August 22, 2005 Newsletter

Message from the Executive Director:
          Hello Everyone as of the July meeting the above & I have taken over the role as your club leaders. I feel this is a team effort and could not be done alone or should be. NYTRO of Northern NY is a leader as ATV Clubs go. As the secretary of the Jefferson County ATV assoc. I have had the privilege of meeting with other clubs and have found ours to be active and well know in the Community, County & State. We have gone a long way in the last 5 years. Thanks to you and the hard work everyone has put into it. It takes more than officers to make a club it takes members and planning. In the past year we have had some set backs and some gains. No one person has the answers to it all. I have seen a need to improve some things but you or a club is only as strong as our weakest link. I will try to organize& improve with the help of everyone some of our clubs setbacks. Communication, Planned Rides, Member Participation our on the top of the list. We have 168 memberships on our club roster, 31 of these are members who are not in good standing. If you are one of these members “WE NEED YOU PLEASE”. Comments that have come back are that people want to ride. Some say Parades are not a ride. This has been a busy year for everyone and the lack of communication poor planning and bad weather has not helped to resolve that issue. I put on 600 miles this past year riding. Our club and its members have been invited to many rides. Again communication or the lack of may of prevented some from participating. One or two people can’t do it all as the minutes discuss we have plans on trying to get more people involved for the future. Our next meeting will be Sept. 11,2005 starting a 2:00 PM at Ralph Millers place. We plan on having a meeting, cookout and evening ride on the trails that our club members have been working on all this year. The club will be providing hot dogs and hamburgers so a RSVP would be nice. Please bring a dish to pass & your table setting and drinks. We need members to help with the newsletter and membership. Faron did an amazing job on both and Thank Him Again for an outstanding Job. Sorry to those 12 members who celebrated another year we will try and recognize you soon. In future mailings we plan on giving Ride Briefings & Maintenance Tips. The last clubs ride left Washington Park a little after 10:00 16 members rode in a mild sprinkle across the trails and roads to the Worth Lorain Lot. This is Jefferson County Property that we may be able to expand and maintain the existing trail system. The first stop was to view a wash out that blocked the use of a large riding area. Backtracking and going into the next trail we found many off shoots of trails that could be explored in the Future. After several pull outs and a lot of challenging obstacle we immerged to the Schoolhouse Rd. Do to running late for the meal we opted to the main roads on our return to the Park. Debbie Bellinger continues to hold the mudslinger title but we hope to see Jen take her title at the next meeting / Ride. I plan on trying to talk with those that can’t make the next meeting. Moving Forward; Sincerely Yours Michael Bellinger

          The clubs August meeting was held at Washington Park following our club ride.
          Pres. Mike Bellinger called the meeting to order at 2:15 with 16 members present.

          As our outgoing secretary, Faron reviewed the minutes of the previous meeting from last month’s newsletter. The minutes were abbreviated to cover the election of new officers.The motion to accept the minutes was made by Dave, and seconded by Stan.

Treasurer’s Report:

         Stan Miler took over the treasurer’s duties on 8/5 at the executive board meeting.

Pat Miller made the motion to accept the treasurer’s report, and secd. by Dave Beyer. Passed.

New Bills presented:

            $126.55 Doug Cronk for Tractor Repairs

            $7.40 Faron for postage

New receipts from memberships:

            $35.00 Mike VanBrocklen family membership

            $25.00 Barry VanBrocklen single membership

Dave Beyer made the motion to pay the new bills, and was secd. by Shawn Gallager. Passed.

Communication:

1. We wanted to say thanks to Doug Cronk for donating his labor for the tractor repairs, and another thanks to Bill Nutting for painting the tractor. Cards would be sent to each.

2. Next order of business was discussing the club’s communication. Mike would like to assume the responsibility for Communication Director and coordinate the clubs communication and serve as the clubs spokesman.

3.  A copy of the club’s bylaws was passed onto Kevin to be kept with the other important club documents.

4.  Mike wanted to thank the previous executive board, and Ralph for their time and work they put into the club.

Committee Reports:

Membership: Current Membership is 70 memberships with 162 members. 12 memberships are conditional with this years dues being outstanding.

1. The club is looking for willing volunteers to participate on the membership committee. Gerry Arzie and Mark Nobert have expressed interest in participating. We would like to have a meeting for those interested, if you are interested please let someone on the board know so we can schedule a time and place.

