Ottawa Outdoor Club
Tuesday,  23 October 2018 - 6:30 - 9:00 PM
Games Room, Sandy Hill Community Centre, 250 Somerset Street East, Ottawa

1. Call meeting to order (Rob Burnfield, President)
2. Quorum verification (Jenn Dorr, Secretary)
3. Approval of agenda (Rob Burnfield, President)
4. Approval of minutes of 2017 AGM (Rob Burnfield) [D]
5. President’s report (Rob Burnfield) [D]
6. Co-ordinators’ reports
   • Canoeing (Mike McCurrie) [D]
   • Cycling (Rob Burnfield, acting) [D]
   • Hiking (Robert Bultitude) [D]
   • Skiing (Rob Burnfield, on behalf of the Co-ordinator) [D]
   • Snowshoeing (Lana Doss) [D]
   • Social activities (no report)
7. Equipment Officer's report (Judy Smith) [D]
8. Membership Secretary’s report (Rob Burnfield, on behalf of the Membership Secretary) [D]
9. Webmaster’s report (Rob Burnfield) [D]
10. Training report (Lana Doss) [D]
11. Amendments to the OOC Constitution and Bylaws (John Galbraith) [D]
12. Financial statement (Rob Burnfield) [D]
13. Presentation of and vote on 2018-2019 budget (Rob Burnfield) [D]
14. Presentation and vote on membership fee and non-member activity fees (Bylaws Article 1, Section 2 (a)) (Rob Burnfield)
15. Presentation of carpooling fees (Bylaws Article 6, Section 3)
16. Election of OOC executive
17. Other items
18. End of meeting

[D] indicates that a related document is available

We—and I—have had a busy year.

I'll start with some stats about our outings, talk about our executive, and then finish with mentioning our upcoming 25th anniversary.

From 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017, we had 136 separate outdoor-related activities.

A year later, for the same period, we had 160 separate outdoor-related activities, an increase of about 18%.

These included training sessions, day outings, evening outings, and weekend trips::

• 13 weekend trips
• 15 training or information sessions (canoeing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and hiking [wild mushrooms]
• 11 bicycle outings
• 50 hiking outings, with canoeing included with some of them
• 28 canoe-related outings, including training sessions and some with hiking
• 21 snowshoe-related outings, including an equipment-demonstration session
• 15 cross-country ski outings, including training sessions
• 6 skating sessions, most on the Rideau Canal on Friday evenings and one on the "Skateway Through the Forest" north of Gatineau Park
• 30 Thursday-evening walks

There are some overlaps in the counts listed above.  Additional outings had been scheduled, but some had had to be cancelled for the usual reason of adverse weather.

24 people led outings last year compared with 28 the year before, and possibly a few more each year whose names may not have been recorded in the schedule.

I want to specifically thank Paul Gallagher, who prepared and led major training sessions for cross-country skiing and canoeing, both starting with classroom seminars and then progressing to training sessions on the water (frozen or liquid, depending on the type of training).  It was evident that many people were interested, with initial lists of over 30 people for cross-country skiing and over 60 for canoeing.

Many of the executive roles weren't filled as of last year's AGM.  The roles of Treasurer, Secretary, Cycling Coordinator, and Equipment Officer were empty.  In early January, the role of Hiking Coordinator also became available when Eddie Drueding, who had held the role for twelve seasons, decided to step down.  (As a bonus for us, Eddie didn't stop leading hikes; he led quite a few over the past many months.)  Over the next few months, these roles started being filled.  Bonnie Lalonde, who had just taken on the role of Membership Secretary at last year's AGM, took on the role of our Treasurer at the beginning of January and continued as Membership Secretary.  Each of these roles requires a lot of time throughout the entire year, and each has a non-trivial learning curve; I appreciate that she took them on.  In the spring, I took on the role of acting Cycling Coordinator, partly to encourage me to exercise more.  Robert Bultitude started working behind the scenes as the unofficial Hiking Coordinator, ultimately taking on the role formally in August.  We appointed Judy Smith as our Equipment Officer at the end of May, the first time we've had an Equipment Officer since the end of 2014.  In July, Jenn Dorr came on as our Secretary, with a particular interest in improving our social media presence.

As you can see, there's been a lot of change in the leadership of the Club, with some of us taking on multiple roles, which I appreciate immensely.  I'm happy that many of the members of the executive plan to put their names forth for re-election, and a number of new people have expressed interest in filling roles.  Based on those who have so far expressed interest in being on the executive, it appears that we'll have a nearly-complete executive, in particular, with potentially all of the Coordinator roles filled.  We would have a good mix of experienced executive members and new, younger and older, women and men.

Next year will be the 25th anniversary of the OOC in its current format.  It's been around in some format or another since the late 60s, about 50 years ago.  In its early years, it was an outreach part of the Ottawa Hostel.  In 1994, the Hostel decided that it could no longer fund the program, so some of the members met and decided to create their own Club, based at the Hostel. They decided upon a membership fee of $40 (equivalent to $62 today).  John Galbraith was the first to pay and, as a result, is member #1.  The first AGM was on Wednesday, 28 September 1994.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary, we plan to have a boat cruise, tentatively set for next fall.  Please watch for details over the next while.  If you know any past OHOC / OOC members who might be interested, please let us know.

