CeMENEMBA Board Meeting
July 20, 2021, 7pm at Bond Brook
The Central Maine Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association held a regular board meeting on July 20th, at the Bond Brook Recreation Area, Augusta. Meeting called to order at 7pm.
Officers and board members present included Chris Riley, pres.; Matt Swan, VP; Frank Jalbert, VP; Leslie Wilson, Treasurer; Garry Hinkley, Secretary; Ted Scharf; Ryan Walker; Renee Brezovsky. Guests included Travis Counsell, NEMBA executive director; Brian Alexander, trail master; and Josh Staples.
Introductions. Chris welcomed Travis, he gave a brief summary of the Central Maine chapter. Everyone introduced themselves.
Treasurer’s report. Leslie gave the treasurer’s report. She reported a checking account balance of $118, 532.95, with possible additional income coming from Bike Reg and PayPal. In addition we are expecting $2400 from the NPS for the KHC project, and will be invoicing the Town of Manchester $13,000 for that project. There is an outstanding credit card balance of $2,954.89 for tools and supplies. Leslie’s full report including spending by project is available upon request. The Board accepted Leslie’s report.
Treadfest awards. Brian presented the Treadfest winner awards. Ted moved to pay the designer/artist $100 for the awards. Motion passed unanimously.
Treadfest. Treadfest has been moved to Sept. 26th, a one day event. (This is a Sunday) We are expecting 15-160 riders. Renee volunteered to staff the support tent. Tracy is expected to staff race day registrations. Ryan and Matt will help with course set up. All hands will be needed on race day.
Odyssey Ride. Odyssey Ride is scheduled for Oct. ?? (22-23?). This year, the event will be headquartered at Lost Valley I Auburn and will include an auction. Camping will be available. Need help with the auction, both getting items and staffing the on site version. Ryan will coordinate the event with LV to ensure adequate food and beverages are available etc.
We need articles on both events for Trail Mix. Assigned to Ian.
Benefit Beers. Both Cushnoc and Tumbledown breweries have produced beers with part of the proceeds going to benefit CeMENEMBA.
Trail work updates. Chris gave an update on the trail crew and trail projects. He noted that the crew is doing a pretty good job, but that most of the members are young and inexperienced. They burn out easily, and motivation and communications can be difficult at times. Shifting the crew among projects has improved productivity. We are spending approximately $1500-1750 per week on trail crew.
Kerns Hill Connector, Manchester is 95% complete. Some additional bridge work and minor trail work needs to be done. The 1 ½ mile trail connects to the Res at the Junkyard, and to Kerns Hill Road in Manchester, and contains an internal loop. The project is funded primarily by the Town of Manchester and the National Park Service. Project required more bridge work than initially thought.
Surrey Hill, Fayette. Work is underway on Surrey Hill, a KLT property.
Bond Brook. Bond Brook is being spiffed up, and is getting a new downhill trail parallel to Split Rock.
Allen Whitney. Logging is underway in the AW. The red pine stands are being cut, which will temporarily disrupt the trails. WE hope to have the trails restored in time for Odyssey.
Quarry Road. RTP grant was approved and CeMENEMBA will be constructing a 1 ½ mile beginner friendly trail starting from the outer kiosk, and generally following the snowshoe trail.
A-Trail. Work will soon begin on the climbing trail following the original design. Most work likely to be done in 2022.
Mt. Apatite. City of Auburn has allocated up to $25,000 for additional work at Appatite. The plan is to connect Signature and Carrie On trails. In addition, Ryan has new trail signs to install at Apatite.
WNRs and TNTs. Discussed the relatively low turn out for these events. Decided to stay the course for now, although TNTs will be scaled back. Plenty of people are riding, but may be concerned about large groups. People are also making up for lost time and spending less time on volunteer time. Fortunately we still have a dedicated group of volunteers that are spread out around the region and keeping things going and doing needed trail work.
Travis gave summary of the state of NEMBA. Chapters are growing, and he always is looking for ways to get resources onto the ground. He praised CeMENEMBA’s organization especially with regard to planning and accounting, and tracking volunteer hours.
Next meeting will be Monday, November 8th, at 6pm in Augusta at El Tequila, 65 Western Avenue.
Respectfully submitted,
Garry Hinkley, Sec.