2023-04-20 Minutes

VICTOR HIKING TRAILS

VICTOR TOWN HALL

APRIL 20, 2023

PARTICIPANTS: Dave Wright, Jeff Miller, Lisa Roberts, Chauncy Young, Scott Reinhardt, Ruth Rugaber (remote), Paul Knerr

Meeting was called to order at 6:41 p.m. by Dave.

MINUTES: Jeff made a motion to approve the March minutes, Ruth seconded, approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Ruth Rugaber

Assets as of March 2023:

Checking $ 8,538.33

Savings $ 1,024.60

PayPal $ 0.00

Total $9,562.93

Bills paid include credit card and Frontier message line.
Notable Donations: $125 Christopher Smith
Donation boxes total: $3.05

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

GOALS

Sub-committee volunteer representatives gave an update.

Small project sub-committee completed two projects: installing a purple martin house at Fishers Park (10 attendees) and removing invasive Japanese knotweed at Fishers Park (8 attendees).
Upcoming events
- Rerouting and purpose a section of Seneca Trail that leads to the flooded beaver & bird viewing area.

Equipment storage group met in April, determined the cost of building a structure to hold equipment is not affordable. Will look into options for using an enclosed trailer and a location for it.
Scott and Dave will convert the paper map of the Town to a digital format and present it to the Victor Town Board, Victor Planning Board, Victor Conservation Board.

MEMBERSHIP: Larry Fisher, absent

Membership is at 272 with 115 due to renew.
Meetup is at 827 members.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
VHT Members	269	272	274	272
Meetup	790	800	811	827

PUBLICITY & NEWSLETTER: Dave Wright

The next VHT newsletter is coming out on June 21^st
May monthly hike information has been sent to the newspaper and put on the phone line. Meet at Victor Town Hall at 9:00 or at the Manchester Gateway Trail on Route 96 at 9:30.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

YouTube:

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
Number of videos	33	42	46	50
Number of views	2289	3073	4119	5254
Views in last 28 days	412	784	1046	991
Watch time total (Hrs)	79.2	98.5	119.7	148.4
Subscribers	44	54	59	64

To qualify for advertising income need 1000 subscribers, 4000 watch hours in past 12 months

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
Facebook people reached	3840	2753	2704	N/A
Facebook post engagements		695	459	N/A
Instagram followers	427	456	470	505
Instagram accounts reached	534	440	273	448
Instagram accounts engaged	87	88	51	96

VHT Web page - top visited pages:

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr
Some Trail Detail Map	2279	1646	1255	1919
Home Page	1077	1201	941	1185
List of Guided Hikes	538	557	411	433
System Map	475	356	261	331
Auburn Trail descrip	144	161	126	261
VHT Trail List	120	151	131	149

EDUCATION: Jeff Miller

The last event had 19 people attend at the Antique Wireless Museum
Next Educational hike will be a visit to the Lazy Acre Alpacas in Bloomfield. Post event refreshments will be at Flaherty’s in Honeoye Falls.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR: Paul Knerr

Earth Day trash pickup event on April 22^nd has been published on Meetup.
Arbor Day tree planting at Boughton Park on April 23^rd has been published on Meetup.
Village tree planting on April 29^th on Rawson Road has been published on Meetup.
National Trails Day June 3^rd at Victor Parks and Rec
ADK Outdoor Expo on June 10^th at Mendon Ponds Park

TRAILMASTER: Scott Reinhart

Francis Rose returned the signed revocable permit. Trail layout and development will happen in 2024.
Trails & Rails group’s first project is Victor in Bloom, they have a promotion for businesses purchasing flowers and plants for the green space around their business.
Scott has received some Hall of Fame nominations.
Need to add a June agenda item to nominate a Friend(s) of VHT.

TRAIL BOSS: Chauncy Young

Maintenance will start on Monday April 24^th schedule will remain the same days, moving the start time to 6:00 pm for May, June, and July.
Chauncy, Dave, Paul Moszak, and Adam Reitz met with Carter (maintenance manager) at Ganondagan. to discuss reworking the Eagle Trail which is on Ganondagan property.
Adam will be working part time for the Town of Victor.

LAST MONTHLY HIKE:

17 enjoyed a hike along the Auburn trail from Mertensia Park to Farmington Town Line Road and back.

OLD BUSINESS:

The new rail trail signs have been installed in the last few weeks.

NEW BUSINESS:

Jeff made a motion to create a new position and nominated Lisa as Special Project Coordinator, Scott seconded, approved.
Lisa made a motion that Dave attend the Victor Local Development Corporation luncheon, Scott seconded, approved.

NEXT MONTHLY HIKE:

May 13^th – Gateway Trail in Manchester and Shortsville

2023 VHT MONTHLY HIKES & EVENTS

May 13^th – Gateway Trail in Manchester and Shortsville

June 3^rd – National Trails Day based at Parks & Rec

June 10^th – ADK Outdoor Expo

July 8^th – Ontario Pathways bike ride

Aug 12^th – Genesee Land Trust, Walworth

Sept 2^nd - Ring of Fire, evening event at Bare Hill, Middlesex

Sept 9^th – Village of Victor

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

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 30 - Bird Lecture at The Bird House, Monroe Avenue
Oct 29 - Old Village Cemetery gravestone rubbings, Victor

NEXT MEETING:

The next regular meeting will be on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. at Victor Town Hall.

Meeting adjourned at 8:31 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Lisa Roberts