Ottawa Centre Council Minutes

There have been a number of items on the FLO site that should be cleaned up and disposed of, and these are things that should get done before we make a start on any observatory expansion. They include:

1. Radio telescope antennas. There are two of these, each about 100 feet long and about 10 feet wide mounted on four wooden posts about 10 feet high. One was badly damaged during the ice storm and was dismantled as a safety measure. The bent components are stacked on the ground. The other has become weathered further in the passing years and will also become a safety issue. There has been no serious interest in further radio astronomy, and some very extensive refurbishing would have to be done before there is any hope of making it work again.
    
2. A home made dome (I think originally belonging to Art Fraser's father) about 8 feet diameter. This was made with wood framing covered with aircraft fabric. It is not too suited to any past or future need, and has become very weathered. The frame might be re-used by a handyman-restorer type, but will need a lot of repair and complete recovering.
    
3. A smaller dome, about 6 foot diameter with a steel pipe frame and fibre glass covering, and with a very awkward configuration. Over the years some of the structure has rusted out and the fibre glass is very weathered. It is not too suited to our uses, and should be disposed of.
    
4. Storage shed about 8 feet square made of sheet steel. This was placed behind the club house where the snow and ice from the club house roof lands when it slides off. The result is that its roof is completely pulverized. The doors have been vandalized over the years, and are now virtually useless. On the whole, the thing needs to be junked and replaced with something more substantial.

I would like to recommend that these items be offered to any member free of charge providing they are willing to take them away. In the event that there are more than one taker for any single item, then highest bidder can have it.

If there are no takers, then the items should be moved to a junk yard, or to a landfill if that turns out to be the last resort.

Al Seaman
Director, FLO
Sept. 29, 2005

This page last modified: October 11, 2005