NMMBA Board of Directors Meeting
Date and location: Wednesday, March 8th, 2023, Acme Twp Hall
Board present: Tim Reicha, Kim White, Heath Day, Mike Walters, Tim Jenema, Chad Schut, Brian Pugh and Steve Mentzer
Board absent: Tom White, Kate White, Chad Jordan and Michele Andrews
Mission statement: It is our mission to Envision, Build and Protect the mountain bike experience while respecting all forest users and uses.
Tim R. opened the meeting at 6:32 p.m.
Agenda items:
There was no public comment.
Financials:
Kim led the board in this discussion.
She is currently waiting on some additional SBFBS(Fat bike series) sponsor dollars.
She also stated that the new website has been easier to navigate.
NMMBA has also added two new memberships via the new policy of awarding memberships when donations exceed $50.00.
The general fund stood at $9281.88
TCTN:
Brian brought the board up to speed on Phase II of the Vasa Singletrack TREE project.
He indicated that a new bathroom was ready for implementation.
He was currently waiting on a quote from BoxPop but quotes had already been received by both Huffcutt of Wisconsin and Quality Precast from Kalamazoo.
Project costs would run about $40,000.
The DNR would take care of both removing the old shell/vault and providing maintenance and supplies for the new unit.
The current plan is for the new restroom to be installed and operational by this fall.
Brian also mentioned a need for marketing the beginning of projects involved in Phase II.
He will get together with Cody Sovis to outline a plan to hit multiple media markets.
The archway drawings have been completed by Trison Engineering and have been submitted to the DNR for final approval. We are targeting to have the archway installed this spring.
Acme Skillz Park:
Tim J. and Josh McCready from TrailSense had recently walked the property to attain new ideas and assess how to take advantage of the existing terrain.
Some of the features they would like to add include 2 new downhill flow lines and a new pump track.
Total budget proposed would be around $80,000.
Now, this could all be done at once or in multiple phases.
Tim did mention that NMMBA would be providing all soils for this project.
If done in phases it would be a case of do less better than more mediocre.
There was also discussion as to adding more intermediate trails.
Winter Trails:
No real discussion other than a reminder that the Groomer Appreciation party is set for Tuesday, March 21st at Timber Ridge. Beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Bike Leelanau:
Chad J. was not in attendance but Tim R. did let the board know that Chad had submitted the Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) to Suttons Bay township in regards to the proposed pump track to be located at Herman Park.
Hoping for a completed installation of the track before July 4th.
Glacial Hills:
Tim R. let the board know that starting now Class 1 ebikes will be allowed on the trails at Glacial Hills.
These bikes are pedal assist and reach a maximum speed of 20 mph.
For comparison purposes Class 2 ebikes also have a max speed of 20 mph but are throttle controlled.
Class 3 ebikes are pedal assist but can reach speeds of 28 mph.
Class 2 & 3 ebikes are currently not allowed.
Old Business:
Discussion as to a joint membership with League of Michigan Bicyclists(LMB).
Memberships would be offered to current NMMBA members and there would be a discount off each NMMBA/LMB membership.
Board discussion centered around whether the benefits would outweigh any confusion issues.
Also discussed was a membership organization designation for $125.00. Tim R to communicate with LMB and report back
Text of potential ideas listed below:
Potential LMB/NMMBA combined memberships email thread:
We're in the process of doing joint memberships with Motor City MBA and have it set up with local pedestrian/bike safety groups like Walk Bike Washtenaw. Full disclosure, we're also in the process of becoming the manager of MCMBA's membership program instead of IMBA. Not super top secret, they've already teased it to their members and we'll be announcing soon, but also not public knowledge just yet.
Basically the goal is to offer the membership benefits of both groups to both of our members with a discount. The way we've dealt with this with the other organizations is the cost of their annual membership plus the cost of ours minus $5 or $10 (whatever we agree upon) and each organization takes half the discount. We can do it for individuals, households, businesses/clubs, etc.
There's logistics to talk through based on what you guys are interested in, which org "houses" the joint membership and pays out the other org. So far in all of our agreements, we house the membership and cut a quarterly check to the organizations we're working with. You could link to our page, or we could link to yours. I'm in the process of redoing our membership page, and on it will be links to sign up for specific joint memberships. That's great! I appreciate that you numbered your questions, my brain works the same way.
