Late again. I forgot to post these earlier, but here they are. Pat had these on Nov 23rd. I just never moved them over.



Northaest Association of 4WD Clubs
November 7, 2009 Meeting Minutes
Mattituck-Laurel Library LI, NY

Attendance:

Officers: Jason Ghelli, Tammy Van Gemert, Pat Charron, Paul Regish

Delegates/Alternates: Jim Kane( CCJC); Mark Kosciukiewicz (CC4W); Tim Connors (DWE); Ryan Schneider (FTR); Mike White (JF); Garrett Moore (LIOR); Sher Estes (MM); Mark Silverman (NE4WI); Bob Butler (NEJz); Karl Harmon (NEZR2); Doug Sarrett (NEWJO); Kenneth Babbitt (NEX); Cody Savinski (NTC); Tod Dalphonse (NWOR);
Bob Sneesby (OSJ); John Price (SSW); Roger Blank (SC); Tom Hasselmann (TSJ?nT); Lyle Smith (WM4x4); Tim Korade (YT).

Guests: David Collise (TSJ?nT); Warren Reynolds, Gorden Madden, Ron Harter (LIOR); Anna Pereen (MM); Mike Towne (NTC)

Excused: Baystate Jeepers; Berkshire 4Wheelers; NEJeeps; Vt Jeep Assoc., Scott Hatch

Unexcused: Patriot Jeepers; Off Camber 4X4; Underground Jeeps


Quorum was present; meeting started at 10:20 am with introduction of attendees.

Motion was made by Mike W. to accept minutes of previous meeting. 2nd by Bob B. Unanimous.
No online voting since August 29th meeting.

REPORTS

Land

Massachusetts
Jay had not received land reports from most of the land chair people, however, he did cover some topics.
No changes in Mass: Gremlin Graveyard the same; Old Florida Road, same status: stay to the left on the water at the north end, do not use bypasses. The Gutter/Brushy Mountain: at 2700 acres, it is the largest continuous tract of private land in Mass. . Carl Merrick has been working with the Cowls. Most recent concern is financial pressure for the owners which is making them consider working with the state which may put our access to the property in jeopardy. For now, we can only wait and see how it plays out.
MaBell has no changes. Paul R. had an article about the area from the Northampton paper, which was passed around for attendees to see.
Roger mentioned that Christy Mios, a candidate for Mass governor, is interested in speaking with our group.
Roger said that some OHV folks are working to set up a meeting with Mios for after the holidays. His site is: www.christy2010.com
Someone asked about the waterhole beyond the ledges at Old Florida Road. Mike W. checked into the area and he does not see a problem.


Connecticut - no report

Vermont
from Brian Churchill
Typically, the last quarter of the year sees a minimum of trail maintenance as we wind down our trail riding season. Our next membership meeting will include a planning session for next years trail cuts, rides and our annual camp outs.

I will ask VJA to commit to 2 days of trail work for the NEA. We will also reach out to the statewide 4 wheeler community (VASA) for a joint maintenance weekend on a project where we share use of a class 4 road.
Contacting our private property owners with a survey of their needs will also be done around the end of the year, along with thank-you cards and an invite to our annual Holiday gathering in January.

We continue to monitor the misuse and abuse of a snowmobile trail in the northern most part of the state. We are confident that no one from our club was involved in illegal access of the private land and Green Mountain
Club corridor that has the VAST right of way for winter travel. Our offer to help remediate the trail was declined.

Our members enjoyed working at Moose Mountain and we plan to continue to help with that area in 2010, possibly using it for our annual camp out.


Rhode Island (Bob Butler) - no changes

New Hampshire
Gretchen?s is open until the snow flies. The bathhouse is closed but primitive camping is available.

There are still two projects to complete. Two bridges are scheduled to be built on the Swanzy property on Sunday, November 15th and the new trail on Moose Mt property needs to be GPS?d. Jay and Bob C. will try to do the GPSing on November 20th. They welcome assistance. 33? tires and lockers are recommended. Jay will post details on the forum.
Paul R. asked about class 6 road for trailer parking for Moose Mt. Jay said not yet, but it is the goal for 2010.
Mike W. suggested a NH based volunteer to write a RTP grant.

