April 2017 Chapter Meeting Minutes

CRAMBA Chapter Meeting Minutes4-13-17This meeting was held at the Rochester Mills Beer Company. There were about 50 people in attendance.Jeremy Verbeke and Steve Vigneau chaired the meeting. It was called to order at 7:03 PM.Minutes of the previous meeting were not readAward Presentation: Jeremy Verbeke, on behalf of CRAMBA and the entire local mountain biking community recognized Mark Senyk with an appreciation award for his many years of volunteerism maintaining the trails. Pete Kresmery, CRAMBA’s TC from Stony Creek added this, “Mark is my "Go-to" guy. He always seems to be available to lend a hand, even when it's too hot to be out there in the woods, he's there. I'm able to "bounce" ideas off of him, especially while we're riding the trails.”

• Major Trail updates and Trail Day Announcements
  • Addison Oaks County Park
    • Roger Class is our new TC for Addison
    • Please note, June 4^th the trails will be closed to mountain bikers due to a trail running event.
  • Bald Mountain
  • Clinton River Park Trails
  • 150 ft board walk over marshy area will be constructed by volunteers from LL Bean funded in part by LL Bean and Back to the Beach.
    • May 6 is the first trail day
  • Columbus County Park. Don Miller III has volunteered to be CRAMBA’s trail coordinator for this trail. Thank you Don!
  • Holly-Holdridge. Cori Chesnutt said the first trail maintenance date is June 10. They may have one prior to that depending on trail conditions and will promote it once the date has been set.
  • Orion Oaks County Park.
  • Ortonville Recreation Area
  • Pontiac Lake Recreation Area
  • River Bends Park
  • Ruby Campground
  • Seven Lakes State Park
  • Stony Creek Metropark. Steve Vigneau introduced Katie Kowalski. He updated these minutes as follows: "CRAMBA is working with Huron-Clinton Metroparks on Stony Creek in support of reaching the goals outlined in the five year plan. Katie Kowalski, Volunteer Services Supervisor, was in attendance at the meeting, and we are working closely with her on this project. We are looking to grants, including those from REI, to support this work. Mountain bike trail supporters, who turned up at the Stony Creek Master Planning meeting a year ago, were key in getting these improvements in the Master Plan which should be good for all of us."
  • Sony Creek Skills Park. Dave Schall has done a good job with cleanup and housekeeping on this younger age usage trails.
  • Foundation Trail – Holly High School
  • Genesee County Park
• Bike Patrol
  • CRAMBA has 49 active bike patrollers for 13 trails
  • Spring training event tentatively set for April 29 (full day – CPR, first aid, trail ride)
  • For more information go to CRAMBA-IMBA, Mountain Bike Patrol page
  • Email at bikepatrol@cramba.org
• Take a Kid Mountain Biking
  • Saturday, June 3 from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM at River Bends
  • Bike Patrol will help direct riders throughout the trail system
  • REI will be on-site to teach children basic bike maintenance, as well as do safety checks on bikes
  • Spare helmets will be available
• IMBA, Steve Vigneau gave a brief update
  • CRAMBA accrues a significant benefit from our affiliation with IMBA and MMBA
  • $39 annual membership will begin June 1, 2017.
  •  50/50 revenue split on individual and family memberships with IMBA/CRAMBA
• MMBA is sponsoring an Expo/Festival in Boyne City on August 25, 26, for the expressed purpose of funding our ED’s salary.
  • Good news: due to sufficient sponsor subsidies the cost for an individual was dropped to $100.00 for the weekend.
  • The Expo/Festival will have rides, races, training, etc.
  • Held at Boyne Mountain, Boyne Falls, MI
  • From the MMBA website: Featuring: Women's Skills Clinic, Hands on Trail building Clinic, Advanced Jumps and Berms Clinic, Wheelies & Lifts Clinic, Kid's Skills Clinic, Demo Fair @  Avalanche Trail, Saturday evening show featuring The Ragbirds, Sunrise Breakfast on the Trail
  • Register here: https://www.bikereg.com/mmbf17
• Membership Status
  • Mike Fitzpatrick reported that we currently have 440 paid and lapsed members which is a net increase 40 members in the last 3 months (really good because the first quarter is our slow season)
  • Of note: R2R social ride group joined and so did Macomb Bike
• Membership Blitz on June 17, Saturday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • Planning on all 13 trails being represented
  • 2 volunteers at each trail head – we currently have 29 volunteers!
  • Feather signs with CRAMBA and logo purchased and ready to go
  • Some trail poster signs in the works
  • Complimentary T-shirts for all volunteers
  • Only have 3 trails to go for written permission – thank you Chris Westerlund
  • Smart phone sign-ups are easiest (actually got 4 new members from this chapter meeting via phone)
  • Stretch goal of 100 new members from this one day event
• Marty said that CRAMBA jerseys are now available and reported the following:
  • Jerseys are produced on demand and will take 7 business days to ship
  • CRAMBA receives 15% of the retail cost.
  • Orders $75 or more will receive free USPS shipping.
  • Currently offering club and trail jerseys. If we get enough orders, we can add more items (like shorts!).
• Massive Fallout was a big success last year with about 300 riders
  • Chris Westerlund said this year we will have better trail and directional signs
• CRAMBA pint beer glasses are in and will be available.
• Treasurer’s report
  • Balance of $19,509 after pending expenses are paid.

Next chapter meeting will be July 13, Thursday, at 7:00/7:30 PM at Pontiac Lake

• Pre-meeting ride – BTW, this is an intermediate + trail (newbies plan on 1.5 hours)
• barbecue provided
• BYO beverage

Meeting adjourned at 8:04 PM.