Minutes
VTA Coordinating Council Meeting Sunday Dec 5th, 2021 7pm ZOOM Call
Attendance: Matt Borutski, Martin Turner, David Nesbitt, Kirsten Spence, Danaé Ingram, Andy Penikett, Steve Dominy, Mark Crofts, Kelsey Johansen, Justyce Regular, Ruth Beaumont, Chris Leale, Kees Van Frankenhuyzen, Doug Elson
Regrets: Kaylee Moore, Carolynn Reid
Motion to approve Agenda & Minutes from last meeting
Moved by Kirsten Spence
Seconded by Kees Van Frankenhuyzen
Deferred for approval at next meeting. Previous minutes will accompany future Agenda packages.
1 - AGM Recap
a) Acknowledge new positions
New roles include:
President - Matt Borutski
VP West - Kirsten Spence
Publicity Director - Kelsey Johansen
Volunteer Coordinator - Kaylee Moore
Hike Ontario Rep/Insurance Coordinator - Carolynn Reid
DI will send list of new positions & unoccupied positions - KJ would like to post to social media. DI will send list of CC information for tax purposes, add date of joining council to KvF only.
MB asked for clarification on his role as President of VTA and as Casque Isles
Can sit in both, but only has one vote. Ideal to have a different individual in each role.
b) Greetings from the incoming President
Hello everyone, I just wanted to take a few minutes of your time to let you know some of my thoughts on becoming President. I am eager for the challenges that will inevitably come up. As an organisation we are at a point where we are making large changes, most notably moving the Guidebook to a digital format and facing the pitfalls that come with redeveloping our website. At the Casque Isles Club I have become the contact person and administrator. That’s not to say that we don’t have some very good people on board, but they are content and are quite capable of looking after the trail and are willing to let someone else look after administration. More than likely you all have the same experiences within your Clubs. In my experience with the
VTA CC I see individuals who, like me, are not intimidated when it comes to taking on a challenge or new adventure.
I look forward to working with every one of you and getting to know you as individuals. I am usually that guy on the saw, leading point and pushing to get the task done. I completely understand that I will make mistakes, that is part of the learning process. I want you to always feel comfortable calling me on things and reminding me of protocol.
I would like to meet with every Club over the next year, more than likely beginning in the spring. Our association spans a huge piece of this Province and I want to get a true feel of what the issues are with each of you. This association needs each individual Club to be strong and self-sufficient, that is the base of our strength. Without the Clubs, we start to fray at the edges. We will be stronger by maintaining those relationships than by working singularly, but I imagine that all of you already know that.
Thank you all for your continued support of the VTA. I hope to see you in person someday!
Matt Borutski
2- Accident/Incidents:
a) Casque Isles Hiking Trail:
Sunday, Sept. 19 2021, evening.
An 80 year old woman from Terrace Bay fractured her ankle when she fell on the Red Chairs Trail east of Terrace Bay Beach. The trail has been classified as difficult and the trailhead sign was erected on Friday, Sept. 17 2021. Ambulance paramedics had the injured on a backboard when the FD arrived for a Lift Assist.
3-30-3 Rule: Most people who hike a lot, will look at posted trail information for 3 secs; those who hike infrequently will look for 30 secs; someone new should look for 3 mins & review trail information.
Looking to add more signage in light of this incident.
KJ: Has been looking into risk management in regional clubs near her. Some of the signage used may be useful to us, the VTA. These signs provide info on how long it may take EMS to arrive on location, plus an evacuation beacon point per kilometre on trails 5km or longer. These beacons give wayfinding details, information on risk management. She has photos of this that can be circulated.
MT: Could we consider adding notes on what cell reception is like?
MB: On CI trails, cell coverage is spotty and is in & out. Would be hard to put on a sign, due to different providers, etc. Perhaps a generic “Cell coverage may be spotty” would be best.
KvF: Important that proper signs be provided, but keep in mind that people won’t always read them. More signs we put up, could lead to sign overload and less people reading at all.
MB: Parks Canada has taken to putting the signage at places of interest, not just entrances for this reason.
3 - Guidebook Committee:
Outstanding tasks are to complete the Ondago app and have the full version ready to launch in Spring, (April 1st tentatively) with one trail section that has no demo at this time.
