NMMBA Board of Directors Meeting
Date and location: Wednesday, October 11h, 2023 Acme Twp Hall
Board present: Tim Reicha, Tom White, Kim White, Brian Pugh, Mike Walters, Chad Schut, Chad Jordan, Heath Day, Brooke Ruble, Tim Jenema, Kate White and Steve Mentzer
Board absent: Michele Andrews
Guest(s): None
Mission Statement—----> It is our mission to Envision, Build and Protect the mountain bike experience for all forest users and uses.
Tim R called the meeting to order at 6:32 p.m.
September meeting minutes were approved via email.
No public comment
Financials:
Kim presented the financials.
She indicated that there has been some winter activity generated.
Some grooming badge sales, membership renewals and donations have come in.
The general fund stood at $10,477.72
This figure does not include any receipts generated by the TCTF event.
Expenses incurred by TCTF were the awards designed by up.bike and the timing company.
Although Up.bike and Jason Whittaker(timing company) donated large portions of their fees back to NMMBA.
Overall the event generated over $20,000.00 in revenue to be used for the Supply Rd trailhead improvement project.
With the Paypal Here (point-of-sale) app having been discontinued we are in need of a new way to collect and track funds at events.
Venmo would be a good way to go but we would need a cell phone number to tie it to. A number that doesn’t currently have a Venmo account is required.
Kim to look into options on this.
Zettle is Paypal's replacement product to collect credit card payments; new equipment is necessary and has been ordered, so it will arrive well before Iceman Expo.
Grant update:
Kate brought the board up to speed on various grants that have been submitted.
Two grants had been submitted to the Youth Endowment through the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation.
One for summer consideration was denied but the other application for fall consideration was still active.
Both had been earmarked for the Vasa Bike Park.
The fall grant application had been submitted to Antrim, Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties totaling $15,000 ($5000 ea.) and is up for review by the Youth Advisory Council, which requires a board member to attend and do a short presentation regarding the VBP project at the following meetings:
Antrim: November 1st at 11:30 a.m. at the Grass River Natural Area. Brooke stated she will be able to attend this meeting.
Grand Traverse: November 2nd at the Grand Traverse Historic Barns. Kate indicated she will attend that meeting.
Leelanau: November 6th at the Friendship Center in Suttons Bay. Tim J will be attending that meeting.
Kate also mentioned that a grant had been submitted via John Chase (GT Parks & Rec) to the Grand Traverse Band for their 2% funds.
Chapter reports:
TCTN:
Vasa Single Track(VST) crossing at Perch Lake road is in need of re-routing for safety purposes. This will take place on Monday, November 13th.
Iceman course update: Tom indicated that the course is all but completed.
Dockery to Timber Ridge is complete and Dockery back to Kalkaska has some work left to do. There are some sandy sections that will be reworked and the travel lanes will be fortified with some gravel.
24 hour VST event:
Liz Belt of Intrepid Cycling has indicated she would like to host a 24 hour event on the VST.
Discussion centered around number of participants, date of the event and a starting point to the event. Also parking will play a big role as there is no overnight parking allowed at the trailhead on Supply road.
Timber Ridge was suggested as a better launching site.
More details will be needed.
Bike NATO:
Tom led this discussion as to learning how the approval process works for other groups that utilize our trails.
How do we know when the trails are being used for certain events?
Do we periodically ask the Michigan DNR about any open permits?
Bottom line is we want to be more transparent with our membership base as to when the trails are being used and how this may impact their plans.
Vasa Backcountry:
Brian indicated that he will be submitting this proposal on December 4th.
He is looking to gather a few more letters of support for this proposal.
Brian read off a list of people and organizations to contact and several board members volunteered to contact these people.
Some of the organizations mentioned were:
Twin Birch Golf Course
Hagerty Cycling
Keen Technical Solutions
Intrepid Cycling
Grand Traverse Hiking Club
Kalkaska Conservation Club
Among others.
VST TREE Restroom:
DNR has given approval to install solar light, clothes hook and extra TP roll dispenser from the old restroom.
VST TREE Changing room:
Permit has been approved by both the DNR and East Bay Township.
Question brought up was do we still have time yet this fall to install it?
VST TREE Kiosk:
Funding allocation at DNR was put back in the system due to not meeting the spending deadline in front of the new budget year beginning October 1st.
TCTF 2024:
Proposed date of September 28th, 2024 has been discussed with the DNR. At this time no roadblocks have been identified.
If NMMBA determines that this date is the best option, a race permit will be submitted to lock it in.
VST TREE Pavilion:
Discussion of a capital campaign this winter to help target a Spring 2024 installation.
Winter Trails Committee:
Grooming badges have been ordered.
Other discussion centered around maintenance for the sleds, etc.
GT Commons update:
Work bee date is set for Sunday, October 22nd. From 11 a.m until 2 p.m.
Bike Leelanau:
Chad J. gave the board an update on the Heritage trail connector.
The archaeological society found no issues with moving forward but a group checking for invasive species did turn up some evidence.
This has bumped any forward progress until next Spring.
Chad was happy to announce that the Herman Park pumptrack is open!
Cadillac:
No report submitted.
Glacial Hills:
Brooke led this discussion.
She indicated that 20 work days resulted in over 700 hours of volunteer work!
She also said that there was a volunteer appreciation night scheduled on Friday, October 27th at Short’s South end. Short’s has graciously agreed to donate space for this event.
Committee has also created posters with a QR code to hand out to the local businesses.
They will also be holding an extended board meeting to prioritize future GH projects. This meeting is being held on Monday, October 30th.
Brooke also submitted trail counting data.
TCTF:
Discussion centered around any feedback, positive or negative that was received following the event.
The majority of the feedback was positive. From parking to trail conditions to the awards the general vibe was very good.
Some negative feedback had to do with wave assignments.
These seem minor and can be revisited next year.
As stated earlier the tentative date for 2024 is set for Saturday, September 28th.
NMMBA/Shop rides:
Chad S. talked about the NMMBA/shop ride with McLain/Stone Hound riders. Board members present were Chad Schut, Steve Mentzer and Tom White.
Turnout was sparse as some riders were recovering from Marji Gesick.
Most in attendance were McLain/Stone Hound riders.
Topics discussed that had already been completed were VST TREE, parking lot expansion, archway, successful Fiesta, new pit toilet and safety re-routes.
Discussion on upcoming projects included changing room, pavilion, removal of old toilet and TCTF volunteer needs.
Post ride snacks were provided by McLain/Stone Hound.
Merchandise reorder:
Merch will have to be reordered for the Iceman Expo on Friday, November 3rd.
Kate made a motion to spend up to $1500.00 for merchandise.
Kim provided a 2nd and it was followed up with a unanimous vote.
In regards to the Iceman Expo, a volunteer spreadsheet will be created.
Needed will be a set up crew, break down crew and people to fill 3 hour shifts throughout the day.
Annual membership meeting was tabled.
Holiday cards:
We will once again be sending out Holiday cards to our membership base.
In the works is coordination with John Robert Williams to take photos of the board for the card. It was suggested to get these photos taken before the November board meeting.
Open Forum:
Discussed was the trail days that took place on October 7th with a crew representing Wild Card Cycle Works. This was work performed as part of the adopt-a-trail program.
A big shout out to Traverse City’s Ace Hardware for donating 2 saws and 2 weed trimmers and offering a discount on the purchase of 2 more of each tool to be used for trail maintenance. Thanks to Ace Hardware for their support.
With that the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.
Submitted by
Steve Mentzer, secretary