1. 30 Minute Public Comment Period

Abram Herman introduced himself, sharing his experience as the city of Grand Junction mayor and his involvement in various boards and organizations. He expressed interest in joining the GMNC board and offered his skills in strategic and policy-level work. The board members appreciated his experience and expressed their desire for him to join the board. They also discussed the importance of accessibility in outdoor activities and the focus of the Nordic Council on this issue. 

• Meeting Minutes

March meeting minutes will be available for review at the May meeting

• Monthly Financials

Year-to-date, GMNC is close to breaking even. Gifts and donations are outperforming previous years, and the organization is on track to meet its budget with total revenues at 98% and expenses at 93% of budget. The investment report shows separate accounts for operations and Skyway Station, with plans to invest $150,000 in short term Treasury bills for operations.

• Executive Director Report

We have completed our operating season and closed down the ski area. We had a good season! More than 200 people participated in our free ski clinics, paid clinics or private lessons, and GMNC’s Empowered Energy Systems Race Series had 117 participants. We had strong participation in volunteer work and good turnout for our end of the season parties. We finished the year in great financial position. The Skyway Station project is moving ahead, with official USFS approval expected by the end of April. We just received a $100,000 grant to fund the snowcat shelter on Skyway Station 

• Memberships 

This season 1,130 donors gave to GMNC, including 319 first-time donors. More than 20% of our members gave $250 or more. We currently have 43 sustaining members (including many of you on the board, thanks!) and these members are giving anywhere from $15 to $232/month.

• Operations

The snowcat was brought down the Mesa on Wednesday for its summer maintenance at Kässbohrer. Picnic tables, benches, trail head signs, etc. were also moved into storage for the off-season. Two snowmobiles are being stored at Greg Peterson’s storage business in Paonia, and one is at Weekender for service. 

• Trail Expansion Project

With the grant funding from Colorado Parks and Wildlife GMNC is hiring Westwater Engineering for the trail expansion project. We are currently finalizing the contract. I got some feedback from Ross at Mesa County Trails on what the contract should have and have also run it by Dan and John. Over the next month or so, I’m getting out and inspecting our proposed routes and looking to finalize them. I’m working with Tigran on this. We went out and skied one of the trails at Skyway last week. I’ve got a few volunteers who have also offered to help, and I’ll be continuing to solicit input on the route placement. The snowshoe trail at County Line still needs to be placed.

• Skyway Station Update
• Goodwin Foundation Grant

Dan provided an update on the Goodwin Foundation Grant, which will be split over two years, with $50,000 allocated for each year. The grant is specifically for the snow cat shed and is in addition to the $30,000 already granted for the solar system and downstairs outfitting. The Goodwin Foundation is the second largest contributor to the project, behind the initial donor. Christie has a meeting with WCCF on Monday. The team still needs to raise $200,000 to fully finish the snowcat shed. 

• 30 Day Public Comment period

The 30-day public comment period finished on April 12th. We are awaiting the results from the Forest Service on these comments, which we expect by the beginning of May. I corresponded with Tim Wise via email regarding any potential issues related to architecture and engineering raised during the public comment period, and he confirmed that there were none. As a result, we can proceed with Chamberlain Architects and the engineering firms to finalize the building design.

• Other building updates
• Sorting out the battery room infrastructure has been a lot more complicated than we thought and a huge thanks needs to go to Brad Burritt for doing all the heavy lifting on this. I know between off grid fire code related restrictions as well as altitude related restriction that popped up at the last minute, this has been a challenge for everyone to make this work.
• All necessary documents for Tate to obtain bids for the building should be sent to him by the end of business Tuesday, April 22nd. The remainder of the 90% design package should be completed within the next one to one and a half weeks.
• Tate is expected to have the bids back to us by mid-May, depending on Chamberlain meeting the April 22nd deadline. He stated that pricing is still uncertain due to all the tariff uncertainty but he is still confident on him coming in at budget.
• Bylaw Changes and Board Elections

The board discussed several modifications to the bylaws, including allowing the executive director to serve as the Forest Service liaison in addition to a board member, removing language that allows officers to hold multiple positions simultaneously, clarifying the board election process, and allowing the officer positions of Secretary and Treasurer to serve in their positions indefinitely with a 2/3 majority board vote each year. John also proposed staggered board terms so board members terms don’t end all at the same time. The board plans to finalize and vote on the bylaw changes via email before the May meeting. 

Respectfully submitted 

Daniel Tille