Also seeking ads ready for the launch, which will hopefully be taken care of with the new Sponsorship package. Please be prepared to review when the package is ready.
If there are major or minor changes to the trails in your area, please let Steve know.
If individual clubs have funds available to put towards printable maps, please advise.
4 - Membership Committee:
Follow up from Oct 17: Membership lapsed for some VTACC members. MC suggested let it go till AGM and problem may work itself out.
Is there an update on this?
RB: VTA CC memberships are up to date. New secretary for Coureur de Bois (Sue) has been in communication with Ruth to try to streamline the process. Last week Ruth sent out about 10 more membership cards. She also sends reminder emails for memberships coming due, which includes direction on renewing. After 2 attempts, will move lapsed member to a second list and assume they wish to discontinue membership. This is a monthly process. MailChimp is a bit laborious to use for this purpose.
KJ: Starts social media membership posts in January to help.
KvF: If people pay via EMT, who receives the email notification and deposits it? He does not have access to the email account.
KJ: Is it set up for autodeposit?
RB: Will have to check & review the process if a member wishes to use e-transfer. UPDATE: DB receives the email, and then there is often back and forth to get further information from the sender.
KvF: e-Transfers are available for those who prefer not to use credit card or cheque. Unless the person puts their information into the ‘notes’ section of the transfer, we may have a lot of tracking to ensure it is received and applied properly. We may need to look into getting rid of all the different levels and durations. Our membership structure is too complicated. Results in a big job for the Membership Committee too.
MB: We had discussed this during our guidebook discussions, based on receiving the new access code for the app to line up with membership renewals and all being 1 year terms.
KJ: Recalls in a prior meeting that we discussed this, and there were objections due to the workload that this would result in once/year and the need to decide how mid-year joiners could
be accommodated.
KvF: An April 1st renewal date makes sense, would like to bring this conversation back.
RB: If this were to go forward, is it time to make the membership card electronic? This is a costly and antiquated system with the physical card.
SD: Website SubCommittee is looking into the new site and this has been raised. An e-card option should be made available so that you get your card once you make your membership purchase. This also brings forward the membership fee structure conversation which will need a decision in the coming months as well.
KS: There are a lot of pieces that all correlate here, which will need a full review to bring together.
KvF: Wants to push for people to use the online system. Perhaps use an incentive - cheaper to sign up online vs. via cheque for example. For the investment we’ve put into our online system, let’s push to use it more.
MB: A review of other organizations could be useful here.
KJ: Sent a proposal approx 6 months ago. DI will re-circulate per request.
SD: Membership Committee is confused with Membership Benefits SubCommittee.
RB: Was still coming up to speed on VTA when the SubCommittee was formed, so elected to abstain from it at that time.
KvF: The SubCommittee was focussed on benefits - being SWAG etc. and this type of discussion was not part of the scope.
5 - Financial Report:
Still have a very healthy bank balance with $13500 in operating, $10k in savings and our GIC which is $45-50k.
Have been spending a lot, but the operating balance has not dwindled because we’re bringing in a lot too.
KvF recalls that we made membership projections last year, and we have done well by them. He has not updated our ledgers on a monthly basis. The difficulty is that a lot of the transactions on statements are Stripe transactions. Will require a Stripe report to cross-reference and update ledgers. Suggests that a Stripe report at the end of December to cover July - Dec would work. Twice/year should suffice.
SD: Suggests that it would be ideal to automate the WooCommerce Report with the Stripe Report, as right now it is laborious and manual.
KvF: Stripe goes by date of deposit, but Woo goes by date of purchase so this makes things tricky. This is a negative consequence of the Stripe system. From an accounting point of view, it’s not good.
6 - Insurance Committee:
Follow up from AGM - can Hike Ontario Rep and Insurance Coordinator be the same person? *HO AGM is December 4th - Carolynn’s nomination will be put forward & approved at that time.
Article 3 of the Constitution does not include Insurance Coordinator as part of the coordinating council. See below in number 2. Insurance Coordinator is mentioned in the by-laws under duties.
