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Board Meeting Minutes
Mountaineers Board Meeting
July 9, 2008
Alpine Experience, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Tim Nagle (Member-at-Large) Steve Lerch (treasurer), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), Bruce Towhey (Climbing Chair), Mike McIntosh (Vice Chair), Henry Romer (kayaking), Curt Rosler (leadership)
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm.
Treasurer’s report: (Steve Lerch): The proposed Branch budget was presented to the Branch. Two new significant expenditures were an allocation of $2500 for level 1 avalanche training for intermediate climbing students and an allocation for community outreach. There were no objections to these two items. The budget needs to show the Mountaineers Foundation grant revenue and the corresponding expenses. Bruce Towhey presented a revised budget for climbing division activities. Rather than approving the budget as presented together with the climbing divisions revisions, but not presented in a unified document, the board requested to see the unified budget including the climbing divisions changes electronically and the board would vote on the budget via electronic means in lieu of a separate meeting. The due date of the budget is July 18.
Secretary report: (Mark Brackebusch): The minutes for the June meeting were approved. Branch membership was 637 unchanged from last month.
Vice Chair’s Report: (Mike McIntosh): The branch picnic will be July 25 at Burfoot Park. Mike requested volunteers for a number of activities. Than banquet will be November 1 at the Percival Room, South Puget Sound College.
Trustee's Report: Henry Romer reporting that the climbing rock wall will be going up at the new Club headquarters and it will be open to the public by agreement made with the City of Seattle.
Nominating Committee: The ballot due date is July 21. Mark Brackebusch will deliver the ballots to Curt Rosler who heads the ballot counting committee whose other members are Tom Whitney and Donna Doerer. The suggestion made previously of having ballot completed or delivered at the picnic was not feasible due to the proposal’s inability to meet the required deadlines.
MOFA: Eric Quinn and Fred Inman will co-chair MOFA. The MOFA class will be held either in the sequence of October 2, 9, 11, 18, and 19 or in the sequence of October 9, 16, 18, 25, and 26.
Leadership Committee: Curt Rosler commented on the discussion from June about the revenues and expenditures for each activity. He reported that leadership lost a total of $48 for the entire class, but the consensus of the Board was that leadership was a core function of the Branch and a small deficit for leadership activity was acceptable. In the past there was discussion about giving the students their books but Curt said that by purchasing the books they invest in the course.
Community Relations Outreach: (Mike McIntosh) A proposed implementation of the charter is pending.
HARK (Hiking and Active Recreation for Kids): Stan reported that the Tacoma Branch HARK program is not active and that he and Patrick Chaffeur picked two loads of outdoor equipment that was used in this program. Some of the items including water bottles and ground pads were granted to the Olympia Branch and others including packs are being loans. Alpine Experience is assisting by supplying first aid kits at supply cost.
BBBS: Four big/little matches attended an activity at Priest Point Park. Next Wednesday 40 people are signed up for an activity at Millersylvania Park.
Activity Reports:
Climbing Division: (Bruce Towhey) The climbing division will meet next Wednesday to consider record keeping issues. Mike Garrick is expected to be the climbing activity chair next year; Chris Lott will remain as scrambling chair. Bob Adams is a possible navigation chair, but this is not certain. There is a tentative proposal to offer the navigation course in September, but some uncertainties remain. The navigation course is a requirement for the completing the leadership class.
The climbing class schedule for next year is being worked on. Presently the Orientation Night is schedule January 5. The dates of the class depend on the location chosen for class with consideration of as the Columbia Center, the Knox Center, or the Salvation Army. Depending on the class location selected only certain days of the week are available.
Kayaking: (Henry Romer): Seventeen students are in the process of completing the course. To graduate the student must have one paddle experience outside of the course activities. This extra paddle is ofter the most frequent reason not to graduation from the course.
Potlucks:Carolyn Burreson is looking for speakers for the December, April and May potlucks.
Operating Plan: Revisions have been made. The revised operating plan will be circulated to the Branch officers. This will be presented to the Club Management Committee. Henry spoke of the self audit regarding minimum standards that will be sent out shortly and will be due October 1.
