GMNC Board meeting minutes Sept 13, 2022, 6:00 – 7:17 PM 

Our Mission Statement: “Grand Mesa Nordic Council is a community-supported, nonprofit organization of people who love to cross-country ski on the Grand Mesa in western Colorado. We are dedicated to promoting fun, safe, cross-country skiing experiences for skiers of all ages and abilities.” 

Board members attending: Dan Tille, Tom Ela, John Traylor, Larry Gruel, Joe Ramey, Denise Massart; Absent: Susie Attaway; Employees attending: Christie Aschwanden, Debbie Cheesman, Beth Klein, Melissa Newell; Guest: Christine Noel

1. Introductions – Three staffers are introduced. Debbie Cheesman is the new Ski School Director, Melissa Newell is the new Events Coordinator and Beth Klein is the new bookkeeper of the few months. Christine Noel is interested in joining the board. She’s a Nordic skier, a CPA and a CMU Accounting Professor.
2. Previous board meeting minutes – Denise Massart moves to accept the August 9th Minutes. Dan Tille seconds. Motion passes. 
3. Financial Review – Dan Tille notes there is a revised financial dashboard. John Traylor gives a tour of the dashboard. Dan Tille mentions that the donor summary numbers are pulled directly for the donor software. The financial team has been working on mapping the chart of accounts to help with the actual vs budget process. Beth Klein has been reaching out to Accountant Jeff Henion to finalize the tax return.
4. Investment strategy policy approval – John Traylor made an initial Treasury Direct deposit of $119K in an 8-week treasury bill. We earned $509.60 on the transaction. There are no associated costs on these transactions. John Traylor reviewed the proposed investment policy which details the objectives, delegation of responsibilities, policies, guidelines, donor restrictions and investment proceeds. The Finance Committee will provide quarterly investment reporting to the board and have an annual check in with an outside investment consultant. The only investments will be made in CDs, a money market account and Treasury bill transactions. The Finance Committee will work on a cash flow for strategy to maximize earnings and discussion with the board. Dan Tille moves to accept the Investment strategy policy as an official GMNC policy. Larry Gruel seconds. Motion passes.
5. Executive Director – In August, Christie Aschwanden submitted the Master Development Plan to the USFS and is following up for feedback. We’re working on the County Line & Skyway trail excavation project in next 2 weeks. We are going out with the USFS to look at the Summit Trail. We had a successful trail work event on Saturday. New hire Melissa Newell is helping to organize the October 1^st Cedaredge Season Kickoff event. 

GMNC was awarded a $10K grant from the Dave and Mary Wood Fund through the Western Colorado Community Foundation for our website project. We received $1K from Christi Reece company’s community event. Grand Junction City, Mesa County and Delta County grants have been submitted. Slopeside Technology has the new website almost completed and testing will start soon. The added Nordic Pulse grooming app will help the grooming reports. Debbie Cheesman has been working on lessons program and clinic advertising. Tina Wilson has been working on the new maps with some minor edits with more space for ads and picnic tables and bench locations. The September 11^th Run for Snow 10K trail run was successful with almost 50 participants. We  raised approximately $800 and sold some of the new hat merchandise. Melissa Newell has been working on ambassador events. 

Christie Aschwanden will meet with Ben Graves from The Nature Connection to coordinate events with GMNC. As in previous years, the Cross Country Ski Association has asked GMNC to become a member. The $250 annual fee includes increased networking and the benefit of being part of the ski community, though we are not interested in the marketing aspect as we are at trailhead capacity. Christie Aschwanden will contact and bring up concern about marketing the Grand Mesa, will investigate the CCSA group insurance benefit and details on Forest Service guidance. She will also investigate membership with Colorado Cross Country Ski Association and the benefit of listing our events with them. 

Christie Aschwanden is applying for an Alpine Bank underwriting grant for KVNF advertising. Melissa Newell is working on print and radio venues. Joe Ramey has agreed to give a weather report at the seasoning opening events. 

        6. Newsletter – Renewal notices will be sent to all members around mid-October to mid-November. Joe Ramey will write up a weather-related feature for the newsletter.

        7.Building update – Dan Tille reports that we have received a final schematic design bill from Chamberlin Architects, and we should receive the final schematic design soon. At the October meeting we’ll have to vote on moving forward with Asset Engineering’s building cost estimate. Currently, the schematic design process includes a back and forth from USFS and architects. The Building Committee met with the donor and received specific requests including the building having a wood stove and personalized indoor and outdoor signs. The container has been removed from the building design. GMNC currently has 200K in the new bank account, with the second 200K arriving November 1^st. The final amount of 400K will arrive in February. We are still on a tight timeline to break ground as soon as the ground thaws in the spring of 2023. Finance Committee needs to put together an account balance sheet for the project.

         8.Next meetings will be on October 19^th at the Delta Rec Center at 6:00 pm.

Dan Tille moves to adjourn this meeting at 7:17 p.m. Joe Ramey seconds. Motion passes.