VOYAGEUR TRAIL ASSOCIATION
COORDINATING COUNCIL MEETING
Date: January 26, 2008
Location:
Present: D. MacKay (Chair), M. Landmark, C. Landmark,
S. Graham, B. Sinclair, A. Day, J-G Letarte, P. Barnes, D. Morettin, L. Gringorten
Absent: J. Marck, P. Capper, D. Stefurak, G. Labrash
2008.01 Call to Order and Review of Previous Minutes
- called the meeting to order at 10:20 a.m. and introductions were made
- review of September 29, 2007 minutes -> motion by G. Phillips, seconded by S. Graham to accept previous minutes, carried
- addition of items to agenda -> queries about website and Constitution
(M. Landmark)
2008.02 Old Business
2007.19.01 John Hornstein Proposal for Wawa (L. Gringorten)
- Larry spoke to John -> can’t be more than one lead on a Trillium application
- North View not well enough known -> Trillium said they had run a deficit
(North View had leased two vehicles and this is considered a deficit)
- John has not talked to the
decline his request to be the lead on the proposal
- we already have a grant open until June so we couldn’t apply or be awarded
another grant until that one is closed
- John has been successful in recruiting Katimavik youth volunteers for the
summer
- do we really want to be the lead on this project? -> even though North View
would take it over, we would still ultimately be responsible for its success ->
we would prefer if the
- Larry will suggest to John that he should talk to Lori Johnson in Wawa
(ongoing)
2007.19.02 LAMBAC (Trails in Espanola/Manitoulin
- LAMBAC consists of groups from Espanola, Whitefish First Nations,
Sagamok First Nations, and
- Manitoulin has a lot of private property -> could be a problem with getting
landowner permission for trails
- the opportunity is there to expand our trail system-> we should talk to the local
clubs, particularly the snowmobile club about using the old rail bed
- CDB has hiked on Sagamok First Nations land several times and has
encountered no problems with getting permission
2008.02 Old Business (cont’d)
2007.19.02 LAMBAC (Trails in Espanola/Manitoulin
- a group of people from Massey and Webbwood are trying to revive the old
Heaven’s Gate trail in the Sagamok Reserve and
- we should see if we can use the snowmobile trail from Massey to Walford and
Spanish as part of our system
- Alan will continue negotiations
(ongoing)
2007.19.04 PayPal Feature on VTA Website (
- still working with the web designers -> Steve and Gayle had a meeting in
October with them
- Pay Pal feature is working -> can pay online with credit card but still have to
download the membership form and send it in
- still working on the online donations feature
- Steve has access to the account -> has to ask for a transfer to the VTA account and we have to pay a fee for this
- each club page on the VTA website has a link that will take you to another page to buy parts of the guidebook or the whole guidebook
- the web designers say the additional work might be above and beyond our original contract with them -> we might get an extra bill, which we can pay from the Trillium grant
(ongoing)
2008.03 New Business
2008.03.01 Membership Renewal Dates (Jean-Guy Letarte)
- Jean-Guy Letarte from the Coureurs des Bois club had some questions about
the membership process -> he wondered if it would be better to have a
January to December membership year instead of staggered join dates
throughout the year -> this is something that was discussed a number of years
ago and it was decided to go with the current process to prevent the
Membership Secretary from receiving too many renewals at one time
- the membership software can export data to Excel -> Mike and Cheryl have
started working on a spreadsheet that might produce better reports
(closed)
2008.03.02 Who Looks After info@voyageurtrail.ca? (M. Landmark)
- this is an email site that people can use to send questions or comments to
the VTA (the email site has a link on our website
- Digital Webworks gave Gayle the settings to check the email on
this site and distributed the settings to everyone at the meeting
- Gayle has been checking the site once a week
- a suggestion was made that, if anyone checks the emails and replies to them, let other
people in the VTA know -> also, if it’s a membership question, forward to Mike and
Debbie, or if it’s a guidebook question, forward to Steve, etc.
(closed)
2008.03 New Business (cont’d)
2008.03.03 Removal of Only Two Guidebooks per Member (M. Landmark)
- Mike questioned why we are limiting members’ purchases of the guidebook to two
(he had a request on the 1-877 number from a member who wanted to purchase
four books) -> even if the member sells a guidebook to someone else, the VTA still
gets the money from the original purchase
- Steve explained that the limitation was imposed to encourage other people to buy a
membership and to discourage current members from buying guidebooks at the
member cost and giving them to all their friends -> no incentive for the friends to join
the VTA
- motion by M. Landmark , seconded by P. Barnes, that we remove the restriction of 2 books per member (2 for, 9 against) defeated
(closed)
2008.03.04 Budget for Landowner Information Search (M. Landmark/B. Sinclair)
- the VTA has an agreement with the MNR, which gives us an outline of the properties
that our trails go through) -> the VTA crosses about 560 properties (280 outside of
Sault Ste. Marie and about 66 in the
- Bob has tried to find out from the Taxation Offices who pays taxes on the properties,
but most have refused to give out this information -> they suggested that we should go to the Land Registry Office, which charges $8.00 per request
- at the present time, our landowner database is very incomplete and inaccurate, but
do we want to spend a lot of money on updating it?
