January 2020 Metro Meeting
01/14/2020
Café De Arts
Waukesha, Wi
19 members in attendance
James did board introductions and turned the meeting over to Dave Burch our new Co-Chair
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.
Financial Report – Dan Kutz was not present
James touched base from our board meeting regarding total funds in the bank account. Around $27k and we still have some donations for the groomer to add. We still need about $2500 in donations to finish paying off the groomer and added maintenance costs. You can donate on Metro’s site and receive a receipt. We do have some projects coming up but won’t require much funding. We don’t have any requirements to liquidate funds but if we went over $100k in the account we would be required to do annual reporting.
Membership is holding steady around 250 members, up about 2%
Some ideas were given for adding members since there are over 1200 people that follow Minooka page alone. The thought is to pool the individuals on each page to see why they aren’t members and what they are looking for in order to become one.
Leadership (Board) Meeting Update
James gave the members a brief update from our recent board meeting. Some of the items discussed were:
· Minooka Park Project – discussed strategy to complete and formed a fundraising committee
· Trail signage – we want to have all trail systems with consistent signage and are looking to start with Glacial Blue. Of course, we are working on a design to give to the landowners for their approval. It would be great for riders to have a sense of direction at Glacial Blue. Make your own adventure without getting lost.
· E-Bikes – discussed the boards stance on allowing off-road e-bikes on trails. We were all for it if it’s only Class 1 which is pedal assist with max 20mph.
· New Trail in Washington County – Heritage Park. As you may recall, 2yrs ago the park approached us about building trails. James and Ron walked the property and it’s viable for trails. It was put on hold because they wanted to build a lake first but about 3 weeks ago the park came back to us and the lake is out. They want to move forward right away with the trails. Board voted to add this new project as a Metro trail. James will head the project. The Park has $12k earmarked toward the trails and Gavin (Little Switz build crew) is going to donate his time and equipment to build flow trails with “features”. Project looking to be completed this summer.
· Update on Milwaukee Underpass Project - Both Marty and James have been in these meetings and they are moving ahead with this project. It is more than just a pump track and will allow for other activities. The “Friends of the Underpass” have asked us to help with future maintenance and possibly using our 501c3 to take donations. The board agreed if it is simple maintenance and not replacing the asphalt pump track down the road. Marty believes the attorneys will more than likely set up their own non-profit and possibly hire landscaping company to do maintenance. But we certainly will help where we can. Exciting to know this thing really has legs.
Alpha Trail Update - Marty
Marty gave an update on the last meetings he had with Milwaukee County Parks. However, the county recently decided to have a “3 season rule” where any new projects would not be looked at for 3 seasons. So, all the flagging we did and then the route they decided on (including the hiking trails) are now on hold (again) for 3 seasons. They won’t look at Alpha again until Nov of 2020. They also said they no longer have the resources to chainsaw fallen trees on any of the MTB Trails including Tosa. It is apparent that MKE County Parks is not interested in building more MTB trails, so we as aboard have decided to table all Milwaukee projects. We will continue to maintain the trails we currently have but will not use our volunteers time to push for new trails until we can find out what the county’s concerns are with mountain biking. James and Dave are scheduling a meeting with Milwaukee County Parks to discuss further.
Minooka Park Update - James
Minooka project is fully approved and looking to have new trails to ride June. Of course, spring is always questionable but looking to have a tiller and 2 compactors cutting in the flagged re-routes our volunteers cut in last fall. This includes the new trail head! We are planning on putting in a wall ride and other features donated by Little Switz.
Once that is complete, we then need to focus on putting in the 60-stall parking lot with sidewalk to the bathrooms. James is already talking with individuals with connections to contractors and looking to see what we can have donated. Dave is working on the fundraising for the now “Staging Area Project”. This opens the project to not just a parking lot but more of an educational area for users. Dave is hoping to have a draft of the project at the next meeting.
Once the staging area is complete, we are fundraising to have a contractor come in and build out the hill side!
Dave Burch is the Chair of our Fundraising Committee so if you are interested in helping, please contact Dave.
Fat Bike Grooming – Bryan Douglas, Chair
Ron thanked the grooming crew for getting out and grooming all the trails and keeping their schedules flexible and follow the snow. We are working on options to better communicate when trails are open and closed. Minooka is controlled by the Park, they consult us but ultimately it’s up to them. If someone is out riding when they shouldn’t, please don’t be mean but rather use it to educate them on groomed trails. Don’t assume they know.
If you like the groomed trails, don’t forget to donate on the Metro site to keeps this project moving ahead!
Volunteer Hours
Chris Cooper has added the 2020 Volunteer Spreadsheet to the Metro Mountain Bikers Page for volunteer hours to be added. If you have any 2019 hours to add, please do so before next week. Chris will be locking out the 2019 one after next week. We had 930.75 volunteer hours logged for 2019!!! Thank you to all our volunteers! You can email your hours to Chris Cooper at cooper4768@hotmail.com Use subject line “Volunteer Hours”
NICA Trail Work
Chris Cooper is the Metro Liaison to NICA in communicating trail needs and scheduling maintenance days for NICA teams. We will certainly look forward to having the extra hands this spring!
New Business
Marty asked about Wednesday Night Races. We are still where we were last year, waiting for someone to step up on run it. Maybe we can look at a timing system to help but we still need a point of contact.
Bike Expo. YES metro will have a booth with the Groomer in it. We are also looking at revamping the look and making it “brighter”. We want to be seen! Maps off all the trails, pics of riders, shredding videos, etc…..We want people to come in and ask who we are. We will need enthusiastic mountain bikers to help us spread that excitement!
Beth Kazinski has stepped up to file the Social Media position. She will be working with James to get a marketing strategy going.
Next meeting in February 11th. It is a social meeting. We are looking at a night ride at Minooka followed by Raised Grain. Stay tuned!
8:29pm Meeting adjourned.
