Following are the minutes for our March meeting. If you see anything blaringly wrong, especially if I spelled your name incorrectly or something, let me know and I'll fix it.
VMB Meeting Minutes, Tuesday March 15, 2011
The meeting was held at Lehigh University, courtesy of member Clay Naito. In attendance were:
Don Kelly
Joe Gallagher
Doug Pinkerton
John Eberhardt
Jon Roth
Lori Pinkerton
Clay Naito
Tom Surgent
Ene Schellenberger
Jason Shivok
Eric Rigler
Rich Butz
[unreadable]
Scott Stortz
Eric Evans
Steve LaBrake
The meeting started around 7:15.
AGENDA ITEMS
501(c)3 Status:
Doug P gave a preliminary synopsis of the current state of the status of our non-profit application: basically we are almost done and ready for the application to be sent in.
John E raised the question of what we’d be using the 501(c)3 status for; the basic answer was so we could apply for and get grants. This then raised the question of what the grant money itself would be used for, and Doug said mostly for buying trailwork equipment, and also to defray the costs of putting on events like Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day, and also Grand Openings which are upcoming at Trexler and Nockamixon. (The ability ot accept grants also makes it easier for local businesses to sponsor our events.)
Someone brought up the point that grants imply careful accounting, and we should talk to other local groups (the Ironton Rail Trail guys, JORBA and IMBA) to see how they handle this kind of thing. For example, JORBA Fest was paid for with grant money.
Trail Days: We are planning to have a “Grand Opening” Sat, June 4 at Trexler, and Sat, August 13 at Nockamixon. These dates are tentative. There is much work to be done at Trexler before the Grand Opening.
More on 501(c)3: Lori P has been working on the application, and reported that we need to implement a “conflict of interest policy," copies of which she distributed [linked here], and amend our “articles of incorporation” (cost: $70) to reference this policy. This applies mostly to officers, and there was some discussion of what “conflict of interest” might be.
A motion was made to incorporate the “conflict of interest policy” into our articles of incorporation, which was seconded and carried.
Scott them moved that we apply for 501(c)3 status, which was seconded and carried.
It was mentioned that there are more steps after this is granted, such as registering with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Charitable Organizations, to qualify for things like DCNR money.
Trail Report: Sals
There will be trail days this spring, but going forward we will need to notify Salisbury Township of upcoming trailwork, and get approval. The Sals Trail Committee is trying to get a yearly permit for everything except new construction.
We received a rough draft, from the Township Supervisor, of the registration form they plan to implement, and sent our comments back.
John E voiced his continuing objection to registration.
There are a number of down logs on the trails, which we should take care of in the next week or so.
Steve L reported sadly that a friend was riding at Sals, and managed to remove a great deal of bike-related trash from the trails. All agreed that this was shameful behavior, and expressed the hope that Steve was preaching to the choir.
Other Trail News: The VMB was invited to sit in on the Open Space Committee. This will concern Phase II of the Greenway project, connecting the Greenway itself to other local parks and trails, including trails at the Lehigh Mountaintop Campus. (The trails at the Mountaintop Campus are supposed to be connected as part of the “Southside Visions 2014” report from the Greenway Planning Committee Action Development Corporation, Bethlehem. This report, and earlier versions of it, may be available online.)
The question was raised: what is the VMB’s stance on opening the trails at Lehigh? Scott replied that the official club position is “the more open trails everywhere, the better.”
The Lehigh Cycling Club president was in attendance, and reported that there are several issues at Lehigh, one of them being the building of rogue trails, altercations between students and other trail users, and trail vandalism, especially to the DH course for their annual intercollegiate race last year.
(He also noted that their XC/DH event, held this year Sept 17th & 18th, is a fundraiser for the Lehigh Cycling Club, and that there is an “Open” class, open to non-students.)
Scott reiterated another general VMB position: “the trails at Lehigh are on private property, and trail building by non-students (except as part of a student-run trail project) is unacceptable.” The University apparently has no particular stance on trails. (It was recommended to the Lehigh Cycling Club that if a non-student gives them trouble at Lehigh, they should get in touch with us.)
Trail Report: Nockamixon
Jon R reported that they’ve been working hard at Nockamixon all winter, and have made a great deal of progress.
Kenny had done a lot of planning with the DCNR and the PA Fish Commission, and a core group of 5-7 trail workers have been cutting in the planned trails, with help as well as tool donations from PMBA (plus help from the “Crank Crew,” another local club).
There were 8-9 miles originally approved, with a total of 12 miles in 5 loops planned. Four miles are already groomed, and another four with corridor cleared and awaiting finishing.
The main issue at Nockamixon is moisture in the soil – it must be tested for excessive moisture, seeps and intermittent streams must be identified, and much planing involves avoiding wet areas. There is also a lot of rock armoring being done, as well as bench cutting.
Kiosks and trail maps: the general consensus was that the park should handle these.
Note that there is a Trail Grand Opening Day at Nockamixon, Saturday, Aug 13 at the Haycock Boat Launch.
Kudos to Kenny for making all this happen! What worked well: Jon reports that their success was based on a core group of locals with a vested interest in having a trail system.
Trail Report: Trexler
Scott said that the Sunday (3/20) trailwork day would be a “scorched earth” chainsaw day, trimming back the autumn olive. (UPDATE: Mission mostly accomplished, we chopped out a lot of the stuff Saturday.)
There is a Trexler Grand Opening day, tentatively scheduled for Saturday, June 4th. An attempt will be made to recruit locals to help with Trex, since this seems to be lacking up there.
Trail Report: Walking Purchase Park (continued)
There is a “Trash Cleanup Day” day scheduled for Saturday, 4/30, but this may be canceled.
The trail committee has a “hit list” of maintenance projects to be done at Sals, and will be working up a schedule of monthly trail days. We may need permits from Salisbury Township for future trailwork, and Doug is working on getting an annual blanket permit, to allow minor trail work, for the club.
One high priority project is removal of fallen logs. (UPDATE: This was done Saturday, 3/26.)
Other Other Trail News: Rich reported on on a meeting with Jim Delavalle. There are a lot of cool projects going on in the Stroudsburg area, but more participation is needed.
Some projects: a pump track near the Minisink, a “Glen to Glen Bike Path,” and expansion of the parking lot at Glen Park, where DH and advanced trails are available and legal.
ELECTIONS
The following people were nominated at the December meeting:
President: Scott Stortz
Vice President: Doug Pinkerton
Treasurer: Greg Horwath
Secretary: Don Kelly
Jon Roth agreed at this meeting to also be a VP nominee.
Scott spoke about his view of what he would do as President, which was basically to keep VMB projects limited to the ones we’ve taken on at present.
John E thought that this was not a good policy, but Scott said that that he saw a problem with officer burnout, and that this was how he would run the club as President to avoid that burnout; he brought it up before the election so those whose vision differed could avoid voting for him, or run against him.
The election was then held. The results were:
President: Scott Stortz (unopposed)
Vice President: Jon Roth (8 to 3 against Doug)
Treasurer: Greg Horwath (10 to 1 against Doug as a write-in)
Secretary: Don Kelly (unopposed)
Congratulations to the new club officers, and thanks to the outgoing administration for all your hard work!
The meeting then adjourned to tour Clay’s experimental engineering laboratory.