Minutes – April 2024

*Meeting called to order on 4/2/24, 7:02pm at UW Wanderoos by Spencer.

Secretary’s report: 

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

Treasurer’s report:

• No updates thru March.  No income or expenses.
• Will have expenses in April for flowers, scholarships, and land owner’s appreciation.

Old Business:

• Approval at March meeting to look at buying a new microphone/speaker.  Kate S researched and found two options ranging from $100-225.  Discussion on lower priced, lesser quality option or the higher priced, better durability option.
  • Motion made by Jim to amend the March motion to increase the amount to up to $250 to purchase a mic.  Motion seconded and approved.
  • Chris S. to order a reconditioned, used speaker for approximately $175.  Mark J to donate a microphone for it.  This should work well for many uses.
• Clothing store for the club now open.  A link can be found on the club website.
  • Mark K did the leg work and had samples to show.  The logo he showed will be expanded by about 25% and some lettering changed to white.
  • About $4-5 from each item will go back to the club to cover expenses.
  • In store pick-up is available or items can be shipped for additional cost.
• Trail Appreciation.
  • Instead of a groomer banquet this year, the County Snowmobile Council will be hosting a Trail Appreciation dinner at the Balsam Lake groomer shed on April 11 from 5:00-7:00 prior to the county council meeting.  Anyone that helped with the trails this year is welcome to attend, but please let Doug Kromrey know if you plan to attend so they have an accurate headcount for food.  The KAOS club will be serving dinner.
  • All are welcome to stay for the council meeting at 7:00.

New Business:

• Officer elections.
  • Up for election this year are VP, Treasurer, and two Board of Director positions.
  • Nominations to be made this month and voted on at next meeting.
  • Discussion that we should amend the bylaws to add responsibility to the VP position to also serve as the secondary treasurer.  This would allow back-up capability if Treasurer is gone as well as access to accounts for auditing. 
    • Motion made, seconded, and approved to update bylaws accordingly.
  • Nominations:
    • VP – Jim Berg
    • Treasurer – Frank Sommerfeldt (incumbent)
    • BOD – Austin Mueller, Chris Shermach, Kirk Johnson
    • Any additional nominations can be made prior to or at the next meeting.
• Scholarships.
  • Angel sent an email Friday to past committee members.  5 committee members now.  We have 4 applicants for 2 scholarships to be awarded.  Anyone else interested in joining the committee should contact Angel.
• Post Cards.
  • Soon will be time to get new cards printed with meeting dates, locations, etc.
  • Agreed that we should not have meetings at Hank’s and Tippy’s next year.  Instead, consider the Friendly Bar and the Sports Bar in Star Prairie since they’re on Trail 30.
  • Doug & Frank to draft an updated post card and bring to the next meeting for review by the club.  Updates can be made upon review.  Then plan to have post cards printed by August meeting.
• Duane Wolter’s wife, Andi, passed recently.  The club sent flowers for her memorial.

Council Report:

• Stower trail.  Nothing new.
• Trail Maintenance Appreciation Dinner before the meeting on 4/11, 5:00-7:00pm.  Anyone that has helped with trail maintenance is welcome to attend.  KAOS youth club will help serve dinner.  Tavern League donated $500 for it.
• Excess funds going into investment accounts.
• Some trail work going on.
• Trail bosses to submit sign orders to council so one big order can be done soon.
• AWSC spring meeting was in March.  Elections were held.  Osceola delegated our voting spots to Doug Johnson from Amery.
• County groomer shed.
  • Currently on Balsam Lake city land.  Council rents the sheds for $1.  Lease is up for renewal and it needs to be on 90 day notice to vacate due to if there is ever a need for the city to expand the sewer treatment ponds.
  • Council is considering whether they should move to a new location to alleviate the issue.
  • Some potential that individuals may be willing to donate land for new sheds.  If so, there is interest in managing donations thru the Osceola club if we get the 501c3 designation in the coming months.  More to come.

KAOS Youth Club:

• Next KAOS meeting is next Tuesday, 4/9 at 7:00 at McKenzie Lanes in Centuria.
• KAOS club will be serving dinner at the Trail Maintenance Appreciation dinner prior to the April council meeting on 4/11.  Dinner 5:00-7:00.
• KAOS has raffle tickets for sale, similar to years past.
• Club has purchased an enclosed pull-behind sled to be donated to the Milltown Fire Department to be used as a medic/rescue sled.

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
  • Updates:
    • Discussion on the new building the fair board is planning to build.  Discussion on whether our club should make a donation to get our club name on the contributor wall.  Our club already pays 15% of gross income of our fair revenue.  Arik Mahler to ask if fair vendors will get recognition as contributors over the years.
• 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:
    • Club clothing store is now open.  Link on the club website.
    • Plan to get on Potsie’s calendar for the meat raffle again next year during the Busch Light Challenge.
    • Plan to get on Ken’s calendar for the Fun Run again next year, same weekend as the Amery vintage ride since that seemed to work well.
• 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:
    • Scheduled for May 5 at UW Wanderoos.  Starting at 1:00 this year instead of 11:00 in years past.  Works better for Tammy & crew.  Menu is pulled pork or chicken. 
    • Planning to do gift cards only this year, no other prizes.  Donna will talk to Dick’s market for gift cards, to see if we can get vouchers that we only pay for if they get redeemed.
    • Discussion on how we can best recognize the land owners to show appreciation.  Maybe some info on how long trails have run on their property, length of trails, new land owners, etc.  Maybe a banner should be made to list out all land owners, then banner could be hung up at the fair food stand.
    • Post cards for the dinner.  Kevin to make draft of post cards and send to Donna for approval, then get printed and sent out to land owners.
• 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:  $1,500  (plan 2x $500 scholarships and $500 donation to food shelf)
  • Updates:
    • Scholarship reviews in process.  Contact Angel if you’d like to join.  We got 4 applicants this year.
• 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:
    • No 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:
    • Facebook now working well.  Numerous people have access to post to it now that we have it set up as a public site.  Frank to document the instructions and save in club files.
• 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:
    • Get maintenance logs turned in for any time spent removing signs this spring.  These logs are how the county council gets some funding.
    • Let Kevin know of any new signs that need to be ordered.
    • Need to consider repairing/replacing a culvert in Kevin’s trail section.  Maybe do that this summer.
    • Bridge by Horse Creek getting additional boards replaced.
• 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:
    • No updates.

Next Meeting: May 7, 2024 at Osceola Lanes at 7:00pm.

*Motion to adjourn approved at 8:32pm

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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