In closing, I want to say that it's been a wonderful—and busy—year.  With the energy and experience of the existing executive and the new that might join—and many other Club members—this coming year will be an excellent year to celebrate our 25th!

Rob Burnfield

Notes:

• 23 October 2018:  this report was amended to include the overnight trip to Frontenac Park, as mentioned at the AGM
• 23 October 2019:  during the review of the 2018 AGM minutes, this report was amended to correct "Frontenac Park" to "North Frontenac Park"

Trip leaders

• Michael McCurrie
• Rob Burnfield
• Paul Gallagher

Training

• Paul's canoeing training course

Day trip destinations

• Meech Lake & Lac La Pêche in Gatineau Park
• Gatineau River
• Rideau River
• Paugan Reservoir

Overnight trip destinations

• Algonquin Park
• Lac Poisson Blanc
• Réserve Faunique La Vérendrye
• Rideau Canal
• North Frontenac Park

Incident report

Canoe #9 was destroyed in rapids in Réserve Faunique La Vérendrye. One canoer suffered minor injuries.  A panel of OOC members is reviewing this incident, with a report containing recommendations due in February.

We had a moderately-active bicycling program this year, with thirteen outings planned and one of those cancelled due to a forecast of substantial rain.  We went to a range of locations, moving farther afield as the summer progressed.  We bicycled along rivers, through the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau and the village of Old Chelsea, out to some of the beaches, and spent time bicycling around Blue Sea Lake on the paved Véloroute des Draveurs up near Maniwaki, north of Gatineau.  On our second outing (to Petrie Island), we had to make several detours to go around parts of the Ottawa River that had made it inland a little ways.

One cyclist suffered minor injuries during one of the outings this season.

I look forward to more bicycling with the Club next year.  Our trips this year were on the order of 35 - 45 km, some slightly shorter, some slightly longer.

I want to thank Marion Perry, Jenn Jackson, and Jim Burgess for joining me in leading one or more of our twelve bicycle outings throughout the season.

The hiking coordinator set five main objectives for the summer just past:

• to effect a needed role within the club
• to make sure there was a hike every Sunday
• to explore some of the lesser-used, so-called unmarked trails (or blazed) in Gatineau Park
• to try to attract some new hike leaders
• to help people learn a little more about planning for hikes, and using a map and compass

There has been some progress on most fronts:

• There has been a hike every Sunday
• Trails around Lac Richard, into Lac Cleary, along Meech Creek to the Carbide Mille, and from Kidder Lake to Taylor Lake via Lac Monette were hiked.  One of these has never been hiked by the Club previously, and the others haven’t been hiked in recent years.
• Three people who have never led OOC hikes previously led several very successful hikes
• It was observed that there doesn't seem to be much interest in detailed planning to gather distance, elevation, and directional information from maps prior to hikes, and nobody seems to be interested in using a map and compass.  This appears to be for two reasons:
  • Those who have a real interest in these things use moderately expensive devices that can superimpose GPS info on pre-downloaded maps of the area of interest.
  • Those who haven’t such devices either have no interest, or think they need to study extensively and spend a lot of money to be “directionally-safe” in the forest, and also that they can rely on leaders.

However, a compass available for 3-4 dollars at the dollar store, and a free park map, with a little knowledge could prove invaluable in an emergency.  It is felt that more attention should be paid by those not leading hikes to where they are and how to get where they want to go in the forest, for safety, if for no other reason.

• The Club enjoyed several outings led by Eden Bromfield, during which a little bit of information about flora and fauna was learned, and a mushroom identification clinic was promoted within the Club by Paul Gallagher.  It would be nice if we had more such outings, possibly to learn some of the names of the trees and some geology.  Perhaps we can look forward to more of this for next season, and invite people working in these areas to lead educational outings.

One hiker suffered minor injuries during a hike last fall.

The hiking coordinator would like to thank all those who led hikes and saved the day on Monday before the newsletter was sent, by responding to group messages looking for a leader for the next Sunday.  This simplified his work considerably and was much appreciated.

We had an active cross-country skiing program this year, with twelve daytime outings planned, two of which were cancelled due to forecasts of warm weather and rain.

I want to thank Xuan Qi for leading, for the third year in a row, the weekend trip to Val David in the Laurentians.

I also want to thank Paul Gallagher, along with Lisa Hartman, for organizing and leading the very successful set of cross-country ski lessons.  They srtated with a classroom session in mid-December and then ran three on-the-tracks sessions on Saturdays somewhat early in the season.  The classroom session had over 30 people, and the outdoor sessions each had about 10 people.

With winter soon upon us, I look forward to (hope for?) many days of perfect cross-country ski conditions in Gatineau Park and surrounding areas.