2. Some membership packets have been put together, Dave has gotten additional information and maps from other states. Many more still need to be put together and distributed to new members. Once the membership committee has been put together it may be wise to invest in another fire safe for the membership committee to keep important information.

Club Trails: For those that may not of known it our Club has been busy creating a Trail System in Southern Jefferson Cnty. Unfortunately only a few of our members have been able to help out. Last Wednesday the 17^th a work detail was held to clear about ¾ of a mile of new trail from the cabin to the truck access trail at Community Park. There was a good crew that showed up and cleared the trail. Another work detail is planned for this Wednesday the 24^th to begin working on one of the two bridges required for that trail.
          Given the hard work of the members showing up for the work details the club would like to provide lunch or dinner to those members participating. Approved
          Since progress on the trails is proceeding well, club members may want to start considering names for the trails that have been developed.

Committee Appointments:

Historian: Mike asked Pat is she would be willing to stay on the club’s historian, and goodwill chairperson. Pat has been great at sending out cards to members. In order to continue she will need an updated copy of the members list.

Trail Coordinator: Mike also asked Ralph, with his little assistant Faron, to serve as trail coordinators.

Ride Planners: Dave has been willing to take on the task of Ride planner.
           He is in the process of planning four extended rides. These will cover May thru August. They are a trip to Allegany Forest in PA, a trip to Tuggers, Brasher Falls, and possibly one around Star Lake. The goal would be to have one big ride each month, and at least another day ride each month. These could be a club ride like Washington Park, or going as a club to another club’s events, such as a poker run. A night ride at Ralph’s was also brought up and might also be a good experience for those members who haven’t been on one.
          One of the biggest reasons for members not renewing their membership was lack of rides, and many of those members decided to stay with other clubs because of the rides they do. This year has been particularly difficult with everyone’s schedules, and a significant amount of trail work was being done. The club definitely wants to offer more rides next year and would like to have a list of planned ride by the end of the year. We also discussed that if someone had an idea for a ride, they could be that rides coordinator. If anyone is interested please let Dave know.

Cleanup: Stan will head up the club’s Cleanups. Currently work hours are tracked for both work details and cleanups. This information may be needed to justify the work the clubs does on trails, and Adopt a Highway program.

Old Business:

1. In previous club meeting over the winter, the club voted on and passed a motion to join Trail Pass. At the time these decisions were based on Trail Pass having a good insurance carrier and that it involved a limited financial commitment, based on being able to opt out of the trail fund. Since then there have been changes with Trail Pass as a result of obtaining a different insurance carrier. There have also been changes made in the financial requirements. Currently a club cannot opt out of the trail fund, and joining Trailpass will cost $750 ~ $1,000 at our clubs current size. Oswego County has had some issues with Trail Pass not providing the documents required to landowners and their Club. Other individuals have also invested in Trail Pass and lost money or haven’t been able to get out. In the previous meeting Trail Pass’s policy also lacked the names of the club members and landowners, like that found on snowmobile club policies.

          Therefore; a motion was made to table the Trailpass issue to a future date and take no action pursuing Trailpass at this time. Motion was made by Stan Miller and seconded by Ralph Miler Passed

          Continuing on the topic of insurance, the NYTRO web site states they are working on obtaining an insurance carrier. This could potentially cover our clubs rides and trails. Competitive events would still require special insurance. There was quite a bit of additional discussion on insurance for ATV clubs, stressing that eventually a statewide insurance, like the snowmobile clubs, would be the best solution. But, unfortunately since there is not an immediate benefit seen by the state legislature for pursuing such insurance little progress is likely to been seen. Clubs in Jefferson County will have different conditions that some existing clubs that have trail systems on seasonal roads. Jefferson County club’s trails will be mainly on private property and require insurance.
          Other clubs have obtained insurance to cover special events. Lodge ATV recently paid $400 for coverage for a poker run. If our club was to have a special event such as a Rodeo, the club could pursue a sponsor such as FX Capara to cover the cost of the insurance.
          Currently Community Park has its own insurance, which covers our work details and rides on their property.

2. Previously the club discussed having a separate account to keep track of trail maintenance. That hasn’t been done to date, but after review of the treasure’s notebook it doesn’t seem to be necessary since the bookkeeping is very thorough. It was decided that the treasurer would continue to keep the records as they were previously and that no new account would be required for trail maintenance.

