Board of Directors' Meetings

May 27, 2008

Directors, Alternates & Staff Present: Conrad Stewart-Addison; John Perkins-Bennington; Ken Gammell-Caledonia; Jeff Fay-Chittenden; Dave Page{Absent}-Essex; John Ross-Franklin; Joe Cicia-Grand Isle; Brian Currier-Lamoille; Jim Holbrook-Orange; Brian Cook-Orleans; Merritt Budd-Rutland; John Lynds-Washington; Roone Gibbs-Windham; Bruce Murray-Windsor; Pat Poulin -President; Jim Hill-Vice-President; Mark Ellingwood-Treasurer; Bonnie Holbrook-Recording Secretary; Bryant Watson-Executive Director, Alexis Nowalk-SSTP Trails Administrator; Ann Shangraw-Past President
Guests: Star Poulin, Ed Hebebrand, Mike O’Hara, Frances Pillsbury, Dave Pistula, Don Glover, Roberta Stammers, Josh Nelson, Ted Chase

The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm by President Pat Poulin.

Agenda: Roone Gibbs moved and Bruce Murray seconded to approve the agenda. Motion carried.

Secretary’s Report: Jim Hill moved and Bruce Murray seconded to approve the minutes of April 28, 2008 Board of Directors meeting. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report: Conrad Stewart moved and Bruce Murray seconded to approve the Treasurer’s Report as presented. Motion carried. We had a negative cash flow for the last month.

Consent Calendar–Executive Director’s Report and Trail Administrator’s Report: Bruce Murray moved and Jeff Fay seconded to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. Motion carried. Alexis Nowalk noted that she had a typo in her report and gave the correction. She distributed an update on the grooming report for the 2007-2008 Season. There were 177,000 miles groomed.

County Reports: Champlain Valley; Addison County is replacing a bridge over Lewis Creek. Chittenden County is in good shape and had representation by all their clubs at the Construction Seminar.
Central Vermont; Orange County is looking into joining a fuel club to try to help save on fuel for grooming. Washington County is putting together a list of tasks needed to get done and they are gathering an inventory of all bridges, culverts and any areas that need fixing. They also need to do some work on the suspension bridge. They increased their funding for law enforcement for 2008-2009.
Northeast Kingdom; Caledonia County still has snow on Burke Mountain. There is a trail change in Burke due to some new houses. Essex County was not present for a report. Orleans County is in pretty good shape except near Lake Willoughby where the bar is open again. They are going to try to move the trail to accommodate one landowner who is not happy with the bar being opened again and does not like snowmobiles and motorcycles.
Northwest Vermont; Franklin County reports that all is wonderful. Grand Isle County is looking at improving the quality of the trail in a few areas. There is a ditch in a farmer’s field that has been causing a problem with the groomer that they are hoping to fix. There is a beaver issue they are dealing with too. Lamoille County had a great turnout for their landowner appreciation dinner.
Southeast Vermont; Windham County is in good shape and appears to have no issues. Windsor County is all good except the issue that will be discussed in Executive Session.
Southwest Vermont; Bennington County has a meeting with the Forest Service. They have a new manager for the area. Rutland County has been quiet.

LVRT Revised Management Plan: Bryant Watson reviewed all of the changes to the Revised LVRT Management Plan. Some of the changes were for cleanup and other changes were ones that have been requested. There has been discussion between the Committee and VTRANS regarding the agriculture issue. The Board found a few corrections that are needed. There was a discussion on the winter uses and a few user types that we would like to recommend that they not use the LVRT in the winter due to safety reasons. We are concerned with the safety of horses using the trail in the winter time and possibly getting hurt if there is a soft spot in the trail or if they are spooked by snowmobiles and groomers. The trail will need to be randomly checked very frequently the first year. The plan is to open sections as we move along between 2009-2012 pending permitting process and repairs to trail. The full project is projected to be completed by 2013. Bruce Murray moved and John Ross seconded that we approve the revised LVRT Management Plan with the revisions. Motion carried.

Other - Fundraiser For The Northeast Chapter Scholarship Fund: Ann Shangraw showed the granite pictures that the Northeast Chapter of ACSA is selling this year. They are coaster size with last year’s picture etched into it and are selling for $10 each.

FY2009 Budget Pre-Review: Mark Ellingwood presented the draft budget for FY2009. The committee talked about many issues that concern our sport. The draft budget is based on projected 30,000 TMAs to be sold. The committee provided the Board with a Budget Narrative highlighting changes to the proposed budget. There were several recommendations and comments for the Budget Committee to consider. The Trails Fund Budget also reflects the proposed addition of a $15 grooming surcharge to cover the fuel surcharge. This would be an additional line item on the TMA of $15 to be designated for the grooming surcharge and would result in an increase to the cost of TMAs. Ken Gammell pointed out that each year he recommends that we increase the TMAs annually by a couple of dollars instead of waiting until we need a $10-15 increase.

Approve Requests For Additional Grooming: The Trails Committee approved the requests for additions and changes to grooming contracts. There are two clubs grooming contracts that are pending waiting for more information from the clubs. There was a discussion on the pros and cons for increasing grooming contracts with the unstable economy and the increase in the cost of fuel that could mean a strong possibility that membership will drop. Jeff Fay moved and Jim Holbrook seconded to extend the meeting by 30 minutes. Motion carried. The cost increases for these are not reflected in the FY2009 budget as yet and will need to be added. Bruce Murray moved and Brian Cook seconded that we approve the recommendations approved and requested by the Trails Committee regarding the eight requests. Motion carried with 10 yes and 6 nays.

Committee Reports: The Personnel Committee is working on their committee charges. The Awards, Recognition, Scholarship & Volunteerism Committee had to cancel their meeting scheduled for last week and will reschedule in June. The Marketing Committee is planning the VAST 40th Anniversary celebration on July 26th. The Board will receive flyers next month. There will be a motorcycle ride, vendors and there will be bands playing. A couple of Windsor County clubs will be selling food and stuff for club fundraisers. All of the VAST Club Presidents will receive invitations for their clubs. There will be a Dunk Tank and rumor has it that Bryant Watson, Alexis Nowalk and some other well known “volunteers” will be available to be dunked. In addition to being a 40th Anniversary celebration for VAST, this will also be a benefit for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont and the Angels Among Us Pet Hostel.

Other: The Rutland Rally is scheduled the weekend of June 7-9th and June 21st is a ZZ Top concert in Rutland. The Rutland County Snowmobile Club will be selling raffle tickets at both events.

Bridgewater/Windsor County – Legal Issue, Executive Session: Jim Hill moved and Jim Holbrook seconded that we move into Executive Session at 9:08 PM to discuss the Bridgewater/Windsor County legal issue. Motion carried.
Ken Gammell moved and Roone Gibbs seconded to move out of Executive Session at 9:32 pm. Motion carried.
Ken Gammell moved and Jeff Fay seconded to table the Bridgewater/Windsor County legal issue until next month. Motion carried.
The next Director’s Meeting is June 23rd, 2008 at 6:00 PM with refreshments provided by Lamoille County. Roone Gibbs moved and Mark Ellingwood seconded to adjourn at 9:34 PM.

Respectfully submitted by, Bonnie Holbrook, VAST Recording Secretary