November 2019 Metro Meeting
11/12/19
Bennos’
West Allis, Wi
36 members in attendance
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.
Introduction of Board
Financial Report – Dan Kutz
Refer to spreadsheet handout.
Club has a positive net cash flow.
Changing system for member payments. Paypal’s fees are increasing so will move to Wild Apricot’s payment system. Isaac was making the necessary changes and members should be able to renew their memberships without an issue.
Alpha Trail Update
Marty is at a council meeting so not present to give an update. However, James did share that metro members showed up in force again at the public meeting in support of mountain bike trails. There are some hurdles to overcome still but looking at spring to push for more trails at Alpha. Remember we are looking at making the hiking trails, multi-use and allowing mountain biking. We are making headwinds with the municipalities.
Minooka Park Update - James
Minooka project is fully approved, and contract is signed and in our hands! It includes Fat Bike Grooming at Minooka. Huge win and a long time coming but it’s here. We do need to submit a grooming plan to have approved.
There will be parts of the blue where the groomer will not fit but you are still able to ride. Feel free to snowshoe these areas if you wish.
The plan also includes the use of machinery to build out phase 3. Phase 3 includes the build out of the hill with features donated by Little Switz. We are talking a 15ft wall ride people!
Question was asked if there were any hooks or conditions in the contract that we would be held up against. James stated no except the one for building the parking lot because there isn’t enough parking in Area 5 now and with the addition of phase 3 the park expects more users and there isn’t any more room in current area to accommodate.
There is a major shift in the county parks attitude toward mountain biking and it is included in the master parks plans for the county. The parks have never sold so many out of state passes then they have and it’s because of the mountain biking. We bring in almost as much as the dog park.
Fat Bike Grooming – Bryan Douglas, Chair
Sunday at Minooka 9am the fat bike committee is getting together for their first meeting to figure out where they can and cannot go with the groomer as well as develop safety plans. So if you are on the committee be there. Right now, we have permission to groom Minooka and Pleasant Valley. We are working on a 3rd location – hoping Negawaukee golf course. The county is open to grooming since it’s just the golf course. The nice thing is they don’t have dog walkers here. We are going to keep it to 3 locations this year so we can get the system down and running smoothly before we think of adding anymore. We want quality trails over quantity. If you have questions or interested in being on the committee just contact Bryan.
Volunteer Hours
With all the new opportunities coming our way there will be a lot of volunteer hours that need to be counted. We send these hours to the counties and they use when applying for special projects. It is important to show involvement in the club and giving back to the community. Snowshoeing counts too! If you go out to do any volunteer work as a group, designate one person to report the hours for all who showed up. You can email your hours to Chris Cooper at cooper4768@hotmail.com Use subject “Volunteer Hours”
NICA Trail Work
Thank you to all the coaches that showed up tonight, we are so excited to have the NICA teams involved in Metro. NICA has a program where the kids can give back to the trail systems that they use. We welcome the additional trail hands and Chris Cooper will help organize with the groups (15 NICA Teams in the Metro area) since he is the Volunteer Coordinator.
Metro does have an age limitation on our insurance which didn’t allow the Kids to participate regardless of their enthusiasm to do so. NICA has the insurance coverage under this program for the Kids so we should all be covered.
Steve, NICA Coach present suggested having a designated NICA liaison between them and the Club. Congrats Steve that this now you! Seriously though, yes, it is a good idea and to please discuss further with James.
Board Positions
Tonight’s the night to Vote or consider running for a position!
Positions available for 2020:
· Co-Chair (open) 1 year co-chair then 2 year chair
· Social Chair (open)
· Member at Large (Isaac Olson) 2 year term
· Secretary (Beth Kazinski) 2 year term
James described the details of each position available and opened the floor to additional nominations. Dave Burch stepped up for Co-Chair and name added to the ballot. Voting remained open for an hour. Get ballots back to Secretary to be counted.
We had 23 voting members present. We encourage those in attendance who aren’t currently members to consider joining. All membership dollars go back to YOUR local trails.
Open Floor
Ron presented check to Metro for $100 from the last Bike-Sha. Thank you to Dan at Magellan’s on Main St for the Pizza donation as well as everyone who came out to ride and donate. Stay tuned for the next one!
8:02pm Meeting adjourned.
Election Results
Dave Burch, Co-Chair
James Mattox, Social Chair
Member at Large, Isaac Olson
Secretary, Beth Kazinski
Introducing your board and committee chairs for 2020!
Board
James Mattox, Chair
Dave Burch, Co-Chair
Beth Kazinski, Secretary
Dan Kutz, Treasurer
Ron Stawicki, Member at Large
Isaac Olson, Member at Large
Chris McArdle, Member at Large
Committee Chairs
Darrin Jaeger, Social Media Chair
Chris Cooper, Volunteer Coordinator
James Mattox, Social Events Chair
Bryan Douglas, Fat Bike Grooming Committee Chair
James Mattox & Ron Stawicki, Minooka Committee Chairs
Marty Weigel, Alpha Committee Chair