New Business:

1. Dave brought up that applications for TEA grants are due by September 15^th; these would be for federal funds for equipment. The grants are handled through NYS Department of Parks. He has some examples of previous grants that were written that could be used as templates. However, due to the short timeline it seems no one would have enough time to put the grant proposal together. But, the club should definitely keep this in mind to apply for next year. The club could put in for a tractor, trailer, or even a dozer. If anyone is interested in tackling something along these lines next year please let Dave know.

2. Mike opened a discussion about creating a newsletter committee. The committee could come up with additional information to put into the newsletter, such as ride summaries, trail reports, or maintenance tips. Members could also use the newsletter to share information such as where to find discount parts.

3. Mike would also like to use bulletins to update members on changes in club activities or notice for work details, rides, or cleanups. These could be sent out weekly if needed to keep everyone informed. Members could also use these bulletins to let other members know if they were going on a ride somewhere and wanted some company. Also, once Mike can get a copy of the software Greg uses for updating the web site, he will be able to post information if needed.

4. Stan brought up the recent survey’s that were past out by the Tug Hill commission. These surveys’ due dates were last week. Stan called the number listed on the survey and requested that the club get a copy of the results. These results should be ready around the end of September. Dave also had quite a bit of information about the Tug Hill Commission through some coworkers. The surveys were sent out to businesses and individuals picked by the Tug Hill Commission. A contracted consultant put together and distributed the surveys, and will correlate the results. The surveys are an attempt to gauge the potential revenue that could be generated by ATV’s on Tug Hill. The Commission had received many questions from the surveys, the biggest one being the concern over potential $45 registration fees.

5. There have been several people wondering which trails are open on Tug Hill with the construction of the windmills. Currently the trails around the construction are closed to ATV’s and are well marked. Once construction is complete the trails are supposed to be back open for riding and should offer quite a few opportunities for rides.

6. Both Oswego Country and NYTRO had a great showing at the Pulaski parade, around 75 machines combined. Unfortunately, there was a group from F.X. Caprara that was not wearing helmets and a couple of riders apparently did a burnout during the parade. Both Oswego County and NYTRO were very concerned that people may associate them with either the of the clubs and give people the wrong idea of what our clubs were working towards. Stan and Steve went up for an appointment with Billy Caprara last Wednesday the 10^th. Billy had also received a message from Steve Balcom who was in charge of the parade for the Firemen. Billy was disappointed in what happened and the actions of the riders in the parade. During the meeting he called down to Pulaski to determine who was in the parade. Apparently some of the riders were customers and not his employees, but either way those riders would not be in the parade again and that from now on they would wear helmets.

7. Also during the meeting Billy expressed interest in meeting with the executive boards of both clubs to discuss the possibility of him sponsoring rides or rodeos. He was disappointed with the turnout at the Jefferson Country fair and would like to work with the clubs to coordinate events with better turnouts. Even though we are at the end of the season, it would be worthwhile to meet with Billy soon to take advantage of the opportunity for the clubs. Since Caprara owns Thunder Alley and Lafargeville raceways there may be an opportunity to hold a rodeo there. Also involving a fire department and advertising for the rodeo might make for a better turnout compared to the Jeff. Co. fair. Widrick’s has also expressed interest in working with the club if we needed equipment.

8. In the County NYTRO of NNY does have the benefit of being one of the larger and more respected clubs. Many of the current and past Legislatures know of our Club thanks to our past and present executive board and club founders. Unlike some of the clubs, NYTRO has a good reputation and that our members regularly attend legislature meetings and ride responsibly.
          Dave Beyer brought up the fact that there are several Dealerships in the area that are really sensitive to membership numbers and what the club does in the county. In order to help strengthen our membership we may want to consider putting up a display at the area dealerships with photos, T-shirts, and membership applications for our club. Even if we pick up a single member it would offset the cost of 300-400 applications. Someone would just need to go out and discuss it with the area dealers. Mike brought up that during the next club meeting the strategy for attracting new members should be discussed.

9. Now that the tractor is complete it will need to be transported and stored for the winter. Other clubs have also asked if our tractor would be available if they needed equipment for trail work. The Jefferson County ATV Assoc. has taken a look at the existing trails in the member clubs, and they want to begin work with the safety issues on current trails. Many of the other clubs can get a municipality to bring in materials but not the equipment to place them. Mike mentioned that in Rivergate’s case he would be operating and transporting the tractor, and that it was agreed that legally other club’s members should not operate or transport the tractor. It was also discussed that the clubs using the tractor would be responsible for fuel and any damage that may happen as a result of the work done.

Motion to Adjourn: Mike motioned to Adjourn if there was no further business Dave seconded the motion All in Favor 4:15