Lyndon Sno Cruisers Snowmobile Club Meeting

Attendees: Bob Hinkley, John D. Gould, Mike Stone, Patti Gee, Linwood Gee, Dan Tanner, Paul Gilman, Matt Harris, John Snow, Fran Pillsbur= y, Garth Chesley, Cheryl Chesley, Al Robertson, Jen Pierce, Bob Jauch, John Ke= nny, Curt Cuccia, Amber Fissette, Ryan Fisssette, Paul Morin, Ellen Gould = ; <= /b>

Call To Order= - January 4, 2008 7:10pm at the Freighthouse Restaurant

Club Meeting = Minutes from 12/7/2007

·            = ;        Read and Accepted

Treasurers Re= port

·            = ;        Read and Accepted

Vast News and Information

·            = ;        Fran Pillsbury attended VAST Meeting and reported the following:

o      = Strong TMA sales – good forecast for incoming funds this year

o      = No big issues

o      = Lot’s of water holes

o      = 90% of trails in the State are open

TMA Sales

·            = ;        TMA Sales through December were 640+.

·            = ;        There was tremendous a strain on NorthEast A= g. employees in December due to the heavy volume of TMA sales in a short time frame as people wanted to take advantage of preseason savings. Cheryl Chesley spent some time at NorthEast Ag. helping with TMAs. She said their challenge was that they do both registrations and TMAs which is a timely process. Ch= eryl recommended that we plan on getting them more help next year to cover the b= usy preseason period. Other club members agree that his was a good idea.

Trail Reports=

·            = ;        Section 1 Corridor #51 (Ramsey four corners = to Doug Solinsky)

o      = Need to get some logging signs installed in this area due to logging operation
·            = ;        Section 5 – Town Trail (Lynburke Motor Lodge to Asia Restaurant)

o      = Riders have been crossing the tracks to get to North East Ag. and riding down the track.

o      = Larry Donna sent several e-mails to= the State Police, Art Sanborn, VAST and others indicating that there were probl= ems with riders on the tracks and specifically crossing tracks. A summary of the content of Larry’s e-mails is as follows:

§§ From Larry to Matt and Bryant is summarized as follows:

·        The local snowmobile club (Sno Cruisers) indicated that they would install a snow fence from the south end of the tr= ail (parking area @ Asia Restaurant) north to a point near the Lyndon Methodist Church and then install a rope fence to the point where the trail is no lon= ger located on the State-owned railroad right of way and we were to installed s= igns placing snowmobilers on notice that they were not allowed to cross the trac= ks. Larry stated that instead, he foun= d the trail had been marked by grade stakes with plastic signs along the easterly side of the snowmobile trail.

·        He was informed by Frenchie Demars that there are snowmobile tracks that come from Lyndonville Electric Pole Yard, travel down the main line, across the tracks and over the switch that Serves North= East Agricultural Sales and then down the siding to NorthEast Agricultural Sales= and that snowmobilers crossing over the switch is causing an operational and sa= fety issue because the snow is being packed into the switch which raises the potential for a derailment at the switch.

·        He was instructed by Trini Brassard to inform Matt and Bryant that VAST will be required to install a snow-fence along the east side of the snowmobile trail located on the State-owned railroad right-of-way and that this work need to be completed within the next week or the Railroad will need to close the trail for safety reason.

·        They (the railroad) will also inspect the northern portion of the yard to determine how best to deal with the crossin= g of the main line and the use of the side track to gain access to Northeast Agricultural Sales.

·        Plans by VAST to complete a high inspection = of the WACR-CRL by high-rail will need to be made with Charlie Lemieux.

·        Arrangements need to be made with Stan Robin= son who will provide information about the location of the WACR-CRL and the valuation station references for each occupation.

·        Stan Robinson reported there is evidence of = snowmobilers traveling alongside and down the rail north of West Burke. It is important that VAST take act= ion on these matters.

·        At this time, an inventory of VAST authorized crossings and occupations of the WACR-CRL right-o-way needs to be completed. Once that is done,= the railroad will draft an agreement outlining the terms and conditions under which VAST= and its local clubs will be allowed to use the State-owned right-of-way. Continued unauthorized use by VAST members will place this arrangement at risk.

o      = Club members did not remember an agreement with the railroad to put up a snow fe= nce as outlined in Larry’s e-mail, but a vote was taken to decide whether= we should just close the trail or whether we should put up a fence and see if = this helps. Club members voted to = put up a fence to see if this helps. Paul Gilman will coordinate getting the snow fence installed within the next wee= k.

·            = ;        Section 8 Corridor #54/#54A – East Burke Village to EX-41

o      = Landowner up on Victory Trail asked us to do what we can to slow people down through = his yard. Club members will put m= ore signs up in this area.

·            = ;        Section 9 - West Burke Trail

o      = More signs are still needed on this trail

Grooming Equi= pment Update

·            = ;        BR180 and New Drag

= -      =    The grooming crew indicated that the new BR180 and = new Drag are working out well.

·            = ;        Skandic Wide Track

= -      =    There is a problem when going through Dips where the drag hits the luggage rack on the back of the skandic. The rack was bent and taillight was broken.

= -      =    There also seems to be too much pressure on the rea= r of the sled from the weight of the drag

= -      =    The skandic and small drag will be sent back to Nor= th East Ag. for a retrofit of the drag to fix the problem with the closeness to the luggage rack and to have the rear suspension stiffened up to account for the weight of the drag.

NEK Drag Raci= ng

·            = ;        Jen submitted a personal check and all the paperwork to ISR for our affiliation

·            = ;        Moving trailers/racing sleds to left of the track will provide more viewing from cars.

·            = ;        The Ice on the track is in great shape.

·            = ;        Several sponsors have already committed to Platinum, Gold and Silver Sponsorships.&nb= sp; We are expecting several more in the coming week

·            = ;        We will pay insurance for 2 races at a time instead of just one. There is= no risk in doing this as the money can be carried over if for some reason we cannot hold one of the next two scheduled races and we will receive a refun= d if we do not hold 2 races this year.

Landowner Per= mission Slip Status

·            = ;        All required permission slips have been received.

Next Meeting:=

·            = ;        Feb. 1st - 7:00pm at Allan Robertson’s house

·            = ;        Club member should contact Allan if they pla= n on attending the meeting and need directions.