8963-R1_MSA_February2025_Newsletter

From The Executive Board Secretary’s Report - Betsy Watson Directors Meeting - Mason - Leeds, Maine - January 25, 2025

gained back. VP Reports

so it should move through the process. The issue is how to separate snowmobile sales tax from ATV, motorcycle, camper, and golf carts. From his rough figures based on new registration totals only it could generate $250,000 to $500,000 in new money. The benefit of this is it is not an increase in registration fees. A question was asked if there was a way to get some of the Lands for Maine’s Future money to secure permanent access to land for trails. Matt will look in to it and ask James as well. Some landowners have been putting in to their deeds permanent access for snowmobile trails on their lands and others have placed it in their wills. Membership- Eileen reported she has lists for regional VP of clubs with no memberships. Reach out and see what’s going on and if we can help. If your club is sending transmittals in the mail, please make copies of everything including your check or payment method for your records. It appears some memberships have been lost in the mail. Also, please include payment with your mailing. The office has received some without payment. Eileen asked all clubs to access the MSA website and download the applications for the MSA contests. We need submissions and every club should be able to submit at least one. Membership totals- Family 6,663 Business 1,623 Total Memberships 8,286 Total by region Central 1,291 Coastal 907 Eastern 2,067 Northern 1,862 and Western 2,152 MSA Trails- Brent Spaulding indicated some of his inf ormation had all ready been covered. He wasn’t sure if any bridges in Maine were affected by the National Park Service and it was stated there is one on the Wild River Riders trails in Gilead. He gave a shout out to Moosetown Riders in Allagash as they are doing a good job promoting themselves. There was a meeting in Strong that also brought up the idea of landowners deeding access for snowmobile trails. Hall of Fame- Gail indicated she is still looking for volunteers to help her on this committee. Hospitality- Gail stated she has been sending out thank you cards to those that have made donations in Larry’s memory. She has two other cards to send. She then read a joke. Old Business- T he next two directors’ meetings are showcase rides as well as meetings. Feb. 15 th starting at East Branch Snow Rovers, riding to the trail dedication, then Timber Cruisers for lunch and back to East Branch. Supper and meeting that evening. March 15 th showcase ride starting in Benedicta, going to lunch at Rockabema with dinner and meeting back in Benedicta that evening. Details and sign up for both will be on the MSA website. Question 4 Update- A line item is being added to the state budget to fund a senior planner position to head the grant process. The money will be budgeted not from the bond that was passed. There is a 3% in the bond for administration but they cannot use that to fund this position. That means applications are now pushed back to at least June with results in the fall. Still trying to make the grant application as simple as possible for clubs to fill out. James has reached out to express our concerns on the delay. Motorized portion is 25% so clubs should flood them with applications for infrastructure. Clubs should be thinking now what they want to apply for. Clubs will need much more information than regular grant process. This is a chance for clubs to get projects funded and use the regular grant money for grooming and trail maintenance. We have four years, so clubs should be looking for projects now. Grant application does not speak to permitting issues, so clubs should be following the same process they do now for permits. Al stated he has a lady who is willing to help clubs write these grants. New Business- P ine Tree Sponsorship/Egg Ride- Each year they do a ride to benefit the camp. In year’s past MSA has donated $500 to this cause. It has been handed down by the

