Meetings:
Here is the schedule so far of the meetings for 2009-2010:
March 6, 2010 - CHANGE: Sue Clark's house, 1178 Grassy Brook Rd., Brookline - at 7:30 p.m.
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
January 8, 2010
April and Daryls house.
Meeting called to order @ 7:40. There were 7 members present.
Secretary report read and accepted.
Treasure report read and accepted. Balance $4370.49.
$9052.00 sent to VAST
Old Business-
Radar Run - Everything is set. Deb P all set with the food and
April will pick up more tickets for 50/50
Steak cook out- Sue & Charlotte will do baked beans, Sheila & April will do fried onions, Janet & Ruth will bake potatoes, Linda & Betty will make dessert.
New Business – President of Putney club called to say there is a route cleared to the Colonial cabin in Dummerston.?????.
Adjourned @ 8:10
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
DECEMBER 5, 2009
The meeting was held at Donald and Sheila Gokey’s house and was called to order at 8 p.m. There were 7 members present. The Secretary’s report was read and accepted; the Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed an ending balance of $4154.51.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Donald has not talked to Russ or Linda about the trail on their property on Hill Rd. but will soon.
2) The trail near Bovat’s is all cleared and runs to the left of their driveway, then crosses over.
3) The new trail down to Ellen Ware Rd. from behind English’s cabin is all set and cleared. Bernie mentioned that the trail behind Don Elliott’s house still needs some work.
4) Discussion of reimbursements for people that groom. It was thought that areas should be designated as grooming divisions with perhaps a set dollar figure for each of the three areas. The trail coordinators will have a meeting to set this up and April will mention this to Daryl. Joe Juhasz has a drag for us to use and Nelson has bedsprings behind his house as well.
5) Discussion of grants available from VAST for help with debrushing as well as some sort of lease agreement for sleds for grooming.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) We need to pick one more name for a volunteer TMA and Daryl’s name was chosen.
2) Donald reported there was a county meeting on Nov. 23rd but no one from the club attended. Bernie questioned who makes the decision of some power line trails being closed as reported in the VAST News and it was thought that Velco probably requested it.
3) Bob Samuelson brought in a form from VAST to apply for grant money for rescue equipment. Donald will give to the Newbrook Fire Dept. to see if they have anything they need.
4) Bob is putting in a sign order to include green arrows and Route 35 signs.
5) Janet reported that only 19 landowner permission forms have been returned out of 44 names on the list. She will send the list to Donald via email and he’ll make some phone calls.
The meeting adjourned at 8:50.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
NOVEMBER 7, 2009
The meeting was held at Russ Bielawiec’s house – there were 13 members present.
The Secretary’s report was read and accepted; the Treasurer’s report was read and accepted. It showed an ending balance of $4258.03 – of that, $3042 is in the Trail Fund.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Bernie reported that Alexis is unable to get a listing of landowners along the power lines.
2) Don reported that Tom Baltrus said he’d be contacting the presidents of Windham County clubs and set up a county meeting.
3) Sheila reported that we’d received the club stickers.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) Donald reported that they’d cleared a trail from Warren’s camp along Hill Rd, then crosses Hill Rd. This will be a better crossing than at Linda Robinson’s gate
2) Radar Run is set for Jan. 30th from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The Newbrook Auxiliary will be selling food there.
3) The Fred Robinson Steak Cookout will be Feb. 20th and will start at noon.
4) Don reported that the Bovats are okay with the trailing crossing over their driveway.
5) Josh Brooks has sold his skidder. Bernie suggested we use money in the Trail Fund to fix the trail from Don Elliotts going up the hill as well as the trail behind his cabin going down to Ellen Ware Rd. Jim Rogers said he is willing to work on this and it was set up for tomorrow with Donald helping.
6) Volunteer TMA’s: The volunteer list includes: Bernie, Tom Brooks, Dale, Daryl, Toby, Mike, Jim Rogers, Kendra, Sheila, April, Janet, Bob Samuelson, Donald and Kay.
Seven names were drawn: Tom, Mike, Jim, April, Kendra, Kay and Janet. Three runners up were drawn: Dale, Donald, and Sheila.
Janet will send out an email telling recipients if they are not going to use the TMA to notify Sheila by the Dec. 5th meeting, so the runners up can get a volunteer TMA.
7) Donald would like some ideas about reimbursing those who groom at the end of the year. Bernie said he’d come up with some options. This will be in the Nov. newsletter as well. Groomers will be encouraged to keep track of their hours and report them each month at the meeting.
