POTOMAC APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB 118 PARK STREET, SE VIENNA, VA COUNCIL MINUTES Tuesday, 11 August :00 PM

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1 POTOMAC APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB 118 PARK STREET, SE VIENNA, VA COUNCIL MINUTES Tuesday, 11 August :00 PM The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club s (PATC) regularly scheduled Council Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM on 11 August 2015, at the Club Headquarters building by President Dick Hostelley. Attendance: Club Officers: Dick Hostelley, President; John Hedrick, Vice President-Operations; Steve O Connor, Vice President-Volunteerism; Wayne Limberg, Supervisor of Trails; Emeline Otey, Supervisor of Marketing; Rush Williamson, Supervisor of Activities; Tom Avey, Secretary Committee Chairs: Pete Brown, ATC Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership; Ric Francke, Hikes; Brian Goudreau, Maps; Rick Canter, MD AT Management (via phone); Dewey Clark, Naturalist; Jim Fetig, Ridge Runners (via phone); Chris Firme, Trail Patrol Chapter Representatives: Dan Ralston, Charlottesville (via phone); Bob Wise, North Chapter Section Representatives: Steve Weiss, SMRG Club Staff: Other Attendees: Jeff Gutherie; Douglas Humphrey; Molly Brown I. Members Comments to Council: There were no members that expressed an interest to address Council. II. General Management A. President s Remarks (Dick Hostelley) 1. Doors to the offices are now locked. 2. The approving authority for NorthWest Federal Credit Union will be pushing through PATCs request for membership. The credit union will assist with marketing. 3. Dick announced that Dewey Clark is the new Naturalist for the Club. 4. Dick also introduced Molly Brown, a past thru-hiker and new volunteer, and Doug Humphrey, who has been working on surveys of the Tuscorora Trail. B. Staff Director (Edna Baden) - Report sent in absentia 1. HQ Maintenance and improvements a. Conference Room door now closes with ease. b. The broken glass on the side back door has been replaced. c. The sales area and warehouse are now secured areas with access provided to the Supervisor of Marketing and pertinent staff only. Access to the downstairs conference room door is also controlled area with access provided only as required. Persons with keys are responsible for locking doors to controlled areas before leaving. Keys that are issued will be returned to the Staff Director when 1

2 the individual no longer has their current responsibility. A $10 fee will be charged for all lost keys. 2. Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet a. Date is set for 17 November b. Please photos of work trips, events, and programs to Heidi for presentation on the Wall of Acclaim. c. The Staff Director provided a draft list of invited guests. Council members should review the list and provide suggested changes. d. Nominations for awards must be received no later than noon on 25 September. Nominations can be submitted electronically to awards@patc.net or mailed to the HQ. C. Secretary (Tom Avey) 1. The June 2015 Council meeting minutes were unanimously approved as written by vote of Council. 2. The next EXCOM meeting will be 29 September There will be no Council meeting in July. The next Council meeting will be 8 September D. Treasurer (Joe Lombardo) Report sent in absentia 1. The budget report and an update on the audit has been ed to Council members. PATC received a clean audit report and many of the problems with internal controls and errors in accounting which have been reported in the past have been mitigated. PATC is awaiting on the final report and management letter so that we can officially close the audit. 2. Currently working on a mid-year budget adjustment motion that will be presented at the next Council meeting, and we will begin work on the budget guidance for the formulation of the 2016 budget. E. Strategic Planning Committee (Tom Avey/Steve McLaughlin co-chairs) The draft Strategic Plan was submitted to Council and membership for review on 10 July. The open comment period is now closed and the Committee is working diligently reviewing comments and making changes to the draft Strategic Plan as appropriate. The draft will be submitted to EXCOM for final review on 25 August. Approvals will be voted on by EXCOM and Council on 29 September and 6 October respectively. III. Trails and Lands A. Vice President for Operations (John Hedrick) A trail assessment utilizing FSSS is pending from the Department of Interior (DoI). FSSS is utilized by the DoI to provide grants for the maintenance of infrastructure. The AT is at the bottom of the list based on valuation. ATPO has been devising a process to measure the value of man-made features on the Trail. The assessment will probably kick-off during September. B. Supervisor of Trails (Wayne Limberg) 1. The Tuscorora Trail has 4 sections of trail that are difficult to maintain. It has been difficult for PATC to maintain overseers. A meeting was held tonight to discuss options. 2. MOUs for the Potomac Heritage Trail and the C&O Canal are pending. 2

