NMMBA Board of Directors Meeting
Date and location: Wednesday, October 9th, 2024 Acme Twp Hall
Board present: Tim Reicha, Heath Day, Mike Walters, Chad Schut, Kate White, Brian Pugh, Tom White and Steve Mentzer
Board absent: Michele Andrews, Brooke Ruble, Chad Jordan, Kim White and Tim Jenema
Guest(s): Amy Kennedy
Mission statement —----> It is our mission to Envision, Build and Protect the mountain bike experience while respecting all forest users and uses.
Tim opened the meeting at 6:34 pm
September meeting minutes were approved by email
Financials:
Kim was absent but had sent out the financials last week.
General fund stood at $18,884.66 But this did not reflect an expenditure of approximately $3300.00 paid to Tent Craft for a new tent.
Grants:
The Commons Committee would like to start their fundraising efforts.
The Paydirt grant NMMBA had applied for was not awarded.
Other fundraising needs on the horizon are the VST-Wayfinding project.
This project will require ~ $75,000.00
Also the Vasa Bike Park 2025 phase will also need funding of ~$75,000.00
Also the proposed NMMBA paid staffing position will require ~$100,000.00
For a 1-½ year period
And lastly, the joint TART/NMMBA maintenance barn will need approximately $200,000.00 from NMMBA for our portion.
TCTN:
Alex Primeau and Shannon Kochis are hosting an Iceman podcast. They have asked Tom to be a guest. Chad S. has also stepped up and they will both be discussing our roles in the race.
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Iceman course update and next steps. 3 reroutes are proposed for 2024 and are pending DNR approval. Approval is pending a meeting with Patrick Cotant’s replacement (Matt Edison). Possible meeting date is 10/14 which leaves very little time to conduct the work. Hope for these reroutes for 2024 is fading fast.
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The problematic sandy road at the race start will need extensive gravel work once again. The current plan/hope is to have the city of Kalkaska transport gravel to the problem spots and NMMBA volunteers to simply shift the gravel around versus haul the gravel and then shift the gravel as needed. This will substantially reduce the man hours needed.
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The Festival Foundation will purchase the gravel needed.
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Tom will seek out volunteers to help spread the gravel.
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Next DNR/NMMBA meeting tentatively scheduled for
Friday, November 22nd at 9am at the TC CSC office.
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Amy Kennedy and Brian Pugh are meeting with the DNR’s Stephanie Rosinski on Friday Oct. 18th at 10:00 AM to discuss the signage plan for the kiosk and look at the location for the well water hand pump. Anyone interested in participating please stop by. DNR will drop a temporary fire ring next to the pavilion in the next couple of weeks.
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Amy Kennedy to initiate DNR “Gift and Acceptance Form” for bike repair station. Bike repair station is currently on order.
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Amy Kennedy and Brian Pugh met with the DNR’s Stephanie Rosinski on Tuesday Oct. 8th. We discussed picnic tables (6’ tables, DNR to provide lumber for NMMBA purchased metal legs), and received permission to use DNR dumpsters to get rid of Pavilion debris.
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A “Volunteer work day” to get the pavilion stained has been scheduled for Sunday Oct. 20th at 12:30 PM.
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Trail Crossing Signs: TC vendor can only print on a vinyl overlay. Currently talking with another company that can provide a sign with a direct print on substrate. KEL Graphics out of Cadillac. Contact is Travis.
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Amy Kennedy working on a velcro strap yearly membership badge that can be easily mounted to your bike. She will get with Kate to schedule a rollout.
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Need to develop a plan to install a crushed limestone ADA compliant path to both the new kiosk and pavilion.
TCTF review:
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Final numbers; 365 registrations, 180 full pint starters, 111 half pint starters, 27 tour starters. Avg paces from 16-6.2 mph for all categories. Longest ride time ~4.5 hours
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Total sponsorship and registration revenue: ~$30,000, Expenses: ~$6,000, Profit ~$24,000
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Future younger age categories or MISCA participation (maybe add a shorter 5k course for <11 yo riders?)
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What went well?