Eboard as a recommendation that we donate $500 this year. Mark asked for a motion which was made by Louie and Ron seconded. The motion passed. Bob Lafontaine is riding this year in memory of Larry. Loud Exhausts- There is a lot of talk recently about the loud exhausts. The original fine is $250 and may be it is time for it to go up to $500 which was the original proposal. James is looking in to how to increase it and possibly incorporate it with other I F & W bills. Scholarship Program- Brad Barker has started an initiative to start a scholarship program in memory of Larry which he approached Grand Lodge and they agreed to match up to $2000. The match is available to every Masonic Lodge in Maine. Each individual lodge must ask for it. At this point from tonight $1000 has been raised but it is not over yet. Brad didn’t realize how much is involved in the scholarship committee. He wants everyone to know it is a work in progress and his vision is to make this a permanent fund. He is challenging the clubs in the state to raise funds and reach out to their Masonic Lodge. There are details to work out, but investing the money so that it can be a continuing scholarship is what the vision is. Question was is this separate from MSA and Brad stated those details need to be decided. How can some body donate to this fund electronically. Lori, asked for a few days to set it up through MSA Pay Pal and then she will cut a check to this separate account. Brent Spaulding made a motion to proceed with Brad’s proposal, which was seconded by David and the motion passed. Brad auctioned off extra rolls from dinner with the money going in to the scholarship fund. MSA Lafland Legacy Award- Mike Grass Jr proposed a new award to be given out at the MSA Annual Meeting. Mark read Mike’s proposal. Awarded to the Outstanding Trailmaster Or Trailworker. Winner would be nominated by standard Formstack submission and chosen by Eileen Lafland or a panel of MSA Peers chosen by Eileen. (This Award is not only for Larry but Eileen as well for both her and Larry’s dedication to MSA for many, many years.) He asked for a motion that was made by Ron and seconded by Jerry and the motion passed. Snowmobile Liability Insurance- Al has been talking with others about our liability coverage He was advised to talk to check with Insurance Commissioner’s Office and may be they could find away to reduce the cost. Al presented Eileen with a print that he had made from the Golf Tournament of Larry, Al and Joe. Mark had President’s shirt for sale. The club also had sweatshirts for sale. Al also showed a new sign that has a QR code on it to join MSA. He had 75 of them and the thought is to put them at Park and Ride and clubs on the trials. Mark then asked if all the current club presidents would come forward. They were presented with a coffee mug in appreciation of their support of MSA and their work with their clubs. 50/50 Drawing- Tonight’s amount is $85 was to go to the scholarship fund. Three members of the committee were present and they made the decision to add this amount to the funds raised by Brad’s program tonight to increase the match. The winner was Ken White and he donated it back to the scholarship fund. Pot of Gold- Canton Hi- Riders was drawn. They were not present. Snowdo in Rangely and Groomer Rodeo in Medway. Eileen asked to speak to a funny story that happened at Larry’s memorial. Larry’s niece had a bouquet of flowers made. She sent a friend of hers to get a snowmobile to be placed in the flowers. The friend is not a snowmobiler and he came back with a Polaris. When we discovered it was a Polaris, we nose dived it into the flowers. Motion to adjourn.

Western Region- Jerry Major thanked the Leeds Stumpthumpers SC for the wonderful meal and hosting this event. He reported he attended the funeral of Libby Nilsen from the Pejepscot Sno-Chiefs. She was an extremely active member of that club. Not much else to report except that he is selling his sleds and trailer and getting a side by side. Contact him if you are interested. Central Region- Ron Nunes also stated there was not much to report. Clubs are waiting for snow. Northern Region- Nick Morrill reported there is some riding in the County. The central to northern part is out panning and putting up trail markers. Just like every place else more snow is needed. Eastern Region- Eileen Lafland reported there is also limited riding in some parts of the region. Millinocket area, Shin Pond and around Pittston Farms do have riding. The February meeting will be Feb. 15 th at the East Branch Sno-Rovers in Medway. There is a showcase ride in the works for that day. There is also a trail dedication for Rick Levasseur and it is hoped the showcase ride will attend that. More info to follow. Mark and Matt are heading the ride up along with members of the East Branch Sno-Rovers. From the trail dedication the ride will go to the Timber Cruisers for lunch and back to Medway. The directors meeting will be that evening with a meal at 6 and meeting to follow. On a personal note- Eileen thanked everyone for their support this past month. She expressed she appreciates everything everyone has done. Director of Operations- Al Swett thanked everyone for coming as well. He stated this past month has had a great deal of hardships for everyone. He quoted a statement that past president Jim White once told him, “When we change seasons to winter, we turn in to a snowmobile family.” He spoke about Larry being a great friend and one he will miss. He and the office have been receiving calls asking where the riding is. He stated Safety Never Ends, and Safety First should be on everyone’s mind. There has been one death in Fort Fairfield and two snowmobiles went through the ice on Moose River in Rockwood. They both survived. Al mentioned he has seen some very unsafe riding all ready this year. Some people are riding way too fast for the conditions. There are safety posts on the MSA Facebook page. He is trying to work with IF&W to do safety spots as well. Eileen mentioned we do have a connection with Channel 5 news in Bangor. Al thanked her for the recent safety piece that was aired. Al has done a safety presentation to 5&6grade students, 7&8 grade students and high school students in Medway. On Feb 3rd he will do another one in Rangeley. Mark introduced Chris Gamache from Polaris Ride Command. Chris stated most of the United States and Canada are not riding yet. He is working to update trails in Maine and will continue to get a good base layer that could include trails other than ITS trails. He is also working with some clubs to get their landowners digitized. He shared a screen shot of Mark ( a Ski-Doo owner) sitting on a Polaris at the Lexington BBQ. Scholarship- Barry Ryan reported the MSA Scholarship fund is doing very well. The committee will be awarding three scholarships this year. He thanked everyone for their donations and stated the donations are for our future as the students who receive them will hopefully be the next generation of club members. A question was asked if the committee had thought about expanding to include grandchildren. The answer was- they could look in to it. Funding Committee- Matt Stedman reported there has been legislation submitted through our lobbyist James Cote to take 40% of snowmobile sales tax and put it directly into the snowmobile trails fund. There is no final language on this yet, so stay tuned. The bill was submitted early,

