November 2024
Rhode Island Chapter
New England Mountain Bike Association
October 2024 Meeting Agenda
Date/Time: November 13, 2024, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Zoom
1. Roll Call / Welcome Newcomers
Wayne, Shannon, Jay S, Dennis, Tabitha, Mike P, Charles
2. Public Comment
3. Administration
October Meeting Minutes
Motion to approve. - Paul 1st, Wayne 2nd, approved
Membership Update
Current membership: 262 (up 3 from October, down from August high of 279).
Goal: 300 members by January 1. - need to do a membership drive soon
Financial Summary
Beginning Balance: $5428.79
Deposits: $11373.14
Expenses: $741.96
Balance 10/31/24 :$16059.67 -question about reg fees, NEMBA keeps 5%
Check to Tour de Rhody: $1993.90 (½ of BR Fun Ride proceeds) - motion to bump to $2000. -approved
Next Meeting
December 3, 2024 – Location TBD (considering one more Zoom meeting). -Zoom approved. Playing Full chapter meeting at Tilted Barn for Jan
RINEMBA Needs Help!
Grant Writer
Sales, fulfillment, and inventory of merch
Ride Leaders: Beginner/novice focus, adaptive? weekday and weekend.
Ride Lead Coordinator
Trail Bosses: Trail days.
Volunteer Coordinator: Events and trail days.
Woody Hill Representative. Paul leaving soon!
Elections 2025 – January
Candidates
President: Dennis Wilson
Vice President: Charles Piccard
Secretary: Tabitha Wilson
Treasurer: Shannon Lonardo
BOD Wayne
Back Up BOD Charles - Adam B stepping away
Leadership Team Adjustments (vote needed ASAP)
Michael Petrarca – Sprague Farm - vote unanimous yes
Adam Carroll – Communication Director - vote unanimous yes
Removal of inactive members?
Documented 10/2022 Must attend 4 meetings per year to stay
Same folks as last year, had conversations with each then
Dennis to have conversation with each
4. Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM)
Night ride recommendations submitted – awaiting feedback. Stalled… - Dennis to push harder - some pushback from the water board in BR.
Orange Season
2025 Fun Rides
License agreement renewal needed; dates to be submitted for event planning. See event planning below
5. NEMBA Corporate Updates (Notes from Wayne)
Financial status: Profitable and on budget as of June 30, 2024.
Regional offers various services for chapters, including Venmo, PayPal, and GoFundMe options.
Discussion of aggregating chapter bank balances to generate interest income.
Planned cybersecurity training for chapter treasurers.
Eventbrite to replace Golden Volunteer and Wild Apricot.
Website update: Nearly ready for individual chapter pages managed by chapters.
Restructuring Committee -up to 2 reps per state, Chapter prez to choose.
6. Event Planning & Rides
Lincoln Woods Fun Ride
Lessons learned and follow-up. -Would like to have yard signs to direct parking, and volunteer direct parking as well. Maybe put event info on billboard sign at park entrance. Ask for the bigger beach lot in 2025. Ask for 250 attendees. Volunteers arrived early. Too many volunteers. Use email to better direct volunteers.
Unofficially $1,200 raised for Food Bank, $2,700 for Sprague.
Get Expenses reports in to Shannon
Leadership team matching $1,000 for Food Bank. Pass the hat.
Thanks to Charles, Jay, and team for a successful event!
New Relationship with State Parks -met director of state parks and park managers
Who has the membership renewal forms? - Dennis
Scammers- Someone paid $ to a scammer for bootleg tickets.
Winter Meeting
Full chapter meeting at Tilted Barn in January. Pre-meeting ride planned (dress warmly!).
Cyndi offered assistance; details to be confirmed.
2025 Events / Fun Rides Suggested Dates (need to submit ASAP)
Arcadia Clean Up: Sunday, March 30 -partner with AMC + Rovers
Arcadia NEYC Ride Event: Sunday, April 6 - Week after clean up -ride groups rather than arrows up
Big River Clean Up: Saturday, April 19 or April 26 (unconfirmed)
Woody Hill Fun Ride (MBAS): June 22, June 29, or July 20 (check lacrosse schedules)- Dennis to call Paul for more info **update 11/15: June 29 wll be the best option per Paul K.
Big River Fun Ride: Sunday, September 14 -park n ride partial closed now, might be Tour De Rhody, Dr. Tom has not set date for TDR.
Lincoln Woods Fun Ride: November 9
Neighbor Events
BVNEMBA Chapter Meeting: November 18 (Dennis to present Sprague project) -asking For $1000
Turkey Afterburner at Hale: December 1, Option to bring tent -Setting up Sprague info booth
7. Member Opportunities
Group Rides: No night rides until DEM permits are obtained. -Anyone want to lead a ride? Any daylight hours will work. Anyone?
SafeTrails First Aid Training
4-hour program covering common injuries; $85 per person, with classes of 8-20 people.
Free for ride leaders! Possible REI partnership; Charles to follow up.
Inclusion and Collaboration Committee – Tabitha -Charles: DEM policy on ebikes
8. Glocester Land Trust Partnership
$12k needed for trail development plan. In discussions with builders. -$ goal met
Next steps: Confirm DEM regulations and contract Pinnacle for master plan.
Marketing: $1,200 raised from posters and videos.-Discussion about restricted Funds. Funds marked for Sprague can only be used for Sprague.
Trek withdrew from Sno-Dog donation; sale price undetermined. - Could be a blessing with amount of effort needed. Revisit another date.
9. Ride Area Updates
Lincoln – Great conditions
Diamond Hill - locals are maintaining trails. How can we help them? Jay to keep talking them up. Ask Willem as well.
Woody
Arcadia – Clear cutting; Breakheart open. Jeff’s is reportedly closed. Possibly dangerous.
Big River – Farewell to Park N Ride? Police barracks construction has eliminated most of DNA. Wayne and Shannon to investigate this weekend. Taking photos.
Burlingame
Ryan Park
Sprague
10. New Business
Open floor for new topics from the board - none
11. Motion to adjourn. - Motion by Wayne.
Meeting adjourned at 8:40PM.