ARTICLE 3 - COORDINATING COUNCIL
1. The Coordinating Council exists: a) to transact the business of the Association. b) to decide and enact policies of the Association. c) to guide the development and operation of the Trail. d) to provide communication between Clubs.
2. The business of the Association shall be directed by a Coordinating Council, including the following officers who will serve as its executive: President, Past President, Vice-Presidents: East, Central, and West, Treasurer/Tool Master, Recording Secretary, Membership Secretary/Landowner Database Administrator, Publicity Director, Trails Master, Hike Ontario Representative, Guidebook Coordinator, Newsletter Editor, and a Standing Committee of all club executives but no more than two representatives with voting privileges from each recognized active club (elected by the club's membership).
The number of officers may increase or decrease as deemed necessary by the Coordinating Council. Where possible Except in the case of President as noted in this Article, it will be discouraged to hold two positions on the Coordinating Council concurrently. Each person shall have one vote for the transaction of business except the Chair of the meeting. (Refer to Article 3.8).
In no case shall the Positions of President and Treasurer be held concurrently by the same individual.
In the event, and as long as there is no candidate elected to the position of President of the VTA and the position stands to remain vacant, it shall be fulfilled on a rotating basis by each Vice-President in turn for a period of two (2) years from election year to election year.
MC: She’s willing to take on both roles and he does not see anything to suggest she cannot do this.
MB: Per Item 2, these do not conflict because Insurance Coordinator is not a voting position. KJ: In what authority would CR then vote and how does that affect our bylaws.
MB: Insurance Co is not a CC member, thus she would be voting as the HO Rep.
KJ: Could we circulate for the new members of the committee whether they have voting rights and in what capacity based on their positions. Up until this point, we’ve gone ahead with whoever was on the call.
KS: After our AGM, she went through Bylaws and made a list of which positions are specifically mentioned. Some are ambiguous. Would be happy to re-write bylaws for the next AGM to make these more clear.
KvF: Update is required due to new incorporation legislation as well. This will reflect email and proxy votes, etc. Very opportune time to review & revamp our bylaws.
KJ: Based on your reading of the Bylaws, do you see a conflict in this item?
KS: No other indication that this will be a conflict. Would be ideal to have a different individual per position, but with a willing volunteer it makes sense for her to hold the role. Board could propose Bylaw Amendments in between AGMs, which will then be ratified at the AGM.
MB: Hike Ontario Rep is listed as a member of Executive per Item 2 above.
KS: There is an additional section not included here which gives more information as well.
KJ: Benefit of merging roles is that we don’t require multiple people in roles that have a lot of overlap.
Motion to merge Insurance Coordinator and Hike Ontario Representative roles to one Coordinating Council position with one vote and is considered a member of the Executive.
Motion to approve: Kelsey Johansen Seconded: Kees Van Frankenhuyzen All in Favour.
None opposed.
7 - Strategic Planning Committee:
There is not a Strategic Planning Committee per se.
a) Membership Benefits Sub-Committee Report
-CR completed scan of other hiking clubs, compared prices, inclusions, merchandise options
-pricing obtained from different retailers with the aim of starting small & then ramping up with merchandise as we learn what the demand is + reducing need to manage and distribute inventory ourselves (increase in time & cost to do that)
SD: Of the vendors that CR approached, several are in SSM, one in Thunder Bay. There could be advantages to using a vendor with local pick up to save on postage/shipping. The Thunder Bay vendor has more sustainable fabrics & options.
MC: Sustainable options are very appealing.
MB: This is the vendor we’ve used for CI club. Have been happy working with them. Only issue with sustainable clothing is that white colour options can be tricky. Ungali has had some trouble sourcing, but is reputable and great to work with. Nice light hiking shirt option if we go in that direction.
SD: Did Ungali offer buffs? *To be confirmed
KS: Special attention & thanks to Carolynn for the immense amount of work that went into putting all of this information together.
KvF: Could you clarify whether we are looking to have multiple retailers or one?
KJ: One is being looked at, due to uniformity of items and management.
KvF: Highly in favour of using a vendor who offers the webstore, as it could become very burdensome to distribute ourselves.
MB: His club received a lot of requests for patches, these go well.
SD: There is a SSM company that has our logo digitized. Anyone can bring an item there to have it embroidered. Could look at having that service in other cities as well.