8) Jim and Chris reported that there will be no new books this year for the Safety Course which is scheduled to be held on Dec. 12th. Donald will put an ad in the local newspaper.
9) Jim also told about a groomer he saw for sale in the Auto Hunter. It’s 4 feet wide, made in the mid-70’s and asking price is $3000.00. Donald will check to see if any grants are available; perhaps Tom Baltrus would know about this; also the possibility of leasing it was mentioned.
10) Jim asked about whether the ancient roads issue will be a problem with our trails. We’d have to check with the town office, but there hasn’t been a problem in the past.
11) Sue Clark offered to have the Feb. 6th meeting at her house and Ruthie Warren’s offered her house for the March 6th meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
OCTOBER 3, 20009
The meeting was held at Bob Samuelson’s house and called to order at 7:35. There were seven members present. The Secretary’s Report was read and accepted. The Treasurer was not able to attend but had sent word that nothing had changed since last meeting.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) We decided that the landowner permission forms will be filled out for another two years instead of increasing them to three years.
2) Discussion of prices of TMA’s. Prices will remain the same as last year without the $20 surcharge this year.
3) The land bridge at Parker’s Landing has been worked on and is incomplete. Materials are at the site if anyone wants to go work on it. It will end up being over 100 feet long.
4) Trail heads on the power lines for the most part have been opened up.
5) Mike and Donald flagged the trail from behind English’s to Ellen Ware Rd. and Josh Brooks will be working on it with his skidder asap.
6) Mike Winot’s sap lines are low but would be difficult to raise due to junction lines along the trail.
7) Lee Severence does NOT have pallets available as previously thought.
8) We still need to address the problem of the crossing of Hill Rd. near Warren’s camp. Donald will talk to Russell about this.
9) Donald has been clearing trails and put a small bridge below Parker’s Landing.
10) Still need to figure out the crossing near Bovat’s driveway. Donald will speak with Scott about this.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) Bernie is going to contact Alexis for a list of landowners along the power lines.
2) Janet will order the minimum amount of club stickers for this year.
3) Jim and Chris Rogers have offered to do another safety course this year. It will be held on 12/12 at the firehouse with a maximum of 25 students. The club will sponsor this event. There will be new booklets and new tests this year which hopefully will make things easier all around. Discussion about advertising this ahead of time and have the booklets available for the students to pick up before the 12th. Any child age 12 or over can take the test and anyone born after July 1, 1983, needs a safety certificate in order to drive a snowmobile. Janet will send out an email about this and Donald will put an ad in the newspaper a couple of weeks before the course. Janet will also try and get it into the Nov. issue of VAST News.
4) A work party is scheduled for October 31st at 9 a.m. Volunteers are to meet at English’s cabin. There is a small bridge across from Eye’s house which needs work plus something needs to be done with the wet area above English’s across Emma Brook.
5) Mike says he has 18 foot boards behind his house which we can use.
6) No county meetings in awhile and Donald will ask Tom Baltrus about this.
7) Meeting Schedule:
Nov. 7th at Russ Bielawiec’s house, 1170 Grassy Brook Rd.
Dec. 5th at Sheila and Donald’s house, 226 Grassy Brook Rd.
Jan. 9th at April Wellman’s house, 553 Grassy Brook Rd.
Radar Run – January 30th. Janet will send out an email asking for a volunteer host for the March meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 8:55.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLING SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
AUGUST 29, 2009
The meeting was held at Donald and Sheila’s house and was called to order at 7:15. The Secretary’s report was read and accepted; the Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed a closing balance of $4338.03.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Donald is going to call Joe Juhasz about the renewal of 501C3 for our club as a corporation.
NEW BUSINESS:
2) Donald would like to schedule work on trails in September before hunting season begins. Trails needing work include the bridge and wet spot at Wards which will be worked on tomorrow morning, the trail from Nystroms up to 3 corners, and trail heads at power lines where clearing has been done. Toby Pagach has equipment which will be used to do this.
3) Bernie mentioned the trail behind his house down to Ellen Ware Rd which needs to be flagged and cleared. Donald will work with Bernie on this next Saturday morning. Bernie also told of his talk with the Velco people and their plans for culverts and access roads from Vernon to Ludlow. He also discussed his plan to put a permanent right-of-way in our deed with no posting of land.
4) Lee Severance has access to more pallets.
