VICTOR HIKING TRAILS

VICTOR TOWN HALL

JANUARY 19, 2023

PARTICIPANTS: Dave Wright, Jeff Miller, Lisa Roberts, Chauncy Young, Scott Reinhardt, Ruth Rugaber, Tanner Ritz, Paul Knerr (remote) Mitch Donovan (remote), Rebecca Donovan (remote), Karen Junker (remote), Bruce Fisher (remote), Adam Reitz (remote)

Meeting was called to order at 6:31 p.m. by Dave.

MINUTES: Scott made a motion to approve the December minutes, seconded by Chauncy, approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Ruth Rugaber

Assets as of December 2022:

Checking $3,821.92    

Savings $1,024.52

PayPal $625.00

Total $5,471.44

• Bills paid included credit card: $209.04, Mobile Graphics: $425 for printed calendars, a portion of which were reimbursed by Sage Financial; HEP: $2,030.81 for boardwalk supplies; website domain 5 year renewal; Frontier message line, and Saxby Implement.

• Donation boxes total: $2.80

• Quick books renewal is $30/month for the on-line version Dave made a motion that Ruth purchase the Quick books for 2023, Jeff seconded, approved.

• Ruth drew up the 2023 budget, Dave made a motion to reduce the trail maintenance budget to balance the overall budget, Jeff seconded,

Lisa made a motion to approve the financials, Chauncy seconded, approved

GOALS

The following sub-committee volunteer representatives gave an update.

• Equipment storage - Karen and Bruce met with Brian Emelson and talked about possibly storing equipment in a building constructed on park land. Brian was open to the idea, suggesting Paparone Park or MaryFrances Blue Bird Haven.

• The Trails & Rails group continues to have discussion but no formal work has been done yet. There is a meeting scheduled for Monday January 23^rd at Bistro 11.

• Dave will be creating videos about the trails within the town parks.

• Dave will create a Facebook post asking for suggestions on places people would like to go for monthly hikes in 2023.

MEMBERSHIP: Larry Fisher, absent

• Membership is at 269 with 131 due to renew.

• Meetup is at 790 members.

Month	Members	Meetup
Jan	269	790

PUBLICITY & NEWSLETTER: Dave Wright

• The winter newsletter has gone out. The next newsletter will be sent out on March 21^st.

• Dave updated the phone line and sent out a press release for the February hike at Harriet Hollister.

• Instagram account has 443 followers, up from 427.

• VHT YouTube:

  • Number of videos 33 up from 30

  • Number of views 2289 up from 1779

  • Watch time 79.2 up from 57.3

  • Subscribers 44 up from 34

• VHT Web page top visited pages:

Some Trail Detail Map	2279
Home Page	1077
List of Guided Hikes	538
System Map	475

EDUCATION: Jeff Miller

• The next Educational hike will be a visit to Mike Houser’s workshop in Victor.

• Dave made a motion that a non-refundable $5 fee per person is charged for selected educational hikes, payable via Pay Pal through the Meetup app. Chauncy seconded, approved. Paul abstained.

• Chauncy made a motion to purchase 12 Amazon gift cards in the amount of $25 each for Jeff Miller to use as a thank you to selected educational hike hosts, seconded by Scott, approved

• Jeff made a motion that Ruth send a $25 check to both Ontario County Historical Society and the Rochester Zen Center, Chauncy seconded, approved.

• Dave will publicize that there will be a charge for all future education hikes. Jeff will post it in each educational hike Meetup listing and Dave will ask Jeff H. to post this information on the VHT homepage,

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR: Paul Knerr

Upcoming Events

• February 4, 2023 – Parks & Rec Winterfest from 10:00 -12:00 at the Rec Center with a VHT hike at 10:15 a.m. VHT will have a table, Dave will bring his animal track identification game.

TRAILMASTER: Scott Reinhart

• Dave, Chauncy, and Scott have contacted, Mr. Rose, and will meet to discuss a trail on his property and revocable permit.

• Discussion regarding an agreement between VHT and the Genesee Land Trust is moving forward. GLT will draw up a Memorandum of Understanding between VHT and GLT.

• VHT Hall of Fame walk discussion regarding finding a special place to put a remarkable Hall of Fame area.

• Scott has a town map that has been marked up with areas that have been identified as a location for possible future trails. It will be given to the town planning board to use as a resource when new residential developments are proposed.

• Victor Trails Collective Group’s first project has been identified. It is the re-creation of the bike skills area at Dryer Road Park.

TRAIL BOSS: Chauncy Young

• Chauncy distributed a document listing some potential new equipment purchases for VHT.

LAST MONTHLY HIKE:

• Thirteen people attended the hike at Mendon Ponds, doing a loop hike of 4.3 miles starting from Hundred Acre Pond.

OLD BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS:

• Melody Burri wrote an article for the 55+ magazine spotlighting Dave.

• Insurance policy has been renewed.

• Ontario Pathways quarterly newsletter was received.

• Parks & Rec is doing maintenance work on the pontoon bridge in Fishers Park

NEXT MONTHLY HIKE:

Feb 11^th – Harriet Hollister, meet at the Victor Town Hall at 9 am or at HH at 9:45 am

2022 and 2023 VHT MONTHLY HIKES & EVENTS

Feb 11^th – Harriet Hollister

March 11^th – Fishers Park and Domine Trails

April 8^th – Mertensia Park and Auburn Trail

2023 MONTHLY EDUCATIONAL WALKS (All are from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted)

Jan 29 - Blacksmithing – Tinsmithing, 7181 Boughton Hill Road, Victor
Feb 26 - Muller Field Station 6455 Co Rd 36 Honeoye
Mar 26 - Burroughs Audubon Nature Club (BANC)
April 30 - Lazy Acre Alpacas 8830 Baker Road, Bloomfield
May 21- Bird Watching MaryFrances Bluebird Haven, Victor

June 25 - CEK Mees Observatory 6604 Gannett Hill Rd, Naples THIS EVENT IS FROM 8:00 PM TO 10:00 PM
July 30 – Geology, East Bethany, NY
Aug 27 - Cemeteries of Canandaigua
Sept 24 - Bird Lecture The Bird House, Monroe Avenue
Oct 29 - Old Village Cemetery gravestone rubbings, Victor

NEXT MEETING:

The next regular meeting will be on Thursday, February 16, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. at Victor Town Hall.

Meeting adjourned at 8:41 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Lisa Roberts