P resident Mark C. opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance. He then thanked everyone for coming, thanked Brad and Marie for organizing the meeting, thanked Leeds Stumpthumpers for cooking a great meal and the Asylum Lodge for allowing us to meet here. Secretary’s Report- Everyone was asked if they had read the Secretary’s report from the December meeting. It was commented there were spelling errors but otherwise it looked fine. Ron Nunes made a motion to accept, Jerry Major seconded and the motion passed. Treasure’s Report- Assistant Treasurer Barry Ryan presented the following report: Monthly Income $60,443.95, Monthly expenses $49,880.28, Net Revenue $10.563.67. The Checking Account has $178.171.00, the Dedicated Account $157,204.47, Special Events Account $4,987.53, Building Fund $54,994.37, Short Term CD $85,600.00, Brain Wass Safety Fund $3,997.00, Scholarship Savings $7,380.37, and the Scholarship CD $60,563.56. There were no questions for Barry or Lori so the Treasurer’s report will be placed on file. President’s Comments- Mark stated this is the third week of January and we are going to look at the positive not the negative. Positives- the ground is frozen; we just need more snow. Another positive- clubs have had plenty of time to brush back the trails, fix or replace bridges, and to get their signs out. Vice President’s Comments- Matt Stedman said it was nice to be here as he doesn’t get down this way much. He thanked everyone for having us. He reported on the National Park Service connection issue in to NH. They had an engineering study done and reported the bridges no longer meet their new standards. Multiple states have been in contact with them as well as Joe Higgin’s office to work this situation out by stating the bridges are safe and were engineered to a standard. With low snow state wide there is not a lot of traffic yet, but we will continue to move forward while we wait for snow. Trail Signage- If you are opening your trail system, you should have ALL your signs in place FIRST. There have been posts by clubs that their trails are open and that they will doing their signage now. Signs should be first. Clubs need to do due diligence for safety reasons both for the riders and for the club’s liability. Clubs that say their trails are open will have riders because others places do not have snow, so please sign first. Safety First, Riding and having fun second. Snowmobile clubs don’t have an official Trail Open or Trail Closed sign, so in lieu of that, please use common sense. Mark, Matt, James Cote and Joe Higgins have been meeting biweekly or monthly on a regular basis. Notes from the last meeting – year to date registrations numbers are down which is no surprise in a low snow year. Please remind people that registration money is what pays the club grants and encourage them to register their sled. On a positive note- gas tax revenue is ahead and coming in strong. There was a bill last year to increase ATV and snowmobile portion of the gas tax. Preliminary numbers show this could bring in $200,000 to $250,000 to the fund. Ron Nunes asked about the bridges and what brought this issue up. Matt noted he wasn’t sure. NH is keeping us up to date and the hope is at least recreational use can be Betsy Watson, Secretary 207-205-1559 412 Roberts Ridge Rd, East Waterboro, ME 04030 watson.betsy29@gmail.com

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