December 2025 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and Activity Reports
MORE – Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
December 8, 2025
Virtually present at meeting
Casey Anderson – President
Jali Fernando – Executive Secretary
Alison Wells – Administrative Assistant
David Beugelmans – Secretary
Rob Lowe – Membership Director
Neil Blake – Treasurer
Maris Finley – Activities Director
Dave Magill - MD Advocacy Director
Michael Ullmann – VA Advocacy Director
Kathy Mihm – Ride Programs Director
· Executive Director Report (Jali)
o Working on right now:
§ Trail care school
§ Wrapping up the year and contacting partners for 2026 events, making sure they are on board for 2026 plans.
§ Shout out to Maris and Tom Newton for Holiday Lights Ride, which happened the week of Thanksgiving. It was very good and will get even better.
o Winter Meeting and Awards (Jali)
§ Alison, Maris and I have been talking awards and process for nominating. In the past, its through email and the awards and printed very quickly.
§ Would encourage people to be a little more detailed and mindful as we nominate people. Put together spreadsheet where you can add in people and add a narrative.
§ Want to open it up to other liaison as well.
§ Dave B: We should ask liaison for ideas on the Silver Spoke Award. General agreement to send out email to key people.
· Financial Update (Neil)
o Forecast of 2025 Actual Vs. Budget
§ General revenues totaled $163,637, coming in $24,137 above budget. This was driven mainly by other donations being almost triple budget ($72,321 vs. $25,000) and unexpected income from other member events.
§ Membership dues slightly exceeded budget, and clinics, the MORE Store, and interest income were all modestly ahead of plan.
§ However, the MoCo Epic underperformed significantly ($717 vs. $23,000 budgeted), and transfers out were higher than planned.
§ General expenses were $161,499, which is $5,491 under budget. Staff costs were slightly over budget, and some program areas such as clinics expenses and the MORE Store ran higher than expected.
§ At the same time, several lines, like president, sMORE program, women’s program, and BOD retreat, were not used, and items such as insurance, workday expenses, trail education, and the winter party came in under budget.
§ Overall, the organization ended with a net general surplus of $2,137, compared to a budgeted deficit of $27,490, a favorable variance of $29,627.
o Transfer to the GTF from General Funds (Dave M proposed $20) (Neil/Dave M)
§ Dave M – Move to move $20,000 from unrestricted funds to the General Trails Fund.
· Neil: Second
· Passed unanimously.
o Transfer some unrestricted funds to West Moco Trail Fund - for MoCo Epic volunteering - $10k? (Dave M)
§ Dave M is fine withdrawing for now, due to transfer of general funds.
o Jali's proposed buying shirts for volunteers (Neil/Jali)
§ Jali: Answered some questions via email about projected orders. Think we will get about 30 orders. Hoping that the board approves using some of the left over funds to get the shirts for trail liasions and ride leaders.
§ Neil: Why don’t we approve increase to ride program budget for the right amount, and that will cover it.
· We also need to determine if we will receive the items this year, for accounting purposes.
§ Dave M – we should authorize Jali to get this going with Club Ride, and we can do an email if we need to approve a budget increase.
o Tom Newton proposed allocated net proceeds of Holiday Night Ride to sMORE's (approx. $1,400) (Neil)
§ Dave M – Spoke to Tom, and noted the $1400 included memberships that were signed up. Tom thinks its about $600 of net profit when you leave membership offs.
§ Dave M – Move for Neil to do a reasonable accounting and transfer any net proceedings, excluding memberships, from Holiday Night Rides to sMORE’s restricted fund.
· David B: Second
· Passed unanimously
o 2026 budget process (Neil/Dave M)
§ Neil: I rely on each board member to put their budget request in. Will send out email and ask everyone to update to whatever you want to spend for the year. Let me know the numbers.
§ Neil: Also need to decide when we will finalize the budget. Will have discussion in early January about how to finalize the budget, likely at an in person meeting.
· Membership Update (Rob)
o Overall, a very good month. Another best of November, two years in a row. Ahead of where we were in 2024 and 2023.
o As of November 2025 (reported 7 Dec), MORE’s membership and giving remain slightly ahead of last year.
o Year-to-date revenue is $89,696, just above 2024’s $89,073, for a positive variance of $623. Total active members stand at 2,106 (37 new plus 2,069 current), up from 2,061 in October, 2,054 in September, and 1,986 at this time last year.
o Lapsed or expiring members total 134, compared with 119 last year for the same period.
o In November, there were 37 new joins (vs. 19 last year) and 86 renewals beyond the “under 15 days” category spread across short, middle, and long renewal windows, indicating steady retention across time frames.
o Large donors continue to contribute meaningfully: November had 11 donors giving $1,100 total, following strong donor months in October (29 donors, $4,000) and September (18 donors, $3,550).
o Overall, membership, renewals, and donor support are trending slightly up versus last year.
· Advocacy Priorities and Activities in First Half of 2026 (Casey)
o Casey
§ This is maybe a topic for January.
§ From my point of view, we have some opportunities in Montgomery, Prince George’s, Anne Arundel, and Fairfax, which are projects we can push forward.
