Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Feb. 28, 2017 – REVS Bowl Bar and Grill February 2017 Alliance Minutes The Feb. 28, 2017 meeting was called to order by President Dwight Mason at 7:40 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. The minutes were read by the secretary. Motion to approve the minutes was made and accepted. Treasurer’s Report Please join the county alliance to see a copy of our Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report Mike Giese reported that the AWSC would like to thank us for our support in regards to the Blue Mound recreational plan. There were 3,600 responses AWSC members. The 88 member Friends of Blue Mound had 1,700 responses. There is another non-motorized issue coming up on the DNRs list and that is the use of fat tire bicycle winter trail use. The AWSC is writing legislation to bump Supplemental. The last raises in rates was $50/mi. in 1972 and $200/mi. in 1997. They are also looking ahead at the sunset clause and getting ready for a quick approval. (If the sunset clause fails a pro-rate of $300/mi. would probably occur.) They hope to be able to have funds and plans for circumstances like the floods this past spring with the counties and FEMA funding. The DNR plans to implement SNARS next season. That means all 88 counties need to have funded trails named consistently and preferable GPS tracks recorded. It was proposed that Winnebago County use F pre-fixed numbers for funded trails and U pre-fixed numbers for unfunded. Trail and Grooming Report Trails are closed for the season. Old Business The maps boxes are on order. New Business Elections are next month for club officers, AWSC director and AWSC representative. Nominees are welcome for all positions with the treasurer’s position being open. Omro Driftbusters will be selling brats @ Oshkosh Festival Foods. Jim is willing to setup the county fair bartending again. It will be Saturday. 8:30 PM, the motion was made and approved. Respectfully Submitted, Paul Villwock WCSA Secretary
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Jan. 24, 2017 – REVS Bowl Bar and Grill January 2017 Alliance Minutes The Jan. 24, 2017 meeting was called to order by President Dwight Mason at 7:40 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. The minutes were read by the secretary. Motion to approve the minutes was made and accepted. Treasurer’s Report Please join the Winnebago County Alliance to see a copy of our Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report Mike Giese although absent later reported that snowmobile trails will again be added the Blue Mound recreational plan. Dwight asked for report on the SNARS training if anyone had gone. Two people went the Ripon class. Mike and another went to the Green Bay class. In reply to what to the question what will the DNR do with the increase in funds is the following proposal. The AWSC will be proposing new legislation to increase the labor rate from $6.50 to $8.50 starting next year. They want the governor’s recreation council to increase the grooming rate 15 to 20%, from $250/mile to $300/mile as well bumping the cap for supplemental. The question came up what will the AWSC be doing with their increased funding? Another question is why can’t agent print decals anymore? That lead to the comment that WI needs to make getting decals easy like MI does. Trail and Grooming Report The Poyganaires reported that they have missing signs. The stakes are still there but not the signs. Old Business Rev’s Bar and Grill is on the map as Oshkosh Lanes. There were some business owner’s unhappy that they weren’t on the map. Bill from the Landing was the one that had called. There two others, the Starlight and Bill’s & Still’s, also from the Eureka area were missing ads. New Business The WSCA’s website is up and the Wolff’s Park’s is making progress. Does anyone need map boxes? Sno-Pioneers needs 5 and the Berlin River Riders need 2. It was suggested to have a couple of extra made as well. 8:07 PM, the motion was made and approved. Respectfully Submitted, Paul Villwock WCSA Secretary
Dec 2016 WCSA Meeting Minutes
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance Meeting Minutes Dec. 27, 2016 – REVS Bowl Bar and Grill December 2016 Alliance Minutes The Dec. 27, 2016 meeting was called to order by President Dwight Mason at 7:30 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. Motion to approve the minutes was made and were accepted as corrected. Treasurer’s Report Please attend the monthly WCSA meetings to see a copy of the Treasurer’s report. Director’s Report Mike Giese reported past president Ralph Calver died. He also gave an updated Blue Mound report. AWSC is changing lobbyist as they are not happy with Bob J. The AWSC will be proposing new legislation to increase the labor rate from $6.50 to $8.50 starting next year. They want the governor’s recreation council to increase the grooming rate 15 to 20%, from $250/mile to $300/mile as well bumping the cap for supplemental. The 4 year Sunset Clause is still in effect for CAP/STEP legislation. Trail and Grooming Report Mike reported that it was nice that everyone was in agreement on opening and closing the trails. One person from each club should contact him about closing the trails and he’ll contact Jason to update the web site and then the county parks department to have the phone message updated. Old Business The new maps are here and can picked up after the meeting. Each case has about 4,000 maps. New Business The golf course and tree nursery had snowmobiles that trespassed damaging some trees. The tree nursery made signs and put up partial fencing. They also block driveways and used a car once to do so. The Sno-Pioneers had to make a small reroute as the new property owners did not grant access. They were nice about the issue and gained two new members after discussing a new route with neighboring landowners. The Wolff’s Park’s DNR Safety Class passed all 19 snowmobile and 16 ATV students. There will be SNARS training classes in January. The local regional class is on Thursday January 12th at 7pm at the Steelworker’s Local 1327, 443 Scott St., Ripon. The next closest class will be in Green Bay on the 17th. Others maybe added if there is enough demand. See the DNR’s Snowmobile Trail Aids page. 8:15 PM, the motion was made and approved. Respectfully Submitted, Paul Villwock WCSA Secretary
Nov 2016 WCSA Meeting Minutes
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Nov. 22, 2016 – REVS Bowl Bar and Grill November 2016 Alliance Minutes The Nov. 25, 2016 meeting was called to order by President Dwight Mason at 7:30 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. Motion to approve the minutes was made by Mark Kopplen and seconded by Dwight Mason and were accepted as read. Treasurer’s Report Please attend the monthly WCSA meetings to see a copy of the Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report Mike Giese was told by the County that insurance and/or contract information from the Eureka, Waukau, Wolfrunners clubs are needed. Mike has some tips from the convention. A good source for trail conditions is Travel Wisconsin. Their website is updated every Thursday. The Dept. of Tourism’s most recent study estimates snowmobiling brings in approx. $1 billion. The DNR ask that clubs stop posting photos of stuck groomers as the antis are them in their attack ads. The next two years should be a good judge of the program. It was decided to use the excess $1.6 million for repair of the storm damage earlier in the year. Another goal for the new funds will be in for a 20% increase in grooming rates. All trails will have to be GPS tracked by 2018. There will be a new groomer hour/mileage reporting system in affect next year called SNARS (Snowmobile Automatic Reporting System). The report will go from the club director to county director to the state. This year would be a learning year and mandatory next year so clubs are encouraged to try it this year. Snow bikes and snow bike conversion kits illegal as the engine and exhaust need to be covered. The left hand lever should be a tail/brake light. There were 137 in attendance at the AWSC fall convention. The AWSC will be changing lobbyist next year. Trail and Grooming Report No report at this time. Old Business Route changes are due by the November meeting so that maps can be handed out at the December meeting. As part of the GPS trail mapping funded trails get a number designation and unfunded trails will get a letter designation as trails should not have names. Alliance will be hosting the WCSA & Wolf Packs websites for $100/month which includes 3 hours live support. Terry Schroder’s surgery went well New Business The Military Ride is in January. Eric motioned to give the usual $100. The motion was seconded by Doug and approved. The Outagamie section of the Wiouwosh State Trail will be open Dec. 15 – April 1st. 8:22 PM, motion made by Mike R to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolff’s Pack, Cruising Paths, Sno-Scats, Omro Driftbusters, Neenah Drifters, Poyganaire’s, Wolfrunners Respectfully Submitted, Paul Villwock WCSA Secretary
Oct 2016 WCSA Meeting Minutes