5) Toby mentioned the sap line on the trail down to Parkers Landing and that we might want to find out if we can raise it higher. Also, Kim Rink was upset about cans and bottles left behind at Rink’s Camp and we thought that we should check that out every year after the snow melts. It was pointed out that we need landowner permission to take ATV’s to work on the trails.
6) Volunteer TMA’s – New criteria: 20 hours of volunteer work in the last year, attendance at one meeting equals one hour, includes work parties, grooming, and help at club activities. Janet will send out an email explaining this and asking people to submit their names if they feel they quality. They are to contact Donald via email by Nov. 1st.
7) Daryl brought up the need to address the crossing on Hill Rd. at Warren’s camp. They need to speak to Linda and Russell about possibly moving the post in or fixing that area somehow so that no one gets hurt there.
8) Discussion about the trail alone Bovat’s driveway and how to make that work this year.
9) April asked Janet to send her Judd’s obituary so we can make a donation in his memory.
10) The next meeting will be Oct. 3rd at Bob Samuelson’s house.
The meeting adjourned at 8:30.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
MARCH 14, 2009
The meeting was called to order at 7:40. There were 13 members present. The Secretary’s report was read and accepted; the Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed an ending balance of $5681.99.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Permission has been received from Jim Massey for snowmobiling on his land
2) Radar Run profit this year was $646.83. Sue made a motion to round up our donation to $700.00 to Newbrook Fire Dept. which was voted on and approved.
3) Fred Robinson Scholarship Fund Steak Cookout had a profit of $1521.84. Bernie made a motion to round this up to $1600.00 - $800 to go to the student and $800 to the fund itself.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) After the above donations, our Trail Fund showed a balance of roughly $2300 and our General fund, roughly $1000. 80% of all VAST money goes into the Trail fund and 20” to the General Fund. Membership money – 20% to Trail Fund, 80% to General fund.
2) Don reported that Daisy told him that our club has no limit to what it can have in funds as a “not for profit” organization.
3) Sheila reported we had about 70 memberships sold this year. She’ll give us a definite figure next meeting.
4) Donald said he did not receive a bill with his shipment of signs. Daisy said she’d gotten some correspondence which might be the bill – she’ll get that to Donald.
5) Bernie suggested that work parties be set up early this year to be done in the spring and summer – perhaps a schedule of dates and what needs to be worked on.
6) Donald said the trail from the 4 corners on the power lines down to Bovat’s driveway is in need of quite a bit of work. Bernie will try contacting the power company about the logging they are doing or might do on that area of power line.
7) Bob reported that he found some documentation in a box of old papers that indicates that every two years we have to sign up as a corporation. A form 501C3 will have to be filled out next year.
8) Sue Clark stated that her brother had suggested we might want to sell TMA’s in the fall somewhere on Route 30, perhaps at the fire department. Other clubs have done well doing this. We could post times on the website, email, town email and putting signs out.
The meeting adjourned at 8:35.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
JANUARY 10, 2009
The meeting was held at Russ Bielawiec’s house. There were 11 members present.
The Secretary’s report was read and accepted; the Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed an ending balance of $3301.55.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Sheila reported that she sold 85 TMA’s and 54 club memberships this year so far.
2) Donald reported he’d talked to Jim Massey and we will be allowed to use his land near Lily Pond as long as there is 1 foot of frost and 1 foot of snow. He’s asked that we not move any stone walls and having campfires is okay. A permission letter has gone out to him but we haven’t gotten it back yet.
3) Donald and Bob Samuelson both ordered signs so we’ll have a good supply this year.
4) Don said that the trail from Peaked Mt. down to Light’s house is awful and he doesn’t recommend we use it yet. Also, the Ober Hill trail to VAST needs work. Mitch Putnam isn’t allowing riding on his property at this time. His kid got caught riding on his own property without a helmet and Mitch is angry about that.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) The Radar Run is scheduled for Feb. 7th and volunteers are needed to set up and work during the event. We discussed possibly changing the direction of the run to having it go diagonally across the field. Deb Pierson will be doing the food for the fire dept. and we’ve been asked if we could purchase the food this year. Sheila will get in touch with Debbie to see how much money she will need for this. Donald will advertise on the radio 2 weeks prior and April will see that an email is sent out to the town email list.
2) We discussed the fact that our club is a “not for profit” club and wondered if there is a limit we can have in our treasury. Daisy might know this and we’ll ask her.
3) Bernie reported that the logging being done on the power lines near Bovats will be completed at the end of next week.
