October 2017 Board Minutes

Wednesday, October 18 2017 7:00 - 9:00 PM,

Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor’s Center Library

One Father Junipero Serra Trail San Diego, CA 92119

For information contact: info@SDMBA.com or

Kevin Loomis President

President@sdmba.com  

 

Introductions/Roll Call

Board members present:

Renee Halsch

Ben Stone

Susie Murphy

Kevin Loomis

Jeff Tanzola

Don Sutton

Tim Ingersoll

Jason Showalter

 

Others present:

Siobhan Baloochi - Secretary

Alyssa Slade

Jenny Johnson - MWBA (Mount Wilson Bicyclig Association)

Sean Mitchell - consulting with MWBA

Ranger Joey Martin - Cleveland National Forest

Doug Johnson

 

Meeting begins at 7:08pm


Public Comment on Non-Agenda Items (2 mins. limit per individual; must fill out comment card prior to call to order) Opportunity for members of the public to speak to the Board on any subject matter not on tonight’s agenda

 

Alyssa Slade - interested in becoming more involved


Call to Order

Introductions    Jenny Johnson and Sean Mitchell - Mount Wilson BA

 

  • In the middle of trying to rework their board to be more effective

  • SDMBA membership is up, boost is impressive - Jenny wants to try to do something similar with MWBA

    • Meet to see how the board is run, how things get done

    • Interested in involvement that each person has with the board - here to observe

  • Sean - helping as a 3rd party to aid in restructuring, is a voice outside of the board

  • Kevin and Jenny have been working with IMBA on evolution of chapter program

  • Jenny has been helpful with moving changes with IMBA in the last few years - will be back in San Diego again for the National Forest Summit


Consent Agenda

    1.        Meeting Minutes Approval of 9/20/2017– Kevin Loomis

  • Ben makes a motion to approve the meeting minutes, Kevin seconds, passed unanimously

    2.        Approval August 2017 Financials and September 2017 Financials

  • Last month there were some items to look into, those has been resolved

  • Approve both August and September 2017 financials.

  • Numbers are a good increase from the previous year, and these numbers include: Pamo Valley, fundraising, partial revenue from Tacos for Trails event

  • Ben makes a motion to approve August and September financials, Don seconds, unanimously approved

    

Old Business

 

Requests for Continuance on any current Agenda items

 

Discussion Agenda  

Item 1.   Action Item: Approve Additional Funds for Orosco Ridge Plan (Ben & Joey) 15 mins https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YSGgqVA5W0gmKy3tG_kaky8PwIrm4pBc1r1HMjH2mJE/edit?usp=sharing

  • This action item is to increase the amount of money contributed to USFS staff time

  • Ben: agreement has been forwarded called “National Forest Service Budget”

    • Agreement for USFS Cleveland National Forest to accept funds to go toward this project

    • Agreement is billable quarterly after work completed

    • Estimates could not be produced until Joey did interdisciplinary  presentation

  • New total required for this budget is $26,000

    • Split revenue into 3 categories - original allocations, REI grant, dedicated SDMBA donations to Pamo Valley Plan

    • 2017 REI grant ($15,000) has been used

    • Expenses are projected

    • Total revenue raised by SDMBA: almost $54,000

    • Make sure to get with Scott to clarify these numbers and ensure that money has been moved in the right direction

    • If Susie is logging hours on the project, then a portion REI grant can help to fund her time

 

  • Next spreadsheet talks about projected expenses in the future - helps us see what is required financially once we start to dig (design/build)

  • These are, in fact, loose projections. NEPA process could change the numbers, but they are a good start. This estimate is for 20 miles of trail to be built for Orosco Ridge.

 

  • Collection agreement spreadsheet

    • Specialists to be consulted as part of this project include: archaeologists, hydrologist, GIS specialist, forest planner, botanist, and forest biologist.

    • There will be an agreement that will show what SDMBA and the National Forest Service will be contributing

    • Asking for $26,000 from SDMBA, currently including overhead assessment (but trying to get this removed). Will not necessarily be billed $26,000, but this is the absolute maximum according to Jeff Heys, Cleveland NF Forest planner.

