Metro MTB Meeting Minutes - 08/14/2024
August 14, 2024 | 7:00 PM 
Metro MTB Public Meeting
Wheel & Sprocket Franklin
6 Board Members in attendance
35 Attendees

Mission Statement

Metro Mountain Bikers is a non-profit, volunteer organization dedicated to safeguarding the future of mountain biking through the preservation and promotion of responsible off-road bicycling opportunities.  Which includes the education, sponsoring events, trail construction, and trail maintenance.

Board Members 

Melissa Clark, Chair
Kevin Eccles, Co-Chair - not present
John Slawny, Treasurer
Kayla Weiss, Secretary
Michael Golden, Board Member at Large
Marion Gottschalk, Board Member at Large 
Tom Hartman, Board Member at Large - not present
Ron Stawicki, Board Member at Large

Topics:

Thank you to our host, Wheel & Sprocket! 

• W&S generously offered 15% off full priced items in store.

Thank you, Trail Stewards

• Kegel- Alpha: Scott Stevens

• Heritage: Tom Hartman, Mike Vance

• Minooka: Ron Stawicki, Bob Meuer

• Pleasant Valley: Matt Weege

• Port Washington: Dwight Maynor, Alex

• Kletzsch: Craig Ruhland, Steve Giles, Nathan Allen

• Tosa: Melissa Clark, Chris Cooper, Nick Meulemans, Bill Suechting

International Women’s MTB Day 2024 - May 6th - Recap

• This event was the most successful women’s day event so far.

• Huge thanks to Angela Brooks of Brooks Adventure for hosting a mini bike clinic.

• Kayla Weiss hosted a long jump competition with two donated Ninja ramps for longest jump winners 

• Event also had a Women’s Bike Derby.

Metro Field Trip, Trek Trails in Cable - July 11-14th - Recap

• Overall everyone had a really good time. 

• Rode trails, went to town to eat, and fire!

• We would like to continue doing these.

• Thank you, Dan Kutz, for organizing!

Tosa and Kegel-Alpha Trail Work Days

• Have been meeting Mondays for a few weeks to get all the vegetation cleaned up

• Thank you Melissa for coordinating and thank you volunteers!

Milwaukee County Update from Craig Ruhland

• Craig has been the Trail Steward for River Glen Trails

• Kletzsch Park Grand Opening

• • 160 participants

  • 4 County Supervisors attended

• River Glen and Kletzsch Park combined have 2.6 miles of trail.

• Craig Met with county supervisors. 5 of 6 are very enthusiastic about new trails.

• Sledding hill is an unnatural hill and doesn’t drain well

• Ten 100 Plan - Vision Plan for 100 miles of trails in 10 years.

• • Need very active Trail Stewards to “own” the trail and coordinate.

  • County is starting their Trail Network Plan. This happens every 15 years.

  • Signature trail in the Metro area - We want something that people would drive an hour to get to. Looking at Bender Park and some other areas. Would probably need to be machine built. Looking to have 5 miles of trails. 

• New opportunities in Milwaukee County. 

• • Need to show that we are maintaining the trails we do have.

  • Bike park at Doyne Park? MMSD has not been communicating timelines to anyone on when they will be done with their remediation.

  • Potential opportunity at Havenswood - Trails on land that is just sitting there near a health facility. The health facility is interested in adding mountain bike trails. The land is currently being used by dirt bikers.

  • Need for more volunteers

Waukesha County Update from Ron Stawikc

• Agreement with the county is now renewed (Thank you Michael and Melissa.) 

• • New contract good for 3 years with a quick email to renew for up to 5 years. This will require less volunteer time renewing contracts in the future.

• WORS Minooka on 6/23 - Recap

• • It rained all day Saturday. Thank you volunteers that filled mud holes and helped drain the trail. Several comments from riders that they were surprised at how well the trails held up.

• NICA race weekend coming up 9/13 - 9/15. 