Library and Records: There has not been a records committee meeting in the last month. Stan resated this hope that the while records could be decentralized within activities that the secretary should have an index of which records exist and where they are located. Mark may need to get together with a climbing division records custodian to understand the climbing records. As far as a Branch report Stan is awaiting information from the various activities.
Master Calendar: There was discussion of the usefulness of a Branch calendar. Opinion was divided as to how useful this would be. No decision was reached.
Meeting Schedule: (Stan Springer) It was approved that no meeting be held in August unless a circumstance requires it.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00.
Mark Brackebusch,
Branch Secretary
Mountaineers Board Meeting
June 11, 2008
Alpine Experience, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Tim Nagle (Member-at-Large) Steve Lerch (treasurer), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), Jim French (Conservation Chair), Mike Kretzer (Hiking Chair), Bruce Towhey (Climbing Chair), Chris Lott (Scrambling Chair), Richard Kennedy (Management Committee), John Flanagan (trustee)
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm.
Secretary report: (Mark Brackebusch): The minutes for the May meeting were approved. Branch membership was 637 on June 1 compared to 634 May 11.
Treasurer’s report: (Steve Lerch): The Branch budget will be presented to the Club by July 11. Budget information was missing from several activities, and in these cases last year’s information will be used.
Stan raised the question whether some activities were bringing in revenue significantly in excess of costs. Jim French noted that wilderness skills looses money, but that these cost were recouped via the climbing and scrambling courses. Wilderness skills also functions as the first module of the climbing and scrambling courses. Stan suggested an activity-by-activity review comparing course revenues to costs. On a cost per class day basis the wilderness skills class is significantly less costly than climbing or scrambling. Room rental costs were expected to be increasing.
The recognition of volunteer efforts is currently a small expense, but increased funding may be appropriate. One example given of a volunteer award was Banff Film Festival tickets.
There is no navigation class in the budget plan although having passed a navigation course is a requirement for the leadership class. Reserve funds have not been frequently used in the past, but these can be used when needed.
Vice Chair’s Report: (Mike McIntosh): The branch picnic will be July 19 at Burfoot Park.
Trustee's Report: (John Flanagan) The budget will need to be presented at the next meeting. There should be a report to the Club about the status of the Big Bother/Big Sister (BBBS) program.
Management Committee: (Richard Kennedy) Approval of a youth protection policy was delayed. The following policy statement was approved by the Olympia Board to be presented to the Club at the Management Committee:
“The Olympia Branch of the Mountaineers affirms the proposed policy of youth protection including Barriers to Abuse within the Mountaineers exclusive of requiring background checks for leaders.”
Several minimum standards were approved. Navigation standards are yet to be developed. There will be an audit to whether activities are in compliance with the minimum standards. Beginning August 1, a questionnaire will be sent out regarding the compliance with club minimum standards. These questionnaires will be due October 1. In the following year, a minimum standards compliance audit will be performed by an outside entity. The question was raised whether ropes needed to be carried on scrambles. The current wording of the minimum standard requires that a rope be carried for scrambles in challenging terrain.
The travel policy is under review. For carpooling a 12¢ per mile reimbursement to the driver is recommended. This is based on the IRS allowance of 50¢ per mile with 4 persons per car. There was a discussion of volunteer recognition. There will be presentations of new programs. The Mountaineers Foundation is open to looking at new proposals. Possible proposals could include trail maintenance, the Banff film festival, and MOFA.
Nominating Committee: The nominating committee has made a submission for the July GoGuide. The GoGuide ballots can be mailed to the Olympia branch or dropped off at the Alpine Experience. A suggestion was made that ballots could be dropped off at the branch picnic, although it was not clear if it would be possible to publish this information in the Go Guide in a timely fashion.
Policy manual update: A suggestion was made to reference Club Policies in the Branch policy rather than copying the text as part of the Branch policy manual. This will allow the Branch policy manual to remain current when club policies, such as minimum standards, are changed.
HARK (Hiking and Active Recreation for Kids): There is a meeting June 12. Tacoma’s HARK program is not active now and it may be possible to borrow equipment that the Tacoma branch using for HARK activities.
Big Brother Big Sister: For BBBS participants there will be a 1/2-hour presentation June 21 at Priest Point Park to go over aspects of outdoor activities including ethics and clothing and equipment. There will be a short hike in small groups following the presentation.
