April 13, 2026

March 2026 Board of Directors Meeting Minutes and Activity Reports

MORE – Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

March 9, 2026

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 It has been fairly quiet due to weather. Mostly busy with advocacy efforts in various counties.

o Surprised by the response. People are taking the time to write letters and send them out.

o Was worried about February membership, but Rob said it was the best February in awhile. Still being active in the background (i.e., on advocacy) helped push membership over the winter. Wanted to continue.

o Planning advocacy meeting with Fairfax County mountain bikers. It’s good timing for upcoming budget hearings and upcoming meeting with county parks department to present where we can have new trails in the county

o Getting ready for more outdoor events.

§ Watershed cleanup

§ Adaptive screening and panel – going to do a fundraiser on April 28

§ Also have women’s mountain biking day on May 3

§ Ride and Picnic in Anne Arundel County

· Financial Update (Neil)

($5.6k) Net general revenue

$7.3k general revenue

$5.0k memberships (estimate)

$2.1k interest income

$0.3k other

$12.9k general expenses

$10.6k staff costs

$1.0k MICL donation

$0.8k winter party

$0.8k IT costs (higher than normal because of $369 for Calendar Wiz)

($1.1k) offset to prizes and swag for reimbursements for club ride order

$0.8k other

$5.4k net restricted

$7.1k restricted revenue

$5.2k Crownsville Hospital

$1.0k S. Germantown Bike Park

$0.9k other

$1.6k restricted expenses

$1.3k Lake Fairfax (Tony purchased some equipment)

$0.3k Waterworks

· Project Requests for O’Sullivan Fund (Dave M/Michael)

o We received 11 requests for funding from the OSF, totalling $231k. All of them are reasonable projects, and there is a good spread of them geographically. But we only have $135k available in the OSF, and another $29k in the GTF. This leaves us $67k short.

§ Frederick City – Paved pump track: $35K request to add MORE funding to a nearly fully-funded $229K paved pump track; team believes they can raise the remaining $5K locally if MORE contributes $30K.

§ SGBP – Skid steer equipment: $4K request (recommended: $3,700) for equipment already fundraised in late 2025, with a small adjustment to match available trail fund balance.

§ CMHP – Bridges: $11,100 request to fund volunteer-built bridges needed to open 7 miles of new hand-built trail; park approval anticipated in April/May.

§ Rivers Edge – Phase 1 refresh: $17K request (recommended: $16K) for a trail refresh project with fundraising already completed in late 2025.

§ SCSP – Bridges and benching: $19,250 request toward a $138,750 project opening the Seneca Greenway to bikes and fixing Schaeffer trails; pending DNR/park approval expected this month.

§ Lake Fairfax – Jump line and general repairs: $28K request (recommended: $18K) to hire Ironwood for 40 days of work, with donated machine time from FCFP; project is ready to go.

§ Fountainhead – Easier options and problem fixes: $24K request (recommended: $18K) for trail improvements; approval not expected until late 2026, with a suggestion to transfer BROT funds for a 50% match.

§ Locust Shade – 1.25 miles of new singletrack: $30K request (recommended: $20K) pending county legal and BOCS approval, with a tentative third-party PWC grant and expectation of increased county funding.

§ Edgar Tillet – Jump line: $10K request to build two new jump lines at a new Loudoun County park, funded by transferring the existing Portable Pump Track fund.

§ Wakefield – Boardwalks, stone work, and key section fixes: $20K request (recommended: $18K) to address issues in The Bowl and the Berm Ascent; project is ready to go.

§ James Long – Jump lines and signage: $33K request (recommended: $10K) for jump lines and signage at a park pending county approval, likely not before end of 2026; most funding recommended to be deferred to 2027.

o In total, this is almost $700k worth of trailwork, asking for almost $230k from OSF. We also have some money in the General Trail Fund, but short $68k

o Michael and Dave spent some time talking to try to find a way to make this work.

o Some of the requests did not do the math quite right, some have more in their trail funds or can reasonably raise a little more money. Some are really in the early approval stages and will likely not be ready to build until late 2026 or 2027. We have cut back the funding requests of those with long lead times. One (Locust Shade) is seeking a big contribution from the county, and so is not really sure how much they need from MORE.

o Dave and Michael have the following recommended actions:

§ Transfer $10k portable pump track funds to Edgar Tillet

§ Transfer $16k BROT funds to Fountainhead

§ Transfer $25k of MORE unrestricted funds to the GTF

§ Inform all 11 teams of the funding that is to be earmarked in the GTF/OSF for their projects and release them to get going

§ Tell the three teams with long approval timelines (Locust Shade, Fountainhead and James Long) that we want to fund their projects, and they should come back for more money later this year or next year when their projects are more solid

§ Send the spreadsheet to the O'Sullivan Family and see if they have any input or comments.

o Neil:

§ For the $10k transfer, do you have something in writing? Jali: Yes, I have an email saying this is OK.

§ For BROT, need to confirm. $25k was from Dominion Energy and is for BROT sustainability. May need to check in with them. Also need to confirm with REI.

· Michael: The work at Fountainhead is far from occurring. We had a meeting about this. It’s not approved yet. They already have funds in the Fountainhead trail fund.

· Dave: We should make this simpler and reach out to REI and Dominion, and transfer only $12.5k to Fountainhead for now, and we can deal with the rest later.

· Casey: The point doesn’t seem to be that we will spend all the money proposed this year, but in order to break these projects loose, it may be helpful, or even necessary to make a commitment that if they are approved, they will get money. It is likely that not all of these will be approved and be ready to go this year. Thus, I feel comfortable reallocating some of the money for that purpose because it’s unlikely we are going to spend all of that now.

o It would be helpful for us to make a soft commitment so they can go back to their land managers.

