December meeting minutes

December 15, 2014 – CAMBA Monthly Meeting Recap

The meeting was held at the Winking Lizard in Peninsula with 26 people in attendance.

The meeting began by a brief introduction and a question asked of those who were there; “What do you want to see CAMBA work on/do in 2015.”

Answers included:

  • New website
  • Parties
  • Group Rides
  • Continued growth
    • Seeing a non-member at a trail head is an exception
    • Build membership
    • Clear vision with structure
  • New direction for CAMBA – supporting the race team
  • Advocacy – communicate ways for members to get involved
  • Regional integration
  • Getting more people involved – not just with trail work
  • Better communication
  • Educate – build the community
  • Improve trail signage (elevation, QR codes – make user friendly)
  • Give an easy way to give feedback on trail conditions
  • Reach out to the younger generation
  • More trails
  • Add a Mohican summer campout

 

  1. Trail Updates
    1. Dan Sahli, Cleveland Metroparks
      1. Adding programs around mountain biking
      2. Help with trail maintenance
      3. Kerruish Park update – CMP partnership with the City of Cleveland – utilizing an IMBA grant, Alex (IMBA Trail Solutions) onsite. The design will be in place by the end of 2014. Selling it is a “Bike Playground.” Will most likely not be built until spring 2016. Once the plan is in place that is when other things will fall into place. This will cut down on illegal activities.
      4. No news on Rocky River or Brecksville
    2. Kenny Kocarek, Stark/Tuscarawas County Director, CAMBA
      1. Quail Hollow – hiked the trail with Ben Appleby at the end of November. They looked at the soil composition and ways to make the trail more sustainable. Ben will put us in touch with a treated wood source to build bridges, etc. Should have the full report from Ben in a week or so.
      2. Camp Tuscazoar – continued trail maintenance. 331 cross country race announced – June 28, 2015.
      3. Shared Infographic – 880 volunteer hours between both trails @ 22.14/hour (IMBA Value for Trail Building Volunteers) equating to $16,162 at Camp Tuscazoar and $3,321 at Quail Hollow.
      4. Continuing to build volunteer base in both counties.
    3. Jason Ricker, Grant Director, CAMBA
      1. Raising money to match local grants – have raised $1700 so far this year and have a contract signed with Linear Active for trail design at Camp Tuscazoar
        1. Phase One: 50 acres across the street from the Camp to develop a beginner mountain bike trail. Hiked with Ben on December 20.
        2. Can apply in February for the ODNR Grant to have Linear Active machine build the trail, build a restroom facility at the trail head and install surveillance camera for the camp ranger.
        3. Phases two and three will include the 600 acres at the camp – should take around 16 weeks to complete.
      2. Another opportunity for trail development in Dover City Park – met with Pump Tracks USA.
    4. Jim Olander, Trail Boss/Work Day Coordinator, CAMBA
      1. CVNP – looking at funding areas right now – volunteer vs. professionally built? Depends on the timeline – ideal approach would be to work with IMBA and volunteers would do the finishing work. They are hoping to have it built by fall 2015.
      2. West Branch – have held some solid trail days; rebuild serpentine section (originally built in 2005), maintenance/repair work along Lakeside.
    5. Mike Ryba, Advocacy Director, CAMBA
      1. Summit Metro Parks, Hardy Road – held a trail day on November 1, 2014. Recently held staff training for the building of a bike park/pump track. The Metro Parks hired someone to trail the staff. Helping with the beginner 1.5 miles and flagging 1.5 miles of other trails.
  2. Tracking Volunteer Hours – Kenny Kocarek
    1. Kenny has built a simple system so that we can keep track electronically of all volunteer hours. This will help with future grant proposals and an easy way to sell our worth to land managers!
  3. Financial Update – Wayne Bowers, Treasurer, CAMBA
    1. Wayne is a new treasurer for the club, and brings many years of experience from assistant auditor at the State of Ohio, accountant at a city school district to his current position of fiscal officer at the Northeast Ohio Network for Educational Technology. Welcome, Wayne!
    2. Currently going through internal process review, drafting a cash base statement to report on what is going on financially. Any suggestions are welcome!
  4. Upcoming Events – Tom Zopatti, Board Member, CAMBA
    1. New Year’s Day Poker Ride – 12 p.m. See Facebook event for details: https://www.facebook.com/events/363095713871847/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
    2. Winter Party – no plans at this time. Ideas thrown around: Market Garden, Great Lakes, Fat Heads Tasting Room.
      1. Dan Sahli – idea: Bike and beer swap with Bike Cleveland
      2. Sara Harper – idea: Akron Bike co-op at Lock Three
      3. Please comment on Facebook with other ideas!
    3. Camp Tuscazoar Maple Days Fundraiser – March 14 and 15, 2015
    4. Blue Knob State Park Spring Campout – June 4, 2015?
    5. NEOCycle – http://www.neocycle.org/ – September 11 – 13, 2015
    6. Beer at the Pier – http://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/Main/Beer-at-the-Pier.aspx no dates for 2015 yet.
    7. Manatoc Experience – Labor Day weekend
    8. Storm the Stockade – Camp Tuscazoar – fall 2015
    9. Please let us know what else we need to have on our calendar!
  5. CAMBA Org Chart Review, Greg Spickard, President, CAMBA
    1. Effective 1/1/15
      1. President – Greg Spickard
      2. Vice President – Corianne Kocarek
      3. Treasurer – Wayne Bowers
      4. Grant Director – Jason Ricker
      5. Advocacy Director – Mike Ryba
      6. County Director – Stark/Tuscarawas – Kenny Kocarek
        1. Trail Stewards
          1. Quail Hollow – Nick Barnes, Steve Urzycki
          2. Camp Tuscazoar – Kevin Burgess, Mike Jones
      7. Trail Boss/Workday Coordinator – Jim Olander
      8. Safety Patrol – Vanessa Marts
      9. Membership Director – Steve Metzler
      10. Board of Directors:
        1. Mike Colonna
        2. Ray Petro
        3. Rick DeShields
        4. Mike Ryba
        5. Tom Zopatti
        6. Greg Spickard