Activity Reports:
Scrambling: Toby Tahja-Syrett was the leader of an Olympia Branch scramble that came to the aid of a hiker injured in the chute on Mt. Ellinor.
Climbing: The climbing class is winding up. There is an adequate number of experience climbs available. Usually most Branch experience climbs give preference to Olympia Branch climbing students.
Wilderness Skills:The course is winding up. Chris Lott felt that the students were coming to the scrambling course from the wilderness skills class with good skills.
Hiking: (Mike Kretzer): Activities are proceeding. Interested leaders are sought for BBBS or HARK activities.
Conservation: (Jim French) Access to the Church Creek trail, a trail adopted by the Olympia Branch, was recently not accessible due to road damage. It may now be open.
Library and Records: A $250 donation was made for bookshelves. Kayak course DVD’s have been purchased. The usage of the library is higher now that books can be dropped of at the Alpine Experience. There has not been a records committee meeting in the last month.
Potlucks: Carolyn Burreson is looking for speakers of the December and January potlucks.
Meeting Schedule: (Stan Springer) It is possible that there will be no meeting in July or August. The membership meeting may be moved to September, as that would meet the requirement of one membership meeting per quarter. Activities chairs should make room requests. Stan may generate a room calendar for all activities. Climbing and scrambling orientation is scheduled Jan 5.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00.
Mark Brackebusch,
Branch Secretary
Mountaineers Board Meeting
May 14, 2008
Alpine Experience, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Mike McIntosh (Vice Chair) Steve Lerch (treasurer), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), Jim French (Conservation Chair), Mike Kretzer (Hiking Chair), Christy Ridout (Records Chair) Robert Arnsdorf (member), Judy Kennedy (guest)
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm.
Mount Rainier National Park Volunteers: Judy Kennedy made a presentation about volunteer opportunities in MPNP. She suggested that a good starting point for volunteering at Mount Rainier was to be a Meadow Rover and noted that a Meadow Rover training class would be held on June 28. This is not the only starting place for volunteering. Information about volunteering is on the Mount Rainier web site.
Secretary report: (Mark Brackebusch): The minutes for the April meeting were approved. Branch membership was 634 May 11 compared to 643 on April 1.
Treasurer’s report: (Steve Lerch): The budget information had been e-mailed by Steve. Steve noted that he needed next year’s budget requests from a number of activities. The overall budget would need to be approved by the Branch Board in June prior to presentation to the Club.
Vice Chair’s Report: (Mike McIntosh): Mike sought input about whether the July event should be a catered event with a band, or an event with relays. The proposed location at Priest Point Park would restrict the ability to serve beer, which is prohibited in city parks. For this reason a location change to a county or state park, which allow alcohol, may be considered, although a liquor license for the event must be obtained from a liquor store. Tom Whitney talked about past picnics that had a chairman’s relay with outdoor skill related events.
Nominating Committee: The committee comprised of Tom Whitney, Craig Bussack, and Curt Rossler nominated the following candidates: Mike Kretzer for chair-elect, Mark Brackebusch and Christy Ridout for secretary, and John Flanagan for trustee. A call was made for nominations from the floor and there were none. Brief statements were made by Mike Kretzer, Mark Brackebusch, and Christy Ridout.
Activity Reports:
Wilderness Skills:The May wilderness skills course began with 27 students on May 8 and runs through June 5. The course offers 15 hours of instruction, aims to include as much hands-on activity as possible and requires about 15 to 17 volunteers. It appears the spring course meets a need in our community for backcountry travel instruction and is becoming a useful new member recruitment tool. There was a question about offering another wilderness skills class for members of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), but at present the human resources to do so are not present. There may be consideration of a shorter presentation to BBBS participants.
Hiking (Mike Kretzer): Activities are proceeding.
Conservation Bonnie Betts, an Olympia Branch Conservation Committee member, will lead the Fossil Fuel Free Challenge again in 2008, giving members some incentives to reduce their use of fossil fuels. Information on the Fossil Fuel Free Challenge will be included in the July and August Go Guide along with other conservation activities. Jim noted that there were meetings about the recreation plans for Mt. St. Helens. Input given at the Gifford-Pinchot National Forest task force meetings has generally been predominately given by outdoor enthusiasts who use motorized off-read vehicles and there has been limited input from hikers, skiers and climbers. Rich Curtis will represent our branch at the next meeting.