Since the first event on December 9, there were 18 planned events:

• 1 social at Trailhead Paddle Shack, Snow shoe & winter clothing basics with pizza at Colonade.
• 6 mid-week trips - 3-5 people including Jennifer & Paul
• 11 Saturday trips planned. 2 cancelled. 1 extreme weather where John showed up but no one else did.  Night-time cancelled due to mild and icy conditions in the woods.
  • Of the 11 trips, one was a beginner snowshoe with 11 attendees
• 9 sbowshoe rentals
• 10 non-members

The last snowshoe outing of 2017/18 was on April 2, with first hike on April 9.

2016/17 we had 11 different people lead, and in 2017/18 we had only 8 people lead:

• Jennifer Jackson lead 8 outings
• Paul Gallagher co-led 5
• Marion Perry lead 2
• John Galbraith lead 1 snowshoe and 1 skate, and planned to lead another
• Lana Doss led 2 & co-led 1
• Mike McCurrie led 1 and organized the weekend trip to the Algonquin EcoLodge
• Jim Burgess co-led one outiing with Lana and one with Ronaalee Carey

 

An updated equipment inventory was completed August 2018.

Some of the activities of the Club require participants to have their own equipment (i.e., biking, XC skiing) or do not require specific equipment (i.e., hiking).  The majority of OOC inventory is related to the snowshoe and canoeing programs.

Canoes
The canoes and associated equipment are currently stored on rented private property north of Ottawa. This location has provided the OOC the opportunity to conveniently access nearby waterways, in particular, Meech Lake and the Gatineau River on weekends and Wednesday-night paddles.

There are now 8 canoes in inventory. Canoe #7 is not operational as a result of a leak. Proposed repairs are to happen in Spring 2019. Canoe #9 has been removed from inventory as a result of an accident, with damages beyond repair (Sep 2018).  At this time, the executive has decided not to replace canoe #9 but will collect the approximate replacement costs of $1200 from the trip participants.

Snowshoes
There is now a plethora of snowshoes in inventory with the recent transfer of a storage cabinet and multiple pairs of snowshoes, thanks to Kevin Marshall Laflêche, former OOC Equipment Officer. With this acquisition, there is no requirement for the Club to purchase additional snowshoes for the upcoming season.

Storage Facility
With an interest of trying to centralize the assets of the OOC, the executive has been looking to secure accessible storage within the city to accommodate the snowshoes, canoes and equipment, and associated miscellaneous items (chairs, tents, etc). The Canoe Coordinator has been sourcing a number of possible locations and, in consultation with the executive, has determined that one cost-effective relocation option would be the NCC property at Woodroffe and Hunt Club across from the Nepean Sportsplex. To date, no decision has been made, and we are still in exploratory mode. A location in the city would allow for a variety of accessible waterways for the Wednesday-night paddles, including put-ins at Black’s Rapids, Shirley’s Bay, Mooney’s Bay, Lac Leamy (Gatineau River), etc. With a shift to a larger multi-sport storage facility, I would propose a return to the prior equipment sign-in/sign-out system for greater accountability.

Judy Smith
Equipment Coordinator
October 2018

Excel spreadsheet that contains most of what is in the tables below.

