October 2024 Board Meeting Minutes and Activity Reports

MORE – Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

October 21, 2024

 

 

Virtually present at meeting

Casey Anderson – President

Jali Fernando – Executive Secretary

David Beugelmans - Secretary

Kathy Mihm – Ride Programs Director

Dave Magill - MD Advocacy Director

Rob Lowe – Membership Director

Neil Blake – Treasurer

Michael Ullmann – VA Advocacy Director

 

Guest: Rick Dotson

 

·      Executive Director Report (Jali)

o   MoCo Epic Recap

§  Rider Count Numbers

·      2024

o   10-miler: 6 riders

o   13/15-miler: 53 riders

o   20-miler: 121 riders

o   30-miler: 209 riders

o   40-miler: 239 riders

o   55-miler: 89 riders

o   70-miler: 86 riders

o   100-miler: 16 riders

o   Total: 867 riders

·      2023

o   10-miler: 9 riders

o   13/15-miler: 159 riders

o   20-miler: 120 riders

o   30-miler: 270 riders

o   40-miler: 280 riders

o   55-miler: 89 riders

o   70-miler: 122 riders

o   100-miler: 12 riders

o   Total: 920 riders

·      2022

o   10-miler: 22 riders

o   13/15-miler: 151 riders

o   20-miler: 110 riders

o   30-miler: 320 riders

o   40-miler: 232 riders

o   55-miler: 105 riders

o   70-miler: 131 riders

o   100-miler: 0 riders

o   Total: 1021 riders

§  Rider count was down this year from 2022, but close to 2023

§  Contacted riders from previous three years and send emails and put posters in bike shops, also did social media outreach. Did anything change in terms of marketing?

§  Michael: There were many other events on Sunday, which probably impacted attendance.

§  Got feedback that the 20 miler is that way to go if you are beginner

§  The numbers above include day of registrations.

§  Financial Performance

·      Expenses

o   2024

§  Permits: $500

§  Printing (posters, signage, maps, bike tags): $6,816

§  Venue/facilities (tent, table, toilets): $9,312.39

§  Food, drinks, ice: $21,408

§  Merchandise (shirts, bags, stickers): $22,045

§  Supplies: $755.55

§  Photography and marketing: $200

§  Total expenses: $55,181.79

o   2023

§  Permits: $478.5

§  Printing (posters, signage, maps, bike tags): $6,015.64

§  Venue/facilities (tent, table, toilets): $9,516.46

§  Food, drinks, ice: $20,526.1

§  Merchandise (shirts, bags, stickers): $24,564.11

§  Supplies: $748.75

§  Photography and marketing: $200

§  Total expenses: $62,049.46

·      Income

o   2024: $46,628.21

o   2023: $61,757.88

§  Printed too many trail shirts and didn’t make enough MoCo Epic shirts. But can still sell them.

§  Also the fencing was a large expense this year, and could be used in future years. The fencing was about $4k.

§  Photography was also more expensive. We had someone at every aid station taking photos. Asked for things that we don’t have recent photos of.

§  What worked:

·      Day-of registration system.

o   Faster than going through BikeReg, payments much easier on Square

o   Able to get in touch with everyone post-event.

·      Engaging local bike shops

o   First year seeing on survey that people found out about the Epic from local bike shops (8)

o   Word of mouth still tops the list of “How did you hear about the Epic?” with 77 respondents

·      No complaints on rider communications

·      No complaints on packet pick-up process

·      Adaptive Ride – include it in every MoCo Epic! Get Montgomery Parks to play a bigger role since they are looking to grow their adaptive program

·      Police at road crossing – got good feedback from several riders

·      Merchandise

o   People liked the option to buy merch at the event

o   Need more MoCo Epic-specific merchandise instead of general MORE/trail items

·      Food and beer lines were very manageable, lots of hangry station food and drinks options.

·      NA beer was a hit

·      Getting post-event survey out early – 21 more people answered this year

·      Volunteer vibe was great

o   Heard from several first-time volunteers that they’ve been riding the Epic for years and they thought it was time to give back

o   Some participants told me the volunteers seemed to have a lot of fun, and they want to be part of that next year.

o   30 riders said in the survey they would like to be contacted for volunteer opportunities

§  Areas for improvement:

·      Member vs. Non-member registration

o   Non-members signing up for member pricing.

·      Rethink early bird and member pricing.

·      Course markings on 55

·      Food servings need to be bigger

·      What’s the sweet spot for food?

o   Some people prefer simpler food options – burgers, fries, burritos

o   Some people say they appreciate the healthy options

·      Music

o   Too loud

o   Some said it needed to start earlier

§  Overall people seemed to have a good time

o   Strategic Planning for 2025

§  We should pick a date to do this.

§  Neil:

·      Anything that’s budget related, we need to deal with it early before the new board comes in.