KS: Does the VTA have possession of that digitized file? Worth having as it is the most costly amount when moving into embroidery. Good to have in the future in case we use other vendors.
KJ: Ungali does do multiple products, but we only requested detail on a few.
MB: Need to also consider how costly it can be to sit on inventory. Hats preferable, or other one-size items.
DI/KJ: Focussing on hats, Buffs, etc. is more inclusive and addresses the issue of the costliness of multiple sizes.
MC: Will defer a motion till we know that Ungali does Buffs as well.
KJ: Does anyone have the capacity to visit locations and check on the item quality?
KvF: Would be good to order one of each for this purpose.
MB: Will be near one of their storefronts, will visit and report back.
MT: Why is Superior Sentiments such a higher price?
KJ: Hopefully due to quality, that is why it would be ideal to get actual items to check quality.
MB: Higher quality can mean heavier shirt, which can be uncomfortable to hike in.
RB: Will visit SK in SSM to check quality.
SD: Will contact T&T and Superior Sentiments.
KJ: We’ll have a show & tell at the next meeting.
MB: Prefers taking time to ensure great product and good store fit before committing. MT: Can’t hurt to show other members the product and get feedback prior to next meeting.
8 - Marketing Committee:
NA
9 - Trail Reports:
Casque Isles Report:
The Red Chairs Trail to the east of Terrace Bay Beach has been completed. The Trail has been classified as difficult and has been signed and marked accordingly. See incident report above. The Picnic Table Lookout Trail is complete and has been signed off by Club President Borutski and Township of Schreiber CEDC Dominique Charbonneau. All payments have been transferred to the contractor. The trail has been signed and marked. The Trail begins at the A6 Access at the far south end of Schreiber and extends for 2 km to the Picnic Table Lookout. 1.8 km of the trail can be classified as easy/intermediate and the remaining 200 m is classified as intermediate. KM markers have been relocated to the proper distance as per GPS from KM 0 at Rossport to KM 16. Club members will be invited to hike the trail using their phones and apps to see how these line up before more progress will be made in 2022.
Coureur de Bois: Have a new executive council, will send names later in month. New trailmasters, new VP. Thursday afternoon hikes are the “Senior Hikes”, less than 1.5 hrs on flat terrain have been well attended (25-30 people per hike). Have 8 new certified hike leaders and a hike leader trainer.
Echo Ridges:
Harmony area: Michipicoten/Wawa area:
Marathon/Group of Seven: Nor’wester Report:
Penewobikong: Rossport Coastal Trail:
Matt Borutski has discussed the status of this trail with Dawn King, Chairperson of the Rossport Tourism Association. Due to declining membership on the RTA they will more than likely divest themselves of the Trail at their next meeting. The CIHC has discussed taking the Coastal Trail into our portfolio but it hasn’t been addressed at a meeting as of yet. There is no formal Club attached to the Coastal Trail and it was added to the CIHC when the Coastal Trail was created. The trail has become an important asset in the area and sees a lot of traffic in the tourist season. It needs to be marked better and the trailhead signs need to be updated to include safety information. The CIHC has performed the maintenance and annual audits on the trail for the last 2 years. An update will be provided to the CC when any decision is made.
Looking to avoid highway routes, due to risk.
Saulteaux Report : Sent report re: bike structures built. When he spoke with TCT, they were under the impression that the City SSM money was there to upgrade the VTA trail rather than building a new trail. Likely some issue in information between the parties whether this is a bike trail or hiking trail. Original application when it was evaluated said that the new trail was along the VTA trail, she took that to mean it would be on the VTA trail. The Saulteaux section didn’t see a need for any re-routing, so the City SSM trail parallels and starts/finishes with the VTA trail. Lack of analysis and poor choices of wording at play.
KJ: Will the new trail be signed as TCT?
MC: City is bound to sign it as TCT. He was assured that the VTA trail is TCT, so now there is a yellow loop trail off of the main white blazed trail.
KS: A lot of examples of this, not the first time it’s happened.
MC: Can make a more full report at the next meeting. Right now there is a lot of hearsay, so he does not want to jump to any conclusions.
KS: If there is upgrading funding in the future, which would have the priority? Signage will also be a question.