Existing Inventory

EQUIPMENT	Number	2011 Oct	2012 Oct	2013 Oct	2014 Oct	2018 Oct	Notes
Canoes, Storage and Transport
Canoes	10	10	10	10	10	8	#4 with stern dent @ flotation. #7  not operational due to leak. #9 destroyed in accident Sept 1st 2018.
Canoe racks	2	2	2	2	2	2
Boat bumper		1	0	1	0	1
Canoe transport tie down straps	29	24	26	26	20	18
Canoe transport top overstraps	14	14	19	19	14	12
Canoe transport foam blocks (large)	47	5	5	2	2	2
Canoe transport foam blocks (small)		44	44	47	43	30
Canoe roof rack (pair) - wood with metal rings			1	1	1	1
Laundry basket (for foam blocks)			2	2	2	2
Yokes (metal, for portaging canoes)		5	5	5	5	4	1 lost Sept 2018
Canoe Paddles (mostly wood)
Extra long (red)	4	4	4	4	4	3
Long (blue)	11	10	10	9	10	13	2 metal / 11 wood
Medium (green)	16	16	16	16	16	14	1 unusable, 1 lost Sept 2018
Short to medium (yellow)	5	5	5	5	5	3
Short (White)	2	2	2	2	2	2
Extra short (red & white) - one split & repaired	2	2	2	2	2
Ropes
Throw bags with flashlight in plastic tub	8	7	8	8	6	5
Regular ropes with flashlight in plastic tub			2	2	2
Large throw bags	2	2	1	1	2	2
Floating safety rope	1	1	1	1	1	1
Misc. length ropes (in plastic bag)	19	19	18	17	17	15
Canoe Accessories
Canoe seats (hanging canvas)			3	3	3	0
Canoe knee pads (4 lg, 8 sm. flat foam cushions)			2	2	10	10
Misc. bailers (child's buckets, cut juice containers)	22	11	10	8	8
Canoeing portage pack (large - red/black colour)	1	1	1	1	1	1
Canoe equipment bags (red laundry-type)	8	8	8	8	8	8
Carry bags (mesh)		6	6	5	5	5	3 with holes
Dry bag - 30L					1
Dry bag - 50L orange						1	New 2017
Dry bag - 50L blue						1	In 2017, old and well-used.
Canoe Shed Items, Miscellaneous
Work light for canoe shed			2	2	2	2
Power extension cord	1	1	1	1	1	1
Multi-pronged power outlet	1	1	1	1	1	1
Flashlights (regular)	3	5	5	4	0
Flashlights (wind-up)	7	1	1	1	0
Bag of AA batteries - in storage drawers	1	1	1	1	1	pkg 20
Tarps (green and blue) + 1 tarp strap	1	5	4	4	5	2
Padlocks (same key opens 3 Masterlocks) in storage drawers			4	4	4	0
Stencils (1 package) in storage drawers		1	0	0	1	1
Multi-purpose plastic ties, 11" (1 bag)					1	1
Locker (5x4x2)		1	1	1	?	1
3-drawer plastic shelving unit		1	1	1	1	1
Bins (1 large - no lid; 2 medium + lids)		3	3	3	3	3
Life Jackets
Fluid brand - XXL	2	2	2	2	2	2
Fluid brand - Extra large	1	1	1	1	1	1
Fluid brand - Medium	5	5	5	5	5
Fluid brand - Small	7	7	6	6	6
Endurance - Large	1	1	1	1	1
Endurance - Medium	3	3	3	3	3
Endurance - Small	1	1	1	1	1
Buoy-o-buoy jackets - Adults	6	6	4	4	6
Buoy-o-buoy jackets - Youth	1	1	0	0	1
Buoy-o-buoy jackets - Small			3	3	0
Buoy-o-buoy life preservers (ties around neck)	3	3	3	3	3
Mustang jacket - Youth	1	1	1	1	1
Stearns - Medium	1	1	1	1	1
Keep a float - Medium	1	1	1	1	1
Trekk Marine - XXL	1	1	1	1	1	1
ExtraSport - XL			1	1	1	1
Rain jacket and pants (PIM) - Large					1	1
Safety Equipment, General, in plastic drawer unit
Walkie-talkies (should be 5 total) - 2 Cobra Brand missing	3	3	3	3	3	3	2016:  simple check, don't work
First Aid kits (should be 5 total) - 2 in kitchen baggies	3	4.5	3	3	4	1
OOC-developed first-aid kits						8	Created by Mary Hicks in 2016.  Some additional replacement supplies
Whistles				24	28	25
Carabiners, small			7	7	7
Katadyn Water filteration kits	2	2	2	1	1	1
Gravity water filter						1	New October 2017
Wax kit for skis (in plastic drawer unit)	1	1	1	1	1
Camping Equipment
Blue Foam mattress rolled	1	1	1	1	1	1
60 L green dry barrel with carry strap	1	0	1	1	1	1
Pots + 1 lid	1	1	1	1	1	1
Pans	1	2	2	2	3	2
Ladles	0	1	1	1	1	1
Baking sheet (poor condition)					1	1
Spatulas	0	2	2	2	2	2
Spoon (strainer)		1	1	1	1	1
Pot holders/lifters (metal)		2	1	1	2	0
Scissor/knife/opener tool					1	0
Corkscrew					1	1
Snowshoes (stored by Snowshoe Coordinator)
Wooden pairs - Small (more like medium)	3	0	3	2	2	2
Wooden pairs - Large	3	3	2	2	2	2
Metal pair	1	1	1	1	1	2
Tubbs pair - Small	4	4	4	4	4	4
Atlas pair - Small	4	4	4	4	4	4
Atlas pair - Large	1	1	1	1	1	1
Snow & Mountain pair - Large	3	2	2	2	2	2
Yuba pair - Large	1	1	1	1	1	1
Miscellaneous items
Canopy tents						2	These have no sides, only a top.  The structure of one is damaged and may not be repairable.
Light blue fold-up chairs						4
White fold-up tables						2
Vertical OOC display banner with stand (for marketing)						1
Stand-alone OOC picture board (for marketing)						1
OOC-branded carabiners - red						15
OOC-branded carabiners - blue						41
OOC-branded T-shirts - beige adult small						3
OOC-branded T-shirts - beige adult medium						3
OOC-branded shirts long sleeve - beige adult large						2
OOC-branded T-shirts - white adult large						1
T-shirt with OOC & other logos - black XL						1	Looks like it was a test T-shirt for printing

Items Deleted From Active Inventory

"Removed" means that the item was removed from the above list and added to this list during that column's update to the list.  An item will have been no longer in existence for a while before being considered removed from the active inventory.