·      MORE Board Elections (Rob)

o   Need to determine who is up for reelection

o   People need to decide if they are going to run again, and then let everyone know, so we can find new people.

o   Rob will run again, but is open if someone new wants to come in a membership director

o   Need to identify a person to run the board elections, then need to set dates, nomination period starts in early November, then can start nominations mid-November, close them at the end of November, then elections usually run the second week of December for 10 days

o   Dave – Jali needs to determine who is up for election, then find job descriptions and see if the descriptions are accurate.

o   Rob

§  Will send out dates and Jason’s contact

·      Financial Update (Neil)

o   $17.2k net general increase

o   $28.3k general revenues

§  $16.5k MoCo Epic revenues

§  $8.1k Memberships

§  $3.5k interest (catch up to adjust prior months)

§  $0.3k other

o   $11.1k general expenses

§  $6.5k ED cost

§  $1.4k fall camping trip

§  $1.4 advocacy, sponsorships, donations

§  $0.8k MoCo Epic

§  $1.0k other

o   $1.9k Net Restricted Increase

o   $6.7k restricted revenues

§  $1.9k Locust Shade

§  $1.4k River's Edge

§  $1.2k Lake Fairfax

§  $1.2k Other

o   $4.8k Restricted Expenses

§  $1.9k sMOREs Eastern Shore

§  $1.2k West MoCo

§  $1.2k Locust Shade

§  $0.4k Other

·      Purchase new shed for MoCo Epic/Event supplies (Kathy)

o   Dave

§  The club is doing well and we might meet budget, so we can talk about the Shed

o   Kathy

§  We may have a cost estimate

§  The issue is there isn’t room and we need a sperate space to store MoCo Epic materials.

o   Jali

§  We want storage that is MoCo Epic Specific.

§  Are we opposed to having a trailer instead. We don’t need to ask for permission to build the shed, and if someone needs it for events than they can use it.

o   Dave

§  There is a company that provides metal boxes

§  Rob: These are expensive and cost a lot to move.

o   General agreement for Jali to investigate and come back with estimate/proposal. The idea we would be to include something in 2025 budget, to cover both MD and Northern Virginia.

·      Membership Update (Rob)

o   We had an excellent month, technically I think our 2nd best September ever only behind the 2021 year when we were experiencing the huge growth.  

o   270 Transactions in $10380 before IMBA processing, that comes out to appx $8140 

o   Member numbers were way up to 1957.   

o   PFA last month's membership reports.  Both long and short form.   

o   On track for a decent October.

·      Trails

o   Virginia (Michael)

§  New liaison for the 495 Jump Line asking for help with tools and new lockbox

·      The past trail liaison stepped away and somebody reached out.

·      They have no money in their budget, but it’s a brand new liaisons and wants to help them.

·      Eager to do some work.

·      Had asked for some items that are possibly have in the shed in MoCo. The person is asking for two of three flathead shovels, one dirt tamper. This is something I could ask other liaisons for. They could also ask for grant funds.

·      Also asked for replacement lock box.

·      Dave: What is the legal status of these trails?

o   Land next to I495 next to Wakefield. It’s county park land. This has been on our website a long time.

·      Rob: 6-10 years ago, we gave them a tool box. We can probably get some shovels from Wakefield.

§  Brookfield

·      Trails for Use will donate money for Brookfield now that the organization is closing down.

·      Will also donate bikes to stay at Brookfield. Everything not cash will stay there and stored in the same place.

·      General agreement to talk to individual about the connector project and portable pump track concept. And then possibly making use of the funds in other ways, if necessary.

·      Michael will also bring in Ernie to assist with discussion.

o   Maryland (Dave)

§  At Rivers Edge, a tree fell on a bridge, and Carlo raised money and fixed it very fast.

§  Clyde, one of the Frederick Watershed Liaisons, reached out and said they have RTP grants to upgrade some trails at Gambril, and don’t have active liaison there. Need a co-liaison and am working on it.

§  Tim in Emmitsburg has got a couple of big grants, one from City, and about to build a NICA race loop. Very close to being able to build. Also have money to rebuild the more expert line, which was so hard that nobody really liked it. Andrew will probably do that within the next 6 months.

§  Moving down to MoCo, Montgomery Parks built a new trail in time for the MoCo Epic, which was well received. Todd Bauer is doing a very good job.

§  Haven’t heard much from Patapsco. They continue to have a lot of grants, but struggling to turn money into builds. Did finish OEC connector.

§  Somebody reached out to be a liaison to work with Calvert County. MORE added ½ of the county to its territory about 4 years ago. They build ¾ of a mile trail at Ward Park, without any mountain bike community input. Working to trail to get mountain bike input into the next step of trails. This could 3-4-5 miles of trails build down there in the next few years.