Treasurer?s Report
Financially ok compared to earlier in the year.
Checking balance: $13,402.32 Restricted funds: Trail Fund = $2,484.20
Access For All Fund = minus approx $600.
Fall Crawl 2009 was the most successful yet. After expenses, the event netted the NEA approx. $9000.
It was mentioned that Carl Merrick has gotten very good at the food planning and purchasing so we also saved money on the food this year.

Karl H. made a motion to transfer $1500 from the general account to the Access for All account.
2nd by Bob B. Passed unanimously.



Tim K. of Yankee Toys presented a check from his club to the Association for $750, process from their recent event. Thank you Yankee Toys.

Tom H. motioned to move $750 from the general fund to the Trails Fund. 2nd by Ryan. Unanimous.

Mike W. made a motion to raise the dues to $7. 2nd by Bob B.

Karl suggested waiting until the January meeting.

Tim K. made a motion to table the previous motion on raising the dues until a report is received from the Treasurer. 2nd by Roger B.
Report should include projected increase, profit and loss and operating expenses. Lyle mentioned that the Strategic Planning Report also has items that may affect the increase. Possible insurance premium increase was mentioned. Tammy felt that insurance may go down.

Motion passed unanimously.


Access for All Vehicle Update

The A4A vehicle is a ?96 Jeep Cherokee. The Jeep is presently at Jay?s. Ian Johnson drove the Jeep after the Rally. He really liked the concept.
In order to install a winch some wiring work is needed. There was a discussion of the condition of the winch and some liability concerns with hand controls for a winch. Tim K and Mark K were going to check into some options. Discussed winter housing and some minor work that is still needed. Also has a small exhaust leak to address.


Mark K. supplied Central Ct 4Wheelers race schedule for 2010: April 25, May 16, Sept. 12 or 19 and Oct 17.
The Association will try to have the A4A vehicle at one of the events.



OLD BUSINESS

Fall Crawl
Jay felt the 2009 Fall Crawl was the best he has been involved in. Large part of success was due to Tammy?s involvement with set-up and registrations and Scott for overseeing Trails. The least amount of complaints compared to previous years. Heidi Blank managed the raffle area and did a great job; it was a big help to the committee to have one less thing to worry about.
There were noise concerns from generators running into the night as well as loud parties. Jay was not pleased about not being taken seriously when asking parties to quiet down. He has to deal with all the other campers, not just the party folks; parties need to be quieter. Paul suggested a designated area for louder groups.




The 2010 dates for Fall Crawl are September 11th and 12th.



Provisional Clubs

Green Mountain Crawlers is waiting for it?s provisional ride.

Vermont Expedition Society?s provisional ride has been done but they have not attended the last several meetings. Paul mentioned that their dues were paid in February when they applied for membership. It was questioned if length of provisional status should be addressed. Mike suggested an Executive Officer contact them to see what their expectations are. If not voted in, their dues should be returned.
Tammy will attempt to contact.
If they wish to support the NEA, they can do so with donations or a business membership.


The Strategic Planning Report to be discussed after lunch.


NEW BUSINESS

Nominations for Executive Officers

Jay did a rundown of the description/duties of the three open positions: President, Secretary and Vice President of Environmental Affairs. Each are two year positions.
Jay is willing to stay on as President. Pat and Scott are not seeking re-election. Scott plans to concentrate on NH land issues.
It was asked if term limitations are covered in the by-laws. No. There has been no issues so far.
Paul nominated Mike White for VP of EA. Mike declined due to things he is presently involved in.
It was mentioned that Scott has set the bar high for this position, however, it was suggested that no one be intimidated by Scott?s work and that he will be available to help.
Jay asked the delegates to post these openings to their clubs.

Fall Poker Run
The Fall Poker Run is taking place on Saturday, November 14th and is based out of the Deering, NH Fish & Game. Registration begins are 9:30 am but attendees can arrive a little later due to departure spacing of the groups. A score card is purchased; the groups will be running the local class 6 roads with check-in stations along the way. This year the recipient of the NEA?s half of the profit is the Hillsboro Food Pantry. Participants are also asked to bring at least two non-perishable items. Jay brought score cards to the meeting so if anyone is unable to attend the Poker Run they could still participate.