ITEMS DELETED FROM ACTIVE INVENTORY	Number	2011 Oct	2012 Oct	2013 Oct	2014 Oct	2018 Oct
Therm-a-Rest chair kit (converts mattress to chair)	1	0	0	0	0
Projector screen	1	1	0	0	0
Tripod	1	1	0	0	0
Snowshoes
Plastic pair - Large	3	0	0	0	0
Plastic pair - Small	3	0	0	0	0
Tubbs pair - Large	1	1	1	0	0	Removed
Skis (pairs) and poles
Fischer - no binding	1	0		0	0
SNS binding type	2	0		0	0
NNN binding type	3	0		0	0
Fischer - skate ski-partially delaminated	1	0		0	0
Salomon binding Elan	1	0		0	0
3-pin binding style	12	0		0	0
Ski poles (pairs)	14	0		0	0
Walking poles	3	0		0	0
Ski boots
Alpina brand XL	1	0		0	0
Rossignol-L	1	0		0	0
Saloman 411- L	1	0		0	0
Adidas - size 11-3 pin	1	0		0	0
Northstar - XS-3 pin	1	0		0	0
Fels - size 8	1	0		0	0
Telemark-M -3 pin	1	0		0	0
Size 42 no -name	1	0		0	0
Size 40 no-name	1	0		0	0
No-name - blue - approx size 5	1	0		0	0
No-name - blue - approx size 5	1	0		0	0
Skilom-Large - 3 pin	1	0		0	0
Skates - figure - white	1	0	0	0	0
Bicycle equipment
Bicycle panniers - small	2	0	0	0	0
Bicycle racks	3	0	0	0	0
Bicycle pump	1	1	0	0	0
Miscellaneous items
Canoe DVD		1	1	0	0	Removed
Walkie-talkie charger - missing	0	0	0	0	0	Removed
Sanitizing kit			1	1	0	Removed
Plastic water jugs	2	0	0	0	0	Removed
BBQ grill	0	0	0	0	0	Removed
Kitchen hand mop		1	1	0	0	Removed

This year, we have 218 members, an increase over 2014 and a 9% decline in membership from 2017.  The largest category of members falls within the 49-to-56-years age group (25%) with a cumulative 30% of members at or younger than 40 years of age and 54% of members older than 48 years of age. The majority of members (96%) registered online and approximately 92% paid via PayPal. A complete breakdown of membership statistics from 2014 to 2018 is found in the tables below.

	2013-2014	2014-2015	2015-2016	2016-2017	2017-2018
Number of Members
New	83	117	136	103	92
Renewing	126	108	129	137	126
Total	209	225	265	240	218
2018 compared to...	4.3%	-3.1%	-17.7%	-9.2%
Membership Method
paper	41	20	34	15	8
% paper	19.6%	8.9%	12.8%	6.3%	3.7%
web form	168	205	231	225	210
% webform	80.4%	91.1%	87.2%	93.8%	96.3%
Payment Method
cheque	45	37	40	25	18
% cheque	21.5%	16.4%	15.1%	10.5%	8.3%
PayPal	164	188	225	215	200
% PayPal	78.5%	84.6%	84.9%	89.5%	91.7%

 

# of Members By Age Range
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
18 to 24	6	9	9	16	12
25 to 32	29	25	32	27	27
33 to 40	30	34	39	30	22
41 to 48	29	32	39	27	31
49 to 56	46	45	50	44	50
57 to 64	30	40	40	31	24
65 or older	13	17	21	34	35
Grand total	183	202	230	209	201

Note: Not all members provide their age range. 

 

% of Members By Age Range
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
18 to 24	3.3%	4.5%	3.9%	7.7%	6.0%
25 to 32	15.8%	12.4%	13.9%	12.9%	13.4%
33 to 40	16.4%	16.8%	17.0%	14.4%	11.0%
41 to 48	15.8%	15.8%	17.0%	12.9%	15.4%
49 to 56	25.1%	22.3%	21.7%	21.1%	24.9%
57 to 64	16.4%	19.8%	17.4%	14.8%	11.9%
65 or older	7.1%	8.4%	9.1%	16.3%	17.4%

 

Cumulative % of Members By Age Range
	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
18 to 24	3.3%	4.5%	3.9%	7.7%	6.0%
18 to 32	19.1%	16.8%	17.8%	20.6%	19.4%
18 to 40	35.5%	33.7%	34.8%	34.9%	30.4%
18 to 48	51.4%	49.5%	51.7%	47.8%	45.8%
18 to 56	76.5%	71.8%	73.5%	68.9%	70.7%
18 to 64	92.9%	91.6%	90.9%	83.7%	82.6%
18+	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

As webmaster, this past year has generally been one of continuity.  My priorities have been

• to work with our activity coordinators to ensure that the activity schedule is updated in a timely manner
• to work with our membership secretary, Bonnie Lalonde, to ensure that she has access to the latest membership registrations that come in from the website, and to ensure that the email list used for the newsletter is up to date
• to work with our newsletter editor, Sam Ludmer, and his various vacation substitutes when any issues have arisen regarding the process of creating or sending the newsletter
• to work with OOC members and members of the executive as required when they have had issues related to our Internet presence
• since part of our website uses a content management system (CMS, specifically, Drupal) for the website content, to ensure that the CMS components are kept up to date when updates are provided
• to work with our web hosting provider as required

Twitter

The Twitter feed that was added a couple of years ago is used occasionally.  Anyone can post to it by including the hashtag #ottawaoutdoorclub.  It's been used by leaders to post last-minute issues (such as those related to weather) and by others to post photos of recent outings.  I encourage all activity coordinators to inform or remind your trip leaders of this possibility.