Community Relations and Outreach Committee (CROC) (Mike McIntosh): Mike presented a charter for this committee that was approved. There was discussion about whether oversight was needed to ensure that partnerships involving the Olympia Branch and a second organization were adequately congruent. The consensus was that the CROC should have a general approach approved by the board such that CROC could apply individual judgments without bringing all proposed partnerships before the Branch Board.
HARK (Hiking and Active Recreation for kids) & Big Brothers Big Sisters partnership: At an April 24 meeting six activities were discussed and one trip date has been planned.
Records Committee. The records committee has not meet, although Christy and Steve Bremmer have been met to discuss records issues. The Google site has potential for storing the Branch documents, however, there are a few anomalies Christy is working on with Stephen Bremer. One, is the site does not support PDF. Conversion Software has been used to convert and store PDF. There now appears to be a size limit on documents. The other factor is ease of use. Training will be required of members wanting to post on the web site or use the collaboration functionality. More testing and research will be required to make a formal recommendation on use of the site.
Operating Plan and Budget: Activity chairs need to get their information into Steve Lerch and Stan Springer.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00.
Mark Brackebusch,
Branch Secretary
Mountaineers Board Meeting
April 9, 2008
Alpine Experience, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Bruce Towhey (Chair Elect), Mike McIntosh (Vice Chair) Steve Lerch (treasurer), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), John Flanagan (Trustee), Henry Romer (Sea Kayaking Chair), Tim Nagle (Member at Large), Jim French (Conservation Chair), Mike Kretzer (Hiking Chair), Susan Kingrey (MOFA Chair), Steve Bremer (Climbing Committee Member), Dean Taylor (Webmaster)
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm.
Treasurer’s report: (Steve Lerch): Steve presented a report of the club finances broken down by activity. Note was made that revenues and expenses occur at irregular times and that it is helpful to anticipate changes due to participation numbers different from original projections.
Secretary report: (Mark Brackebusch): The minutes for the March meeting were approved. Branch membership was 643 on April 1.
Vice Chair’s Report (Mike McIntosh): A Branch summer Picnic in the planning stage. July 19 at Priest Point Park was reserved. Consideration will be given to changing the date to Friday July18.
Trustee report (John Flanagan). Ed Henderson requested a detailed Magnuson building project report to be presented at the next meeting. In light increased transportation expenses the travel policy is being reviewed. Age requirements for participation in Mountaineer activities were discussed with no decision being made. A relaxation of guest participation restrictions in activities was requested for the potential partnership of the Olympia Branch and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Olympia. Note was made that there seems to be a higher membership retention using a mentor approach to the climbing class in Seattle.
Managing Committee report: The participation of minors’ participation in Mountaineer activities is under discussion. Richard Kennedy indication to the Managing Committee that the Olympia Branch did not want a change in policies that would hinder the potential partnership of the Olympia Branch and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Olympia.
Activity Reports:
Climbing (Bruce Towhey): The Climbing course is entering the glacial module. The MOFA course is in progress. The leadership course starts April 15.
Wilderness Skills: The Wilderness Skills class that begins May 8, 6:30 pm at the Knox Center, 1113 Legion Way SE, Olympia.
Kayaking (Henry Romer): The class is full and ready to start. Note was made that the Tacoma course is full as well. This has not been happening in the past.
Hiking (Mike Kretzer): Activities are being planned.
MOFA: Susan Kingrey reported that the class is in progress. A new chair is sought. Susan may provide mentoring to a new chair. Bruce Towhey suggested that the Climbing Executive Committee could take care of the administrative work of MOFA to ease the duties of a new chair. The fall MOFA class has not consistently been held mostly due to inadequate signup. A thank you was expressed to Susan Kingrey for her work with MOFA.
Community Relations and Outreach & charter (Mike McIntosh): There has not been recent activity within this committee including no writing of a charter yet.
Big Brothers/Sisters partnership: A grant request has been made of the Mountaineers Foundation. A possible decision may be known in the next mouth regarding the approval of the grant. The ad hoc committee writing the grant consists of Tom Whitney, Stan Springer and Patrick Chaffeur.