1. Would we be able to continue to offer renewal dates on the original membership date?
(Some clubs start all memberships on Jan 1) Yes, this is not an issue. Our
memberships also operate on an annual-by-sign up-date system.
2. What would we decide on for the discount? $5 or $10 is what we've done before. I
love the idea to do $5 for individuals and $10 for families/households, we can do that.
○ Could we offer $5 off for individuals and $10 for families/households?
3. If LMB hosts the joint membership, could we possibly link to NMMBA's donation page
for those that purchase joint memberships directly through the LMB site so we can
attempt to retain those additional funding opportunities? The short answer is yes, the
longer answer is that our CRM allows us to integrate a donation button right into the
membership page (see the screenshot of ours below, these numbers are
customizable) but it can't link out to another page. We could collect donations this way
and we would only keep the credit card fees (they're 2%ish but I can get you the exact
number and they're prompted to cover click a box to cover those on the donor side)
and when we send you the money for your half of the joint membership, we could
include that money. We can do monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly payouts, whatever
works best for you.
That's great! I appreciate that you numbered your questions, my brain works the same way.
1. Would we be able to continue to offer renewal dates on the original membership date?
(Some clubs start all memberships on Jan 1) Yes, this is not an issue. Our
memberships also operate on an annual-by-sign up-date system.
2. What would we decide on for the discount? $5 or $10 is what we've done before. I
love the idea to do $5 for individuals and $10 for families/households, we can do that.
○ Could we offer $5 off for individuals and $10 for families/households?
3. If LMB hosts the joint membership, could we possibly link to NMMBA's donation page
for those that purchase joint memberships directly through the LMB site so we can
attempt to retain those additional funding opportunities? The short answer is yes, the
longer answer is that our CRM allows us to integrate a donation button right into the
membership page (see the screenshot of ours below, these numbers are
customizable) but it can't link out to another page. We could collect donations this way
and we would only keep the credit card fees (they're 2%ish but I can get you the exact
number and they're prompted to cover click a box to cover those on the donor side)
and when we send you the money for your half of the joint membership, we could
include that money. We can do monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly payouts, whatever
works best for you.
Nicky Bates
Development and Membership Director
League of Michigan Bicyclists
c: 313-770-7073 | o: (517) 334-9100
www.LMB.org
Norte:
Proposed a Mud, Sweat & Beers(MSB) pre-ride with Norte and NMMBA slated for either Saturday, April 29th or Sunday, April 30th.
Two board members would be needed to lead these rides. Tim R to connect Mike W with Norte to plan details.
Also talked about was the offer from Norte to offer a ½ day of support to NMMBA.
One idea was to assist Gordon at Timber Ridge in a work bee.
Date of this TBD.
More to follow.
Team/shop rides:
Chad S. has been working to organize these rides with local shops/teams.
He has been working with the 7 shops that are in this area.
They include; Einstein Cycles, McLain Cycle, SB Bikes in Suttons Bay, City Bike Shop, Brick Wheels, Mission Cycle and Wild Card Cycle Works.
The idea would be each month a different shop would lead a ride.
Some examples include SB Bikes leading a ride at Palmer Woods, Einstein would lead a ride on the Cadillac Pathway and Paddles and Pedals would lead a ride at Glacial Hills.
We would shoot for the same day of the week for rides and offer light snacks. May start is in the works.
TCTF:
Tim R. had scheduled a site meeting at Timber Ridge with John Roe and Duane Archambo. Meeting is set for March 14th in the afternoon.
Mike, Heath and Tim J. to accompany them as well.
Purpose being to walk the first mile or so and lay out some course ideas.
Also they will get an idea for space for power line needs and sponsor tents as well.
Grants:
Tim R. to schedule a late April meeting with Julie Hay, managing partner of HKM and associates in regards to grant writing.
Brian and Kate to also attend this meeting.
Julie has told Tim there is $47M in available funds coming from the state through Labor and Economic Opportunity(LEO) for community projects.
Some of our funding needs include $80K for Acme Skillz Park and $252K for TREE phase II, plus fundraising assistance with the Commons and Hickory Hills and additional signage needed for TCTN. We could be looking at having to raise close to a million dollars in the next 5 years.
Tim is asking the appropriate committees for documentation with budget timelines. This will be beneficial to start with.
Lastly the April meeting will be executive committee only.
Date to be determined.
With that the meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m.
Submitted by
Steve Mentzer, secretary