Facebook

Since the decision a number of years ago by the executive to open up our Facebook group to commentary again after a number of years of not permitting group members to comment, the membership in our Facebook group has continued to grow, although at a slower rate.  Here's the membership history over the past few years:

• 30 September 2015:  about 340
• 30 September 2016:  1245
• 30 September 2017:  1563
• 30 September 2018:  1967

It has continued to be very successful, with many Club members posting photos and comments.  In addition, people have been posting questions and Club members have been answering many of them.  All of this has very likely helped foster a greater sense of camaraderie in the Club and, since both Club members and non-members can be part of the Facebook group, has advertised the Club to others.  As the numbers have increased, we've started seeing wider conversations on the group.  We continue to have discussions in the executive as to how free-ranging to let it be.

I want to extend a big thanks to our Secretary, Jenn Dorr, for quickly accepting new requests for membership in our Facebook group, posting enticing banner pictures, posting "welcome new members" weekly, and just all-around keeping on top of the group.

Occasionally, we have a few people post information completely unrelated to what we do or might do.  In these cases, I've sent the posters a Facebook text message telling them that their post was being deleted.  For some cases, it was just a misunderstanding of the limits of our group.  In other cases, a person would join and would, within minutes or a day, post what is clearly advertising.  In these cases, I would remove the posting and remove the person from our group, along with informing the person of such.

Website statistics for the past year

We had about 3% fewer visitors to the website this past year compared to the previous year.

This chart shows the numbers of visits categorized by their lengths (in seconds or minutes) over the past year. This is little-changed from last year.  It suggests that about half of the people entered the website, realized that it was not where they wanted to be, and moved on.

Most people visit one or two pages:  the schedule page and the home page.  As a result, I try to put as much information related to immediate activity needs as possible in these two pages, trying to balance the needs of new and potentially-new Club members vs. the needs of experienced Club members.

Not unexpectedly, a plurality of our visitors are from the Ottawa-Gatineau area, with half of that number from the Toronto area.  We've had visitors from all over the world (of course, many by accidenet).

 

People accessed the website from the devices shown in the table below over the past year.  There was no major shift over the previous year.

    

Of the 9 people who attended the September 2017 HikeOntario leader training course, over ½ are active in a leader capacity with the Club and 7/9 fulfilled their criteria to be reimbursed.  There was positive feedback about the course.

We’ve been talking about running it again this winter, but not necessarily covering the entire cost.

We are currently seeking details for Wilderness First Aid Training.

 

The following amendments to the Club Constitution and Bylaws are proposed for acceptance at the 2018 AGM.

Overview

The Club is in good financial shape, with an end-of-year (September 30) cash balance of $12,343.39.

From a process perspective, we changed how we handle our finances.  We changed from cash-based accounting to accrual-based accounting.  The end result is the same, and it makes some aspects easier and provides for better tracking.  A little more work is required up front, but much less work is required at the end, and more information is available.

Income was lower than budgeted this past year, primarily due to lower-than-expected income from rental fees and non-member activity fees, and marginally due to lower-than-expected membership.

Expenses were lower than budgeted for a variety of reasons:

• the advertising budget was not spent
• insurance cost less than expected (details are in the report below)
• both the end-of-summer barbecue and volunteer recognition dinner cost less than budgeted, although similar to the previous year, so their budgets have been decreased for the new year
• we had one group travel outing this year (Mt. Tremblant) instead of the two budgeted.  Only one is planned for the new year
• we spent less than budgeted on equipment-related expenses
• we spent less than budgeted on training.  We had hoped to offer wilderness first-aid training, which didn't happen

We (the executive) have had a challenge over the past few years when developing the budget, in that the budgeted cash balance must be between 80% and 160% of the average of the previous three-years' actual income.  The end-of-year cash balance has been high for a number of years.  To bring it down, we have intentionally planned deficits.  In recent years, the Club added a variety of activities (bus trips, volunteer recognition dinner, free catered end-of-season BBQ, and training) that have been well-received and have helped bring down the cash balance.

As of this year, the budgeted cash balance is now easily within the range, so it's not as feasible to run deficits.  There is a desire to continue with the additional activities.  In addition, our insurance costs increased markedly a few years ago when we moved from $1,000,000 to the recommended $2,000,000 coverage for general liability.

As a result, we are now planning on a balanced budget.

We went through the overall budget carefully and set the budgets for the various expenses much closer to the actual past expenses, especially paying attention to the trends for the various items and what's happened over the past few years.  We have more people interested in helping with marketing and advertising this year, so we expect the advertising budget to be spent, unlike in recent years.

If we want to have a balanced budget, to cover the rest of the difference requires increasing fees and / or dropping activities.  There are a few possibilities:

• increase the membership fee
• apply the rental fees to everyone for canoeing.  Currently, only non-members pay canoe rental fees
• increase the rental fees

Each has its advantages and disadvantages.  For example, increasing the membership fee may reduce the number of people choosing to become members.  If the non-member activity fee is not increased in conjunction with the membership fee, those who think that they'll attend only a limited number of outings may decide to not become a member.  If the non-member activity fee is increased at the same rate as the membership fee, it means that the fees will not be the easy multiple of $5 that they are now, and participants and leaders will struggle more to make change (as people sometimes do now for carpooling fees).  Adding canoe rental fees for everyone will provide more money, but possibly only to a certain limit.  At $5 / person / outing, they may be OK, but at $10 / person / outing, we may lose some people, especially for weekly activities and especially students who may have less money but whom we want to encourage to stay in the Club.