    • Hydrologist - may not end up needing the 10 hours, also has an assistant, could do discussions before walks about drainage, etc. to decrease field time.

    • Positive conversations with forest biologist have occurred

 

  • Ben will take volunteers to walk GPX alignments - relatively easy trail to walk through - will walk in a straight line and may cut off some of the tricky length.

 

Questions for Joey:

  1. Jay - have people on the collection agreement sheet been consulted?

    1. They have been asked for numbers based on survey mileage. Surveys include walking, putting maps together.

  2. When we approve this tonight, what does the timeline look like/next steps?

    1. All dependent on when we sign the agreement.

    2. Ben - when would you see it scheduled? Potentially studies to be done in January

    3. Jeff Heys will schedule specialists to go out, then will go to District supervisor (Chris Dowling)

  3. How much off-road activity there currently?

    1. Not much, as it is a service road that dead-ends

 

  • Joey did a presentation to interdisciplinary specialists of the Orosco trail concept. Next, planning will be done for budgeting for the year.

  • USFS Budget goes October to October, and Orosco trail plan is currently in the 2018 budget

    • Ben coming up with some ideas for staging

    • Contact with Ramona residents has been positive of this trail system, high school NICA team is very excited

    • Spoke with the equestrian community (RTA, SDTA, BCH), had an open conversation about levels of the building process and opening to multi-use trail users in the future

    • Keeping everyone as the part of the process is very important! - roads and Coast to C.rest trails will be accessible to equestrians. Some other areas will be more family-oriented

 

Kevin makes a motion to revise $12,000 to $26,000 to fund National Forest Service staff/Collection Agreement which outlines $26,000 (not to exceed) Ben seconds, unanimously approved

 

  • Will need to kick into fundraising for build and design portion which will need to be finished before the survey

    • Design will be very important - this is the start of projected expenses - will need to take a look at estimates and fundraising moving forward

    • County grants opens in June 2018

  • Kevin: Ben has exceeded all expectations with this project

 

Item 2.   Committee Structure/Reporting 15 mins.

 

             Advocacy Committee Report (Ben Stone - presented by Susie Murphy)

  • Advocacy in the last year has been strong

 

  1. Continue progress on SDMBA top 10 priority projects

    1. Create criteria for top 10 projects

      1. need to work on this

    2. Two of top 10 approved for work

      1. we are there! Stowe is done/completed

      2. Black Mountain is ready, Sweetwater/Mother Miguel are already approved for work.

    3. Half of top 10 approved for work by 2020 - on the way there

    4. Advocacy committee to revisit top 10 list quarterly

      1. reviewed in August, adjusted order based on priority

      2. would it be helpful to do a poll or survey to members about top 10 project?

  2. Strengthen collaborations with partners

  3. Continue advocacy work to connect existing trail networks

    1. We constantly work towards connectivity in all area.  Ongoing.

  4. Advocacy committee chairperson will hold monthly meetings

    1. suggestion to plan 10 advocacy meetings per year with 3 at different locations

    2. Potentially no July and December meetings based on vacation time

 

Trails Committee Report  (Don Sutton)

  • Vision for trails in San Diego - world-class MTB destination, goals are aligning to achieve this

  • Public announcement/marketing campaign about the work that is being done

    • to be looked into in the future

 

  • Come up with a county-wide trail management system - organize, classify, and document trail systems in one place

  1. MTB Project - incorporated into website - allows user to look at trail networks throughout country

  • allows for navigation without cell service (uses vectorized maps by state)

  • Active to ensure that the trails mapped and listed are legal.

    2. Trailforks - similar/different features on their site

  • Website, phone app, will give descriptions and elevation profile.

  • Good features: tool that allows you to create maps.

  • Can also print maps in high resolution, trail data spreadsheet export

    • As part of systematic organization, do a data set like this. Create a data set that is authoritative for San Diego county

    • Don has met with the people who run Trailforks, mostly coders/developers

 

  • Have liaisons take a look at both apps, can see if trails they are responsible for are represented accurately.  

