Minutes from January 16, 2017 Board Meeting

Old business

None.

New business

The board had a meeting by telephone during which (i) the upcoming Awards Party, (ii) the Trail Team, and (iii) BRR RD were discussed.

Awards Party Budget

We discussed the budget for upcoming Awards Party on February 4. The total cost for the party (including awards, food, and drinks) has risen continuously from ~$1500 in 2013 to ~$3500 in 2016. While the Awards Party is an important club event, spending has gotten out of control. We agreed that the club should provide food and drink, but recommended scaling back on purchases to minimize leftovers and also skimping in places (ie, don’t buy top-shelf everything). No explicit budget was set, but it is hoped that we can spend $500–1000 less than last year. This information will be relayed to Katie Keier and Tom McNulty, who are taking care of purchasing items for the party.

Trail Team

The Trail Team had their first outing on January 7, working on the Sherman Gap Trail near Elizabeth’s Furnace. It went well, with John Stacy spearheading the effort using PATC equipment and VHTRC personnel. The next scheduled outing is on February 4, working on the Bull Run Occoquan Trail.

Concerns about the trail team were discussed, including insurance issues, how the work trips will be executed, and who will lead the team long term.

Insurance

It is not clear if our RRCA insurance covers us for trail work outings. Keith has contacted Star Insurance, who provides insurance for RRCA, but has not heard back as of January 16th. Until the insurance situation is finalized it was recommended that work trips should be limited to the Lee District of the USFS, with whom the VHTRC has insurance and a working relationship. Running these as PATC events is another option, since PATC is covered for these activities.

Execution

How the work parties will be carried out was also discussed. Will these be stand-alone VHTRC events or will we work in partnership with PATC? From a practical standpoint, PATC owns all of the necessary equipment (why reinvent the wheel?). There are also insurance implications (see above).

Leadership

John Stacy has done a masterful job getting this off the ground, but he has indicated that he is not interested in leading the team beyond six months. Who will take this over?

Bull Run Run RD

While some people have expressed interest in the BRR RD job, there were serious reservations about the candidates since most of them have no prior experience with the race.

Other business

None.