Executive Committee Meeting April 8, 2025
GREEN MOUNTAIN CLUB MONTPELIER SECTION
Minutes of the Executive Committee
April 8, 2025
The meeting was held at the house of Ken Hertz and was called to order around 5:50 (after dinner) by Steve Bailey. Present were: Ken Hertz, Steve Bailey, Heather Bailey, Rob Penney, Morgan Irons, Phyllis Rubenstein and Missy Ethridge.
Minutes of the January 21, 2025 meeting. A motion to approve was made by Morgan and seconded by Heather and approved by all.
President’s Report. Steve announced that a web developer will update our website to WordPress for free as Heidi knows him. He plans to do it sometime this spring or summer. He is familiar with WordPress. Once it has been updated we all should be able to enter in our own trip reports and submit photos. We want it to be like Burlington’s website. Phyllis suggested he give us all a tutorial but Steve mentioned that he can do that for us. Phyllis still thinks the VP should still overlook the trips before entry. We may not make that decision right now.
Regarding the Annual Meeting it will be held at the Capital City Grange at 5:00 on Friday, May 2. They have a full kitchen available and many tables. We should get tablecloths for them so Heather will check with the Senior Center to see if we could borrow some but we should measure their tables. Phyllis is no longer in the Ad Hoc Committee to plan the annual meetings. They do have a projector but we need to make sure it is available to use. Scott also has one. We have scheduled Nancy and Dana to speak about their trip to Antarctica. The Grange does have dishes so people would not have to bring their own but then we must wash them. We should bring beverages for all so we may provide Apple Cider, Coffee (regular and decaf) with cream and sugar (Steve and Heather will get these). It was also suggested that we should provide a printed agenda with all the reports noted in it even though we will have verbal reports. We need to make sure that the budget for next year is approved so that could be done via email and then submitted. Phyllis says having all reports printed shows legitimacy for our section. It was decided that we may print 20 agendas but all reports should be submitted to Rob by April 20 and Phyllis could print these. Steve will submit an announcement about the meeting on Front Porch Forum. It was noted that we should all get to the Grange by 4:30 to set up and then stay later to clean up. We have decided to have flowers on the tables so Morgan will get some potted plants – maybe 3-4 per table.
Directors Report. The meeting was held on March 15 at the GMC Headquarters and there was a tour of the new section named The Rothberg-Birdwhistell Visitor Center due to their donations. Last year was a challenge financially due to the flooding. They were able to trim costs so they are in a good place as they have endowments. 20% of the main club expenses were paid with Federal money so the future of this money is uncertain. If there are cuts, the Club may have to cut summer maintenance crews. There will be relocation from private land north and south of the terminus of the LT/AT on the MA/VT border and on Belvidere Mountain. There was a board governance retreat that was discussing how to strengthen the board to work more efficiently. They broke into small groups to go over this. The group that Phyllis was in looked at the size of the director’s board and thought perhaps 32 members was more than needed and perhaps could be consolidated. Regarding the Land Conservation Committee there is a new coordinator for Land Steward. The Deigh property in Bolton needed an updated conservation plan and it was approved. They are still working on requirements for the sawyers and swampers. What kind of first aid requirements should be made – just a basic plan or one for wilderness. The Batell Shelter is not large enough to accommodate all the overnight hikers so will a second shelter be built or possibly some tent pads? There is a new volunteer steward program that is educating hikers on Mount Mansfield. The club plans to hire 11 full time employees this summer. The next annual meeting will be Saturday, June 14.
Membership. It is hard to get all the numbers sometimes as people fired or on vacation.
Active – 267
Lapsed – 23
Dropped – 32
Heather contacted all of the lapsed members by email except for 7 via postcards and 5 of the lapsed members replied and rejoined. Previously wrote 4 emails from Alicia. New members get free maps but apparently we don’t get notified if members join our section. Only 1/3 of all members actually join a section but we do get dues if they are a Montpelier member.
Trails and Shelters Report – none
Treasurer’s Report.
Our current checking account balance is $11,367.43 with $1,683.48 in savings. Since our last meeting the chapter accrued $861.40 in member dues and dividends and spent $1027.97. The lion’s share of expenses ($831.97) went to chainsaw equipment and the associated safety course. Other expenses included $108.00 for our Front Porch Forum account, $50.00 for the upcoming annual meeting event space and $38.00 to EastRise to stop payment on two lost reimbursement checks sent to Heidi. So our total cash assets amount to $13,050.91
At the meeting we agreed to send $3000.00 to the main club. An added discussion was about whether we should sponsor the first aid training or at least subsidize it for those taking it. It costs around $250-$300 per person. It was agreed that we may set aside $750 for that in the budget.
Editor’s Report. Morgan needs the annual meeting reports and any newsletter articles by the end of April but the sooner the better so to give her time to lay them out. We should have the trail adopters write about their trails. We will put in the next issue recognizing two former members– Doris Washburn and Anne Burcroff. Phyllis wondered whether we should get a publicity chair to be able to announce events.
The next meeting is planned for Tuesday, July 15 at Steve and Heather Baileys house.
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:27 was made by Heather and seconded by Phyllis.
Respectfully submitted,
Missy Ethridge, Secretary