Condensed from draft minutes.
Board Attendees: Alex Bernhard, Amy Chan, Barbara Couturier, George Heaton, Lindy Heim, Cody Hussey, Dustin Ladd, Charles Martin, Ricker Miller, Don Moyer, Peter Southworth
Committee Member: Craig Heim
Business Matters
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Dustin Ladd’s report featured a new format using Excel spreadsheets, covering both the current Balance Sheet and an update to the yearly Budget. Don Moyer and Cody Hussey contributed to the design of this format, and Cody will be able to update inflows and outflows as they occur, for a highly accurate snapshot.
After robust contributions from the Annual Appeal, current assets amount to approximately $82,000. Current commitments for these funds are as follows:
1) Recreational Trails Program (RTP) projects for Trail improvement: $46,000
2) Boscawen Trail extension: $19,400
3) a $10,000 reserve.
After these, a surplus of approximately $7,600 is available for other projects.
With the expenditures of funds and projections fully in line with the Budget, the Board unanimously approved the Treasurer’s Report.
Address Change: PO Box 571, Concord NH 03302
Changes to Committee Names: “Administration Committee” replaces Administration, Finance and Technology. “Promotion Committee” replaces Promotion and Marketing
Committee Reports
Promotion Committee. Amy Chan’s report covered a wide range of volunteer efforts and activities in and around Lebanon, both on bikes and walking.
The great progress in bringing the Cycling Without Age program to fruition was happily received. This program, in which “pilots” drive “trishaws” could be seen on the Trail as early as the end of summer.
With our Squarespace subscription now committed and paid, FNRT is deep into the redesign of our website. Cody Hussey is undertaking the final review of this project.
Trail Building and Maintenance Committee: Chair Don led off his report with the exciting news that physical progress has begun on the Boscawen Extension, as DOT started brush-back and began pulling rails. As to future work to be undertaken by FNRT, the Temporary Use Agreement with DOT continues to be negotiated and must be submitted to the Attorney General before finalization.
Unhappily but unsurprisingly, construction costs for the Extension project have escalated. In response, a motion was brought to the Board for an additional $5,020 to supplement the current $19,400 budgeted for Phase 1. This motion was unanimously approved.
The RTP Trail improvement grants for 2022 are moving along well. Ricker Miller, heading these efforts, is scheduling the contractors for two projects: at Plains Road in Andover, and at Punch Brook in Franklin. We hope that the work will be completed by the end of July.
With the deadline for 2023 RTP grants set for June 17, 2022, Don Moyer is preparing ours and has attended class to understand better how to shepherd these complicated applications. Although grants from this program can pose financial challenges in terms of up-front expenditures and matching funds, the Board unanimously authorized Don to proceed with two project applications in Canaan: Potato Road and the US Route 4 overpass.
With Trail mowing an annual obligation, Don reported that our mower is ready to go and should finish by the end of July.
Lastly, the Maintenance Team is gratified to report on robust volunteer efforts. Eighteen chainsaw volunteers are poised for certification by the State of New Hampshire. One hundred fifty hours of volunteer time has been recorded in April-May. And a Maintenance Inventory Ride from Boscawen to Danbury shows the Trail in fine shape.
Administration Committee: Cody Hussey gave a progress report on our main work-in-progress: updating the FNRT website. Cody has weekly meetings with our contractor/website designer, Ellen McCooe of Concord, whose help is greatly appreciated. When completed, the new website will enable a variety of marvelous new functions – from Trail rides with GPS, to maps, to a Donor Box. And it will evolve continuously.