§ Dave: Motion to (1) transfer $10,000 of portable pumptrack funds to Edgar Tillet, (2) transfer $12,500 of BROT funds to Fountainhead subject to lack of objection from donors (REI and Dominion Energy), and (3) transfer $25,000 of MORE unrestricted funds to the General Trail Fund but only following a specific written request by the Advocacy Directors.

· Neil: Second

· Passed unanimously

· Membership Update (Rob)

o 168 Membership Transactions at $5458

o Post IMBA Processing appx $4450

o Highest IMBA Feb on Record by $300, historically till 2020 February was historically more like $2K pre-IMBA.

o 12 New Joining Transactions

o Decent Large Memberships ($100 Plus for Feb) - 14@1600 vs 11@1400 in 2024.

o As of today (3/6 at 330pm) before auto-renewals we are sitting at 2024 members total.

· Future/Long Term Tracking (Rob)

o Starting to think about stats to track long term, between membership dollars, post membership dollars, members, auto renews, and other stuff

o It’s up to the board to determine what might be useful.

o Neil: Would be interested to understand contribution by member, so it’s both the IMBA membership and how many of those paying members donated separately.

§ Jali will connect with Rob about this because she is uploading member data into Donor Perfect

· Ride Program Update (Kathy)

o Given the weather there hasn’t been much riding.

o We did have the first aid clinic this past weekend, with 11 people attending.

o Ramping up for the year to get their information and events on the calendar.

· Fees for Beginner Clinics (Kathy)

o Talked in the last meeting about charging for ride clinics

o After thinking about that, would like to withdraw the suggestion.

o Will still require membership to participate.

o Jali:

§ If the concern is people not showing up, should set up BikeReg so it’s treated like a deposit. It’s easy to refund the deposit.

§ Kathy: We can see.

o Maris: Does it keep people from showing up because spots are booked and then don’t show up?

§ Jali: people are usually pretty good at cancelling. It’s usually the morning of where they decide not to go.

· Events Update (Maris)

o Would like to thank everybody for a great winter meeting. Received lots of positive feedback. People liked the new format. Hopefully we make all events better and build value for members.

o Jali and Alison have been great to work with, and we have the whole calendar mapped out for the whole year for all the events.

o All kicks off in May with the Women’s MTB Day

o Then we start the ride and picnic series: 5 locations. Goal is to highlight and feature the trails

§ Anne Arundel County

§ Patuxent

o Always open to suggestions for making things different and better

· Trails (Dave M/Michael)

o Maryland

§ Getting closer on Rosaryville grant and hope to be going out to bid on that within 30 days

· Fundraising Ideas

o Neil: There is $62k or so in the Patapsco Trail Fund

§ Jali: Eric will be helping out with the trail captains, and want him to have funding in order to do that.

o Casey: I did send out an email with a bunch of ideas. Neil responded.

Activity Reports

· President – Casey Anderson

- [*]

· Jali Fernando – Executive Director

o Helped plan and organize the MORE Winter Party and annual awards

o Attended meetings with NOVA Parks and Montgomery Parks

o Represented MORE at the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association ADA Summit

o Created action alerts for various advocacy efforts and county budget hearings

o Met with various stakeholders (MICL, City of Frederick, Trek, University of Maryland Adventure Program, Wounded Warrior Project, Catalyst Sports) for partnership opportunities

o Planning film screening fundraiser for adaptive mountain biking

o Regular email, newsletter, and social media communications

· Secretary – David Beugelmans

o Coordinated board meeting and finalized minutes

o Continue work on CHMP planning and fundraising

o Government relations communications and efforts related to new Annapolis mayor

· MD Advocacy Director – Dave Magill

o Worked with Michael to collect review and modify Project Requests for O'Sullivan Fund money

o Helped finalize contract for the sidewalk under Clopper Road, waiting on permit reissuance

o Met with Montgomery Parks about their plans for 2026

o developed first draft of Rosaryville IFB for 6 mile trail rebuild funded by RTP

o met with SCSP management regarding plans to open all of Seneca Greenway trail to bikes

o two trail work days hauling lumber for Pax bridges

o testified at MoCo Council hearing on capital budget

o Minor assistance with spring tool order, Jali and Kem took the lead

· VA Advocacy Director – Michael Ullmann

o Worked with Dave M. to review and modify Project Requests for O'Sullivan Fund money

o attended the MORE winter meeting on 2/28

o Met with NOVA Parks on 2/19 to discuss future plans for Fountainhead and meet their new Parks Director/staff

o Worked with various liaisons to encourage them to submit a request for O’Sullivan fund money.

· Membership Director – Rob Lowe

o Membership Processing for Feb 2026

o Attended Winter Membership Party

o Talked to a LOT of people at the Winter Party

o Ate too many cookies at Winter Party

· Ride Program Director – Kathy Mihm

o Compile and summarize 2025 Golden Volunteer Data

o Arrange for 1st Aid classes for ride leaders and liaisons - class will occur on 3/7/26

o On-board new ride leader for Waterworks and Ptap

o Send 2026 ride season emails and reminders to ride leaders

o Enter rides in MORE Calendar and Golden Volunteer

o Install muddy trail signs at Royce Henson

· Treasurer – Neil Blake

o 2025 financial statements and tax return are being prepared and should be finalized in the next couple of weeks

o Financial update for the month of February: