Condensed from draft minutes

Board members in attendance included co-presidents Myra Mayman and Lindy Heim, Alex Bernhard, Amy Chan, Barbara Couturier, Steve Darling, Cody Hussey, Charles Martin, Ricker Miller, Don Moyer, Tom Rousseau, and Peter Southworth. Other volunteers attending were Chris Norris and Craig Heim.

Tom Rousseau made his first report as the Board’s newly-elected Treasurer.  Highlights included that FNRT will finish this calendar year with approximately $20,000 in its checking account; $41,234  in donations were received thus far for 2022; and $27,000 in grants (independent of RTP grants) were received in 2022. 

Tom presented specifics of all donations and it was concluded that names of donors should be excluded from these reports for the sake of privacy.

There was also discussion of how often PayPal transfers should occur into our checking account and the process for that. A preliminary review of the 2023 budget was begun with all committees encouraged to get their budgetary needs ready by November. 

The Treasurer’s report was then approved, and Tom was congratulated on his initial effort.

There was no significant correspondence, but it was noted that Tom has secured a new post office box in New London and our official address is in the process of being changed to PO Box 2064, New London NH 03257.

Committee Reports

Promotion Committee: Lindy noted she had previously emailed a report to the Board for review.  She turned her time over to Amy Chan who updated the Board on the Cycling Without Age (CWA) program.  They have conducted five pilot orientations and have 15 fully certified pilots, five more in training to be certified this year, and 41 on a waiting list to be certified. Forty-five rides have been given thus far, an average of two or three per day.  

Amy has one new captain to help with certification.  She would like to get a program coordinator to help her with the CWA program.  There is now one off-trail route that has been approved connecting the Northern Rail Trail with the Mascoma River Trail. She also noted that our website now has a page devoted to the CWA program.

Amy has met with the director of the Peabody Home in Franklin, and there is interest in having a program in the Franklin area.  The Lebanon CWA program is a chapter of CWA, and a question has been raised whether we will expand our existing chapter (such as to Franklin) or start a new chapter.  

Board kudos were offered to Amy for her role in creating and operating this very successful program in Lebanon. 

Maintenance Committee

The Boscawen extension was completed on budget and the State has approved efforts to publicize this new trail section. The plans to connect the NRT to the WRT in Franklin is at a standstill with no progress toward the necessary engineering study.

The second RTP project at Punch Brook bridge is underway and expected to be completed in another day or two.

The New Hampshire Bureau of Trails will soon be paving three tunnels in Grafton County.

Don’s efforts to document volunteer hours has been so successful that there is consideration of how to do this nationally. Trail counts are 5% higher in 2022 than they were in 2021.

A 2024 RTP grant (to be submitted in June 2023) is under consideration to complete the Boscawen extension to the south end of the truss bridge at the Concord city line.  Discussion included the progress of the city of Concord in purchasing the rail line from CSX and the effect of the Scenic Rail Riders lease on this project.

Administration Committee

Craig reported that the next committee meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 2, and will include an extensive discussion of fundraising, since at least $40,000 will be needed just to fulfill our RTP matching obligation, let alone consider any new programs that would require extra funding.  All Board members were invited to participate in that meeting if interested.

Cody has prepared a report on donation streamlining using Donorbox and on website analytics but was unavailable for discussing this.  This will be considered at either the November 2 Administration meeting or the November Board meeting (or both).

Upcoming Events

Don and Kim Moyer and Lindy will be attending a “Biketoberfest” program from 6 to 8 PM on October 20 at Red River Cinema in Concord.  They will staff a display table and make a short presentation if time allows.

The next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 16, at 5 PM.