3 3. The NPS has a 4-day chainsaw training event during the last week in October at the C&O Canal HQ. 4. Conducting an overseer s workshop in the North District in mid-september. There are still a couple of slots open. 5. Hosted a couple of youth groups at Black Rock Summit and on the AT at Pass Mountain in the SNP. 6. Re-location has started on Loudon Heights. C. Supervisor of Lands (Bill Downes) Report submitted in absentia 1. Currently reviewing the Hunting Policy for PATC owned lands. Plan to have a proposed revised policy for the August EXCOM meeting. D. Supervisor of Facilities (Mel Merritt) Report submitted by Henry Horn 1. Shelters (Henry Horn) a. Surveyed the David Lesser Shelter and a new roof has been ordered. b. A new pit and container for a privy have been installed at the Pine Knob Shelter. c. Two logs need to be replaced at the Red Hollow Shelter which will be a challenging task. The privy is also full and the skylight is leaking. d. Completing the Dicks Dome (Whisky Hollow) Shelter has been a challenge and delayed by rains. 2. Cabin Operations a. Bear s Den in need of cabinets for Bears Den and also for the cabin. b. Blackburn Trail Center (Lynn Olsen) No Report. c. No new report on the status of the transfer of the Cunningham Falls cabin. 3. Old Rag Cabin Continuing work on chinking and working on the interior (bathroom and kitchen). E. Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership (MA-RPC) (Pete Brown) The next MA-RPC meeting will be 7 November at Ft. Hunter Park and Mansion, north of Harrisburg. Looking for submissions input for the club report and on issues and accomplishments. IV. Membership, Volunteerism, Training and Communications A. Vice President of Volunteerism (Steve O Connor) 1. Submitted an article for the September PA on the Youth and Diversity Committee. 2. The Hike Leader Training course is being updated. It will be expanded to 2 days and cap the class size to 12. The second day will stress planning hikes that will be led for PATC. 3. Held a Cabins/Sales meeting earlier today which was very productive with a lot of good ideas proffered. B. Supervisor of Communications (Alan Day) 1. Alan participated in several workshops at the Biennial that have provided excellent background to support PATC activities: W Connecting Young and Diverse People to the A.T. (ATC) W A Beginner's Guide To Facebook (VCM) W The Essentials of A.T. Cooperative Management (VCM) 3

4 W Recruiting Volunteers Optimizing Your Efforts (VCM) W News That s Fit to Print! (VCM) W Public Relations and Working with the Media (VCM) W Finding and Procuring Grants (for your Trail Club) (VCM) 2. Identified a contact who is willing to help PATC establish a more robust media presence. 3. Guidebook of 70 Unique Hikes: This book really wowed the New Members meeting attendees in July. Kudos to Brian Goudreau, Jayne, Mayne, Jim Tomlin, Emeline Otey & the others that made it happen. C. Supervisor of Membership (Steve McLaughlin) Report submitted in absentia 1. Membership increased by 33 this month to 7379 total members with a total of 5065 memberships. D. Supervisor of Marketing (Emeline Otey) 1. Larry Broadwell has 6 talks scheduled at REI for the Fall. 2. Emeline will be attending the Native American Conference in Berryville. E. Supervisor of Activities (Rush Williamson) 1. Events: a. Have supported Trail Talker events for the WO&D and 2 events in the Shenandoah Valley since last Council meeting. b. There are 4 pending events for the rest of the year which will total ab out 50 for the year. 2. Charlottesville now has a display for events. There is display in Potomac, MD at the Library which has prompted a number of inquiries about PATC. Will look at hosting a display in Frederick, MD next. 3. ATC is looking for comments on conducting youth outreach. V. Committee Chairs A ATC Biennial (Rush Williamson) 1. There were a total of 939 attendees at the Biennial. PATC and the ATC have received very good reviews from the attendees. 2. Currently working through the financials and anticipate making a small profit.. B. Archivist (Tom Johnson) No Report. C. AT Corridor Management (Tom Lupp) No Report. D. Conservation (Lyles Creighton) No Report. E. Grants and Donations (Open Position) No Report. F. Hikes (Ric Francke) Nothing significant to report. G. IT Committee (Lee Manning) No Report. H. Maps (Brian Goudreau) 1. Map publication update: 4