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Oct. 25, 2016 – REVS Bowl Bar and Grill October 2016 Alliance Minutes The Oct. 25, 2016 meeting was called to order by Vice-President Mark Kopplen at 7:30 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill (formerly Oshkosh Lanes). The September 2016 minutes were read and accepted as corrected. Treasurer’s Report Please attend the WCSA meetings to see a copy of the Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report Mike Giese reminded us of the AWSC fall convention this weekend at the Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells. He will attending and asked if anyone else was. Mary Koch asked for the officer contact info for new the county website. There was an email sent out regarding the Blue Mounds State Park Snowmobile Trail. While there won’t be a public meeting there will a public comment period before the board has the re-vote. Please have club members sign the petition online. See the AWSC website for more details. Mike also presented sign pricing from Waterstreet Specialty Screenprint. Trail and Grooming Report No report at this time. Old Business Map ads were due tonight. This includes any artwork changes and new artwork. Route changes are due be the November meeting so that maps can be handed out at the December meeting. New Business It was voted to roll over the CD at Oshkosh Community Credit Union. It was mentioned that Terry Schroder was not in the best of health due his colon cancer and to keep in our prayers. The motion passed to give a sympathy card. The WSCA’s web host is retiring at the end of the year so a new one will be needed. Jason looking to see if we can go direct with Go Daddy. Safety Training Two clubs have DNR safety classes coming up. The Snow Drifters is having their Snowmobile Safety Class December 7th from 5:30 until 8:30 & 10th from 8 until 2 at Headliners. The Wolf’s Pack is having a combined Snowmobile and ATV Safety Class December 14th or 15th, 16th and 17th at the Boys and Girls Brigade in Neenah. The Borth club bought another groomer, a ’95 Piston Bully. Vice-President Mark Kopplen suggested that the Alliance have a snowmobile raffle (or another fund raiser) in which part of the proceeds go to the clubs and Alliance. There was discussion on how many tickets would be needed at what price and how to divide the proceeds. Mark asked which clubs have their own raffles and what they had for a raffle. It was mentioned that a current raffle license is needed which is now an online process. It was also mentioned that state raffle rules state the raffle tickets cannot be mailed. The Berlin River Riders, Sno-Scats and Sno-Pioneers hold raffles throughout the year. Two clubs have gun raffles. The Sno-Pioneers are currently conducting theirs. The AWSC will be having their $100 50/50 raffle again this year. 8:30 PM, motion to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolff’s Pack, Cruising Paths, Berlin River Riders, Sno-Scats, Omro Driftbusters, Neenah Drifters, Poyganaire’s Respectfully Submitted, Paul Villwock WCSA Secretary
Sept 2016 WCSA Meeting Minutes
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Sept. 27, 2016 – REVS Bowl Bar and Grill September 2015 Alliance Minutes The Sept. 27, 215 meeting was called to order by President Dwight Mason at 7:36 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill (formerly Oshkosh Lanes). The March 2015 minutes were read and accepted. Treasurer’s Report Please attend the monthly Winnebago County Alliance meetings for a copy of the Treasurer’s report. Director’s Report Mike Giese reminded us that the upcoming AWSC fall convention will be held at the Chula Vista in Wisconsin Dells Oct. 28th-30th. Hotel is $119 per night. There will a1 ½ hr. seminar by guest speaker Sarah Klavas and four seminars (that will be repeated) on the following topics; DNR Safety Instructor Re-certification, KAOS, Raffle Information, Club-To-Club Idea Exchange, WI Snowmobile Rec Council Members, Snowmobile Automated Reporting System. Dave Morris’s passing was mentioned. County packets containing grooming insurance sheet, grooming contract, member contact sheets were handed out and are due by the end of Oct. to Mary Koch. Remember to return both grooming contracts. The other paperwork can be faxed. Trail and Grooming Report No report at this time. Old Business Bartending was successful with $320 in tips and $486 from profits. Map ads were due tonight. Checks can be made out to the WCSA and we will reimburse you. If you have not paid for ads assigned to your club you need to by the next meeting for them to be on the map. This includes any artwork changes and new artwork. New Business Trail passes are due each year so do not wait until the last minute and get yours now. This year AWSC members will be able to print a receipt. (Note the system is not functional yet but will be soon. You will mailed your passes as soon as their available.) 8:16 PM, motion to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolff’s Pack, Cruising Paths, Berlin River Riders, Sno-Scats, Omro Driftbusters, Drifters, Poyganaires Respectfully Submitted, Paul Villwock
March 2016 WCSA Meeting Minutes