NEA Property Use Requests

Jay is seeking ideas on how to handle club requests for use of the NEA properties. One option is to do as a lottery and clubs can set their dates for the new year when their name is chosen from the lottery. The downfall would be that some black out dates may occur after the requests are made; also, could effect the clubs that use the properties for annual events.
The other option is to keep as is, which is a first come, first served basis, and it?s up to the clubs to request early enough to get the dates they prefer. There is a split decision among four of the Executive Officers, with Pat not having made a decision. Tim asked how the present system has worked. Jay said that sometimes multi clubs are using properties on the same day, but there has been no issues so far as he knows. Roger suggested if it?s not broken, don?t fix it. Majority of attendees felt that first come, first served is working ok and to leave as is. As for the public properties ( OFR, MaBell, Gutter, etc), the NEA cannot completely control their use, but are asking clubs to limit their use to twice a year. This would include not doing impromptu runs and calling them ?club? runs.
John P. suggested letting clubs with annual events schedule first. It was felt that other clubs are usually aware of annual events and plan accordingly.
The Assocaition will be keeping the first come, first served set up and requests for 2010 dates will open at midnight on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.


OPEN FORUM

Roger mentioned that Lucas Murphy of Murphy?s Law Motorsports is participating in the California?s King of Hammers event in February 2010.

Roger made a motioned that the NEA support Lucas with a $200 donation. Bob B seconded.
Roger felt that Lucas would have no problem with an NEA sticker on his vehicle. Garrett asked if any benefit to the Association with this support. Although no financial benefit, Lucas supports the NEA by attending trail cuts. He is a member of DWE, SC and NE4WI. Tim sees a PR advantage of being able to use a member?s participation at a national event when dealing with officials. Tammy mentioned Lucas? willingness to promote the DWE Truck Show, which benefits the NEA. $300 was suggested for a donation.

Roger amended his motion to $300. 2nd by Mike W.
Tim amended motion to include NEA and A4A decals on the vehicle. Tim withdrew his amendment.
Tim then motioned that four NEA sweatshirts from inventory be included. 2nd by Karl.

$300 motion passed unanimously. Including two sweatshirts passed unanimously.
Race coverage will be on 4X4.


Ryan asked if folks were aware of the bill to close Utah?s BLM land. Ryan sent an email to his Representative and received a postal response that his rep, Sen. Moore, supports the bill. Ryan wrote back that the Association?s members would not be backing him.



Lunch hosted by LIOR from 12:20 pm to 1:10 pm

A 50/50 raffle to benefit the Hillsboro Food Pantry took place; $160 was collected, so $80 will be going to the HFP. Jay mentioned that the pantry could obtain 4times the value of the donation in food.

Tammy mentioned that there will be a new location for the Deep Woods Extreme Truck Show next year. There is a 98% probability the event will be at Gunstock Resort in the lake region. Details are still being worked on. The rock crawl will still be the center of the show and it will still be scheduled for mid-July.

Jay brought up the status of clubs with attendance issues. One club that is still a concern is Patriot Jeepers.
The June meeting minutes were checked for how to proceed. Jay read the motions regarding our available actions, which are basically cut & dry. (secretary?s note ? from 6/27/09 minutes: ?? motion to include that failure to comply will result in loss of all Association privileges for a year. Patriot Jeepers must attend the next two meetings. Motion passed with majority vote; 2 opposed, no abstain?.) Jay is expecting some fallout but he is following what the delegates decided. Roger asked how involved the restriction would be, such as map 6 and/or access to NEA forum. It was mentioned that at the August meeting Rich knowledge that he would need to attend the LI meeting in order to stay in compliance.


OLD BUSINESS

Strategic Planning Report

Jay explained that the committee did this report as a guideline ? it is not written in stone and is a working plan. Tammy wished to be clear that decision made today is not for a specific issue but to decide on the SPR as a whole.