Other business:
Bylaws update: An ad hoc committee chaired by Mike Kretzer was approved to suggest revisions to bylaws. The consensus at this time is not to do a comprehensive and complete revision, but to focus on changes that require revision based upon needs at the time.
Records Committee. The records committee is comprised of Christy Ridout (chair), Mark Brackebusch (board representative), Tom Whitney, Jeff Foster (temporary member). According to bylaws the Library and Records activities are one committee although the library has functioned independently under the direction of Maxine Dunkleman. She would like not to extend her role into records. Steve Bremer and Christy Ridout have been communicating about issues related to this committee.
Nominating Committee: Tom Whitney, Craig Bussack, and Curt Rossler comprise the nominating committee.
Operating Plan and Budget: Activity chairs are being contacted to make any needed changes and chairs are reminded to get their information into Steve Lerch.
Webmaster/data management: Richard Barringer headed a meeting March 13. He expressed a desire to have the Olympia Branch web site to have more consistency with the Club website. The data portion of the meeting consisted of instruction about the process of online activity posting.
Calling all members: Check your info on club database and initiate corrections. Correction of errors may be delayed until a better structure is in place.
Meeting room scheduling for 2009: A discussion of alternative meeting room options showed there was interest. No decisions were reached.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Brackebusch,
Branch Secretary
Mountaineers Board Meeting
March 12, 2008
The Olympia Center, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Bruce Towhey (Chair Elect), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), John Flanagan (Trustee), Henry Romer (Sea Kayaking Chair), Tim Nagel (Member at Large), Jim French (Conservation Chair), Donna Doerer (Big Brothers Big Sisters of Thurston County)
Meeting called to order at 6:00 pm.
Big Brothers Big Sisters/ Olympia Mountaineers partnership: Donna Doerer presented the background to the “No Kids Left Inside” grant request that was submitted February 15. The proposed grant involves a partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters of Thurston County and the Olympia Branch. The terminology in the context the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program is a “match” which is one mentoring adult, a “big” and one child or teen, a “little”. This grant proposal was based on the participation of 60 matches. Grant proceeds would be used only for the direct benefit of the littles and might be used in part to fund the purchase of a pool of equipment for the littles. There could be a funding need to purchase equipment for bigs’ use in Mountaineer activities. A motion was approved to seek a grant from the Mountaineers Foundation to fund costs related the adults in proposed partnership. The approval status of the grants will not be known until May or later, and further discussion will be needed based on the approval or rejection of one or both of the grant proposals.
Treasurer’s report: A report of the club finances was presented. John Flanagan requested that the report broken be down by activity including a comparison of the actual expenditures to the budgeted amounts.
Secretary report: (Mark Brackebusch): The minutes for the February meeting have been posted on the Branch web site and all officers had an opportunity to review the draft copy of the minutes. A request was made to present membership statistics quarterly.
Trustee report (John Flanagan). Magnuson Park construction has started. A financial report was present to the Club Board a copy of which was presented at this meeting. Mountaineer Books, which has had several unprofitable years, has shown a profit in recent months. Tab Wilkins was elected Club vice president. Dave Claar was elected vice president of Properties. A grant was approved to the Kitsap Players.
Managing Committee report: There was no meeting in the last month. Stan Springer reported that age requirements for participation in Mountaineers are under discussion.
Activity Reports:
Climbing (Bruce Towhey): 26 students completed the first module. The Climbing Executive Committee has been meeting regarding the qualifications for leaders. The intermediate course will have a meeting to set up climbs. A meeting is planned regarding the posting and reports of trips will occur. There are 20 students in the scrambling course, which is ready to start.
Wilderness Skills (Jim French): Jim French presented a flyer for use in publicizing the Wilderness Skills class that begins May 8, 6:30 pm at the Knox Center, 1113 Legion Way SE, Olympia.
Kayaking (Henry Romer): The class is full at 18 students. Next year’s budget is being prepared.