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Mar 22, 2016 – REV’S Bowl Bar and Grill March 2016 Alliance Minutes The Mar 22, 2016 meeting was called to order by former President: Jim Kumbier at 7:38 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. The February 2016 minutes were read and accepted. Neither the President nor the Vice President were in attendance at the meeting. Treasurer’s Report Please join the Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance for a copy of the Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report: Mike Giese reported that there were 627 registered attendees at this year’s AWSC March convention. Both Mike Giese and Mike Thoma attended the conference. The AWSC reported that state membership went up by almost 13,000 members even though it was a low snow season. This year on March 1st, the AWSC membership was 41,554 as compared to 28,665 from a year ago. December and January were by far the biggest months for club trail pass purchases topping over 16,000 for each month. All told, there were 61,966, $10 trail passes sold by the AWSC as well as an additional 55,381 trail passes sold at the full $30 price. The DNR is instituting a new Online registration system called “Go Wild”. They are hoping that this new system will interface with the AWSC system and make the new trail pass program more successful moving into the future. The AWSC and the DNR will be meeting this fall to discuss future enhancements to the system. The Blue Mound State Park snowmobile access is now back in the courts. A lawsuit was filed blocking access to snowmobiles. Please keep an eye on this issue as it may have future impacts on snowmobile access in all the state parks in the future. The Directors meeting touched on future trail map updates for every club. A experimental GPS grooming report was tested in a few select counties this past season. As a result, the DNR would like to see every trail in the state that is not currently listed as a corridor to be designated by either a number or a letter. This will help for future reporting activities. There was no further guidance provided at this time. The Directors were asked to reach out to their individual counties to discuss priorities amongst the clubs for spending the extra funding that has been generated by the new trail pass system. What do the clubs want to see? Bridges, trail improvements, adding new trails to be funded or equipment rate adjustments, etc? The fall convention will be held in October at the Chula Vista Casino in Wisconsin Dells. Trail and Grooming Report No updates at this time. Old Business Map Ad Discussion: Once again there was a great deal of discussion regarding next year’s map advertisements. The final decision made at the meeting can be described as follows. The WCSA will maintain ownership of all the main dealerships that currently advertise on the map. Clubs will purchase map ads from the Alliance at a fixed rate of $50 per single ad, $100 per double ad and $150 for any triple ads. Clubs will be responsible for selling these map ads to their local establishments at the following rates. $75 for a single ad. ($25 club profit) $150 for a double ad. ($50 club profit) $225 for a triple ad. ($75 club profit) The Alliance will get $50 for each map ad space and the clubs have the opportunity to make $25 for every single ad space that they sell. This will offer a nice incentive for clubs to take care of the map ads. It is very important to note that all map ad sales need to be turned in at the September meeting. Otherwise, clubs may lose their spots on the map to other competition. Map assignments were made at the meeting which each club taking their respective areas of businesses. Please see the attached document that will be sent out with the minutes for your respective assignments. New Business The Omro Driftbusters will be having a brat fry at the Festival Foods in Oshkosh on April 23rd. Please plan to attend to help support their club. A motion was made and seconded for the Alliance to once again bartend at the Winnebago County Fair in August. Our group is scheduled to have Friday night this year. Jason Ollanketo offered to help Jim Kumbier setup this event. Elections of Officers Eric Kolb nominated Dwight Mason for President and Mike Thoma seconded. All approved. Paul Villwock nominated Mark Kopplin for Vice President and Debbie Beyer seconded. All approved. Jason Ollanketo nominated Paul Villwock for Secretary and Matt Eiden seconded. All approved. Eric Kolb nominated Teri Johnson for Treasurer and Paul Villwock seconded. All approved. Congratulations to next year’s officers. 8:51 PM, motion to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolfrunners, Wolff’s Pack, Omro Driftbusters, Cruising Paths, Berlin River Riders, Sno-Scats, Poyganaires Respectfully Submitted, Jason Ollanketo Location: Rev’s Bowl, Bar and Grill, 275 N Washburn St. Oshkosh, WI 54904 Next Mtg Date: Sept 27, 2016
February 2016 WCSA Meeting Minutes
Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance meeting Minutes Feb 23, 2016 – REV’S Bowl Bar and Grill February 2016 Alliance Minutes The Feb 23, 2016 meeting was called to order by President: Dwight Mason at 7:31 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. The January 2016 minutes were read and accepted. Treasurer’s Report Please join the Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance for a copy of the Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report: Mike Giese reminded the Alliance of the upcoming AWSC Annual meeting that will be held at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Green Bay, WI from March 18-20. Early bird registration is $15 until March 7th. After that, registration will be $25 per person. Tickets to the evening banquet will be $32 each and must be purchased by March 7th to attend. Please contact the AWSC directly to register. Visit the AWSC website for more information. There will also be a bus trip and a tour of Lambeau Field on Friday March 18th. A pre-registration fee of $25 is required by March 7th to attend the tour. The tour is only open to people who register for the conference. There will be sign-ups for County Poker run buses on Friday with the bus trips to run on Saturday after the Annual meeting. Trail and Grooming Report The trails were open and closed 4 times this year. It was noted that one of the clubs in the county needs to do a better job reporting. It was also reported that only the discing bills were paid with the first County pay check. Marking and brushing bills will be paid out in April along with any grooming bills throughout the winter season. It was reported that the County Trail Map needs a correction where the trail runs to Westward Ho. The current trail map has the trail crossing a strawberry field. This needs to be corrected with next year’s new map printing. VV mapping is offering GPS units to Snowmobile clubs to put in their groomers and then mail back to the software developers to update their products. It was also reported that sometime in the future GPS units will be utilized by the DNR to document trail grooming activity and billing. Old Business Ryan Miller was at the meeting and reported that he is willing to take on more groomer work to make sure we have smooth trails when they are open. He does not want to take any work away from other clubs and just wanted everyone to know that he is willing to do more grooming if the need presents itself. Ryan thanked the existing clubs for the good job they did grooming this year when the trails were open. New Business It was reported that Social Media has been working awesome to get trail information out to the general public. Also, videos of trail grooming seem to be the most popular with an average of 2,000-3,000 shares on facebook. A member of the Hortonville Polar Bear Riders attended the meeting to ask if the Wiouwash trail could be left open from Dec 15-April 1st for snowmobiling. This proposition was immediately turned down. The County Parks Department has incurred significant grading repair costs in the past when the Wiouwash trail has been open and damaged due to inadequate snow cover. 2016-2017 Map Ad Discussion Mike Thoma brought up next year’s new map advertising. This fall the WCSA will be printing 2 year trail maps for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 winter seasons. There was a great deal of discussion surrounding the map ad collection plans for this next map. Mike proposed that the WCSA should charge each of the individual clubs in the county $100 for their map ad. We also typically charge $500 for the back page ad. This money alone would cover the cost of printing the maps. Mike also proposed that we eliminate the single map ad and charge a flat rate of $100 for double ads only. This would result in fewer overall map ads, but would lessen the strain of the map committee trying to make multiple trips to collect map ad money from advertisers on the map. Mike also suggested that any actual map sale money is collected and kept by the individual clubs responsible for the establishment where the maps are being sold. There was a lot of discussion regarding the delegation of map ad collection down to the Snowmobile clubs. Should the WCSA charge clubs for a block of map ads up front and then allow any money the clubs collect from the map ad sale to be kept by their club, or if a map ad costs $100, should the club keep a portion of that sale ($25). This could provide motivation to clubs to track down advertisers and lessen the overall work load on the map ad committee. Jason Ollanketo agreed to document which clubs were responsible for which sections of trail and provide a list at the next meeting to better delegate which advertisers belong to a given clubs territory. This topic was tabled till the March meeting. If you are interested in this topic please plan to attend our next meeting where we hope to make a final decision. Nominations for Officers – Elections Next Month Jason Ollanketo nominated Paul Villwock to run for Secretary for next season. President Dwight Mason and VP Mark Kopplin both agreed to run for their respective offices next year. Teri Johnson was not in attendance to accept a nomination to run again for Treasurer. 8:47 PM, motion to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolfrunners, Wolff’s Pack, Omro Driftbusters, Drifters, Cruising Paths, Berlin River Riders, Waukau Driftskippers, Sno-Scats, Hortonville Polar Bear Riders Respectfully Submitted, Jason Ollanketo Location: Rev’s Bowl, Bar and Grill, 275 N Washburn St. Oshkosh, WI 54904 Next Mtg. Dates: Mar 22
