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Snowy Range Snowmobile Club

March 2023 Meeting Minutes

Started at: 6:05 PM 

Adjourned at: 6:49 PM. 

Attendance (in person/online): 13 in person. 6 online.

Membership Update: 124 total. Still working through differentiating the types and tabulating everyone. I have all new members in our contacts but working on the list for WSSA.

Spring BBQ: Lake Marie BBQ on April 1st, 2023. Meet at 9:00 AM at the 3C Guide shop. We can go for a morning ride, then meet at Lake Marie around noon for food. Come out, eat food (we’ll provide this) and ride sleds. Planning this will ensure it DUMPS snow! I’ll email this out separately. Keith is willing to haul stuff in for this with his tracked SxS the day before.

Assorted: Couple people have had issues with getting the beacon check sign to work. Batteries getting low? We need to get the signs out before they start opening the road. We may want to start pulling them at the BBQ on the 1st of April. 

Keith proposed buying an “Owl” device for our meetings: to help audio for those joining online. Meeting Owl 3 is $1049 (ouch!). Sunny & Justin have something similar we could use at future meetings.

For cutting wood in the fall, could we split the group between both sites [Nelson & Quealy] if there’s good turn out? Would save time. 

April Meeting? Tentatively have a BBQ for it. Shannon from WSSA will compile the ideas from the scholarship applicants about boosting memberships. We can go over this stuff at our April meeting.

We could update the Club’s logo? Maybe do a logo contest? WSSA had no luck trying this idea. Otherwise we can pay someone to do this. A new member works in this world, we could see if they’d be interested.

Apple Watches & Phones, be aware of the new “Crash Alert” system. Albany County SAR has had a few call outs for false alarms with these. Please make sure you’ve got the latest update (reduced sensitivity) and better yet turn it off while you’re out riding. If your watch triggers a crash alert SAR [all volunteers] has to deploy to check it out even if you’re fine.

Widow Maker slid sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 AM today (3/16/23). Expect an active weekend up there & be careful. 

Cameron proposed joining the SE WY OHV club. They have a bunch of members that run tracked SxS and ride the Range.

The Colorado Blizzards club does a lot in our area. They’re having a ride in the Range sometime in April. They have a website: http://www.coloradoblizzards.com/ But seem to be more active on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoBlizzards 

They have more group rides than we do, you might consider joining them in addition to us. Perhaps we can coordinate joint events in the future? New officer position: event coordinator?

Business Matter:

We do not have a valid tax ID for the club. Paypal is now withholding all funds that come to us as memberships (donations are excepted) until we provide a valid tax ID number. We need to re-establish our non-profit status for this to be resolved. Currently, $2625 is being held and ultimately 24% of that will be sent to the IRS as backup withholding if we don’t address this.

At the federal level we need to be a non-profit organization to avoid having dues paid through online services like Paypal or Venmo charged as income and taxed as such. 

Sunny said she can work on this; how’s it going, and can we be of help? Hasn’t had a chance to dig into yet, Mitch is willing to help.

WSSA Update: Fun Days 2023 was in Alpine. 9 scholarships were awarded for the ‘22/’23 season. For next year, approximately $19,000 was raised for the fund at Fun Days auction, and $7,000 was raised for the ACCESS Wyoming program. 

$16558 generated by the raffle ticket sales, and half ($8292) went back to clubs that sold the tickets. 

Elections went through, and a new secretary was voted in. Sunny will work with them to ensure a smooth transition.

Next WSSA Meeting: Saratoga September 16th will be the Fall meeting for WSSA. 

Some folks at Fun Days spent the night on the mountain, and reiterated the importance of being prepared. InReach, radios, extra base layers, fire starters, etc. etc. 

Future WSSA Fun Days: 

2024 in Dubois first weekend in March and 2025 in Rock Springs.

Hill Climb Championship is coming up next weekend in Jackson. This is a big fundraiser for snowmobiling in Wyoming.

State Trails Update:

Job Opportunity: State Trails has been having a hard time getting down here with the roads. They’re looking for people that would be interested in working for State Trails Program in our region & based here. 

State Trails is restructuring: Jordy is going to handle the trails systems for the whole state (instead of just the West) while Josh moves to more paperwork/admin side. They’ve been having issues hiring and retention, and have restructured hierarchy in the Program to provide better opportunities for people to advance their careers within the Program. Please reach out to State Trails for specifics and/or if you’re interested in working with them.

Look for another snowmobile permit fee increase in 2025 due to the increased fuel costs, equipment, etc. 

State Trails has a pamphlet on their site for economic impact in Wyoming. I’ll try to locate it and share it. No luck, just a highly detailed report: https://wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/program-information-trails

Treasurer Update: Were donations made to ACSSAR and Carbon County SAR? Yes. After those payments and other expenses (WSSA ACCESS Wyoming & scholarship donations, and WSSA membership fees for our members), we have $9953.74 in checking, and we’ve got $2625 held in PayPal jail. 

Parking Update: Cameron filmed on his drive up during a “slow” weekend to illustrate how many people are on the mountain. Josh has had counters up on the mtn this season to get user numbers. This is good data for parking update support.

State Trails reinforced what our USFS Liaison officer gave us for a parking lot update in February. Things are looking good on this front but continued support of the parking lot improvements directed at the USFS would be a good move.

Grooming Update: Huts will be going out April 3rd. Grooming ends April 1st. Straight from State Trails. 

Next Meeting: April 20th at 6:00 PM. 

Topics: 

The WSSA scholarship topic was something along the lines of “how to get more young riders involved with clubs to advocate for snowmobiling”. Shannon (WSSA) summarizes the submitted essays as a sort of free research. We’ll talk about those ideas. 