The budget presented here is presented as a starting point for a robust discussion at the AGM, where it can be changed.

 

Table 1:  Statement of Operations for the Year Ended 30 September 2018

Ottawa Outdoor Club Financial Reports
Statement of Operations for the Year Ended 30 September 2018
1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018 ($)
				2018	2017
Income		$		9,238.00	9,225.00
	Membership fees			9,052.00	8,802.00
		Membership registration		8,145.00	7,200.00
		Non-member activity fees		907.00	1,602.00
	Hospitality			45.00	0.00
		Annual Bar-B-Q (1)		45.00	0.00
	Rental fees			141.00	423.00
		Snowshoes		36.00
		Canoes		105.00
Expense		$		10,628,58	11,504.20
	Administration			1,019.06	976.95
		Bank fees		80.93	101.71
		PayPal fees		334.07	312.89
		Post Office Box		210.18	202.27
		Postage		211.32	202.39
		Office supplies		182.56	157.69
	Insurance (2)			4,069.44	4,272.48
	Publicity			185.28	233.12
		Web hosting		185.28	233.12
		Advertising		0.00	0.00
	Hospitality			1,493.65	1,527.53
		Recognition dinner		776.18	624.00
		Annual Bar-B-Q		717.47	903.53
	Group travel subsidies (3)			469.47	1,101.11
	Training & development			619.20	338.39
	Exec meetings & AGM			480.95	478.78
	Equipment & storage			2,291.53	2,575.84
		Rent for canoe storage		1,800.00	1,800.00
		Canoes and related supplies		488.68	0.00
		Miscellaneous - procurement & maintenance		2.85	775.84
Net Income			$	-1,390.58	-2,279.20

Notes

1. There was a similar small amount of income for the annual BBQ in 2017, but it was included with one of the other categories.
2. Less was spent on insurance this year because, during the previous year, we changed insurers for our general liability coverage to increase our general liability coverage from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000, the currently-recommended amount.  The new insurance policy, paid annually, started a few months later in 2016 than the previous policy, which had been extended to cover the OOC until the new policy was confirmed.  Thus, the payment was for about 15 months instead of 12 months.  We are now on a different 12-month cycle, one that starts later in the year than the previous cycle.
3. In 2017, there were two trips:  one to Mt. Tremblant and one to Calabogie.  In 2018, there was only a trip to Mt. Tremblant.

 

The following pie chart shows the breakdown of expenses for the past year.

Table 2:  Balance Sheet at 30 September 2018

Assets as of 30 September 2018
	Bank balance as of 30 September 2018	4,041.37
	PayPal balance as of 30 September 2018	8,302.02
	Outstanding expected revenue to be collected	0.00
	Cheques written for future-year expenses	0.00
	Total	12,343.39
Liabilities as of 30 September 2018
	Total outstanding cheques	1,935.46
	Payment still to be made for expenses, & reimbursements from FY & earlier	87.00
	Income received for future year	0.00
	Retained earnings	10,320.93
	Total	12,343.39

Notes:

1. $US500.00 deposit for annual September trip to Rock and River in the Adirondacks.  This was initially paid by the OOC many years ago and has been rolled over in US funds at the end of each trip for the next year since then.  As a result, no exchange rate is attached to it, and it is tracked separately from the OOC's Canadian funds.  When this trip is terminated some year in the future, the deposit will be returned, and it will be converted into Canadian $, at which time that amount will be added to the balance.

Note 24 October 2018:  The budget presented below was modified at the AGM.  Here is the budget that was accepted.

OTTAWA OUTDOOR CLUB
Income and Expense Statement:  2018 (Actual) and 2019 (Budget)
1 October to 30 September ($)
				2018			2019
				Budget	Actual	Variance (1)	Budget
Income				9,900	9,238.00	-662.00	13,530
	Membership fees			9,550	9,052.00	-498.00	13,000
		Membership registration (2)		8,200	8,145.00	-55.00	12,100
		Non-member activity fees		1,350	907.00	-443.00	900
	Hospitality				45.00	45.00	0
		Annual Bar-B-Q			45.00	45.00	0
	Rental fees			350	141.00	-209.00	530
		Snowshoes			36.00		30
		Canoes			105.00		500
Expense				13,950	10,628.58	3,321.42	13,520
	Administration			1,100	1019.06	80.94	1,370
		Bank fees		30	80.93	-50.93	30
		PayPal fees (3)		460	334.07	125.93	705
		Post Office Box		210	210.18	-0.18	215
		Postage		200	211.32	-11.32	220
		Office supplies		200	182.56	17.44	200
	Insurance (4)			4,700	4069.44	630.56	4,200
	Publicity			600	185.28	414.72	850
		Web hosting		250	185.28	64.72	250
		Advertising / printing		350	0.00	350.00	600
	Hospitality			1,850	1,493.65	356.35	2,300
		Volunteer recognition dinner		650	717.47	-67.47	900
		Annual Bar-B-Q		1,200	776.18	423.82	900
		Special event(s) - 25th anniversary					500
	Group travel subsidies			1,000	469.47	530.53	500
	Training & development			1,250	619.20	630.80	1,000
	Exec meetings & AGM (5)			500	480.95	19.05	500
	Equipment & storage			2,950	2,291.53	658.47	2,800
		Rent for canoe storage (6)		1,800	1,800.00	0.00	2,000
		Canoes and related supplies		800	488.68	311.32	0
		Miscellaneous - procurement & maintenance (7)		350	2.85	347.15	800
Net Income			$	-4050	-1,390.58	2,659.42	10
Reimbursement for equipment to be replaced (8)							1,200