  • Maps are user-run, user-sourced. Then it is peer-reviewed, then will show up and can be rated.

 

  • Network specific trail updates - 21 liaisons including Don

Focus on 5 main areas:

  1. North Coastal Foothills (ex. Elfin Forest)

  2. Central coastal Foothills (ex. Mission trails)

  3. South coastal foothills (ex. Otay/Sweetwater)

  4. Mountains (ex. Mount Laguna)

  5. Deserts (ex. Anza Borrego)

 

  • Ongoing projects:

  1. Laguna - trail plan, Noble Canyon trail day 10/29

  2. Rockhouse trail with Jose

  3. Anderson Truck Trail - Alpine meeting next Monday

  4. Anza Borrego - focus to create larger loops, bikepacking

  5. Mission Trails - need to work the most in this area, master plan implementation, will need to get ready for when plan is put in place

    1. Kevin will be meeting and looking at next steps with Mission Trails very soon

                       6. Sycamore/Goodan/Boulder Oaks will be able to connect, and 2 new trails are likely

 

Item 3. Strategic Plan Review/Actions Goal #1: Advocacy Goal #2: Trails

            (Susie) 10 mins.

 

  • Susie: Don did a great job of covering and bringing together liaisons

  1. Develop a network of destination quality trails for various riding styles

  2. Support trail liaisons - don has done an amazing job - as they cultivate relationships with land managers and prioritize projects

    1. Trail liaison summit

      1. to be determined

    2. Formalized application process

      1. has improved

    3. Don - trails committee chair

    4. Trail crew leader training in house at Elfin Forest in Janary 2017 - 30 people - more experienced

      1. one more training will be had (2 in one year)

    5. Gather and document trail development information - Don

     3. Create and provide resources that allow riders to improve trail experience             (Trailforks, MTB Project)

  1. Provide all available trail maps on SDMBA.com the are published by govt and park entities - Don will take a look at these

 

  • Peopleforbikes eBike trail map - send a letter to Larry (Jenny to send Susie his email address)

  • Has become a lot more balanced with Don/trails plan. Advocacy and trails are now more on par with one another. These two goals connect in many ways.

  • Paper map of San Diego County trails - put everything up electronically, but explore a paper map. Gives  better orientation, scale, etc.

 

Item 4.  California MTB Council (Kevin) 5 mins

  • Numbers will be changing tremendously

    • We are able to capture about 70% of funds from membership now, versus about 40% before

    • If we go with a CA council, funds will be even higher/better

  • SDMBA is about ⅓ of the membership in California

  • Kevin will have more for us as it comes about

 

Item 5.  IMBA Board Meeting questions to discuss (Kevin) 5 mins.

  • Kevin, Susie, and Jenny will be at IMBA board meeting on Friday.

    • Sponsored by Jenson in Riverside - changes happening to IMBA are positive

  • Kevin will be speaking at board meeting about changes happening in CA

  • Renegotiated dues to IMBA, giving more money back to chapters in order to have “councils” rather than having one person in Sacramento

    • Chapters and clubs in CA to be decision makers

    • Kevin discussing with IMBA/what this means for the future

      • Conference call next week with other chapters - to form and discuss

      • Do not need to be an IMBA chapter or club to be on the council. EX. TAMBA

 

  • Discussion to be had on Friday

    • Kevin will offer suggestions for what the board’s roles will be in the future - suggesting a committee structure and more transparency

  • Jenny - transparency is very important, will be discussed in this meeting

 

Item 6.   2018 Archipelago Ride Jersey Colors or new design (Susie) 2 mins.

  • Getting opinions on new colorway for Arch Ride jersey

    • Arch Jersey - colorway is attached

  • Same design - Primal could open up online store next year

    • Jerseys will be sold for $65

    • Could sell more this year with a longer window - more people would prefer the color scheme this year.

    •     

Item 7.  East County Bike Park Proposal  (Jason)  5 mins.  