• • This event will be as big or larger than the WORS Race . Good opportunity to show off trails and set up Metro tent. Reach out to Ron Stawicki if you’d like to help with the tent.

• Giving Saturday 6/20 at the Tap Yard at Minooka Park - Recap

• • 20% of all sales were donated to Metro from noon to 3pm. Metro brought in $200 of donations for our trail projects at Minooka. This was a great day to be outside with friends after a long rainy spring.

  • Ron Stawicki led a social trail ride prior to the Tap Yard event, “Dirt Church-style.” Which folks really enjoyed.

• Minooka Monday Night Maintenance starting Monday 8/19 at 5:30 pm until 7:30 pm. 

• • If you are interested in helping, reach out to Ron and Bob. Need help with vegetation, dirt work (tread rehabilitation sections), and we have some rock garden projects. We’d like to get a head start on the vegetation before the NICA race.

• Ron talked about the “Metro Epic” where you ride Minooka, Kegel-Alpha, Tosa Trails all in one day via the Oak Leaf and other paved routes. If you drive to each trail, they call it the “Metro Tour.” 

Pizza in the Park 6/1 - Heritage MTB Trails Fundraiser - Recap

• Tom Smith donated time and materials to make pizza for attendees to fundraise for Heritage Trails.

• 40 people showed up despite the rain. Most attendees were dedicated volunteers.

• We raised over $1,000!

Heritage updates from Tom Hartmen by John Slawny

• The Heritage Trails Master Plan will be presented on 9/18. When the County originally gave us permission to build trails, they didn’t 100% understand what we were building. The Master Plan will formalize the trails and the plans for new trails.

• Survey results - 1/3 of the people using the park are from outside of Washington County.

• Parks in Washington County are self funded. Heritage has quadrupled the revenue for Heritage Trails County Park.

• We were able to purchase new tools for Heritage from the Pizza in the Park funds.

• Skills Area and Flow Rider completion possibly in 2025.

• • We’ve had a couple setbacks. The Master Plan needs to be in place before we start building again and the rainy weather has set us back.

• The Heritage Festival originally planned for 9/21 is being postponed until 2025. We need to get caught up on trail repairs and put our best foot forward. We’d like to have new trails to celebrate before the festival.

• Overall we have enthusiasm from Washington County regarding the MTB trails. Heritage was their lowest utilized park with 250 parking stalls unused.

• Heritage is now the #1 performing park after just 3 years of having MTB trails. For a park without bathroom facilities, this is impressive!

• Kudos to Tom Hartman and Gavin, and Dirt Waves for their continued efforts of working with the county and keeping the trails open for business! Dirt Waves has been out countless times repairing the trails after heavy rain.

• FlowRider Build - pictures shown.

• Thank you, Tom Hartman, for putting together a formal grant submission for the Washington County Tourism Grant. We were not awarded the Tourism Grant but now we have the framework to submit for more grants.

Ozaukee County Update - Michael Golden

• Port Washington is holding up well

• Pleasant Valley has been closed most of summer. It just finally opened.

• Rain has been a challenge

• Pleasant Valley Trail Stewar, Matt Weege, would like to have a trail day soon.

2025 Board Elections

• October Meeting - looking at holding it in Tosa

• • Board Nominations 

  • • Treasurer

    • Chair

• November Meeting - Rays in Waukesha Election

• Melissa, Chair,  will be stepping down after 3 years of serving as an Officer for Metro. 

• Kevin, Co-Chair, has been involved for the last 3 years. Board will be discussing transitioning Kevin to Chair.

Questions/ Comments:

• If anyone is interested in helping trail groom- reach out.

We Need Support:

• Manage An Event 

• Coordinate a Membership Drive 

• Support a Trail Work Day

• Be a Trail Steward or Adopt a Trail Section

• Approach Sponsors & Corporate Donors

• Design & Manage New Metro Swag

• Identify and Apply for Grants

• Host a Group Ride

• Expand our Social Media Presence

• Coordinate with NICA

• Become a Board Member this Fall!

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm