October 2016 Board Meeting Minutes + Activity Reports

MORE Board Meeting

10 October 2016

Location:  7979 Old Georgetown Rd, Suite 1100

Bethesda, MD  20814

7PM-9:00PM

 

Board Members Present

1. Ernie Rodriguez
2. Aaron Richter
3. Dave Magill
4. Jason Miller
5. Rob Lowe (Phone)

 

More STAFF and Members

1. Steve Don-Tigney
2. Jonah Meyers
3. Johnathan Kidwell (Phone)

 

 

Item 1:  Financials

• Need to reconcile spreadsheet regarding new members and renewals from MOCO Epic and Patapsco Trailfest.
  • ACTION -Steve D to reconcile spreadsheets – Complete, 108 MoCo, 143 PTF, 16 Fall Camping Trip
• Trek Stache Raffle brought in $2,030 for South Germantown and Rockburn Bike Parks
• Need to balance accounts for Patapsco
• Paypal is difficult for Treasurer and staff to reconcile.
  • Paypal is easy for users to use.
  • ACTION -Jonah and Aaron will research different options (including our existing square account)
• MORE is not included in CFC for calendar year 2017 donations
  • MORE needs to work on Holiday giving / donation campaign in lieu of CFC for 2017
  • Ernie R to reapply in December for calendar year 2018

 

Item 2:  Monthly membership update (Ernie):

• MORE is currently around 1100 members (1300 if you count sponsorships / partnerships).
  • Does not include Fall Camping Trip / Patapsco / MOCO renewals. Estimated to be 267 memberships
• We had a good campaign with IMBA for renewals / lapsed memberships

 

Item 3:  Approval of Restricted Fund (Grant Working Capital Fund)

• Trails Conservancy $40,000 loan proceeds will be placed in this fund based upon agreement with Single Track Futures Foundation 2015
• Expected total of $160,000 in Maryland RTP grants in the pipeline
• MORE needs to put money up front for these grants projects and get reimbursed later.
• ***VOTE*** Create Grants Working Capital Restricted Fund with an initial balance of $40,000. Motion Passed – All in Favor

 

Item 4:  REI OptOutside:

• MORE will participate in REI’s OptOutside campaign for 2016 (Black Friday)
• ACTION – Ernie and Brad will organize rides to share with REI

 

Item 5:  Board Reorganization: 

• Discussion: The responsibilities for MD and VA advocacy is too much for one person
• ***VOTE*** Create VA Advocacy Director –  Scope includes all advocacy trail matters to include advocacy, construction, maintenance, and grants.
  • Motion Passed – All in Favor
• ***VOTE*** Eliminate Trails Director position and create MD Advocacy Director – Effective Board Transition Meeting (January 2017)
  • Motion Passed – All in Favor

 

Item 6:  Board of Director 2016 Elections:

• Nomination Period runs November 1-25
• Election Period is November 28 – December 5
• Positions up for Election are:
  • Member Representative
  • Activities Director
  • Virginia Advocacy Director
  • Maryland Advocacy Director
• ACTION – Steve DonTigney to identify volunteer to run elections
  • Brad Hawk will run elections

 

 

Item 7:  Winter Party / Annual Membership Meeting

• Russ is heading up planning for Winter Party.
• Russ will lead a call with board before the next meeting to discuss plans for party
• Winter Party is February 4, 2017 at the Gwendolyn Coffield Community Center

 

Item 8:  MORE 25^th Anniversary:

• 2017 is the 25^th Anniversary of MORE.
• Jason is working on 25^th Anniversary logo. Will be reaching out to membership for help in designing it.
• BOD will be developing numerous events throughout 2017 celebrating 25 years

 

Item 9:  Trail Updates:

• Lake Fairfax Bike Park –Grand Opening held on October 8, 2017. Good attendance and covered by local media.
• Bacon Ridge – Received conditional approval from Scenic Rivers Land Trust for Phase 2 (Four additional miles)
• Loch Raven – Informational meeting held on October 12. Currently still have access issues with private landowners.  MORE and the City of Baltimore are still acting under the previous agreement and are anticipating renewing it.
• Frederick Watershed – Continuing to work with Frederick DPW on proposed Trail Map and Work Plan.
• MOCO – Planning Board approved an updated Trails Master Plan. Officially designates an additional 50 miles to be built out over the next 2-3 years, including 2 loops in Eastern Montgomery County.
• Monacacy Natural Resources Area (near Sugarloaf Mtn) – Kathleen Mihm (New MORE Trail Liaison) toured the park with DNR management and are developing a plan to open existing trails and create new trails (Total 10 miles)
• Little Bennett – Parks department added another mile (built by the county) to the Tobacco Farm Trail
• Cabin John Park – A mile of new trail has been built and opened north of Tuckerman

 

 

Item 10:  MOCO Epic Recap:

• Great Day/ Full recap will be in trailhead news.  Casey Andersen, Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board, stated that he wants to make Montgomery County the best place on the East Coast for Mountain Biking.

 

 

Board Member Activity Reports:

 

 

Ernie:

• Membership
  • Messages to lapsed memberships – August and September
  • Messages to expiring members – October
  • Thank you for joining/renewing members
  • Research membership status (discounts) for Patapsco and MoCo events
• Attendance
  • Patapsco Trails Festival
  • Fall Camping Trip
• Advocacy
  • Prince William County trails planning and volunteer recruitment meeting
  • Arlington County parkland user meeting
  • Grant application for Mount Vernon – 495 Express Lanes
  • Lake Fairfax Pump Track – completion and ribbon cutting
• Other
  • Order MORE socks with Jason Stoner
  • Work with Aaron, Kevin Adams and Bob Compton on financials

Jason M.:

• Prepared September Trailhead News

 

Jonah M.:

• Attended MORE Fall Camping trip
• Attended Patapsco Trail Fest
• Volunteered at MoCo Epic
• Solicited maps, photos and text for website from MORE liaisons

 

Dave M.:

• Mostly MOCO Epic Related –
• Organized trail survey and final repairs on trails
• Attended final workday on Cool Spring Run trail
• Organized course markers along with Tom Newton
• Marked 7 miles of trail
• Command Center phone on Ride Day – fixed bad marking, shuttled food to aid stations running out, organized pick ups for riders who could not finish, etc
• Demarking and helping to take down the Mothership
• Huge team effort expertly run by Todd Bauer, Bob Caverly and James Corbett with about 75 volunteers in all; thanks to all who helped out and thanks to all who signed up and came out for a great day!

 

Aaron R.

• Attended RVA Fall Line Trailfest
• Meet with Bob Compton, Kevin Adams, and Ernie Rodriguez regardning Tax return questions
• Completed balance sheet for CPA and taxes
• Prepared books and mailed checks

Jonathan K.:

• Updated website with upcoming work days
• Helped onboard new trail liaisons
• Distributed surplus hoes to trail liaisons
• Volunteered for MOCO Epic

 

Steve D-T.:

• Lake Fairfax Pump Track Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
• PHTA Board Meeting
  • trail connections, Ft. Belvoir access, Leesburg Rt. 15 road project/Trail proposal
  • PHTA Trail new trail evaluation
  • CCT trail Laurel Crest Trail extension
• 4 Mile Run Park Planning Meeting
  • Pump Track proposal presentation
• Capital Trails Coalition- Sept. Meeting
  • Press event, ART opening, capital funding
• Little River Turnpike Bicycle Study Meeting
  • County planning for routes through Annandale East/West corridor
• Prince William County MTBer Happy Hour
  • user group Meet and Greet