Tim made a motion to move forward to accept the concept of using the Strategic Planning Report to guide the NEA. 2nd by Bob B .
Roger felt that was already done by creating the SPR. Tim noted that he looks at the plan as a document to use. Mike W. felt that a strategic plan is important for any organization ? an organization needs goals.
A short discussion in regards to Tim?s motion included that it is to accept a plan not specifically the one in front of us from the SP committee. Sher asked what the NEA has been using as a guide up until now. Jay responded and Paul R. added that clubs would make decides and go from there.
Mike W. said that a strategic plan is more than established goals, it is also a guideline that helps achieve those goals. John agreed.
Jay noted that he does not agree with all that is in the plan, however, there is a motion on the floor to vote on. The discussion is blurring the motion; the motion is to accept the concept of a SP guide.

Motion passed unanimously.


Roger explained that committee started working on the Strategic Planning Report over a year ago. The purpose behind the report is to have a road map for going from point A to point B, but not having an exact route. It looks at both short term and long term goals. The plan is a general direction although there are specific suggestions that are options. The concentration is on over-all directions as the committee understood that there would not be agreement on everything. It is to be used as a guide.
Deciding on trail cuts is not fulfilling our goals. The Sierra Club has been in place for 100 years. We need goals to catch up and move forward. ?Just want to wheel is fine?, but to achieve that, goals and plans must happen.

Jay began by going over the goals in Step 7 of the report. Jay read each of the 5 goals to see if the delegates agreed, without motions, to the committee?s suggestions. Some discussion ensued with a few of the goals, especially the third concerning communication.

Bob B. made a motion to accept the guidelines of the Strategic Planning Report with the option of making amendments. 2nd by Roger. Roger noted that Strategic Planning committee would still exist to continue looking at goals and plans. It is always a dynamic entity, some parts of the plan will be looked at each year; what?s working and not working.
Tammy noted that she only facilitated the process; she made sure the committee moved forward.

Motion passed by majority: 14 yes and 5 abstain.

Roger asked if delegates wished to cover objectives in Step 8 and actions in Step 9.
Ryan concerned with Step 8, # 2, in regards to any one club being responsible for a given property. If they do not follow through all clubs could lose use of the property. Roger responded that for most clubs, joining the Association is for use of the land. So if we do something for them, what are they giving to us? The committee looked at the question and, although one club being responsible for property is not ideal, it was an option for getting the clubs involved. It is not wrong to ask for something back from member clubs. Ryan would like to see that reworked.
Tim recommends that since this is a first look at the SPR document, an online discuss would be good. Jay felt that more gets done in 10 minutes of a meeting that in two weeks online.
Several attendees had concerns with some wording of #2 of Step 8.
Sher suggested alternating participating clubs in six-month intervals. Jay recalled that clubs were in charge of properties in the past and when there were issues it was sometimes difficult to determine who would take care of it. If specific people/clubs are dealing with a specific property it would be nice to know who to contact with questions, ex.: Paul for Brushy Mt or Mike W. for MaBell. However, Jay does not agree with a specific club being responsible for a specific property.

Lyle would like to see a PR machine going. Jay mentioned that the Association has been actively seeking a Public Relations person, however, it is only recently that any one has shown an interest. Jay needs to contact the interested party. Lyle said not necessarily a person, but maybe a PR committee. He would like to see a deadline in place to encourage getting a PR in a timely manner. It was brought out that in Step 9 (Actions) of the SPR, the first suggestion concerns PR and maybe it is time to move forward and do it. Roger said that PR is important, when was the last time anything was in print about the good of the NEA.

Roger made a motion to establish a Public Relation committee by January 9th and appoint/elect a chairperson for the committee. 2nd by Tod. Unanimous.

Jay will definitely make contact with the interested party.

Roger said that the SP committee would re-look at Step 8, # 2 because it seemed to be a concern for many.
In response to questions: if not already one, a Strategic Planning feedback thread will be established on the forum.

Mike W, noted that what a lot of environmental groups know and the 4WD community has not yet focused on is long term sustainable funds.
As a 501-C7 organization, there is no limit to the fund it can have. It takes money to fight money, as we can see with Old Florida Road. The OFR fund is not large enough to even remotely cover what needs to be done, Mike feels we need to think about how to fight the opposition. Roger said that is a goal of the SP.
Under 501-C7, an account can be established that will allow a large amount of money to be set aside for goals.

John P. made a motion to adjourn. 2nd by Mike W. 3:00 pm

Thanks for posting..