MB: Worth writing a letter from VTA to raise our profile and ensure communication lines are
clearer in the future.
MC: Thought that we were a full partner with TCT for a situation like this, but it didn’t happen in this situation.
8. Other
a) Signage: Carry over from Oct 17:
Item 1
At the recent VTACC meeting we discussed signage to encourage the many non-members to become members. I have attached an image of the sign that is posted on some of the Saulteaux area trails. I can't say how many memberships these signs have generated, but I'd assume that most folks either ignore or don't notice the sign, or they ignore the message. Maybe the text/format needs a revamp? Does your club use this sign?
Item 2
The "Green Hiker" signs
Saulteaux has a some of these signs, but most are plastic and they degrade in the sun. I have come across too many that are lying in bits at the base of the tree they were once nailed to. If we need more, I propose that the next order would be of the metal type. Attached is a quote. But before I get to that stage I need to know how many other clubs use these signs and how many we already have in inventory. Can you help?
MC: One issue is that the Saulteaux signs for main access points (green hiker) need to be done in metal. Looking to find out if other clubs use these, if so, should we order a higher quantity to have in our inventory?
MB: We don’t on CI
MT: Use them in Elliott Lake, but mostly for your car if you’re parking on the side of the road so that it signals you’re hiking. We don’t use them on the trailhead.
KS: Had some in Marathon, but they got torn down & they were not put back up.
MC: There was some conversation about using other signs that invite people to join the VTA. However, if more signs were made up, does anyone else want to use them too? This is the sign with the QR code.
KS: Given the conversation about Risk Management using signs, this could be a timely junction to come up with a signage plan for uniformity and a risk update overall.
KvF: Thinks this is a good approach. Does not believe it will encourage people to join, in his experience with LSWC they have not seen more than 1 response from their signs with the QR codes. Worries it causes sign overload.
MB: Could you clarify if the signs you are referring to are for wayfinding or branding?
MC: Conversation started re: a question about signs that point people to the VTA.
MB: Thinks they would use social media more for encouraging new memberships.
KJ: Should avoid pulling a TCT and ordering a large amount of signs, only to have to change them again in 2 years. Supports a signage plan to be developed.
KS: For a signage plan, should look at integrated signage across clubs, etc. Supports a signage plan.
KJ: If we’re looking at revamping trail, risk management, etc. there is clearly a need for additional signage. Could create cohesion across network and benefit everyone so that we’re not all doing the same thing separately.
MC: The only sign that binds clubs across VTA is the one with the spelling mistake. :)
KS: Going back to trailhead signing is important from an insurance perspective. Need to find funding and hire someone to do this.
KJ: Really stresses that a cohesive plan is needed, cites past examples where money was spent and wasn’t fully optimized. Could we have a committee that looks for funding and submits and RFP for that?
MB: Destination Northern Ontario is putting a lot of emphasis on wayfinding. Revamping signage would likely be successful for grants. Will report on how the Casque Isles did all of this.
Agreement that a committee can be struck in the near future to seek funding for wayfinding review. Will look to Matt’s experience with Casque Isles to help inform before a committee will be put together. Should look at what common signage is required per insurance and that messaging is communicated to clubs. Other signs could fall under more general guidelines. This would also be very helpful for clubs trying to navigate signage.
RB: From personal experience, she has hiked the VTA many times without realizing there was a membership option. It was not until she hiked with others who asked her about membership that she was made aware. Signage would be helpful for this type of market.
b) Hiker Hotline: Carry over from Oct 17:
Email from Susan Graham: For some years now, I felt the VTA Hikers' Hotline was serving no real use any more. Since it was printed on the bottom of every page of the guidebook, it was felt that
it should be kept for the time being. Seeing as we are no longer printing guidebooks and the number has been removed from the web page, etc., I think it is time the number be discontinued. In the past 6 months, I have had exactly 2 calls. One was from a 705 area code, so they didn't require a toll free number anyway. The cost is generally $13.70 per month, which is not a big expense, but an unnecessary one at this point. Also, as I am very often at camp or away, I am not at home at the time that calls come in, so people most likely make inquiries elsewhere, like the website.