4) We discussed possibly purchasing cement blocks in the future for bridges at a cost of $35 each and whether making forms and mixing cement would be cheaper. Donald will look into this further.
5) Mike Fontaine and Donald will be putting flexible corrugated piping in the water bars near the horse barn and covering them with snow pack to see if this will help.
6) We voted on making two $50 memorial donations: one to Grace Cottage Hospital for Ken Dowley and one to the Round Schoolhouse for Calvin Nystrom.
7) Jim Rogers reported that 19 safety certificates were given at the last safety course in December. He said the new books are a lot tougher this year and read more like a college test.
8) Jim also reported that law enforcement is checking snowmobilers for registrations, lights, brakes, and even comparing registrations to serial numbers on the machines.
The meeting closed at 8:20 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
DECEMBER 6, 2008
The meeting was held at Anderberg’s house and began at 7:35. The Secretary’s report was read and accepted. The Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed an ending balance of $3063.55 which consisted of $2335.14 in the Trail Fund and $728.41 in the General Fund.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) We have not received a permission form from Jim Massey so Donald will get in touch with him soon.
2) We need to order signs and the trailmasters have a list of what is needed. Donald has made 4 portable posts to put up to post signs on. Bernie will make up more maps and Russ Bielaweic will laminate them, along with some advertisements for the Radar Run and Fred Robinson Scholarship Fund Steak Cookout in February.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) Donald reported that there is a new trail going from the power lines down into the upper part of Howard Osgood’s field. This will eliminate the wet areas we had last year.
2) Bernie reported that the new trail from the power lines down to English’s right-of-way is complete.
3) Janet reported spending $125 for the stickers ($65), postage ($42) and paper, labels, and envelopes ($18). She will contact April about this.
4) Bernie suggested we possibly use some of the Trail Fund money to hire equipment to make improves on parts of the trails that really need it.
5) Donald said that the 48 foot bridge behind Nelson’s will need work in the next year or so. There was a discussion about how that could be done.
6) The bridge decking which used to be at the town yard is now piled behind Mike Fontaine’s house if anyone needs it for trail work.
The meeting closed at 8:20.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English,
Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
NOVEMBER 1, 2008
The meeting was held at John and Pat Eye’s house and was called to order at 7:45. There were 24 members present.
The Secretary’s report was read and accepted; the Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed an ending balance of $3204.06.
OLD BUSINESS:
1) Bernie has been in touch with Jim Massey who owns land around Lily Pond. He apparently had been upset because he hadn’t given permission to any club, so Bernie talked to him and we sent him a permission form. If he gives permission to one club, then all VAST clubs can ride on the trail. Also, if a landowner gives verbal permission to two club members, then those two club members can sign off on a permission form. Donald had talked to Mike Meyer about this also and Mike was going to find out which town the trails are on.
2) Bernie stated that Charlie Legeous lives on Athens Rd. and he used to know his dad. He also has land near Lily Pond and Bernie will try and get in touch with him.
3) Janet will order stickers for this year.
4) We will need to order signs and the trail masters will discuss that.
NEW BUSINESS:
1) Election of officers: Donald Gokey has been nominated for President and Bob Samuelson for Vice-President and they were voted in. Janet is will to continue as secretary and April as treasurer and that was voted in. Trail masters will be Dale Clark, Mike Fontaine and Daryl Graves.
2) Eligible volunteers who did at least 15 hours of volunteering or attending meetings in the last 12 months were: Nelson Fontaine, Charlotte Fontaine, Mike Fontaine, Josh Fontaine, Daryl Graves, April Wellman, Ruthie Warren, Fred Warren, Derf Warren, Bob Samuelson, Bob Wistrom, Kaye Wistrom, Tom Brooks, Kendra Brooks, John Morrison, Debbie Pierson, Lee Severance, John Eyes, Don Gokey, Sheila Gokey, Bernie English, Janet English, Russ Bielawiec, Jim Rogers, Chris Duke, Dale Clark, Dave Ryder, and Alan Fabrizio.
Nine names were drawn and the following will receive reduced rate Volunteer TMAs for $45 if they want them: Fred Warren, Mike Fontaine, Ruth Warren, Lee Severance, Kay Wistrom, Nelson Fontaine, Sheila Gokey, Josh Fontaine, and John Eyes. We drew three runners-up in case one of the above declines: 1) April Wellman 2) Debbie Pierson 3) Tom Brooks.
It will be in the newsletter that the nine people that were drawn must let Sheila know by the next meeting (Dec. 1) if they are NOT going to use the volunteer TMA, so she can give it to a runner-up.
