "Mailed today."

Sure enough, I now have back the parts I left with him 18 months ago. The sights he was supposed to mount are still in their original packaging. Absolutely nothing was done, despite his frequent defense that he was "almost done" with the work. It was basically just a year and a half of wasted time and aggravation.

I'm guessing he doesn't want "character witnesses" lining up against him when the sentencing comes.