MC: The calls go to Susan’s house. The usage is very low, likely not worth the cost. On her recommendation, he will motion:
Motion: Move that we cease the Hiker Hotline. Moved by MC
Seconded by MT
All in favour
None opposed.
c) Trail Master Report:
Looking to meet with new volunteers and is trying to work with parks to move forward, but is not getting any return contact.
d) Newsletter/Publicity/Website:
No report, except that support from membership needed on social media and with the newsletter. Will be receiving a new council list so that she can reach out and do a welcome campaign with a request for additional volunteers.
e) Hike Ontario Rep Report: NA
f) Volunteer Support (Email from Kirsten, Oct 29):
The VTA has grown quite a bit in the past few years. There are new volunteers that have stepped forward to give their time to keep the organization running which is a blessing as without them, there is no VTA.
That being said, I propose that the VTA spend some funds to make the job of volunteers easier and most importantly - time efficient.
1. Newsletter – Kelsey elevated the professionalism of the VTA with a beautiful newsletter format. There were many complements on the polished look and is a great membership recruitment tool. The cost of Issu is less than $20/month. She’s outlined the benefits and features that would further the work and fundraising opportunities included in the software in previous meetings.
2. Membership – this has turned into a fulltime job to manage the membership of the VTA. There are platforms that help manage the membership, send out reminders, reduce the time to input
data, manage payment etc. The cost of a platform like Wild Apricot is $40/month. There are
many out there and are very reasonably priced.
3. Zoom – Using the Hike Ontario account has been helpful but the amount of time that is wasted
waiting for them to start the meeting, calling them because they forgot etc is getting old. One licence for $250/year could be shared out amongst the clubs to use as well. That would be a value added service the CC can provide clubs. Schedule meetings, everyone would see when a meeting is scheduled and plan around if another meeting is being planned. The cost of this is less than the mileage paid to club members to attend an AGM.
Having worked for Not-For-Profit organizations for almost my whole working career, I understand the value of a dollar and trying to keep organizations financially afloat. But there comes a time when an organization needs to spend some funds for the sake of retaining volunteers. Having dedicated volunteers is a difficult thing to attract and has a cost as well. Spending less than $1,000/year to support those volunteers and grow the organization is money very well spent. I bet the growth of the organization using these tools would more than offset the cost in the long run and would go a long way in supporting our dedicated volunteers and helping to professionalize the VTA.
MB: Could support a Zoom account for the VTA. Would need to look into what we need in our Zoom account.
KS: Group of Seven spends $250USD per year for their subscription, but this does not include call in numbers. Not sure if that would be an issue. Thinks we should spend money on things that help our volunteers. There could be multiple benefits to doing this.
SD: Did we not approve a budget for the newsletter?
KJ: We agreed to purchase the Canva account and the Newsletter issue account. WIll need a higher level issue account going forward.
Motion to pay for VTA Zoom account. Forwarded by: Kirsten Spence Seconded by: Kees Van Frankenhuyzen All in favour.
None opposed.
Motion that the VTA purchase an extended issue membership that allows 2 or more collaborators to work on a single publication, and that allows us to do more publications, generate ad revenue, and provide analytics. (approx. $20 USD monthly, due to the current 50% off promotion).
Forwarded by: Kelsey Johansen
Seconded by: Kees Van Frankenhuyzen
All in favour.
None opposed.
g) Highlight/Reminder: National Trail Youth Employment Program
National Trail Youth Employment Program
Are you planning to hire young employees over the winter? You can receive a 50% subsidy of up to $3,500, per youth employee!
This funding is also available retroactively to April 1, 2021, for any youth who were employed over the spring and summer.
We encourage all employers to support youth who face barriers to employment and access to the trail sector.
Start your application here: National Trail Youth Employment Program Funding is available for youth employed until March 31, 2022
h) Adding Information to the VTA web site for landowners (Email chain from Mark, Nov 29)
Via email chain starting Nov 29, Carolynn Reid reached out to Hike Ontario to review content and comment on insurance coverage for Landowners.
Document is with HO currently, and the final draft will be put on un-editable letterhead and added to our site.
Draft of this document attached in meeting package.
Deferred to next meeting.
Next meeting: February 13 2021, 7pm
Move to adjourn MB Seconded by KS