3) Janet read the minutes from the Windham County Meeting held on 10/28. The biggest news is that a $20 grooming surcharge has been added to the cost of every TMA this year. Also, Rooney is going to find out the process if anyone wanted to grant VAST a right-of-way for their trails instead of simply a permission form. Rooney is stepping down as Windham County Director and is being replaced by Tom Baltrus from the Deerfield Valley Stump Jumpers.
4) Discussed bridges that have been fixed and trails improved – Wards Bridge, two bridges at Parkers Landing, a cleared trail from the power lines down to the right-of-way going up toward English’s, trail cleaned from Cutt’s house and trail to Putney Mt.
5) We talked about Courtney Nau’s help with his equipment and time on fixing Ward’s bridge and we voted to send him a $50 gift card to Rick’s Tavern and April will see to that.
6) A committee was formed to go over the criteria for eligible recipients of volunteer TMA’s – Bernie, Sheila and April are on that committee.
7) Bernie will make new maps to be put on the bulletin boards out on the trails.
The meeting closed at 8:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
BROOKLINE SNOWMOBILE CLUB MEETING
OCTOBER 4, 2008
The meeting was held at English's and called to order at 7:35 – there were 20 members present. The Secretary’s report was read and accepted. The Treasurer’s report was read and accepted and showed an ending balance of $3,354.06 – Trail Fund: $2425; General Fund: $928.41
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
1) Memorial donations: Three people directly connected to club members have passed away recently. A motion was made that the club would donation $50 each in memory of Stella Dowley, Ed Dillistin, and Charlotte Fontaine’s sister. Sue and April will figure out where these donations should go. We decided that in the future during the off-season, any three members of the Executive Board can okay donations such as this.
2) Stickers: Derf has asked Hampden Signs if they would be willing to donation signs or stickers to our club. He is still waiting for a response.
3) Daisy received some correspondence from VAST about a pending bill and April will notify VAST that future correspondence should be mailed to her.
4) Daisy reported that Gene Litch from Putney said he has about 5 guys helping him with rerouting the trail around the beaver pond. He asked if any of our members could help and they would reciprocate by helping on our work parties. Bernie pointed out that we should have a coordinated effort on the trail maintenance between Putney, Brookline and Townshend.
5) Ward’s bridge has been dismantled. Dale Clark and Courtney Nau will be bringing out some 2 x 6’s next Sunday and after that stringers and headers brought in, then decking and handrails will need to be put on. Donald is trying to set up a time for a work party. Barclay has requested that a sign be put up stating “No Campfires at Anytime”.
6) Alan Fabrizio acquired some fiberglass pallets. He and John Eyes have been working on the trails. There was a discussion about the route of Ward’s trail. Work parties will be posted on the website and an email sent out as long as Janet is notified.
7) We will be ordering new signs. Trail coordinators should be consulted about trail work and buying construction materials.
8) Sue stated that Rink’s bridge has had the decking removed, is wide open and needs decking put down.
9) Jim Rogers said he and Chris Duke are willing to do another safety course this year. He would like to do it on Dec. 13th. Any snowmobile driver who was born after July 1, 1983, has to have a safety certificate and anyone who turns 12 by April 1, 2009. Jim stated he was disappointed that there were no participants from Brookline last year. April will be notifying Julie Lavorgne about the details of this course and she can post it on the Town of Brookline email list. The club voted to cover thecost of lunch - $150 for 20 people. If more participants, Jim will come back and request a reimbursement.
10) Meetings at 7:30 p.m.:
November 1 at John and Pat Eyes, Grassy Brook Rd.
December 6 at Daisy and Richard Anderberg’s, 37 Grimes Hill Rd., Newfane.
January 10 at Russ Bielawiec’s, 1170 Grassy Brook Rd.
February 14th after the FRED ROBINSON SCHOLARSHIP FUND STEAK COOKOUT.
March 7 at Sue Clark’s, 1178 Grassy Brook Rd.
April 4 at April’s, 353 Grassy Brook Rd.
Radar Run: Bernie will contact Donald about that.
11) Bernie announced that he is stepping down as club President as of November. He thanked everyone for all the support he has received over the past 8 years. A nominating committee was formed consisting of Bernie, April, Sue Clark and Derf. It will be held at April’s house on October 18th at 7:30.
The meeting adjourned at 8:45.
Respectfully submitted,
Janet English, Secretary
Click on Archives page for minutes of all meetings last year.