§ Want to get people aligned on other projects we can push forward. A lot of jurisdictions are going into the budget cycle, so there will be spring time hearings in front of county councils and parks boards. Want to identify opportunities so we are not asleep at the switch.
§ Want to see this up for January.
· Trails
o Update on Tommy O’Sullivan (Dave M)
§ Dave M
· Looking for an anchor donor for a $1 million fundraising campaign. Put together package about this, which added up to $1.1 million.
· Recently the South Germantown Bike Park team sent out a fundraiser asking about a $20k piece of equipment that had broken down. Had to raise $7k. And Tom sent a $1k contribution.
· Wrote him a nice thank you note, and he responded and indicated he is planning a large donation this year. This was just a few days ago, so sent him the $1.1 million fundraising deck. Need to see what his response is.
o IMBA Trail Towns and Ride Centers (Dave M)
§ IMBA reinitiated the Ride Center designation. MORE organized an application with MoCo Parks to apply for Ride Center status, but didn’t get it. Shut program down, rethought and released two new programs.
§ Many areas can qualify as trail towns in the MORE area.
§ To become a ride center is a much more significant investment. Includes a long process, including people coming out to evaluate. It costs $15,000. Designed for governments who really want to advertise their tourism and quality of life activities. Almost all of them are tourist locations. This isn’t something that MORE would want to fund.
§ Casey
· I was talking to Montgomery Parks and they are annoyed they are not better known for mountain biking. We put in all these investments, and nobody knows about it.
o Maryland (Dave)
§ Gunpowder – Looking at projects in both big gunpowder and little gunpowder. Some of them are going to require grant money, because not all buildable by hand.
· Met with Dan Hudson, who wants to see it going. Pointed out there are RTP funds. Gumbo recently became a 501(c)(3), most of the board members are also MORE members. It is a real close relationship.
· The option exists for Gumbo to apply for an RTP grant for Gunpowder, at the same time MORE applies for an RTP grant (maybe for the Seneca Greenway bridges).
· Dan Huson pointed out that Gumbo probably would not be acceptable unless they had more cash in the bank, for working capital.
· Consider making a loan to Gumbo for working capital purposes. Thinks there is overlap with Gumbo so this is appropriate.
· Want to ask the board is this could be acceptable.
o Casey: Thinks this sounds fine.
o Michael (Virginia)
§ Martin and I had success with Prince William County. First walked a trail with somebody from the county, and then presented a plan. 95 th street is a big jump line at Locust Shade. Presented a plan to add on a whole other section, as well as a black line. She wants to start presenting plan to County Board of Supervisors. She’s also going to start asking them to fund some of these projects (maybe $40-50k).
§ A paved pump track opened in Prince William County. MORE wasn’t involved. The parks department has its own fundraising board. At least 200 people were there. It has been busy.
§ Want to try to replace MoCo Lights Ride in Northern Virginia.
§ Looks like Tony at Lake Fairfax is having some additional items added to his jump line.
§ Connector at Brookfield pump track to Accotink, which then connects to Wakefield. Fairfax is paying and started work in early November. There was a resident that complained about it so they stopped, but other folks got it going again.
· Planning to do an event or ribbon cutting.
§ Trails for Youth has $40,000 in budget, going to push them to identify a project to use the money.
· Ride Program Update (Kathy)
o In wintertime there are a lot of ride cancellations.
o There are a few ugly sweater holiday rides, encouraged to do with food collection for local food pantries.
o Have a couple of new sMORE ride leaders, including in interest in Harford County.
· Winter Lights (Dave)
o Maris did an excellent job and the execution was very good. Everything went smoothly.
Activity Reports
· President – Casey Anderson
- [*]
· Jali Fernando – Executive Director
- Provided support for the MORE Holiday Lights Ride before, during, and after the event
- Attended REI's fall grant program orientation
- Met with Prince George's County trail team, with Casey and Dave Magill
- Organized a trail work day in Charles Branch Natural Area
- Attended the Hashawha Fall Gratitude Ride
- Set up Board of Directors elections
- Coordinated with Montgomery and Prince George's Counties on 2026 adaptive programming
- Coordinated with Trek about partnering on 2026 events and providing demo bikes for skills clinics and rides
- Coordinated with Friends of Patapsco Valley State Park for joint membership drive
- Check-in calls with partners and sponsors to wrap up the year
- Regular email, newsletter, and social media communications
· Secretary – David Beugelmans
o Coordinated board meeting and finalized minutes
o Finished project and attended ribbon cutting for Annapolis Flow Trails
o Attended site walk for CHMP crossings
o Reflagged CHMP trails and connector spur
o Government relations communications and efforts related to new Annapolis mayor
· MD Advocacy Director – Dave Magill
o Bike repair stations being installed throughout SCSP
o more potential bidders have made a site visit to Clopper Road for sidewalk
o large donation came in at Gunpowder to cover many local costs
o TC approved $12k for SGBP to buy new skid steer, SGBP team working on raising their $7k match
o Pax 2a work underway, first invoice submitted to MD govt for payment
o NWB boardwalk work underway
o CHMP and BR walkthrough re water crossings
o Proposal submitted to MoCo Parks re 8 banked turns on Muddy Branch
o Seeking liaisons for three parks in HoCo
o Attended Winter Lights ride - huge success!