Hiking (Mike Kretzer): Activities are ongoing. During the meeting the question of the qualification process for hiking leaders was raised. Mike Kretzer submitted this statement for the record:
The Hiking Committee recruits new leaders from the ranks of hiking participants. New leaders are identified through the Leadership class, or by recommendation by other members, or by volunteering. Each prospective leader works though a mentoring process, where a leader-mentor supports the new leader in setting up, scheduling, running and reporting one or more hikes. The mentor provides information and support, while the leader candidate does most of the work. The mentor also attends the hike, assists the prospective leader, and evaluates the new leader's performance.
If both the leader and the mentor are comfortable with the prospective leader's performance, then the mentor recommends that the prospective leader be added to the leader list. The new leader can then lead hikes independently. If one or the other is not comfortable with the performance, then another mentor hike is planned or other course is taken.
Hike leaders are generally quite experienced in both hiking and leading groups. They are not required to have a current MOFA certificate, nor is the Leadership class required. Over a third of current leaders have taken the Leadership class, and those who have not taken the class are encouraged to do so.
Conservation (Jim French): The conservation committee plans to schedule activities on the 1st Saturday of each month. There is a need for leaders and participants.
MOFA: Susan Kingrey has notified the Branch that she will not be continuing as the MOFA committee chair after the spring class. Requests for potential replacements were sought. The Club has a MOFA instructor class. The Branch will support paying class fees for members seeking to instruct the Branch MOFA class.
Other business:
Nominating Committee: Stan Springer complied a list of Branch members who might serve on the nominating committee.
Operating Plan and Budget: An operating plan and a budget the 2009 fiscal year will need to be developed. Stan will present to each activity committee set of documents to assist the creation next year’s budget. The document set includes The Mountaineers Strategic Plan: 2007-2012, the Branch operating plan, and the budget for fiscal 2008, and the branch budget for 2007.
Data management: There will be a meeting about the Club and Branch data and web management March 13. Henry Romer spoke in support of using the Club digital achieving resources in preference to having the branch create resources for archiving. There was discussion of how accessible the budget information should be. There was no vote on this point although there was an expression of limiting access to Branch members in addition to standard administrative access by the Club.
Aid Climbing Seminar: An Olympia Branch Aid Climbing Seminar was approved by vote.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Brackebusch,
Branch Secretary
Mountaineers Board Meeting
February 13, 2008
The Olympia Center, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Bruce Towhey (Chair Elect), Mike McIntosh (Vice Chair), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), Steve Lerch (treasurer), John Flanagan (Trustee), Henry Romer (Sea Kayaking Chair) Curt Rosler (Leadership Chair), Tim Nagel (Member at Large), Jim French (Conservation Chair), Richard Irwin, Stephen Bremer, Mike Garrick, Dean Taylor (webmaster), James Pierson, Paul Wiseman, Steve Thompson, Ron Lavigne, Robert Barnaski
Meeting called to order at 7:05 pm.
Treasurer's report: (Steve Lerch): There was a cash outflow in January related to sending a check to the Club for an amount representing initiation fees waived during Orientation Night. These funds were returned to the branch subsequent to January. There is a Club policy to allow fee waiver for this type of special event.
Secretary report: (Mark Brackebusch): The minutes for the January meeting have been posted on the Branch web site. The reading of the minutes was waived.
Vice Chair report (Mike McIntosh): The recently constituted ad hoc Community Outreach and Public Relations Committee met. The committee has set a goal of having a proposed charter written next month. Mike Macintosh and Bruce Towhey have been thinking about a new plan for the summer branch get-together, but no proposal was presented. The Banquet will be November 1 in the Percival Room at South Puget Sound Community College.
Trustee report (John Flanagan). The Club election was held and Eric Linxweiler was elected president, Steve Sears secretary, and Jordan Roderick treasurer.
There is new software that will be used for a membership survey. A contract has been signed for the remodeling of the new Mountaineers Headquarters.
Managing Committee report: No report.
Activity Reports:
Climbing (Bruce Towhey): There have been several meetings and decisions reached regarding how leaders are promoted, and how to handle equivalency. Leaders will initiate requests within the activity committee. From approval at the activity committee level, the Climbing Executive Committee (CEC) will approve or return a request with a recommended modification. The CEC has 6 weeks within which to return a leader application. The appropriate activity committee will approve equivalency.
