April 29, 2015 Meeting Minutes - Rhinelander Area Silent Trails

 Rhinelander Area Silent Trails Association
Promoting the responsible use of lands open to the public for the enjoyment of all.
RASTA­General Meeting, Holiday Acres, April 29, 2015, 6:00p.m. Members Present: Richard Hablewitz, Dora Jacobs, Brian Hegge, Phil Newcomb, Steve Engel, Andrea Roberts, Amy Laxton, Guy Hanson, Ralph Solome, Kyle Lewis, Rich Reidinger, Sarah Reidinger. Also Present: Travis Bellman, Chris Schotz, Kyle Jacobson, Beth Wagner. Al Jozwiak, Joel Knutson, Mark Golomski. Dick called the meeting to order. 1. Approval of Minutes: a. Motion was made to approve the March meeting minutes by Guy, seconded by Amy. Motion was carried. 2. Treasurer’s Report: a. Ralph presented account activity and current balances. Salary checks were presented to volunteers and subsequently returned to RASTA as donation towards the Nose Lake building in the amount of 1750.40. Phil made a motion to approve budget, Brian seconded. 3. RASTA Committees a. Membership 1. <38 entries/59 individuals to date> (14 new). Membership list was reviewed. 2. Website has been updated with Nutty Run. 4. Event Committees. a. Nicolet National Bank RASTA Rally Mountain Bike Race ­ Amy/Phil. Volunteers are needed. Contact Phil. Mugs (awards) are in. Wooden awards are out for engraving per Guy. Brian has asked John B. to have parking lot done by the time of the race, which he states will happen when weight limits are lifted. There will be a youth race. Fliers will be distributed. Photos ­ Phil will contact Alan Condra to see if he is available. Registration was discussed; online registration ends 5/29/2015.. Park is reserved. Socks are only for pre­registered participants. We have race plates. We will check into porta­potties. Hammer should be sending care package. Brian has been working on trail maintenance and will handle marking. The course will be the same as last year. Parking situation was discussed as well as controlled road lead­out down park road. Phil will take care of parking. Brian has a considerable amount of elk meat and will consider donating 100 elk brats to the group if RASTA provides everything else (condiments, buns, plates). We would put out a donation box. Brian is looking for someone to cook and handle the serving. He has asked Jen. Sarah offered to step in if no one else will. Phil will contact Mike about running timing, but training others would be helpful. Andrea and Ralph offered to learn. Motion was made by Al to supply up to $150 worth of supplies/condiments for food. Guy seconded. Motion carried. . 5. Trail Development a. RTA Grant ­ Brian introduced Travis from Win­Man trails. Project Evaluation and Schedule was distributed. Travis has formed a trail construction firm with it’s Rhinelander Area Silent Trails Association
Promoting the responsible use of lands open to the public for the enjoyment of all.
own insurance. The budget included includes amount of in­kind services for matching grant which is for $7.50/hour for labor. We have to match dollar for dollar. At $7.50 per hour it is 500 hours. If we hire a contractor, the only paperwork we need to do is provide an invoice to the contractor. It is much more complicated if we do all of the work. Insurance requirements, documentation, etc. We have until December 31, 2015 to complete the work for the Grant. Select Cut is July 1­November 1st and we do not want to route a trail through the logging area. We want to do this in 2 reimbursements per John B. at Oneida County Forestry Department. Based on reroute and mileage Brian has calculated budget of $12,500. We have $15,000 to work with. Brian’s recommendations are to proceed as planned with hiring contractor and moving along. He recommended Chris Schotz build Lee’s Loop. Bid document was reviewed. Brian states the trail is to be minimum tread, machine­built, medium­difficult in nature. We do need to have the cash to match and pay for work up front in order to request reimbursement. Brian has offered to pay that up front if he will be reimbursed. Layout of trail was reviewed. Mini­excavator would be rented/provided by Travis and he is familiar with RTA Grant. Anticipated time would be $3000. He is open to renting from RASTA. Al spoke up concerns about the incorporation of trails built by himself, Chris and Dennis Loy. He was hoping to not put a machine into some of the existing trail at Washburn at all and to preserve narrow, difficult expert trail. Al’s intention was to use machine on blue and green; not black­level trails. He has spoken with Chris about keeping expert trails as they are. Travis addressed course evolution and using IMBA standards. Brian states he originally consulted Al with reroutes. Al would like to preserve outer, more technical trail. RTG is to be used to repair existing, unsustainable trail. Dick asked if bid would be put out for more competition, realizing that trail work is a specialized line of work. Al’s biggest concern is trail preservation and the Dennis Loy­built trails. Focus was to be on Lee’s Loop to add flow and machine­built/easier trail. The overall objective of RTG is to remove unsustainable sections of trail. Guy suggested new trail may be made properly with more features to keep it technical. Chris states he was skeptical about machine­building but is warming up to the idea of Travis’ work and would be interested in working together to keep trail technical, yet sustainable. Brian says if you read the spec is is +/­ 30’ on each side of trail and allows for infield deviation. There is agreement of keeping medium­expert flavor. Brian pointed out advantage of keeping trail builder local to someone who has ridden the local trails. Dick suggests soliciting other bids. Amy agrees we should seek at least one more bid. Brian points out that trails do have a life expectancy. Guy suggests we see how Travis does on a section of trail and we can revoke contract if work does not retain flavor of trail. Beth agrees with Al regarding keeping difficulty of trail. She suggests if Travis is able to preserve trail flavor perhaps we should move forward. She has discussed trail building with others and is concerned they would flatten the trail. Brian clarifies what we need to do at this meeting is decide what to send to the county. He has Rhinelander Area Silent Trails Association
Promoting the responsible use of lands open to the public for the enjoyment of all.
