CeMENEMBA Board Meeting
Manchester, ME
July 6, 2020
The Central Maine Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association held a regular board meeting on July 6, 2020 at 6pm. The meeting was held outdoors at the Manchester Meeting House parking lot, adjacent to the Allen Whitney Forest. Officers and members present included President Chris Riley; VPs Frank, Disa, and Matt Swann; treasurer Leslie Wilson; secretary Garry Hinkley; and members Ryan Walker, Ian Ogilvie, Ted Scharf, Brian Alexander, and Tracey Allen.
Treasurer’s Report. Leslie reported a balance of $42,323.03. She reported we received $300 in honor of Carrie Boudreau. Busytown Bikes also made a donation of $450 toward the Mt. A trail project.
Mt. Apatite. Work started this week of the extensions of the Signature trail at Mt. Apatite. Project is being funded through a grant from Outride in the amount of $6,643.84. The board voted to name the trail the “Carrie On” trail in honor of Carrie Boudreau who passed away recently after a courageous battle with cancer.
On a motion by Ted, seconded by Frank, the board voted unanimously to spend up to $450 on a rototiller to be used to break up duff on new trail construction.
Pine Ridge. Chris reported that he has had discussions with the Specialized sales rep regarding Specialized contributing toward the work at Pine Ridge that was postponed when Northern Lights was forced to cancel all donations for 2020. We probably would complete the sign project first. There is a possibility that a solar array may be sited on part of Pine Ridge which might impinge upon the trail system.
Allen Whitney Forest. The trail crew, Brian with the mini-excavator, and volunteers spent two weeks in the AW. Work included new bridges on the “New” trail, extensive drainage work, construction of several berms and other features, and the extension of the “Penny” trail (Red Pine above the church) on the top and bottom to provide an alternative to the Knowles Rd snowmobile trail. The budget was $5,000 including $2,000 from an Onion grant matched by the club, and $1,000 from the Town of Manchester. Total expenditure to date is approximately $4600.
A-Trail. The state has been a little slow to approve the project, but Brian expects to begin work on the trail extensions later this summer.
Res. Chris will try to get out the Hallowell Res to flag the reroute to the entrance to the Piney Loop trail. This should be a few hours of work either by the trail crew or volunteers. We need HCC approval prior to construction.
Titcomb Mt. Plan to use the trail crew to make upgrades to the Titcomb Mountain trails similar to the work done in the AW.
Group rides. Agreed that the club would not hold or sponsor any group rides until further notice. Individuals are free to use our Facebook page announce and invite friends to informal rides.
Odyssey ride. We still plan to hold the fall Odyssey rides as these are self-guided, individual or friends’ rides. Will be searching for an outdoor location to hold a post-Odyssey gathering. Possible locations include Lost Valley, Titcomb Mountain, and Quarry Road in Waterville.
Anonymous donation. Chris announced the receipt of a $100,000 anonymous donation to support CeMENEMBA’s trail work. The donation will be received in its entirety later this summer and will be deposited into a special savings account. The plan is to use the donation over the next 4-5 years to leverage other donations on a matching basis. Chris moved to accept the donation, Brian seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Next meeting will be September 14th probably at Bond Brook.
Respectfully submitted,
Garry Hinkley, Sec.