5 a. Completing updates on Map 12. While in review, he anticipates working on updates of Map 13 b. Map F will follow closely after, which will be the last map to be updated. I. MD AT Management (Rick Canter) 1. The new, acting Western Region Manager for MD DNR will attend the next Maryland AT Management Committee. We will discuss the hunting proposal(s) for south of Gathland Park. MD DNR has kept their agenda close to the vest, creating contempt amongst other partners 2. The next meeting of the MD AT Management Committee will be 1 September at Greenbrier J. Naturalist (Dewey Clark) 1. Working with ATC-MA on invasive species. Currently, there are problems with Japanese Stiltgrass and Wavyleaf Basketgrass. Working on publishing information on research, contacts and link to an app for reporting. Dewey will start creating action alerts to promote these issues as they arise. 2. Bivouac areas around shelters are invasive frees. 3. Interpretive signage is being established to promote why hikes should stay on the treadway. K. Public Affairs (Evan Jones) No Report. L. Ridge Runners (Jim Fetig) 1. Will be conducting a season recap with Ridge Runners tomorrow are Scott Farm. 2. Chris F. mentioned that two Ridge Runners contracted lyme disease during the summer. M. Trail Land Acquisition (Phil Paschall) No Report. N. Trail Patrol (Chris Firme) 1. Chris is looking into revising the Trail Report form to assist in providing better analytics. 2. A Walk in the Woods opens in theaters on 2 September. Based on that, Trail Patrol is planning on targeting areas in the Fall which are most busy. 3. Chris introduced Jim Fetig, who has volunteered to take over the Ridge Runner Program. Jim mentioned that he will be introduced to the Ridge Runners on Thursday. a. As of today, there have been 526 hikers at the ATC Visitors Center. b. Nine of those hikers have been part of the Wounded Warriors. 4. Trail Patrol led 4 hikes for National Trails Day, with 12 participants. Unsure of the reason for the decline from 48 participants from last year. O. SMRG (Steve Weiss) SMRG has had 4 callouts this past month, all were essentially routine and were resolved. Also provided on-site support to SNP over the July 4th weekend. That weekend was uneventful, as the team responded only to 3 minor medical incidents. P. Mountaineering (Andy Weinmann) No Report. 5

6 Q. Ski Touring (Rob Swennes) No Report. VI. Chapters A. Charlottesville (Dan Ralston) The Charlottesville chapter is having their semi-annual chapter meeting / picnic on Sept 27 at Dunlodge. ALL PATC members are invited. Time: around 4:00. Please bring a dish to share and BYOB. B. North (Bob Wise) Dedication for the Charlie Irvin Shelter is 27 September. Finishing up work this weekend. Would like to have the shelter treated prior to the dedication. John H. said he would get with Henry. C. North Shenandoah Valley (Brian Heflin) No Report. D. Southern Shenandoah Valley (Malcolm Camero) No Report. E. West (Dave Jordahl) No Report. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Tom Avey Secretary, PATC 6