§  Update on problems with OAG/DNR asking for indemnity

·      Casey and I are trying to implement the guidance we’ve receive about indemnities.

·      Got a really big grant for Rosaryville of $160k to rebuild the interior trail and convert a bunch of trails to adaptive standards.

·      One of the lawyers for OAG decided that MORE should indemnify them for our work when we are building trails and giving them to them. The board has never approved any open ended indemnities.

·      In consistent dialogue with secretary of DNR. Same set of lawyers previously agreed to let MORE build trail, but are now asking for it.

·      Events Update (Clay)

o   Not much of an update.

o   Dave M: Do we have a date and time for next year’s winder party

§  Clay: Yes: February 22 at Silver Spring Civic Center.

·      Need to start thinking about volunteer awards for main categories and things where folks have gone above and beyond.

o   Fall camping trip went well and weather was OK, and they have set dates for next year.

 

 

 

Activity Reports

·      President – Casey Anderson

o   [*]

 

·       Jali Fernando – Executive Director

o   MoCo Epic, including post-event work: rider survey, sponsor thank-yous, etc.

o   Assisted Hashawha and Locust Shade liaisons with Trails Count grant application

o   Represented MORE at the Maryland DNR employee field day in Rosaryville State Park

o   Helped Locust Shade liaison team with the Jump & Ride Fest

o   Organized MORE Friends & Family Rides in MICL races

o   Assisted Sharon and Phil at the Fall Camping Trip

o   Processed memberships from Fall Camping Trip, FPVSP, and MoCo Epic

 

·       Secretary – David Beugelmans

o   Coordinated board meeting and finalized minutes

o   Advocate for and advance Annapolis Flow Trail and Bacon Ridge/Waterworks Connector projects

 

·       MD Advocacy Director – Dave Magill 

• Four days of volunteering at the MoCo Epic and five days of trimming
• Two days helping build the new bridge on the SRT
• Attended the DNR outdoor recreation summit at Rocky Gap, to showcase MORE
• Attended Damascus “Placemaker” event to showcase MORE
• Attended DNR employee field day at Rosaryville to showcase MORE
• Attended required training on RTP grants via telecon for new Rosaryville RTP grant, completed pre-kickoff report, lined up Mike Moses liaison as co project manager
• Working to resolve issue of DNR legal asking for an indemnity from MORE to build new trail under LBI grants
• Purchased a string mower for clearing trails

 

·       VA Advocacy Director – Michael Ullman 

• Attended the Lake Fairfax Jump Jam
• Met with Martin from Locust Shade and Janet Bartnik deputy director of PW County Dept. of Parks and recreation to discuss future improvements at Locust Shade as well as other PW County parks 
• Attended the MoCo Epic 
• Assisted the liaisons of James Long Park with submitting a proposal for a GTF grant 

 

·       Membership Director – Rob Lowe

o   We had an excellent month, technically I think our 2nd best September ever only behind the 2021 year when we were experiencing the huge growth.  

o   270 Transactions in $10380 before IMBA processing, that comes out to appx $8140 

o   Member numbers were way up to 1957.   

o   PFA last month's membership reports.  Both long and short form.   

 

·       Ride Program Director – Kathy Mihm

o   Set up numerous rides and communicated with ride leaders

o   Secured and distributed night riding permits for MoCo Parks and Schaeffer

o   MoCo Epic map - created final map for the event

o   Moco Epic Family day - ran skills clinics

o   MoCo Epic registration data compile and file prep

o   MoCo Epic registration, set up and event clean up and shed organize

 

·       Communications Director – N/A

 

·       Treasurer – Neil Blake

o   $17.2k net general increase

o   $28.3k general revenues

§  $16.5k MoCo Epic revenues

§  $8.1k Memberships

§  $3.5k interest (catch up to adjust prior months)

§  $0.3k other

o   $11.1k general expenses

§  $6.5k ED cost

§  $1.4k fall camping trip

§  $1.4 advocacy, sponsorships, donations

§  $0.8k MoCo Epic

§  $1.0k other

o   $1.9k Net Restricted Increase

o   $6.7k restricted revenues

§  $1.9k Locust Shade

§  $1.4k River's Edge

§  $1.2k Lake Fairfax

§  $1.2k Other

o   $4.8k Restricted Expenses

§  $1.9k sMOREs Eastern Shore

§  $1.2k West MoCo

§  $1.2k Locust Shade

§  $0.4k Other

 

·       Activities Director – Clay Deming

o   Design and purchase swag for various events and volunteers. 

o   Help with MoCo Epic Alcohol license

o   Coordinating some exchange for locust shade event.

o   Coordinating some prizes for fall camping

o   Trying to converse with Woom about sMORE's tshirts or a bike donation. 

o   Worked on comments from Casey's ppt.