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Meeting Notes |
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Here are some of the notes from the Windrock Trails Advisory board meeting on February 19th. There is a new Patrol Officer on Windrock Mountain. His name is Fred. He and ET (the sheriffs officer that has been up there for a while) are here to help us all be safer. So go up introduce your self, tell them hello and that you appreciate them being there. You better have your permit and pink sheet ready to show them cause they will be checking. March 20th will be a Big trash clean up for the Windrock area. Any and all folks are invited to come out and help clean the mountain up. There will be several folks from the Coal Creek Board Of Directors there to see how it goes so any and all participation will be great. Yes there are several events going on that weekend, Next year there will not be a scheduling conflict. So go if don’t have any thing on your calendar March 20 go help and have a good time. Windmills The 15 new windmills will be headed towards Buffalo Mt soon. They are going to use the main paved road to haul the windmills to the top. This means they will have to do a lot of work to the paved road and to the gravel roads leading up the mountain. The main road will be closed in sections as they work on it. Please check the www.windrockatv.com web site for the latest information. It will also be posted at the permit shed. These closers could start as soon as better weather starts. Once the road is “fixed” they will start hauling the parts up to the site. This many start as early as September. But it will take a while. The new windmills have blades that are 150ft each compared to the 75 ft blades on the currents windmills. The transport for hauling these parts up the mt goes a scorching 6mph. Yes six miles and hour and with an estimated 127 trips it will take a little while to get all the parts up the hill. So please have patience and respect for the crews that are working on the road and the windmills. Yes there will soon be new way up the Mt when we loose the paved rd and some of the gravel roads. You may have seen the new bridge next to the pay shed. This will lead to a new trail that will eventually connect to big Mt Hollow (the west side of the are). This will be the main way up the Mt. once the construction starts. This trail is about 2 miles long and has a way to go but will be completed as soon as the weather and funds allow. WORK DAY This Saturday February 21st is a Work Day at Windrock. Go get you calendar and see what you are doing the 3 Saturday of March and the 3d Saturday of April. I know this is late warning for this weekend but for March and April there will be lots of opportunities to help with the area. This Saturdays plans include work on this new trail to Big Mt, put in culverts, pick up trash and work on the trails in general The latest snow has taken lots of tress down so bring your saw if you come. Windrock ATV will provide dinner for everyone that volunteers for a day. The work day start at 8 am for the main parking lot. Any and all helpers are invited. You can work as hard or as not hard you are physically able. Bad Actions A group of folks came to Windrock a couple weekends ago to ride. After a fun day in the woods they proceeded to have some fun and enjoy some adult beverages around the camp fire. One person had several to many and decided it would be fun the kick some donuts . Well he tore donuts in the parking lot then in the grassy field then he ended up going through the church fence and in the churches front yard. His buddies were trying to stop him but were un successful and after driving through the church fence a 2nd time the guy wrecked into the creek. He has been banded from the property for his actions. One act of this kind of irresponsible behavior is all it take to get us kicked off the Mt. The board of directors of coal creek are not going to tolerate this kind of behavior. It is easier to lock the gates then to put up with crap like that. The main point is be responsible for your action and the action of your group. Think about the consequences if this guy had gotten the area closed. Yep we all would be looking for this punk. Take out your pink copy of your permit and you will notice the number one rule is no alcohol on the Mt. By this guy not following the rules and being irresponsible our whole sport whether it be a 4x4, 4 wheeler, motorcycle, Mt bike are all being watch closer by the Board of directors for one more slip up. The good news is the group this guy WAS with has come together and raised a bunch of money to give to the church. The group is planning a work day to come back and help re-seed the church’s yard and try and make amends for the actions of one of their members. We are responsible for our own action and also the actions of the people we ride with. Lets try and do good for the area. $$$ The insurance for us to ride on the Coal Creek area is close to 100,000 dollars per year. Most of the money from each permit goes towards operating expenses. The insurance plus two law officers and secretaries to handle the permits ect. ect. Coal Creek is barley scraping even from our recreation. Last year all the money that was brought in from the recreation permits made Coal creek 0 dollars. So keep in mind if we are not good stewards of the land. It will be pretty easy for Coal Creek Board of Directors to realize we are not helping the bottom line and the cheapest thing for them to do is to kick us off the mountain. $ for Trails 10% That is what Windrock ATV makes on each permit. This money goes strait back in to the Area. Permits sold by Comfort Inn, J’s ATV, Greens ATV, Jims Off Road and by WATV either online or at the shed go to this fund. If you buy your permit from one of the gas stations or other places that sells the permits that 10% doesn’t go to help the Area. That 9$ or 45$ goes to help pay for insurance and other things but doesn’t help to improve the Area. Well there’s got to be lots of money out there with all of those permits that are sold right? There is a little money but Windrock ATV puts all the $ they make from the permits and their big events straight back into the Area. All the equipment rental and material fees come from that money. That big parking lot cost Windrock ATV 10,000$ to grade and gravel that out. The new bridge1000$ The permit shed several thousand dollars. So on and so forth, gravel and culverts and dozers don’t not grow on trees. So go buy a Coal Creek OHV T-shirt or sticker, all the money raised from those shirts and stickers get pumped back into the area. You want more , well then step up….. Your want more gravel parking? Then make a time, money or effort donation. Have you got a skill or a piece of equipment that might improve the area. Then offer it up and help the make the area better. If you have a back hoe you are not using one weekend Tell them. They cay put you and your back hoe to work. If you have your own a garden shovel and are willing to use it then show up for the work day and use it to help the area. If you are thinking of opening a new trail…… walk it do not ride it. Walk it, map it, show it to a board member, they will get permission for you to flag the trail then Coal Creek may or may not approve it. If it is approved then you can go start riding and cutting the new trail open. If you are caught on a unmarked trail you WILL LOSE your permit. If you are caught cutting in a new trail you will loose YOUR PERMIT and ridding privileges. As always any and all questions and comments about the Area and the Trails Board are welcomed and appreciated.
Please respond to rstroud1@knology.net This page last updated on 10/16/2007. |