Salem Bicycle Club
Board Meeting Minutes
February 12, 2025
Call to Order-Present: Debbie Miller, Tim Newman, Ken Freeman, Juan Lopez, Julie Glass, Robin
Williams, Terry Robbins, Steve Budde, Colin Benson
Approval of Minutes- The January SBC board meeting minutes were reviewed and approved
unanimously by the board.
Treasurer’s Report- Robin Williams reports the total assets currently are at $22,556.32. The new
program is working well and board members commented that it is easy to follow. The CD is earning a significant amount of money. Tim explained the coding system used for income and expenses.
Ride Committee Report- Terry Robbins reports that the first gravel demo ride went really well with 12riders and the next two are coming up soon. West side start ride plans are going forward in discussion and considering Independence starts and possibly Monmouth. Club rides are currently scheduled through Mid-April. Terry is looking at member zip codes as a possible way to prioritize alternate ride start locations. Event rides for club credit have 6 proposed so far out of a possible 8 total and will be discussed and voted on in rides committee next month.
Steve Budde is working on a possible San Juan Island tour for 5-6 days in the 3rd or 4th week of August and will have more information available at the March meeting.
Tim mentioned that he would like to set up some family rides for the summer.
Spokes update – Colin Benson reports that the Spokes openings did increase as expected to about 60%. He is still having formatting problems. He is looking for input from anyone for ideas for future articles. Debbie Miller suggested he send out reminder emails to board members for ideas or pictures a couple of weeks before each newsletter is due to be published. Debbie will help to write one for March highlighting the Monster Cookie along with Ken’s interview. Colin would appreciate better photo organization on the website and Tim committed to improving the organization of the photos. Membership update- Julie Glass reports we are currently stable at 248 members. She did email expired members for November, December, and January. It’s hoped that new gravel rides will help to draw members. It was suggested that Julie consider writing up something to remind members of what their membership does for them and also what SBC does for the biking community.
Monster Cookie Update – Ken Freeman reports that there have been 3 planning committee meetings and it is going well. There are 39 registrants for the MC so far. There has been a slight route change due to the Rambler Bridge Repair anticipated this spring. Doug Parrow has drawn up the new map. Ken wrote up a proposed budget and emphasized the huge cost of Insurance for the MC, even more than the cost of food. In an attempt to boost MC visibility, a Liberty Street banner will be put up advertising the MC in April for one week. Board members are encouraged to reach out and sign up for volunteer positions on the volunteer site on the website.
Julie will consider creating an additional first aid kit for the registration area at the Monster Cookie ride. Ken will follow up with Garmin for employee partially supplemented rides.
Scotts has agreed to host a pre-registration event the day before the ride where wristbands and shirts can be distributed to reduce day of ride lines. Tim discussed ways to handle duplicate registrations, e.g. for a rider going back in to order a jersey after they’ve already registered. Tim said that was fine as long as they emailed him first to unlock access.
Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School update – Debbie Miller reports that the program is going well and gaining in popularity. A few new volunteers have stepped up to help this last month
The program is currently at Harritt Elementary and is heading to Clear Lake Elementary Schook in Keizer in March. Gloves donated by SBC to students were greatly appreciated and much needed this cold winter.
Annual Award s Dinner Recap- Tim Newman reports that everything went really well and board
members were very pleased with the program and new venue at Marco Polo. He highlighted the good food, company, and entertainment and board members agreed.
New Business- Colin Benson wonders about the availability of a member forum on the SBC website and Tim assures him that it has the capability for that, and he will look at that.
Salem Bicycle Club Jersey- Tim Newman and Juan Lopez have come up with a design that includes both short and long sleeve options with the design adapted to T-shirts as well. They will get the design to Colin to include in an article for Spokes. Tim clarified that the pre-ordering process would close in March, and he might contact board members to approve a minimum order to ensure a price break.
McKenzie Pass closure- Debbie Miller had brought up the idea of writing a letter to the transportation department expressing dissatisfaction with the closure of the pass to bikes during the period after plowing but before general opening to vehicles. This has been a very popular destination for cyclists during that time. But, after discussion with Dan Shryock, who wrote an article about it, it really doesn’t seem that it is a change in policy, just perhaps increased attention to enforcement.
Adjournment- the meeting was adjourned at about 7:45 PM. Next mtg 3-12 at 6:30 pm 6:30 PM