The CEC is requesting that policies in an image format ("PDF") be converted to a text format. Mike Kretzer has volunteered to attempt to start this project. Image formats may still be used for general membership purposes.
There were 7 students interested in the intermediate climbing course of which 2 have signed up.
Scrambling: Stan Springer reported that the scrambling course is ready to start. There are 15 students signed up.
Wilderness skills (Jim French): Forty-seven students completed the course and there were 9 applications for equivalency. Evaluations returned by students were helpful. The course will be offered again in May two weeks following the Outdoor Life Festival of which the Olympia Mountaineers a sponsor. John Flanagan spoke in support of the initiation fee waiver that occurred at the orientation night as a method to build club membership. He moved that 1) The Branch waive the collection of the initiation fee for new member s joining at the Outdoor Life Festival, and 2) that the wilderness skill module be free to branch members. The motion was seconded and passed.
Hiking (Mike Kretzer): Activities are slated beginning in May.
Winter travel: No report.
Kayaking (Henry Romer): Registration opened this month and 15 of 18 openings are filled.
Conservation (Jim French): The conservation committee meeting has been postponed to March 1.
Leadership (Curt Rosler): The leadership course will be held April 15, 17, and18 at the Olympia Flight Museum. 18 are interested. Stan Springer noted the climbing and scrambling leaders are required to have passed the leadership course. Curt Rosler noted that Navigation and MOFA are not required in order to take the leadership course. Kayaking has its own process for developing leaders. MOFA and Leadership are not required, but Henry Romer noted that the kayaking course covers first aid applicable to kayaking. For example the recognition and treatment of hypothermia was an integral and key part of the kayaking course.
MOFA: No report.
Safety (Barney Barnowski): There are reports and recommendations for 2006 and 2007 on the Club Web Site. It was noted that significant events happened during non-technical activities. Incidents that are reported with via the Club web based trip reporting system are forwarded to the safety committee. The Safety Committee is a committee of the Club.
Other business:
Reports and Records Management: The Branch is seeking to reinitiate annual activity reports and an annual branch report. Tom Whitney is proposing a form for annual activity reports that can be compiled to produce a Branch annual report. Included in the minimum requirements for annual reports would be a clear listing of individuals who passed the various courses. Steve Bremer noted that it was important to be able to check leader qualifications.
Tom Whitney wants to pass on records maintenance responsibility. Christ Ridout has volunteered to assist in this process but other assistance will be needed.
Information system meeting: A date is being sought for a meeting with Richard Barringer in Olympia. Issues include use of the website, privacy issues, management of course registration signup, and utilization of the leader database and activity database. The knowledge gained needs to be institutionalized so it can be taught to others and passed on.
A nominating committee needs to be formed for this year. Note was made that the branch operating plan is due in May and the budget for the branch is due in June for presentation to the Club. The modular course format should be evaluated in the next year.
Snow Boarding: (James Pierson). A successful trip less the photographic record of the course occurred at Meany Lodge January. There were 3 students, who all did well. There is consideration to repeating the course in March. Appreciation was extended to James.
Branch web site: Dean Taylor was thanked for his fine work on the web site. There was discussion of who would be permitted to request postings on the web site. There was a past practice of having the secretary review proposed web postings before presenting them to the Webmaster. Present consensus was that activity chairs, potluck chairs and other ad hoc chairs should be allowed to send postings directly to the branch webmaster, and that others should go through a board member or activity chair. The Webmaster maintains discretion to have any proposed posting reviewed by a board member or activity chair prior to its posting.
Potluck funding: It was moved seconded, and approved that potluck activities receive and additional $60 of funding.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Brackebusch, Branch Secretary
Mountaineers Board Meeting
January 9, 2008
The Alpine Experience, Olympia
Present: Stan Springer (Chair), Bruce Towhey (Chair Elect), Mike McIntosh (Vice Chair), Mark Brackebusch (secretary), John Flanagan (Trustee), Henry Romer (Sea Kayaking Chair) Curt Rosler (Leadership Chair), Tim Nagel (Member at Large), Jim French (Conservation Chair), Chris Lott (Scrambling Chair), Jeff Foster (Climbing Committee)
Meeting called to order at 6:05 pm.
Minutes from the previous meeting were not available.
