Date: 11/14/05

Topic: November Minutes

Present: 9 Members

Mike Bellinger, Dave Beyer, Ralph & Pat Miller, Vince & Cathy Agugliaro, Faron Cronk, Stan Miller, Kevin Helinger

The November meeting was held 11/14 at 7:00pm at the American Legion in Adams.

The meeting was called to order at 7:15pm.

Minutes from the Last Meeting: Kevin read an abbreviated summary of the last meeting. Mike wanted to make one correction on the number of family memberships actually being 43. The rest of the memberships and number of members were correct. Dave made a motion to accept the minutes, and was seconded by Ralph.

Treasure’s Report: Classified to members only

Membership: There were no changes in memberships since last month. There are still 43 family memberships and 21 single memberships for a total of 140 members.

There have been several members that intend to rejoin the club in the spring, which should bring our numbers up to about 155 members again. Mike would like to have a membership drive in the spring, asking all the members to hand out one membership application.

Mike has been going through and keeping the work logs up to date.

Communications:

 1.Stan received a letter from the Empire Forest Reconstruction group. They appear to be offering GPS and map building services along with forest management services.

2.The NYTRO newsletter has been distributed. Reviewing it shows that our chapter was the only one to have its treasurer’s report included. During the previous meeting we discussed whether or not to include the treasurer’s report in our newsletter, and specifically on our website for other non-members to view. The earlier decision was to continue including the information since there was no information we were trying to hide. However, given that this information had previously been removed from the NYTRO newsletter we wanted to reconsider. It was decided that the newsletter and minutes would be separated. The minutes would be discussed in the meeting and distributed to all the members in the minutes. The newsletter would be abbreviated minutes, without the treasure’s report, and may include some additional club information. This newsletter would be passed to NYTRO and posted on the web site.

3.Mike now has the software for the web site and has been able to upload the latest club information, as well as the latest county information. He still hasn’t worked through the photos yet, and Greg will still be required for some of the difficult items. Mike will continue to post the remaining items.

4.NYTRO at the state level is looking for ideas for their annual charitable donations. Stan felt it would be worthwhile to mention some of the local rescue organizations. Mike brought up that the Black River ATV club was going to begin collecting funds to purchase a rescue sled from FX Caprara. FX Caprara will provide the sled at a discount to the club. Caprara had a couple of sleds remaining. Currently Rivergate, South Jefferson Rescue, and Redfield already have one. Since these area represent the areas we ride in there does not seem to be a need for our club to purchase one. Black River would donate the sled to Carthage Rescue, since there may be times we ride in these areas it seemed worthwhile that we make a donation. The sled can be equipped with skis for winter use. With the donation we should be able to get mentioned in the local paper and get some good press for it. Mike made a motion to donate $250 to Black River for the rescue sled fund. Cathy seconded the motion, and it was passed.

5.It seemed from the last newsletter that the issues with TCE.net’s emails were worked out. We’ll have to see if this next newsletter gets through to everyone.

6.Black River’s lawsuit against the DEC has received the go ahead to proceed. It is likely that additional fundraisers will be needed for them to come up with enough funds to proceed.

7. Winona State Forest Recreation Association. The WFRA is looking for us to support their organization even though the role of ATV’s in the forest is still pending in the DEC’s usage plan. They realize that their organization can really use the help of our club and others to work together and maintain the trails. Many of our members use the area for several activities. If we lend our support to the organization it should help our efforts to be included in the forest. Currently there are several cross-country ski trails, typically used for the racecourse, that are impassible. These trails will need a lot of work. Unfortunately ATV’s aren’t even allowed on these trails for maintenance, but the forest association may be able to apply for special permission for ATV access for work details. Hopefully by working with the WFRA it will open the door for ATV usage in the area.

8.There is also an opening on the board of the association. If anyone is interested please let Mike know; this could help us have a voice in the forest even though we cannot ride in the forest. Mike has a copy of the bylaws and they have encouraged us to make comments on them for them to consider once ATV’s can be included.

9.The next meeting is Thursday the 17th of November at 7:00pm at the Mansville Rescue building. The Tug Hill Challenge is the January 21^st through the 22^nd. There is a Winona Derby the January 25^th to the 27^th, and December 31^st to January 1^st is training for the dog sleds. There will be a swap meet at the Sandy Creek School December 3^rd. Snowmobiles will be outside, other equipment will be inside. Anyone interested in joining the WFRA should check the ATV box for activities so that the funds can go for Acting.

Ride Planner Report; Dave brought up the upcoming Allegany ride for May 26^th-29^th. Dave was hoping to have feedback from those attending by early December. He has not yet received word from anyone looking to attend. Currently our ride is scheduled for the first open weekend on those trails on a holiday weekend. The sight Dave has contacted has limited rooms and sights available. Dave would like to have the required spaces reserved by mid-December. The current plan is to drive down Friday; it is about a 4-5 hour drive. There would be riding Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning prior to returning. There are trail permits required; they are $10 per day, or $35 for a year. The riding is right from the lodge; no trailer'ing is required once we get down there. There could also be some car-pooling in order to keep the costs down for members. The ride letter will be sent out again this month, and it will be posted on the website. If anyone is interested in going please send an email to Dave.

Brasher Falls is schedule for the 21^st-23^rd of July. If anyone has pictures from last year’s Brasher trip please forward them to Mike so some of them can be posted on the website.

June 24^th will be the County ride sponsored by our club; Mike will be organizing it. It may be a weekend ride from Tuggers for the club, with the county ride on Saturday around Washington Park and the Lorraine Lot. This will require some trail building on the Lorraine lot early in the spring to get access to the trails.

Dave brought up the idea of a daylong winter ride in Canada. In a previous winter some people had traveled up there to ride on a farmers’ land. There were enough trails to ride 4-5 hours and have some fun in the snow. It is about an hour north of Watertown. There may be more details to follow.

Trails: Trail work will be on hold until spring.

New Business:

1.Mike brought some new news that there was a donation to keep the Watertown Christmas parade alive. It will be November 26^th at 1:00pm. Mike is going to verify that it will be open to ATV’s again. Anyone interested in riding in the parade should meet at the high school by 12:00. This will give everyone enough time to unload and shuffle the trucks and trailers to the end of the parade route.

2.Our next meeting will be Saturday January 14^th at 1:00pm. It will be at the Miller’s place. Since several members got back to Mike concerning scheduling problems with a Christmas party; this meeting will be a belated party. There will be some food provided either pizza or maybe a BBQ depending on the weather. Meetings in December and February will be skipped.

 The motion to adjourn was made at 9:00pm by Kevin and seconded by Faron.

December Birthdays                                                         January Birthdays

Elizabeth Ward                     12/9                         David Beyer                       1/19

Brittany Brych                      12/7                         Shirley Beyer                     1/12

Lynn Miller                           12/11                       Brent Lehman                     1/24

Tammy Miller                        12/18                       Justin Waite                       1/26

Claudette Malambri               12/7                         Matthew Waite                    1/17

Kathy Schwalm                    12/6                         Dallas Miller                        1/18

Katherine Fury                     12/30                        Nancy Casler                      1/18

                                                                          MacKenzie Perry                1/14

                                                                           Dean Clark                        1/17

                                                                           Annette Lehman                1/10

                                                                           Aubrey Agugliaro               1/13

NYTRO OF NNY

“A Division of the New York Trail Riders Organization, Inc.”

 Member of Jeff. Cnty . ATV assoc.

Charter member of the AMA