- a suggestion was made that, instead of finding out landowner information, we could
do another trail audit and make sure there are VTA signs on the properties -> maybe
we should just worry about getting landowner information for new trail properties and
not the existing trails -> if a problem like
- a suggestion was also made that the local clubs come up with as much landowner information as possible on their properties and send this to Mike and Bob -> Bob will
send a map and a spreadsheet of what information we already have to the local clubs
(closed)
2008.03.05 CIAF Fund Project (S. Dominy)
- proposal submitted
- this is part of the guidebook project -> promotion of our trail system to youth -> need
to complete by the end of June 2008
- Susan Graham and Carole Blaquiere have been helping Steve and have met with
- Steve is proposing to set this project up as an internship (Katie would be paid a stipend and not a contract per se; this way, we can avoid Revenue
- the area covered by Katie’s presentations would be Rossport to
- would include indoor presentations, games and activities, geocaching, etc.
2008.03 New Business (cont’d)
2008.03.05 CIAF Fund Project (S. Dominy) (con’td)
- motion by S. Dominy, seconded by A. Day, that we offer a complimentary
guidebook to each of the groups with an upper limit of 30 books, carried
- each club could send Katie a list of contacts for these groups in their areas, so
that she can set up a presentation
- Larry will check our insurance policy to make sure Katie is covered
- a suggestion was made that we develop a 1-2 page brochure of each area with a map
of the local trails, contact information, etc. that Katie could leave with each group for
future use in the community
- she could also give out the video “Walk with the Spirit of the Voyageurs”
(ongoing)
2008.04 Good of the Association
- TCT meeting will be held in Sault Ste. Marie on Feb. 29/08 -> Gayle will forward a
list of emails to the TCT of people interested in attending (let her know) -> Mike will
forward the invitation to the Coordinating Council
- the TCT Pavilion will be opening in the spring of 2008 -> the pavilion and panels are
already in Sault Ste. Marie
- a letter of support from the VTA was sent to the Algoma Highlands Conservancy
regarding their proposal to maintain the Stokely Creek area as a conservation area
- Northern Ontario Trails –> Mike is on the board in Sault Ste. Marie -> the walking
guide is available through local Health Units
- Ontario North Attractions -> approx. 2 million brochures distributed (the VTA is
an Associate Member)
-
Mike has talked to her about the VTA trail
- Hike
- Algoma Country Travel Guide
- brief review of some sections of the Constitution and Bylaws to clarify questions
that Mike has received in the last while
2008.05 Council Reports
2008.05.01 President’s Report (vacant)
- no report
2008.05.02 Vice-President East’s Report (A. Day)
- report submitted
2008.05.03 Vice-President Central’s Report (vacant)
- no report
2008.05.04 Vice-President West’s Report (D. MacKay)
- no report
2008.05.05 Treasurer/Tool Master’s Report (D. Morettin)
- report submitted
2008.05.06 Membership Secretary/Landowner Database Administrator’s Report
(M. Landmark)
- report submitted
2008.05.07 Publicity Director’s Report (G. Phillips)
- report submitted
2008.05.08 Database Manager’s Report (Bob Sinclair)
- report submitted
2008.05.09 Hike Ontario Representative’s Report (P. Capper)
- report submitted after the meeting
2008.06 Committee Reports
2008.06.01 Guidebook Committee’s Report (S. Dominy)
- report submitted
2008.06.02 Newsletter (C. Landmark)
- the deadline for the next newsletter is April 1, 2008
2008.06.03 Insurance (L. Gringorten)
- report submitted
2008.07 Club Reports
2008.07.01
- no report
2008.07.02 Casque Isles (D. Stefurak)
- report submitted
2008.07.03 Michipicoten (A. Stevens)
- no report
2008.07.04 Saulteaux (G. Phillips)
- report submitted
2008.07.05 Penewobikong (J. Marck)
- no report
2008.07.06 Coureurs de Bois (P. Barnes)
- report submitted
2008.08 Next Meeting
- the next meeting will be held on May 3, 2008 (location to be announced)
Meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
