Minutes – Feb 2024

*Meeting called to order on 2/6/24, 7:00pm at Ken’s Keyboard by Spencer.

Secretary’s report: 

• All past month meeting minutes are posted on our webpage.  No additions or corrections. 

Treasurer’s report:

• 149 memberships this year, up from last year.
• Fun Run sponsorships are in.
• Meat raffle on Friday should bring in more income.
• Expecting to exceed income projections that are currently in budget.

Media/Marketing: 

Council Report:

• Polk County now has a new Parks & Rec guy – Tony Novak
• Work on non-funded trails.
• Grant for Cattail trail.
• Stower trail.  Nothing new.
• AWSC.  Corporate memberships and Ride Command.  $100.  Frank explained this was set up for clubs to generate revenue and suggested we should have a plan for next year.  Memberships would be for 13 months and we would go back out each year to the sponsors.

Trail Bosses Report: 

• No updates.

KAOS Youth Club:

• Club plans to donate a rescue sled to the Milltown Fire & Rescue.  Photo op after the decals are on the sled and will see if Miss Snowflake is available to join.
• Next KAOS meeting is next Tuesday, 2/13 at 7:00 at McKenzie Lanes in Centuria.

Old Business:

• No old business.

New Business:

• Motion made & seconded to increase the budgeted scholarship amount back to $1,000 (to provide two $500 scholarships) and donate $500 to the local food shelf.  Motion carried.
• 501c3.  Discussion on what is a civic contribution for the IRS.  Frank discussed that they are looking for more civic contributions.  Discussion on the food pantry donation.  Keep the food pantry for now.  If we hear back from the 501c3 application that we need more civic contributions (i.e. fire, rescue, police), then the club may need to reconsider the donation.
• Clothing.  See additional notes in Other Revenue Committee section.  Motion made and seconded to have 25 basic items in the clothing store with the current logo.  Price mark up to be the same as ATV club currently has with Dakota (about $8-10 per item).  Approved $50 set up fee for embroidery.  Motion carried.

Committee Reports:  Reminder to all club members that committees were formed at the December 2023 club meeting to establish designated missions, leaders, contributors, and budgets for each.  This is intended to allow progress to be made within each committee without requiring votes for actions so long as the committees operate within their allotted budget and mission.  Anyone is welcome to join a committee(s) to get involved.  More help is always appreciated!  Questions can be directed to committee chairpersons.

• Fair Revenue Committee:
  • Chair:  Cyndi Sommerfeldt
  • Mission:  Maximize fair revenue by providing food and drink to the participants of the Osceola Fair at a reasonable value.
  • Budget:  $500
  • No updates this month.
• Other Revenue Committee:
  • Chair:  Kate & Chris Shermach
  • Mission:  Generate additional revenue to the club to close any budget gaps that may happen.  Possible streams could include donations, raffles, poker run, clothing store, etc.
  • Budget:  $300
  • Updates:
    • Winter Fun Run is set for February 24, with or without snow!
    • Discussed details of the event.  Fliers were passed out so they can be shared at work or elsewhere.  Flier was also emailed to club members.
    • Took a quick count of those at the meeting who plan to attend.  Estimate 15+.  Let members know we only plan to order 50 T-shirts.  We will give club members their shirts later if we have a good turnout.  Non-club members will get priority to get shirts first.
    • Start at any of the locations to purchase a punch card for $25/person.  Tickets will be punched at each stop.  Participants will receive a T-shirt and be entered into raffle prizes
    • Six “Silver” stops on the route, each business donating for Silver sponsorship plus a Vintage Snowmobile Show for entertainment:
      • The Friendly Bar in Star Prairie
      • The Sports Bar in Star Prairie
      • Tac Two in Amery
      • Birch Street Bar in Amery
      • UW Wanderoos in Wanderoos
      • Pottsie’s Place in East Farmington
      • Vintage Snowmobile Show in Amery (10:00am-2:00pm)
    • Final stop will be the Gold Sponsor and host the raffle at 7:00pm.
      • Ken’s Keyboard in East Farmington
    • Other Bronze level sponsors are donating cash, gift cards, prizes, etc
    • All sponsors will be listed on the t-shirt.
  • Club clothing store.  Discussed what Dakota in Amery can offer.  Other ideas to keep old logo or wait to get a new logo.  Discussion that we should just move along and use current logo for now.  Mark will take on the initial contact with Dakota and get the store set up.  See motion & approval in new business.
• Landowner Appreciation Committee:
  • Chair:  Donna Berg
  • Mission:  Show appreciation to our 110+ landowners for allowing our trails to cross their property.
  • Budget:  $5,000
  • Updates:
    • Date & location set.  UW Wanderoos outback shed on May 5.
• Scholarship / Donation Committee:
  • Chair:  Angel Olson
  • Mission:  Give back to the community by donating to worthy causes like college scholarships to our local graduating high school seniors and donating to the local food shelves, fire departments, rescue squads, etc.
  • Budget:  $1,000
  • Updates:
    • Meat raffle is this Friday, February 9 at 6:00pm at Pottsie’s Place.
    • Angel asked if anyone else wanted to join the Scholarship committee.
• Social Committee:
  • Chair:  Spencer Feldt
  • Mission:  Show appreciation to our members for all the work they do to ensure we meet the needs of our landowners, trails, and community.
  • Budget:  $200
  • Updates:
    • Club Safari that was planned for Hayward in January was cancelled due to lack of snow.
    • No other updates.
• Social Media Committee:
  • Chair:  Jacque Bonneprise
  • Mission:  Maintain our website, Facebook, and other platforms to ensure our by-laws, meeting minutes, activities, trail information, etc are readily available to our members and community.
  • Budget:  $25
  • Updates:
    • The Facebook account has been reset.  Mark Kuhl was able to help and now the account has multiple administrators that can post and add events.  Thanks to Eric who has been running the page.  Angel O, Jim B, and Susan M have been added as additional admins with Eric.
• Trail Committee:
  • Chair:  Kevin McNutt
  • Mission:  Work closely with our landowners to ensure our trails are safe and fun for all our members and visitors.  Document all trail work in SNARS.  Collect and save land use agreements and send to the county rep.
  • Budget:  $800
  • Updates:
    • No updates this month.
• Finance Committee:
  • Chair:  Frank Sommerfeldt
  • Mission:  Create and oversee a budget that will be sufficient to appreciate our landowners, maintain our trails, recognize our members, and contribute to our community.
  • Budget:  $300
  • Updates:
    • Projected income increased with Fun Run revenue.  See new business for motion and approval to increase scholarship budget and donation budget.

Next Meeting: March 5, 2024 at Pottsie’s at 7:00pm. *Motion to adjourn approved at 7:45pm

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Officers: President: Spencer Feldt (2025),Vice President: David Johnson (2024), Secretary: Kevin McNutt (2025), Treasurer: Frank Sommerfeldt (2024)

Board of Directors: Rhett Larson (2025), Cyndi Sommerfeldt (2025), Chris Keezer (2024), Austin Mueller (2024)

Trail Bosses: West: Brad McGuiggan & Jason Raska, East: Scott Carlson, Dresser West: Arik Mahler, Dresser East: Kevin McNutt, Stower Trail: Jeff Jonas & Rick LeRoux, Trail 30: Frank Sommerfeldt

Council Reps: Eric Hallen, Jim Berg