The following are policies adopted by the MDARC Board of Directors or the Membership, providing guidance on how certain items of Club business will be conducted. These policies are subordinate to the Bylaws, and may be revised at any time by the Board.

1. Expense Reimbursement:

a. MDARC will reimburse any person for the actual (out-of-pocket) costs of expenses made on behalf of the Club that have been authorized in advance. Such authorization is either:

i. Included in the annual budget and approved by the appropriate Committee Chair, or

ii. Specifically approved by the Board of Directors.

b. To receive reimbursement, the person should submit a request to the Club Treasurer as soon as possible after the expense was incurred. In any case, the request must be submitted within one year of the date the expense was incurred. Requests received by the Treasurer after one year will not be honored.

c. The request must be accompanied by a copy of the receipt for the expense. The receipt should be from the merchant providing the item(s) and/or service and show a description, quantity, cost per item and total cost.

d. Expenses incurred prior to approval, per Section 1.a, above will not be reimbursed. Expenses incurred due to immediate hazards to health, safety or similar exigent circumstances may be exempted, and can be considered for approval after the fact by the Committee Chair or the Board of Directors, as appropriate.

e. In general, expenses related to the use of a personal vehicle, or other personally owned equipment, will not be reimbursed. This includes fuel, mileage, repairs, loss, etc. Special circumstances making such reimbursement appropriate must be carefully considered prior to approval per Section 1.a above and include an agreed upon maximum amount.

f. Reimbursement for a person’s time will not be reimbursed unless that person was hired as a professional.

g. Reimbursement checks not cashed within the standard 180 day bank limit will be subject to cancellation and a donation letter issued instead.

h. Within the 180 day time period, a lost reimbursement check will be replaced with the original date. If the check is lost a second time, a donation letter will be issued instead.

i. Persons may appeal a denied reimbursement request to the Board of Directors, whose decision is final.

j. Persons who do not agree to all of the above reimbursement conditions should decline incurring any personal expense on behalf of the Club.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 11/06/2017)

2. Repeater Systems Operation

The Club repeater systems will be controlled and operated in accordance with the procedures and rules published in the document “Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club Repeater Operation Rules”.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 11/06/2017)

3. Equipment Selling Guidelines

Selling equipment at MDARC Club meetings, including the annual auction, is intended for private individuals or non-profit groups wishing to dispose of excess equipment, estate sales, etc. Persons or organizations regularly engaged in selling equipment will not be permitted. Approval and procedures for selling equipment at Club meetings other than the auction will be conducted in accordance with the procedures and rules published in the document “Guidelines for Equipment Selling at Club Meetings”.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 08/03/2015)

4. Equipment Self-Insurance

MDARC will provide its own self-insurance to cover potential loss of or damage to all Club-owned equipment, including the repeaters, projectors, vehicles, etc. Each year at least $630 will be deposited into a separate account for the purpose. Liability insurance will be obtained from a professional insurance company, as approved by the Board of Directors.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, April 7, 2014)

(Reaffirmed by the Board of Directors, 11/06/2017)

5. Net Oversight on MDARC Systems

Oversight of nets on all MDARC systems will be the responsibility of the Emergency Communications Coordinator. Responsibilities include:

a. Ensuring that all Club-sponsored nets have net control operators and appropriate scripts for each scheduled net.

b. Receiving and approving or disapproving requests for new nets; whether sponsored by MDARC or other organizations.

c. Ensuring all net control personnel are aware of and adhere to the Club’s repeater operation rules, in cooperation with the systems’ control operators.

d. Informing and coordinating with the Technical Committee; and with the Public Service Coordinator as appropriate; for all newly approved nets.

e. The MDARC Repeater control operators will serve in the event that response to a regional disaster or other major emergency requires the use of MDARC’s repeater system(s). At least one such operator shall be available at all times during the response to take control of the repeater’s operation; should access, congestion and/or contention become an issue. In that event, MDARC’s Repeater control operators shall decide all issues of priority access, length of use, etc.; if and as needed.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 04/03/2017)

(Item e. approved by the Board of Directors, 10/04/2019)

6. Membership Communications

a. Communications with and among the membership, the Board of Directors and all Committees via the Club's Groups.io email forums shall be conducted and moderated in accordance with the document "MDARC Groups.io Guidelines".

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 06/01/2020)

7. Record Retention Policy

Business records and documents of the Club shall be retained by the appropriate Club official in accordance with the the MDARC Record Retention Policy.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 06/07/2021)

8. Website Policies

The use of all websites provided by MDARC shall be in accordance with the documents “Terms of Use for the Websites of the Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club (MDARC)” and “Privacy Policy for the Websites of the Mt. Diablo Amateur Radio Club (MDARC)”.

(Approved by the Board of Directors, 06/06/2022)