Fall news Letter 2012
Greetings, and welcome to the fall season. I just wanted to update you on some of the GKMA news:
At last night’s regular monthly meeting, we passed a motion last night to spend as much as $30,000 including any taxes and shipping for the purchase of a bulldozer for use at Whispering Pines Raceway, and other club projects i.e. further campsite work in the Greenstone area. We do not have a specific machine in mind, we are currently shopping, and will have any machine we contemplate buying surveyed by a professional mechanic. I am also in touch with HVC/Teck Corporation to see if they might be rotating a good used machine similar to the front-end loader we received from them several years ago that would be available by donation, or at reduced cost.
The club is currently in decent financial shape, with a modest bank balance, no anticipated major capital expenditures on the horizon other than the bulldozer just mentioned, all accounts are current and we have budgeted for our usual expenses i.e. track lease, various insurance coverage’s etc. The motocross track has operated at a decent profit this year, Willie Watchel and Sean Evanishen have done a great job, and having an on-site caretaker (Scott and Lindsey Hudson) has been a big improvement. The MX track will need a partial re-location to the north for next season due to WPIB installing their new water plant. It is anticipated that we will be able to recover some of the cost of purchasing a bulldozer through renting it back to the Band for this project. Willie Watchel has already been in discussions with the band in that specific regard. I trust this meets with the approval of those not in attendance. The motion passed unanimously.
We will also be spending some of the allocated off-road projects funds to put a roof over the sea can at Duffy Lake prior to winter. Stay tuned for notice of a work bee on that project. We will also be purchasing a dump-trailer to use with the Tomcar for hauling garbage and fire pit debris at Duffy Lake, and will be participating in a fencing project with the provincial government to fence, to prevent further site degradation. The club has received a $5000 grant from the province for this project, so while there will be no net cost to the club, we will have donated $5000 to this worthwhile project, and continue to build and improve our relationship with the province. Kent Antoniak has done awesome work on our behalf with the province in bringing about this and other projects, so please thank him when you see him, he is an extremely valuable member of this club and really makes us look good with the government. Kent is also working on installing more trail signage in the Greenstone/Duffy area. We have, unfortunately, experienced some vandalism of the trail signage over the past year. These signs are there for all users, and I hope that over time the incidence of these types of events will decrease. Please keep an eye out for any suspicious activity with regard to trail signage.
The Chuwels Challenge X-country race was held July 29th, ridership was a bit lower than hoped for, but Dennis Rombough and his staff laid out a great course with tons of positive feedback. Dennis and Delphine Rombough, and many other volunteers put a huge effort into the X-country division of the club as well, and their behind-the-scenes work really goes a long way to making a positive riding experience for both local and out-of-town riders.
Mike Porco and his trails maintenance staff have done incredible work in maintaining and re-opening a lot of trail this past year, big thanks to him as well. The GKMA relies heavily on volunteers, as we have no paid staff, and new volunteers willing to make a positive contribution are always welcome! I’m sure I have failed to mention a some people here who have made valuable contributions, but you know who you are, and we thank you.
Ice Racing (no, please, not winter!!) is slated for early-January through mid-February, Andrew Hill will be posting dates on the club website.
And by way of reminder, our regular monthly meetings are held first Wednesday of the month, upstairs at Duffy’s pub, 7:00, all are welcome.
Thanks,
Ken McClelland