January 2016 WCSA Minutes
January 2016 Alliance Minutes The Jan 26, 2016 meeting was called to order by President: Dwight Mason at 7:35 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill. The December 2015 minutes were read and accepted. Treasurer’s Report The Treasurer’s report was read and accepted. Please attend an Alliance meeting to see a copy of the Treasurer’s Report. Director’s Report: The County Parks Department has paid out all billing from our first checks for this winter season. Please contact them if you have not yet received your check. Winnebago County AWSC Director, Mike Giese made a formal request in the meeting that all of the trail bosses for each club contact him directly regarding requests for opening and closing trails in the county. Mike wants a united front representing the needs of all the clubs and a single call from him to the County Parks Dept to update the snowmobile hotline. Mike did ask for all of the trail boss contact information at the meeting and wanted to remind trail bosses that he expects them to call him before changes to the hotline will be made. Directors Mtg update: Mike was unable to attend the last Directors meeting but he did have some notes to share with the Alliance. The AWSC is currently 2 to 3 weeks behind, processing trail pass permits for new club members. Processing times were very quick up until Christmas, however, with the recent snowfall across the state, their office has been hit with as many as 800 requests per day for reduced rate trail passes. Please remember that you cannot operate with a receipt for the $10 pass, however, you can purchase the full price $30 trail pass and utilize your receipt as purchase proof on the trail. The AWSC also discussed the topic of broken windshields and trail pass loss. If you lost your pass due to a broken windshield, you need to bring in the broken windshield to a DNR service center. If you lost your windshield, you need to bring in a receipt showing you purchased a new windshield in order to get a trail pass replacement from the DNR. The AWSC has hired a PR firm and has created some 30 second commercials to better inform the public about the new trail pass requirements. The office also requested that clubs limit their roster changes to one per week. Trail and Grooming Report At the time of the meeting, Zones 1, 2, 4 and 5 were open. The Poyganaire’s blew the engine in their Tucker groomer and Zone 3 had not been opened yet. One of the Poyganaire’s marsh routes had not been defined through the cat tails. The Borth club came through the following morning and helped cut a path through the marsh so Zone 3 was opened by noon on the day following the Alliance meeting. All grooming clubs were either already out grooming or had plans to groom by Thursday night in advance of the weekend. Clubs were reminded to get their Map Boxes out to their local trail side stops and provide maps for our advertising business partners. Old Business There was no old business this month. New Business Earlier in the week before the mtg, it was brought to the attention of the Alliance that a private individual was interested in purchasing another drag and possibly grooming more of the trails in the Southern half of the county. Unfortunately, this person was unable to attend the meeting in person to discuss this opportunity. There was much discussion surrounding this topic and the Sno Pioneers expressed concerns regarding the lack of communication surrounding this issue. The Sno Pioneers have worked very hard over the last few years to raise funds and increase their grooming equipment to better support the Southern clubs grooming needs. Less than a month after purchasing a CAT challenger tractor, they were disappointed to hear that their services may no longer be required. The Sno Pioneers had been planning to purchase another drag themselves so they could strategically locate grooming equipment around the county to maximize their grooming potential. This purchase will be put on hold until a final decision is made regarding next year’s grooming contracts. During the discusion, Jim Kumbier stated that the private individual looking to groom was receiving complaints from people about grooming. When asked, Jim only mentioned Springbrook, who was not in attendance at the meeting. Mike Giese asked the attendees which clubs the Sno Pioneers did grooming for. The response was Snow-Scats, Waukau, Omro, Springbrook and Fond-du-lac County. Snow-Scats, Waukau and Omro were in attendance. When asked by Mike if any of the clubs in attendance had any complaints regarding grooming by the Sno Pioneers. None of the clubs in attendance had any complaints of