CeMENEMBA Board Meeting Minutes
Augusta City Hall
October 1, 2019
- The Central Maine chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association held a regular board meeting on Tuesday, October 1, 2019 at Augusta City Hall at 6pm. Board members present included Chris Riley, president; Disa, Matt Swann, Ryan Walker, Ted Scharf, Ian Oglivie, Tracey Allen, Renee, Leslie Wilson, and Garry Hinkley.
- Treasurer/Treasurer’s report. Garry formally nominated Leslie Wilson for the treasurer position vacated by Justin Legassey who has moved away. Ted Scharf seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous of the board members present.
- Leslie has been working with Justin on the transition. Income for the year to date was $11,436, expenses $13,400. Current balance is $16,291. We have additional expected income in the form of grants and other revenue which should bring our balance to about $19,000. This includes a $2000 Onion Foundation grant for the Allen Whitney. There will be a full report at the December meeting. Treadfest 2019 is expected to break even when all is accounted for. There may be some additional trail crew expenses to be paid.
- Odyssey Ride. The summer season finale Odyssey Ride is scheduled for Friday-Saturday October 18-19. Riders are encouraged to get out and ride beyond their normal haunts. Go explore. Festivities include a gathering Saturday night at Lost Valley in Auburn. Chris has set up a registration site on BikeReg in order to get an approximate head count. Registration is free. Merchandise is for sale, and there will be a 50-50 raffle. Raffle tickets are five dollars each, or five for $20. We will be asking volunteers to leaf blow the trails. Volunteers will receive a CeMENEMBA hoodie on a first volunteer basis until slots are full. We determined the number of volunteers needed for each trail system. Fundraising from the event will go to support winter trail grooming.
- Logo Update. No further progress has been made on the new design for the logo. Chris will work with the designer with a target of having the new logo in place for the spring social.
- Clinic. Feedback from the recent rider clinic generally was positive. The clinic was perhaps cut a bit short of the scheduled time. The next clinic will need to be the full three hours.
- Trails update. Chris has been working with the Titcomb Mountain trails committee which has been reactivated and reorganized. There are some conflicts and issues to be resolved. Titcomb is a community-based organization that needs to build it’s user/doner base. Encouraging mountain biking is one way to do this.
- The annual Titcomb race is expected to be held again next year. The proceeds may be donated to CeMENEMBA to support youth biking. We believe the women’s clinic also will be held at Titcomb, with CeMENEMBA paying the usual user fees.
- Pine Ridge. Chris met with the new Inland Hospital community outreach coordinator. We need to finalize maps and signs, for which Inland is expected to pay. There is a bridge that needs replacing. There was an accident that prompted a review. May need to do some trail tune up.
- Quarry Road. The city wants maps and signs.
- Allen-Whitney Forest, Manchester. CeMENEMBA received a $2,000 Onion Foundation grant for trail improvements in the A-W. The grant requires an equal match (cash or in kind). The plan is to finish the new trail with some additional machine work, and to build a bridge over the wet area at the bottom of the hill. CeMENEMBA received this grant, in part, because the Onion foundation has noted that we are very efficient and effective in our use of resources.
- Pine Ridge and Bond brook need bridge replacements.
- Mt. Appatite has a perpetually wet area that needs to be fixed. The plan is to dig out the muck, and replace it with fabric and crushed stone. Will require coordination with the City of Auburn and the National Guard.
- Hallowell Res. We have a signed management and maintenance agreement with Hallowell. The first project probably will be the reconfiguration of the lower access/egress point on the Pipeline road. The current access/exit is straight down onto the Pipeline road which leads to skidding. The plan is to relocate the trail along the slope of the hill down to the road. A few hours work with a team using hand tools.
- Carleton Pond (Manchester/Winthrop/Readfield.) The Augusta Water District now is amenable to having trails on this property. A snowmobile trail was relocated there last winter. The property is close by the Allen-Whitney Forest. Chris will follow up.
- Surrey Hill (Fayette). This property has been donated to Kennebec Land Trust with the stipulation that the property be open to mountain bikes. We will need to work with KLT on trail development. Access is across Rt17 from the Fayette elementary school.
- Spring Social. Need to think about dates and locations. Possibility of hosting at new Tumbledown brewery and taproom.
Treadfest. Chris will develop a survey for Treadfest participants to see if they want to keep or change the race format. Also to see if they want to keep the Bond Brook location, or rotate among BB, QR, and Appatite.
Other business. Brief discussion on communication formats. Agreed that Facebook messenger still probably is the best tool for routine and fast communications. There was some concern that the message strings go off topic. Chris to keep this in mind and save Messenger for mundane/less important topics. Email for more important discussions.
Agreed to move the December meeting to Monday December 2 at 6pm. Chris will try for City Hall.
Meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.
Respectfully,
Garry Hinkley, Sec.