Treasurer's report: Stan Springer reported that the balance is $76,286 and income for the fiscal year is $5,242. Consideration is being made to opening a higher interest account for part of the balance.
Secretary report: Stan Springer introduced Mark Brackebusch as the new secretary.
Vice Chair report (Mike McIntosh): Mike thanked all those involved in a successful orientation night. There are a number of new members from this, a number of who did not sign up for a class at the orientation. A recommendation for future orientation would be to speed up the reservation process. Book requests need to be made soon.
The date of the banquet was chosen to be November 8 pending availability of facilities. July 17 was selected as the date for the branch picnic. In the past Burfoot Park has been used. Bruce Towhey suggested that the picnic format could be changed, possibly with live music, among other suggestions and this may necessitate a change of location.
Trustee report (John Flanagan). The election is coming up. Ed Visteurs will be in Seattle 7 pm January 28 at the Mountaineers Building with a reading and book signing of his new book No Shortcuts to the Top. A climbing boulder has been selected using separate fund raising. Henry Romer noted that the new headquarters in Seattle would have a climbing wall. Consideration could be made to using that new facility as part of a class related field trip.
Leadership (Curt Rosler): 15 people has signed up for the leadership course which will be held April 15, 17, and18 at the Olympia Flight Museum. The book for the class is "Outdoor Leadership" by John Graham.
Activity Reports:
Scrambling (Chris Lott) At the orientation 8 people signed up for the Scrambling class that starts on February 18. Bruce Towhey will follow up with Chris on purchasing cord for prusiks.
Steve Lerch has all the information from the orientation signup. Once Steve has managed the payments the list should go to Jeff to give the new signup to the appropriate committee chairs.
Winter travel (no representative) Stan made note that he would like to discuss class dates with Judson Lang or Tom Keller.
Kayaking (Henry Romer): Sign up for the kayaking class will occur in February with the classes held in April and June. The timing of the class is done early in season to allow for adequate time for kayak graduates to use their new skill in the same year.
Conservation (Jim French): The conservation committee will meet February 2 at Nisqually wildlife refuge with a walk followed by a business meeting at which the course for the next year will be set.
MOFA: No report at this meeting.
Other business:
Review of committees: Stan Springer has been doing an ongoing review of how the policies of the branch match the actual operation of the various committees. In particular, in reviewing the membership committee of the branch, he made a proposal that this committee be reconstituted as the "Public Community relations and outreachmembership Committee" having as members the Vice-chair (Mike McIntosh), the Membership chair (Dino Patiag), an at-large member (Patrick Chaffeur) and the Potluck Chair (Carolyn Burreson). The Vice Chair will report to the Board on behalf of the committee. The committee is to be an ad hoc committee and is to write its own charter for presentation to the board. In addition to functions implicit to the committee, it was noted there was a need to interact with the membership and records keeping marketing efforts of the main club to improve effectiveness and minimize duplication of work. The motion was presented by Stan Springer called for a motion, which was made by Bruce Towhey and seconded by Mike Macintosh, and approved unanimously.
Equivalency and Wilderness Ethics need chairs.
The Climbing Division will meet January 24. There was discussion about interfacing with the member databases.
Snow Boarding: Conditional approval has been given to an snowboarding course under the leadership of James Pierson. Note was made that participants of the course needed to present that the scope of the course covered snowboarding at in-bounds resort areas only and was not intended to cover out of bounds snowboarding due to avalanche risks. Out of bounds snowboarding would avalanche training from another course not offered as part of this introductory course for in-bounds snowboarding.
Maxine Dunkelman (Branch librarian) has requested funding for new bookshelves with an estimated cost of $600, an amount that is less than the value of the work due to the planned use of volunteer labor. There was consensus that she should proceed, although a specific motion was not made.
Donation: A donation was received in the name of Luanne Austin with an indication to use it for conservation. Jim French will use the $50 donation for a conservation purpose to be determined.
Used gear sale: Plans were made for a used gear sale from 6-7 pm February 4, preceding the scrambling and climbing classes which are held in the same facility.
Note was made that the branch operating plan was due in May and the budget for the branch was due in June for presentation to the main club.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00.
Respectfully submitted,
Mark Brackebusch, Branch Secretary