Course layout, organization, weather, parking and Timber Ridge as a venue were all seen as big positives.
A few riders expressed that more trail markings were needed. Late registrations caused a bit of confusion and the road crossing at Williamsburg road had a few issues.
Tim pointed out the need for some additional help to take on 5-6 main categories. These include: Communications, Permits, Awards, Sponsorships, Registrations among others.
Dale Lundberg, who runs the MI Mountain Bike Race Series has asked us to be included in next year's series.
Our race date would have to be the same each year and there may be a cap on registrations. More to follow.
Other discussion re:TCTF were the Sheriff’s Dept. was pleased with the race. And we need a liquor license for next year to sell beer.
Amy suggested a post race survey would be a good way to collect more info, good or bad from the participants.
Tom mentioned that in addition to asking people that were there, people who opted not to attend should also be polled.
Shop rides:
With darkness coming sooner, Chad has closed down the summer shop rides for the season. It was also suggested to hold Winter shop rides.
Hickory Hills:
Hickory Hills Advisory Council is looking for nominations for their board.
Tim Pulliam’s name was suggested as a person to take that position.
Discussion followed. All were good with Tim being considered.
Winter Trails:
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Barn fundraising will most likely be in the range of $150,000 - 200,000. Are there items that NMMBA would like to store in the barn such as stump grinders, mowers, power wheelbarrow, hand tools. We will plan to have space for everything requested (no more storage unit) If there are items let John Roe or Brian Pugh know.
Mike and crew to schedule winter trail prep dates. Most groomers are set to return this season.
Palmer Woods:
With the acquisition of the Tundra from Northport and an additional donated Skandic, a portion of Palmer Woods’ biking trails will be groomed this winter for fat bikes!
Glacial Hills:
Brooke filed this report.
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Orchard Hills parking lot is complete!
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We had a great volunteer appreciation event at Spillway Lodges - Dean Crandell was our volunteer of the year
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Total of 800+ volunteer hours for trail maintenance, not including invasive species
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Over 148 trees cleared this year, and counting
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GH did not have a September meeting as too many people were out of town.
Old Business:
Bit more discussion on adding volunteer tools to the Club Express site.
Brooke is also working on new designs for T-shirts, hoodies and hats.
We would have in time for the Iceman Expo.
With that Tim made a motion to spend up to $2200.00 for a merch order ahead of Iceman.
Kate provided the 2nd and it was followed with a unanimous vote.
Ex Officio Board Members:
As discussed at last month’s meeting, we are looking at making the Chapter reps ex Officio board members.
They would still have their duties as related to their chapters but would not have any voting rights.
This could include chapter reps from Glacial Hills(GH), Bike Leelanau(BL) and Cadillac Pathway(CP). Michele, Brooke, Chad Jordan and John Roe have all provided input on the new role.
With that Tim made a motion to amend the organization's bylaws to include a non-voting member role before the annual meeting.
Mike provided the 2nd and it was followed with a unanimous vote.
New Business:
Discussion centered around volunteer opportunities for the board and members.
Peak2Peak is Saturday the 19th and Farmland is Sunday the 13th.
Event organizers are looking for volunteers to serve in various capacities.
The Christmas card pic is scheduled for Sunday, October 20th at noon at the VST. John Robert Williams will once again take the shots that will be on our Christmas cards.
A spreadsheet listing Iceman Expo duties has been posted to have board members fill in their names. Several time slots are being filled.
Thursday, October 31st will be the booth/tent set up. Beginning at 7:15 pm.
Friday, November 1st will see several time slots through the day taking it up to the tear down beginning at about 8 pm.
There was some discussion on membership building. Several ideas were tossed around but nothing definite was decided on. More to follow.
Annual membership meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, January 12th, 2025. Still deciding on the venue location, food source and if there will be a pre-ride.
We do know that the board will be confirmed at this meeting.
Open Forum:
Heath talked a bit about the Commons work days. He stated that engagement has fallen off a bit and this has cut into work being performed.
With that the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
Submitted by
Steve Mentzer, secretary