We need to decide when to hold elections.

Touch base on non-profit status.

Snowy Range Snowmobile Club

6:00 PM at 3C Guiding shop

Membership Update: 

72 total members as of 2/21/23. 28 single memberships, 26 families, 8 associate businesses, 10 premium businesses. 

Beacon Check Stations:

All beacon check signs are in. Let us know if you notice any of them not working or needing attention. 

The Lake Marie beacon checkpoint needs raised up after these heavier storms. The snow level is rising up on it, will be buried if not addressed.

Safety shelters:

State Trails moved the Quealy safety shelter to try to level it out and raise it as the snowpack gets deeper. Keep stocking with firewood if you drop by. Shoot us a message if they need fire starter or matches.

Does anyone know how we’re doing on fire starter at Nelson Safety Shelter? Zach dropped a bunch of stuff off there after the previous club meeting (thanks!).

Business Matter:

We do not have a valid tax ID for the club. Paypal is now withholding 24% of all funds that come to us as income tax backup withholding. We need to re-establish our non-profit status for this to be resolved. Currently, $300 is being held and will ultimately be sent to the IRS.

At the federal level we need to be a non-profit organization to avoid having dues paid through online services like Paypal or Venmo sent in as income tax. 

Sunny said she can work on this.

Spring BBQ: Lake Marie BBQ on April 1st, 2023. Come out, eat food and ride sleds. Planning this will ensure it DUMPS snow!

WSSA Update: 

-Fun days is coming up! First weekend in March.

-Can join most clubs in the state through the new WSSA website.

-They’re working on a change to the ROP’s & Bylaws to allow people to join multiple clubs in the state with only paying the WSSA fee once.

-Everyone that’s a paid/current member, let us know if you’re not receiving the WSSA Wrangler in the mail. 

-Scholarship fund with WSSA, what should we donate? 75% goes to scholarship, 25% goes to the ACCESS Program. Last year we donated $1000. 

-WSSA website has links to State Trails maps. 

Treasurer Update: 

$10450.23 in checking. 

$500 each to be donated to Albany County SAR and Carbon County SAR.

We should be mindful of the costs associated with another safety shelter on the Range and keep some funds reserved.

USFS Liaison Update: 

State Trails is grooming 1000 miles total per week in the Snowies. Actively working with the Brush Creek Ranger District to get a permanent safety shelter at Quealy and then open up the existing mobile shelter to move elsewhere on the mountain (Lake Marie, possibly). 

All the “ologists” at USFS are staffed, so USFS can move forward on the parking lot evaluation. There’s a gravel pit with an active permit in the proposed lot location through summer 2023. Once that’s wrapped up, can move forward. The trail to link the new lot will be planned in cooperation with the SE WY Outdoor Recreation Collaborative.Proximity to Little Laramie trail system is considered. The Snowmobile lot going in, may motivate the plowing of the Little Laramie trailhead lot, as the plan is to have the new lot be only for OSV users. Currently, non motorized recreationists are parking along the highway across from the Little Laramie lot, not much room there. State Trails may be willing to get that plowed, to keep access available to all & keep non-sledders in their own parking area to minimize potential for user conflicts.

USFS & UWyo are doing some parking surveys on both sides of the Range to get area use numbers. So if you see some college kids at Greenrock taking notes feel free to chat with them. 

The lower lot across the street from the USFS visitor center on WY-130 is still being considered. This would be a great thing for Centennial businesses as people could sled right into town. The SE WY Outdoor Recreation Collaborative will have input on this. There are some concerns about snow cover in this area.

Assorted:

There’s a guy in Centennial that is continuing to film people as they drive through town. While this is odd, please remember to drive safely through town and obey the speed limit. Occasionally WY Highway Patrol will have a speed trap setup. 

Discussions between our club members and riders on the mountain indicated there’s positive feedback about an additional safety shelter and an actual parking lot. Some of these people follow us on Facebook, but had no idea there was an actual snowmobile Club with dues to pay that is working to make those things happen. Cameron will work on a quick PSA for our Facebook audience to clarify the situation.

SRSC coozie’s could be some good marketing. Can send them to members and hand them out at Snow Shows (Denver, Hay Days). They’re less than $1 each if we order over 100 at a time. Mitch will send Cory our logo and Cory will work on this.

We will have our first highway cleanup of the summer on Sunday, June 3rd. We will meet at 8:00am at the West Laramie McDonald’s parking lot. We will drive up from there to the Green Rock parking lot and clean up our 2 mile section of the highway. Safety vests and garbage bags will be provided. The more people we have, the quicker the cleanup will go!

If you have any questions, please let us know! We hope to see you all there!

May Meeting: Our May meeting will be next Thursday, May 17th at the Fire Station #3 in West Laramie, 2374 W Jefferson St starting at 6:30pm. At this meeting we our main focus is to see what interest there would be in starting a UTV/ATV/Motorcycle group. With more and more roads and areas being closed to motorized users, we want to create a organized group to help fight this. The main goal will be access, not dues or pot lucks! Everyone is welcome!

This Months meeting will be this Thursday (4/20) @ 7:00 PM as normal we will be at the Holiday Inn. We will discuss plans for next season and summer planning. Possible ATV club start up, sponsorship for Beacon Check Stations for next year and WSSA Fun Days update.

All are welcome to attend we will have a drawing for gift certificates from our sponsors. Two will be given to those in attendance and two will be drawn for all members.

Hello everyone!

Welcome to the Snowy Range Snowmobile Club!

We are in the process of updating our site for a better experience.

in the mean time, visit us on Facebook :  SRSC