  • Flynn Springs has been ongoing - previously was a potential pump track

    • Bike park proposal came back up on the table

  • New crew of parks and rec staff - Jason has requested an inventory of property to take a look at a bike park spot

  • Once Sweetwater Bike Park works, more people will want bike park areas

  • Contact parks and rec, keep on speaking with them and reaching out

 

Item 8.  Action Item:   approve 50% of net profit (approximately $5000) from Tacos For Trails for Pamo Valley Trail Building Fund    

  • Ask to allocate 50% of money made from Tacos for Trails to Orosco Ridge/Pamo Valley trail fund

    • We have been able to get an amount of grants for staff time

  • Approximately $5000 made at the event

 

Kevin makes a motion to approve 50% of net profit from Tacos For Trails donor event to be allocated to Pamo Valley Trail Building Fund

 

  • Garrett Villanueva travel - have approve $1400 for travel - need to communicate where these funds are coming from form Scott

 

Ben makes a motion to correct/clarify funding for Garrett’s travel to stewardship summit, Renee seconds, unanimously approved

 

Item 9.   Action Item:  replacement tools for Hodges station $130

  • Station will be taken out and moved, tools will be replaced.

Kevin makes a motion to approve $130 for replacement tools for Hodges station, Renee seconded, unanimously approved

 

Item 10.   Action Item: Authorize President with VP approval for emergency   expense items up to $500 with follow-up by the Board.      

  • Emergency expense - Ben has to have something approved ASAP

Kevin makes a motion to authorize President with VP approval for emergency items, Don seconded, unanimously approved

  • Urgent/time sensitive items

 

Item 11.  Action item: Purchase of electric trimmer/extra battery ($139) and a weed whacker ($110), water container ($120), sharpening blade for trimmer ($15), broken handle ($20). Payable up to $465.00

  • Partially on the stowe trail

Kevin makes a motion to approve up to $465.00 for trail work items, Jeff seconded, unanimously approved

 

  • Don will also ask about other tools that are needed.

  • These are 1-off items not from tool place

 

Item 12. Action item:  Film License Trails in Motion $420

             (funds being recouped from sponsors; $350 pending)

  • November 18th film screening in Carlsbad

  • Ben spent the money, funds are being recouped

 

Kevin makes a motion to pay $420 as necessary to reimburse Ben, Renee seconded, unanimously approved (general fund)

 

Item 13. Action item:  $500 Top Rope Media Annual Report Design

  • Susie needs help to put an annual report together

  • For $500 Top Rope Media will help write copy. Graphics
    Susie will gather data.

  • Would come out in January/early February and would be great for grants and brochures - more comprehensive than postcard

    • Digital and print

    • More formalized

Don makes a motion to approve $500 for Top Rope Media Annual Report Design, Kevin seconded, unanimously approved

 

Item 14. Action item:  Riverside Lodging for IMBA Board meeting $224.00

  • For IMBA board meeting - there will also be a ride the next day

  • Susie and Kevin will be there

  • Saturday - Ride/fundraiser with part of proceeds to SDMBA and other area chapters.

Jeff makes a motion for lodging for Kevin and Susie, Renee seconded, unanimously approved


Item 15. Action item:  Purchase of food/water/snacks for Trail Summit $1000

            (partially to be recouped from cost share/pending sponsors)

  • Will spend $1000 leading up to Summit, but most of this will be recouped after the fact

  • Make sure to clarify with Scott which check goes where

Kevin makes a motion to front $1000 for food/water/snacks for Trail summit from General Fund, less any sponsorship money coming in, Jason seconded, unanimously approved


Updates - (Non Discussion Items)

  

Item 1.   NFS Trail Stewardship Summit Nov. 2-5

            

Items for next meeting Agenda

 

Board member communications     

 

    

Adjournment

Meeting ends at 9:08 PM

 

Next Meeting:       November 15, 2017

 

Meeting Minutes Recorded by: Siobhan Baloochi, SDMBA Secretary