written a plan with a map and letter to send. Specs, figure, and abandoned trails are addressed. He has committed to providing GPS coordinates within 30 days. No bridges or engineered construction will be considered. He also states leftover funds which were raised could be allotted to purchasing other trail building equipment. Letter was presented to Dick. Motion was made by Guy to proceed with Travis’ proposed work as presented. Phil seconded. No one dissented. Dick will review letter and respond to Brian in next day or two with any comments. Brian will find out from John whether we can move forward. 6. Old Business a. Joining IMBA (tabled) b. Updating RASTA marketing pamphlet (tabled) 7. New Business a. Snowshoe Signage for Washburn (tabled) b. Purchases i. RASTA stickers ­ Dick requested vinyl stickers at $1.00 each for quantity of 100. One would go to each member with extras available for $2.00 each. Approved by membership. ii. Joining the Chamber of Commerce. Non­profit cost is $100 annually and Chamber would help promote events. Activity catalog and membership info would be provided. Al suggests with Dana involved this would be a good time. Brian makes motion to join. Ralph seconds. Motion carried. iii. Trailer ­ no one has found trailer which would meet specs. Joel will put the word out. c. 2015 Nordic Trail Improvements ­ Guy distributed RASTA 4­Year Ski Trail Plan (2015­2018). Nothing serious at Nose Lake.200 trees are on order and will be in at nursery. Guy is looking for volunteers in next 4­5 days. Cassian trail proposal is to extend 1.5 miles. John B. is interested in any trail improvements, trail head on Beaver Lake Rd., and repair of bathroom facility. All is logging road or old logging road which needs to be brushed with exception of small area. Washburn trail proposal is to change some classic only to classic and state. Also reroute area that goes through marsh to allow for year­round access. There is a pending reroute to Herringbone Hill to be more skiable and sustainable but this requires more buy­in and public opinion polls (Facebook and newspaper?) states we will have McNaughton crew available for a week in June. Guy makes a motion to approve 4­year trail plan as amended during discussion. Brian seconded. Further discussion regarding funding of parking lot creation ensued. Richard, Al and Amy are not in favor. Motion passed. d. Purchase of grooming equipment (tabled). e. Heel Creek Update ­ Joel distributed map for review. In summary, a compromise was reached with Hodag Sports Club regarding how map will be split and managed. The 180 acres which was proposed on was reduced. The City will take care of 60 acres immediately adjacent to Northwood Golf Course. Remaining 120 Rhinelander Area Silent Trails Association
Promoting the responsible use of lands open to the public for the enjoyment of all.
acres will be purchased by Hodag Sports Club. Northwoods Land Trust will be handling all easements. Trails will be opened up for public access pending City deed change; hopefully by Memorial Day weekend. Trail agreement plans and conservation easements will be made by the end of 2015. Long­term big picture: 90% will be on private land and the partnership of Lee Swank is a huge benefit. User groups will be solicited for input. Joel encouraged people to write to their representatives and attend the meeting. Agreement must include 501c3 organization involvement, of which RASTA is the only group in the area which meets requirements. Al states this piece of land, especially Swank side, is exceptionally beautiful. f. Ralph requests tracking of volunteer hours. Brian reminds group trail pass program is available and discusses with Al. Andrea will seek that information and post it on site. g. Washburn trail will be open this Friday. Guy moved to adjourn, Steve seconded. The motion passed. NEXT MEETING: July 2, 2015. Location Perch Lake Shelter.