NEWS – MINUTES
Genesee County
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Genesee County Snowmobile Association

PO Box 58
Byron, NY 14422

Executive Director/Trails Coordinator Report

May 8, 2010

Congratulations to all who contributed to the success of the 2010 Forum. It was an exceptionally smooth running event with only a few minor glitches. The success of the Forum also serves to validate the decision to go with an online registration system for tabulating numbers for classes and meals.

Congratulations, too, to the newly elected officers of the Association. As evidenced by the activity of the short time since the Forum, this will indeed be a very busy year. The officers and Executive Committee will be up to the task, no doubt.

A significant effort will likely begin soon once the Strategic Planning work done last fall is addressed by the Board. That effort will address the need for a permanent Executive Director. There was merit in the original plan for my service in this position to continue until May 1, 2011, but in reality it makes better sense to fill the Executive Director position for long term planning. That will be best for the Association.

The work that Anne and Jim are doing is phenomenal in keeping up with the mail, membership, and raffle issues. Preparing for the first meeting of the new snowmobile season requires a great deal of devotion to details and planning.

Issues of importance being worked on at the Executive Director position includes:

  • The closing of the Long Lake office will occur this month. There needs to be a decision on disposition of the equipment currently at that location. We have received an offer on the sale of the copier, furniture, and file cabinets; acting on this offer is needed. In the middle of May Anne, Jim, and I will be in Long Lake completing the office closure. It is vital that staff receive some direction for document retention.

  • Dave Linger, NYSSA’s attorney, is in constant contact with the AG’s office regarding the lawsuit against the State resulting on passage of the Guidance document by the APA last November. The case will be heard in Albany County Court on June 4th. Dave will continue to coordinate the submission of NYSSA’s papers in support of the State.

  • Two clubs in Chautauqua Co, a landowner, and NYSSA have been named in a suit from a trail accident. A Notice of Discovery was received just before the Forum and documentation being requested is being gathered.

  • The DC Fly-in was pretty successful. We did not arrive until late morning on Monday after catching an early flight out of Albany. A presentation was given by Ed Klemm who reported on a couple of very significant issues: E15 fuel in two strokes and the President’s plan of outdoor recreation. Other presentations talked about administration’s Great Outdoors Initiative which needs to be an area of concern for motorized recreation. Great Northern Forest has potential to become a National Park. A letter was written by coalition of Democrats to the NPS asking them to manage lands designated to be wilderness as if they are already wilderness. There is a new Congressional initiative called the Omnibus land bill to acquire lands and restrict access which includes designating areas as a Monument. All upstate Congressional offices were visited.

  • Apparently the government is committed to using 32,000,000 gallons of ethanol per year and is currently not even close to that amount. Now there is a push to get more ethanol into gasoline. E15, as reported by Ed, is potentially very harmful to two-stroke engines. There is also concern of its affect on 4-stroke engines and autos. To date only one car manufacturer is in support of the use of E15.

  • Accident notification to our insurance agent was a major topic at a couple of sessions at the Forum. A list of clubs represented at either the Insurance or Liability class or the Trails Coordinator report will be attempted to better identify the clubs that need direct information on the importance of accident notification and the accident reporting process.

  • A summary of work done for administration of the insurance program has been compiled and sent to OPRHP. In addition, a proposal for insurance administration for the 2010-2011 season has also been developed and sent to OPRHP. The provision of the previous contract to develop a landowner list no longer applies.

  • A meeting was held on March 22nd with DMV representatives. The main topic was the use of vouchers. DMV supports their use but wants clearer language and understanding of them. Each registration transaction of $45 requires a voucher which will be kept by the DMV office. Clubs are not to call their DMV office to tell them how things are to be done. Report discrepancies to NYSSA. DMV won’t allow an in-effect registration to replace a voucher for registration purposes.

  • Adirondack Park Local Government Day was held in late March. An Adirondack Park report was given on first day by DEC, APA, DOT, and TNC. DEC is developing a state-wide management plan for state forests. This needs watching for start of public comment period. UMP status for amendments pertaining to snowmobile trails was given. DOT presented its travel corridor planning and talked about the possibility of using road waste for parking areas. A class on SEQRA was given by a SEQRA expert from Glens Falls. There are 39 pages of SEQRA regulations which are accessible online. The presenter talked about types of projects and thresholds. In another session presenters talked about the Adirondack Park economy. Also presented was an Essex Co tourism project which eventually led to a meeting with Essex Co clubs at the Forum.

  • Insurance meeting was held with Butch & Randy at Forum. Items discussed were the accident occurrence report and getting info to the insurance agent. A new form has been developed. Clubs should have limited contact with victim. Seeking a copy of the police report is good. The new policy is in effect. Parks has guaranteed payment. The new policy adds premises liability and special events coverage at greatly reduced price.