the grooming that the Snow Pioneers have done in the past. Springbrook and Fond-Du-Lac County were not in attendance to reply. Matt Eiden from the Omro club also expressed concern that a private party for profit is now asking to groom the majority of the Southern half of the county and none of the funds would be going back into the clubs that support the county trails system. These are trails that are currently being groomed by a long standing snowmobile club. The topic was tabled until next month with hopes that the Springbrook club can be in attendance to have a more complete discussion on the topic. AWSC Director and Representative Elections Jim Kumbier made a motion to nominate and re-elect Mike Giese as County Director and Mike Thoma as County Representative to another term. Mark Kopplin seconded and all approved. 8:40 PM, motion to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolfrunners, Wolff’s Pack, Omro Driftbusters, Drifters, Poyganaires, Cruising Paths, Berlin River Riders, Waukau Driftskippers, Sno-Scats, Respectfully Submitted, Jason Ollanketo
December 2015 WCSA Minutes
December 2015 Alliance Minutes The Dec 22, 2015 meeting was called to order by County Representative, Mike Thoma at 7:35 PM at REV’s Bowl Bar and Grill (formerly Oshkosh Lanes). The November 2015 minutes were read and accepted. Treasurer’s Report The Treasurer’s report was read and accepted. Director’s Report: Clubs are reminded to get their marking, brushing and disking bills for the fall submitted by the first week in January. Checks should be paid out for this billing sometime during January with the final check to be paid at the end of the season in April or May. Clubs are reminded that they will be paid up to $30 per mile for marking and brushing with the first payment. In the event that there is money left over at the end of the season after grooming and disking bills are paid, they will be paid the remainder of their billed amount up to their maximum limit. Mike Thoma reminded the club that the AWSC online roster system will be down for maintenance from December 24th through the 27th. Membership chairs need to wait at least 48 hours after you submit new membership applications to forward the information onto your new club members. The AWSC immediately assigns a new club membership number at the time that you enroll. They then check their database to see if that member already has a membership number on file. This process may take up to 48 hours to complete, at which point the membership number could revert back to the original member number. There is also still time to submit scholarship applications to the AWSC. All applications are due by January 7th. Clubs are also reminded that information for the annual spring convention will soon be mailed out to all the clubs. Trail and Grooming Report The Omro club has had to make some additional re-routes. Most clubs have finished their marking activities. If your club still has marking to do, please get it done in case the weather turns and we can open our trails. Old Business Mary Koch is the contact at the County Parks Department regarding any forms or billing questions. Mary Koch: Parks Dept. Secretary Winnebago County Parks Department Phone: 920.232.1960 Fax: 920.424.1277 Email: mkoch@co.winnebago.wi.us New Business Some of the clubs at the meeting were asking about recommended places to purchase signs. The Drifters have been talking with WG Company in Neenah regarding the opportunity to have a local business available for sign purchasing. Other potential sign companies are as follows. Rent-a-Flash Of Wisconsin Incorporated 13605 Stettin Drive Marathon, WI 54448 Phone: (715) 842-5225 Digital Crayon Printshop LLC (formerly Scenic Signs) Weston, WI 54476 (715) 302-0797 Voss Signs, LLC 112 Fairgrounds Drive P.O. Box 553 Manlius, NY 13104-0553 Toll Free: 1-800-473-0698 Phone: 315-682-6418 Email: sales@vosssigns.com Paul Villwock from the Sno-Pioneers stopped by to tell us that their club has just purchased a Caterpillar Challenger Tractor to replace their aging LMC groomer. Congratulations to the Sno-Pioneers. We look forward to hearing more about their equipment in the future. Todd Breest from Liberty Mutual stopped by our meeting to remind the Alliance that his company offers exclusive discounted rates to members of the AWSC . He also did a drawing for a $25 Kwik Trip gift card during his visit. 8:15 PM, motion to adjourn the meeting was seconded and approved. Clubs Attending: Sno-Pioneers, Wolfrunners, Wolff’s Pack, Omro Driftbusters, Drifters, Poyganaires, Cruising Paths, Berlin River Riders, Respectfully Submitted, Jason Ollanketo
About WCSA
In Winnebago County, there are approximately 186 miles of snowmobile trails and over 6,600 registered snowmobiles. The Winnebago County Snowmobile Alliance (WCSA) represents the 12 snowmobile clubs throughout the county that maintain those trails.
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