HIKING CLUB BOARD Minutes
May 21, 2020 9:30am via Zoom
Roll Call of Board
President Al Girolami. VP Trails Faye Swanson. VP Social Michelle Breslin. VP Membership Webmaster Jim Beyer. Secretary Cheryl Allmen. Treasurer Sandy Petrin. Trail Maintenance Chair Dan Kato.
Secretary’s Report – Cheryl Allmen. April 23, 2020 Board minutes were approved as emailed. Sunshine Committee activities included: a card sent to the Ray Williams family on his passing. Terri Vivoli plans to also forward a card to Brad Hinkley who is battling medical issues. Rose Eagan is recuperating well after her surgery.
Treasurer’s Report – Sandy Petrim announced our Hiking Club balance is $6,578.06 as of 4-30-20. The Hill Lands Project Fund balance: $$2,281.82. Michelle moved and Al seconded an approval of the April Financials. Passed . Since Sandy plans to be out of town for a while, Al will have the financial materials should anyone need access. Attachment 1 includes a complete summary of the April financials. Al explained that the bank balance statement included in this attachment is actually as of 4-15-20.
Membership Report – Jim Beyer reported our Membership totals 292 with no new additions. No website updates. Action: To encourage new membership, Al suggested adding applications to the trail head and Dan volunteered to add them to the entrance.
VP Trail Report – Faye Swanson sent out an email blast of pictures of wildflowers from local trails and received positive responses. Michelle added a notice to access the maps virtually to the trail entrances.
Action: Michele will research cost for map duplication and will request an estimate for three color 3’ x 5’ maps for entrances at the trails.
Trails A & Upper Meadows have been cleared. Dan indicated that Maintenance clipped and sprayed for weeds in the Upper Meadow area and since ticks are prevalent, the trails need more attention. He indicated he has not gotten a response from Maintenance. Action: Dan will contact Maintenance for tick abatement.
VP Social Report – Michelle Breslin. Sandi shared that despite the COVID-19 restrictions, progress continues on plans and research for the fall outing. She has received brochures plus links from the Chamber of Commerce including trail routes and shared that the Pismo beaches are now open. John plans to follow up with the Hotel in June; most recent quote is $112/room.
OLD BUSINESS:
Hill Lands Standing Committee Report – Dan Kato, Attachment 2 Confusion exists related to funds previously allocated and approved by the Board for signage. We lack clarity about actual expenses, what has been paid, what happened with the EVF allocation and whether there are funds remaining. Due to the impact of the shelter-in-place restrictions, records are not accessible and we’ve not gotten updates. Dan would like to explore whether it is possible that sufficient funds could be available to secure a trail plan and to ensure that both the Hiking & Equestrian Clubs have input so we’re ready to proceed further. Action:Dan will keep in touch with Villages to determine what has been spent and what funds remain. Additionally, the Board has had no response from the letter sent earlier to Jan Champion. Action: Al and Dan will work together to request a status/response to this letter. Action: Sandi agreed to forward the signup sheets and equipment list of our Hiking Club property to Faye. Action: Dan and Faye with the support of Al will secure the key to our storage areas, add the lists and signup sheets and mark our property .
Related to securing an accurate count of hikers on our trails, although we want to encourage signups at the trail entrances, since we already have data, we can take the actual counts plus add our estimate. (as outlined in the April Board Minutes). The Board decided not to pursue researching adding cameras at trailheads which was discussed at the previous Board meeting. Action: Dan will pursue if it is feasible to add a mailbox at the cul de sac trailhead entrance.
NEW BUSINESS
Hikes. After a discussion of the status of the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions and the Villages protocols and the possibility of resuming Hiking Club hikes in County Parks which are now open, the Board agreed that our hikers could support the guidelines (i.e., maintain distance, drive separate cars, etc.). Action: Faye will send an email blast to our membership and will lead a Wednesday hike. A sub group could also self-select a Rambler lead if there is interest.
Future Programs – Al requested suggestions for future programs and that he was looking for a replacement for Kiomi Yamamoto who has cancelled.
Next Meetings – Board: Next meeting, June 25, 2020 at 9:30am(location TBA)
General Meetings : The April 27, 2020 meeting was cancelled by VGCC. No May meeting. Next meeting, June 29, 2020 at 7:30pm at Foothill Center.
Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl Allmen
Cheryl Allmen, Recording Secretary