o QR codes for reporting downed trees installed at Schaeffer, along with backend systems to record and let sawyers know
· VA Advocacy Director – Michael Ullman
o Met with PW County to formalize an additional trail at Locust Shade as well as a reroute of an existing trail. This proposal is being presented to the BOCS (board of county supervisors)
o attended the ribbon cutting on 11/15 for the Rollins Ford Paved pump track
o Attended a master planning session for trails and roadways in Manassas
· Membership Director – Rob Lowe
o Membership report
o Membership processing
· Ride Program Director – Kathy Mihm
o Set up rides/communications, including Ugly Sweater Holiday Rides
o Communicated with 2 new sMORE's ride leaders
o Arranged for site prep for SGBP shed (gravel delivery) and shed delivery
o Presented to Poolesville Parks Board for bike pump track
o Finalized trail map for Emmitsburg Area trails
· Communications Director – N/A
· Treasurer – Neil Blake
o Full year forecast for the general revenues/expenses
o General revenues
§ Memberships: Forecast 77,989; Budget 75,000; Variance +2,989
§ Other member events: Forecast 3,338; Budget 0; Variance +3,338
§ Fall camping trip: Forecast 4,202; Budget 5,000; Variance -798
§ Other donations: Forecast 72,321; Budget 25,000; Variance +47,321
§ Clinics: Forecast 3,420; Budget 2,000; Variance +1,420
§ MoCo Epic, net: Forecast 717; Budget 23,000; Variance -22,283
§ MORE Store: Forecast 1,414; Budget 1,000; Variance +414
§ Interest income: Forecast 20,235; Budget 20,000; Variance +235
§ Transfers: Forecast -20,000; Budget -11,500; Variance -8,500
§ Total general revenues: Forecast 163,637; Budget 139,500; Variance +24,137
o General expenses
§ Staff costs: Forecast 91,940; Budget 89,340; Variance -2,600
§ President: Forecast 0; Budget 500; Variance +500
§ Board meetings: Forecast 157; Budget 0; Variance -157
§ Insurance: Forecast 8,419; Budget 10,000; Variance +1,581
§ Office supplies: Forecast 729; Budget 0; Variance -729
§ Website maintenance: Forecast 7,302; Budget 7,300; Variance -2
§ Postage: Forecast 762; Budget 1,200; Variance +438
§ Taxes and licenses: Forecast 25; Budget 600; Variance +575
§ Tax preparation fees: Forecast 3,600; Budget 4,000; Variance +400
§ Advocacy/Sponsorships – general: Forecast 2,734; Budget 2,500; Variance -234
§ Donations: Forecast 1,000; Budget 1,000; Variance 0
§ Trail liasons meeting: Forecast 1,635; Budget 2,000; Variance +365
§ Workday expenses incl tools: Forecast 13,885; Budget 15,000; Variance +1,115
§ Marketing: Forecast 1,328; Budget 2,000; Variance +672
§ Trail education: Forecast 1,436; Budget 2,500; Variance +1,064
§ sMORE program: Forecast 0; Budget 500; Variance +500
§ Ride program: Forecast 701; Budget 500; Variance -201
§ Prizes and Swag: Forecast 3,387; Budget 3,000; Variance -387
§ Annual report: Forecast 1,308; Budget 1,500; Variance +192
§ Other member events – expenses: Forecast 3,827; Budget 4,000; Variance +173
§ Winter party: Forecast 3,858; Budget 5,000; Variance +1,142
§ Summer fesitval : Forecast 1,607; Budget 2,000; Variance +393
§ Women’s program: Forecast 0; Budget 1,000; Variance +1,000
§ Fall camping trip – expenses: Forecast 4,645; Budget 5,000; Variance +355
§ Clinics – expenses: Forecast 3,520; Budget 2,000; Variance -1,520
§ Training: Forecast 1,285; Budget 2,000; Variance +715
§ BOD retreat: Forecast 0; Budget 500; Variance +500
§ Transaction fees: Forecast 1,343; Budget 1,300; Variance -43
§ More Store – expenses: Forecast 867; Budget 400; Variance -467
§ IMBA Memberships paid by MORE: Forecast 198; Budget 350; Variance +152
§ Misc: Forecast 0; Budget 0; Variance 0
§ Total general expenses: Forecast 161,499; Budget 166,990; Variance +5,491
o Net general
§ Net general: Forecast 2,137; Budget -27,490; Variance +29,627
· Activities Director – Maris Finley
o MoCo Epic Support
§ Friday - Event Setup
§ Saturday – Event & Jump Jam support
§ Sunday – Oversaw breakdown of event setup
o MoCo Area Sawyers Event
§ Attended thank you event for volunteers
o SCSP Holiday Lights Ride
§ Event preparation & walkthrough with City of Gaithersburg