 

On the Trails Coordinator side, a significant number of trail-related issues remain active.

  • The bulk sign order for 2010 is out and ready for clubs to use. The final touches are being made on the E911 sign so that everyone will be able to see how it can benefit trail safety and emergency response. Additional information will be sent to clubs regarding the availability of snow poles as part of the BSO.

  • Efforts to communicate with a statewide organization representing Public Safety Answering Points has not generated any response as of yet. That effort will continue. The value in this is to possibly open up some doors of communication and notification so that when an accident occurs on a club’s trail that they receive some sort of notification.

  • Meetings continue on the Jessup River UMP Amendment. The most recent one occurred on May 3rd in Albany. In attendance were elected officials, DEC, APA, ORPHP, NYSSA, and several environmental groups. Discussions were intense and hopefully provided the two state agencies with further direction on designating class I and class II trails along with the issue of ice access. DEC is expected to give their first reading of the Jessup Amendment at next week’s APA meeting.

  • It is vitally important and cannot be overstated that clubs that have AANR’s in the Adirondack Park MUST be in contact with the forester regarding any possible plans to begin designating specific trails as Class II community connectors and Class I trails. The decisions could be significant as clubs could find trails that are being groomed with tracked groomers will no longer be groomed by a tracked groomer.

  • Clubs are asked to contact NYSSA when a meeting is being held with DEC regarding their UMP. Wild Forest areas that are going to get attention are Lake George Wild Forest, Wilcox Lake Wild Forest, Ferris Lake Wild Forest, Taylor Pond Wild Forest (which also brings in the importance of Wilmington Wild Forest), Saranac Lakes Wild Forest and the Moose River Plains Wild Forest. Other Wild Forest units will also be addressed as time moves on. The issues that are creating the greatest concern are trails that access ice, potential for duplicate trails, and the designation of trails. Clubs will need to be on top of this. Please work with NYSSA on this issue.

  • The Allegany State Park Draft Master Plan has been studied and communication with OPRHP and the Cattaraugus Co Federation indicate that there is support for provisions in the Plan. It is expected that snowmobilers will attend one of two public meetings on May 12th and May 13th. NYSSA should support the Plan.

  • An attempt to undertake a field visit on the ATC started out well and ended poorly. While heading north along the rails, the truck caught on fire ending the visit. NYSSA holds a permit with DOT for the existence of a snowmobile trail along the corridor. NYSSA needs to be familiar with what is happening on the corridor and ensure the permit continues without interruption.

  • Efforts to locate the proposed Newcomb to North Hudson trail on the old Finch properties are starting again. The focus this spring will be on the eastern end. The proposal from last year called for the trail to ride the road shoulder for significant distances. Last fall two possible new routes for this end of the trail were revealed. One was walked out last fall. The other route needs to be scouted. This second route would potentially eliminate the need for a very expensive bridge for one that should not be as costly. It is hoped that the new trail connecting Newcomb with Indian Lake will be open this upcoming season.

  • Meetings have been held with clubs in Essex Co to help them secure a renewed focus on looking at snowmobiling as a county-wide activity. Clubs have agreed to work with their Supervisors to generate more interest in snowmobiling as a county economic benefit.

  • Communication is also being held with National Grid during a meeting held on April 16th regarding the Company’s suspension of the Trail License Agreement program. The Company has concerns over some wording in the License that is being worked out to get the License process moving forward again.

  • Clubs will need to GPS club trails this year.

  • Clubs that would like a trail identification number for club trails should contact the Trails Coordinator to receive a trail ID number for each club trail. Club trail ID signs are part of the bulk sign order.

  • It is important to note that all new trails being requested for consideration for funding must be GPS’d as part of the Phase I application. Quad maps are no longer acceptable. Please note also that OPRHP will not accept raw GPS data. All GPS data must be converted to Shapefiles. NYSSA’s GPS/GIS training program will help with that. All Shapefiles must be submitted through the local sponsor.

  • As announced in January, an additional $500,000 is available to be sent to clubs for the 0910 trail maintenance season. The NYSSA Board needs to make a recommendation to OPRHP on how this money needs to be distributed.

  • OPRHP is conducting local sponsor meetings. I will be attending the meetings on May 6th and May 7th.

  • The STEP program for 0910 was very successful in its fall instructional sessions, fairly successful in its activity in the 12 Satellite programs this past season, and very unsuccessful in the results from Independent Safe Trail Advisors. More STA’s are needed for northern and eastern NY. There is also a need for additional instructors especially in the Southern Tier of the state as well as along the Mohawk Valley. Anyone interested in becoming an instructor needs to be experienced in STEP.

 

Respectfully submitted

Dave Perkins

NYSSA Exec Dir/Trails Coord

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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