POTOMAC APPALACHIAN TRAIL CLUB 118 PARK STREET, SE VIENNA, VA 22180 COUNCIL MINUTES Tuesday, 17 December 2013 7:00 PM The Potomac Appalachian Trail Club s (PATC) regularly scheduled Council Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM on 17 December 2013, at the Club Headquarters building by President John Hedrick. Attendance: Club Officers: John Hedrick, President; Edna Baden, Staff Director; Joe Lombardo, Treasurer; Lee Sheaffer, Vice President-Operations; Dick Hostelley, Vice-President-Volunteerism; Jon Rindt, Supervisor of Trails; Ric Francke, Supervisor of Lands; Mel Merritt, Supervisor of Facilities/Cabin Operations; Alan Day, Supervisor of Communications; Rick Canter, Supervisor of Membership; Rush Williamson, Supervisor of Activities Committee Chairs: Pete Brown, ATC Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership; Chris Brunton, Blackburn Trail Center; Chris Firme, Hikes/Ridge Runners; Brian Goudreau, Maps; Lee Manning, IT Committee; Tom Johnson, Archivist; Tom Lupp, A.T. Corridor Chapter Representatives: Brian Heflin was introduced as the new President of the Northern Shenandoah Valley Chapter Section Representatives: Steve Weiss, SMRG Other Attendees: Bonnie Proch, PATC Finance; Wayne Limberg; Jessica Murphy was introduced as the new Public Relations Officer; Murry Moskowitz (phone); Henry Horn (phone); Susan Nelson (phone) I. Members Comments to Council: There were no members that expressed an interest to address Council. II. General Management A. President s Remarks (John Hedrick) 1. A standard form must be completed when requesting signage from sign maker, John Hobler; the form can be found on the website, PATC.net/forms. John creates quality signage for the Club at no cost and members should request only signs that are necessary. 2. An invitation for discussion on the FY 2014 budget was given; hearing none the motion to approve the budget was passed unanimously. 3. There will be no Council Meeting in January; next meeting will be February 11, 2014. 4. Minutes from the Council meeting on October 8 were approved with no corrections. B. Staff Director s Remarks (Edna Baden) 1. Edna introduced Bonnie Proch from Attentive Accounting Services. Bonnie, through her company is providing accounting/bookkeeping services under contract to PATC. 1
She will work under the supervision of the Treasurer and Staff Director; Mona Filchock will be the onsite liaison. 2. There were 128 members in attendance at the Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet last month; Council members are asked to email Edna their comments so next year can be even better; a poll was taken whether calendars should be given to attendees next year, with an overwhelming yes. C. Treasurer s Report (Joe Lombardo) 1. The FY 2014 Capital and Operational Budgets will be uploaded to QuickBooks; budgets will be distributed to Council members with updated line item numbers along with instructions for budget execution. 2. 2013 budget accruals are complete through October and are included on the proposed 2014 budget sheet emailed to you last week. 3. Transparency and effective Internal Controls are currently in good shape and will remain a priority moving forward. 4. Joe thanked Edna, Bonnie, Kit, and Mona for their assistance in preparing the 2014 budget. 5. Charley Balch, chair of the Endowment Committee, is proposing Jay Jupiter as the fifth member of the committee; council approved the recommendation with a unanimous vote. III. Trails and Lands A. Vice President for Operations (Lee Sheaffer) 1. Lee introduced the new president of the Northern Shenandoah Valley Chapter, Brian Heflin. 2. 2015 Biennial Plans are well underway with the following highlights a. Hikes and Excursions will be pretty much finalized by the end of February. b. Contract with SNP Partners, Lee District, and Harpers Ferry. c. Shenandoah University has been very helpful, giving more than what was asked for the contract is not signed yet but it s just a matter time. d. ATC Working on an MOU that includes a good compromise. e. Shenandoah University will give us a whole building to ourselves no contract has been signed as of yet but Lee is confident this will not be a problem; there will be a walkthrough of the building on January 6. f. Harpers Ferry Historic National Park has not responded yet but Lee will meet with Rebecca in January. g. Have not heard from ATPO as of yet. B. Supervisor of Trails (Jon Rindt) 1. Eight sawyers were recertified in November and seven were newly trained; the first aid portion went very smoothly this year. 2. The moldering privy was finished at Denton Shelter. 3. The five year roll around of assessment of the A.T. by ATC has taken place. 4. The Thanksgiving ice storm impacted the Thompson Wildlife area and Rt. 50. 2
5. Katie Donahue from the Lee District will repair the lookout tower at Kennedy Peak; she is trying to get a helicopter to drop supplies as opposed to bringing them in on mules. 6. Wayne Limberg and the North District Hoodlums performed quite a bit of trail and growth clearing at Bears Den in November; the remnants of a rock wall were uncovered and Dan Dueweke is working on reconstructing it; sawyers will remove limbs off of an oak that is threatening the roof in January with the ATC arborist s permission. The arborist has been contracted by ATC to remove a number of identified trees which are a safety issue in the parking area and along the road leading to the Lodge. C. Supervisor of Lands (Ric Francke) Plans to purchase 5 acres of property off of Rt. 50 near Gore, VA have fallen through due to the lot owners in the subdivision voting down the construction of a driveway and parking lot. D. Supervisor of Facilities (Mel Merritt) 1. Shelters (Henry Horn) a. Shelters are in winter mode. 2. Cabin Operations a. The Board of Public Works will soon vote on whether to purchase a 2,000 sq. ft. log cabin built in 1988; it has three bedrooms, two baths and is located in Cunningham State Park just above Olive Green; if purchased, this could be placed in the PATC Cabins system and would be a comparable rental to High Acre; a ¼ to ½ mile hike-in route will have to be built to access it. b. The Lincoln Loggers have started deck construction on the Old Rag Cabin; they are now digging trenching for the electrical. c. Blackburn Trail Center (Chris Brunton) (1) Damage from ice storm debris around the cabin and on the road. (2) Chris Brunton reported that a south bound thru-hiker came through Blackburn on Saturday night d. Bears Den ( Dana Baxter) No report. E. Mid-Atlantic Regional Partnership (MA-RPC) (Pete Brown) 1. Pete Brown reported that the Greater Williamsburg, PA Trail Commission will meet on April 26. 2. Little Cove Cabin will be offline the last part of February to remodel the kitchen and bathroom. IV. Membership, Volunteerism, Training and Communications A. Vice President of Volunteerism (Dick Hostelley) 1. Personnel evaluation sheets have been sent out with the hopes of completing the process by the EXCOM meeting on January 14. 2. Bonuses will be based on performance only and must be justified by the VP Volunteerism and Volunteer Supervisor. 3. Dick Hostelley will attend a meeting at the Page County Chamber of Commerce in Luray to discuss techniques to attract hikers to Page County now that Luray is a 3
designated A.T. Community. They will also discuss the possibility of creating a hiker hostel. B. Supervisor of Communications (Alan Day) 1. Alan introduced Jessica Murphy who is interested in working with him on Public Relations, specifically through the PA, Facebook, and Twitter. 2. Alan and Edna met with Julie Becnel-Gerdes, coordinator of Events Live at National Geographic regarding a partnership. The two organizations are now displaying their brochures at PATC HQ and National Geographic Staff areas (1,200 people are employed there). Topics of discussion included mutual promotion of Events on websites, volunteering a service day to trail/cabin maintenance, sponsoring hikes or events at Bears Den or Blackburn. PATC has also been asked to have a table of materials and trail talkers at National Geographic on February 20 when Jennifer Pharr Davis will be speaking. 3. Alan Day reported that the work trip scheduled to relocate the trail along Trap Road had been cancelled due to snow; other work included improvement to the steps on Cinnamon Creek /Cross County Trail Connection 4. Alan also reported that the Friends of Wolf Trap are currently working on creating a Memorandum of Intent and Bylaws. They are hopeful that in time there will be a Trail connecting Tyson s, Wolf Trap and Cross County C. Supervisor of Membership (Rick Canter) 1. Rick brought seven balloons in PATC colors to celebrate exceeding 7,000 members. Rick acknowledged the collective effort involved in achieving this goal. D. Supervisor of Marketing Position Vacant - No report. E. Supervisor of Activities (Rush Williamson) 1. Fall activities included St. John s High School in Frederick, MD, the Bears Den fall festival, and REI Rockville; five new venues are already planned for next year. 2. Supplies and equipment for Activities have been relocated to a new storage area across from the Council meeting room. V. Other Items A. Publications (Mary Thompson) No report. B. Trail Land Acquisition (Phil Paschall) No report. C. Conservation (Russell Riggs) No report. D. North Chapter (Bob Wise) No report. E. Land Management (Bill Downes) No report. F. MD AT Management (Rick Canter) MD AT Management Committee met on December 3 and will meet again on January 21. G. Hikes (Chris Firme/Ridge Runners) Chris Firme reported that four of the five 2013 Ridge runners will be returning in 2014. 4
H. SMRG (Steve Weiss) No report. I. Trail Patrol (Murry Moskowitz) No report. J. AT Corridor Management (Tom Lupp) 1. Tom Lupp recently had a Corridor Work Trip that ten people participated in; they were able to clear the boundary north of Ashby Gap, VA. 2. Tom will meet with five new monitors to give them supplies in January. K. Mountaineering Section (Dave Giacomin) No report. L. Maps (Brian Goudreau) 1. Brian Goudreau reported that there would be new editions of Maps 4, G, North and South Districts of SNP printed in 2014. In addition, two maps will be digitized. 2. GPS Rangers have volunteered to work on surveying Rock Creek Park this winter in preparation for a new Map N. 3. Social trails will be given a different symbol for Park authorities use only in the event of a rescue or law enforcement incident. M. Grants and Donations (Susan Nelson) The End of Year Campaign to fund the construction of Old Rag Cabin has been advertised by a mailing, John s monthly e- newsletter, the PATC website, and the Potomac Appalachian. N. Information Technology Committee (Lee Manning) 1. 120 or 82% of cabin reservations made since 12/3/13 were done through the new Online Reservation System, generating $13,280 in income; additionally, $415 was generated from new memberships; during that same time, 27 reservations were made over the phone with 15 of the 27 having the capability of using the online system. 2. Jim Tomlin suggested PATC may want to purchase software in the future to prevent someone from gaming the system. 3. Alan Day suggested that the Virginia for Lovers website be considered as a means of making cabin reservations; Alan also mentioned that he has discovered video footage of some PATC cabins on YouTube, suggesting this be added to the description of the cabins indicated. O. Archives (Tom Johnson) No report. P. Wayne Limberg reported that Ranger Don Harvey will be retiring from the SNP north district. Adjourned: 8:30 pm Respectfully submitted by Edna Baden for Tom Avey, Secretary, PATC 5