Notes

1. For Income, a negative Variance indicates that we received less income than budgeted.  For Expense, a negative Variance means that our expenses were higher than budgeted.
2. Based on a membership fee of $55, about 220 paid memberships, and advertising (which has not been done in recent years).  There were 218 members in 2018.
3. PayPal fees are 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.  They apply to all memberships, activity fees, and rentals paid via our website, along with occasional other transactions.  The revenue shown is the gross revenue before PayPal fees are deducted.
4. Due to a medical insurance claim this past year, our insurance rates were raised.  Ultimately, since the claim was within the deductible, the insurance company deemed it to be "no claim".  It is possible that we might be able to have our insurance rates reduced as a result; this needs to be investigated.
5. Room rentals and food.
6. One of our background tasks is reviewing our possibilities for storage locations, so we allocated a small amount of extra money to explore possibilities.
7. To provide more flexibility for 2019, potential on-going expenses related to the canoeing program were merged  into the "Miscellaneous - procurement & maintenance" category.
8. One canoe and some related equipment were damaged or lost on a trip.  The executive estimates the value at $1200 (exact amount still to be finalized), to be reimbursed by the trip participants.  This is separate from the regular budgeted income for 2019.

The following budget was developed and accepted by the membership at the AGM.  It differs somewhat from the budget originally proposed.

OTTAWA OUTDOOR CLUB
Income and Expense Statement:  2018 (Actual) and 2019 (Budget)
1 October to 30 September ($)
				2018			2019
				Budget	Actual	Variance (1)	Budget
Income				9,900	9,238.00	-662.00	11,725
	Membership fees			9,550	9,052.00	-498.00	10,925
		Membership registration (2)		8,200	8,145.00	-55.00	9,225
		Non-member activity fees (3)		1,350	907.00	-443.00	1,700
	Hospitality				45.00	45.00	500
		Annual Bar-B-Q			45.00	45.00	0
		Special event(s) - 25th anniversary (4)					500
	Rental fees (5)			350	141.00	-209.00	300
		Snowshoes			36.00
		Canoes			105.00
Expense				13,950	10,628.58	3,321.42	11,655
	Administration			1,100	1019.06	80.94	1,105
		Bank fees		30	80.93	-50.93	30
		PayPal fees (6)		460	334.07	125.93	440
		Post Office Box		210	210.18	-0.18	215
		Postage		200	211.32	-11.32	220
		Office supplies		200	182.56	17.44	200
	Insurance (7)			4,700	4069.44	630.56	4,200
	Publicity			600	185.28	414.72	850
		Web hosting		250	185.28	64.72	250
		Advertising / printing		350	0.00	350.00	600
	Hospitality			1,850	1,493.65	356.35	900
		Volunteer recognition dinner (8)		650	717.47	-67.47	200
		Annual Bar-B-Q (9)		1,200	776.18	423.82	200
		Special event(s) - 25th anniversary (4)					500
	Group travel subsidies (10)			1,000	469.47	530.53	300
	Training & development			1,250	619.20	630.80	1,000
	Exec meetings & AGM (11)			500	480.95	19.05	500
	Equipment & storage			2,950	2,291.53	658.47	2,800
		Rent for canoe storage (12)		1,800	1,800.00	0.00	2,000
		Canoes and related supplies		800	488.68	311.32	0
		Miscellaneous - procurement & maintenance (13)		350	2.85	347.15	800
Net Income			$	-4050	-1,390.58	2,659.42	70
Reimbursement for equipment to be replaced (14)							1,200

Notes

1. For Income, a negative Variance indicates that we received less income than budgeted.  For Expense, a negative Variance means that our expenses were higher than budgeted.
2. Based on a membership fee of $45, about 220 paid memberships, and advertising (which has not been done in recent years).  There were 218 members in 2018.
3. Non-member activity fees were increased from $5 / person to $10 / person.
4. Any expenses related to the proposed 25^th anniversary celebrations are covered by the participant fees.  Expected expenses relate to decorations, etc.
5. Canoe rental fees were increased from $5 to $10 and apply to everyone on all but evening outings; no rental fees will be charged on evening outings.
6. PayPal fees are 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.  They apply to all memberships, activity fees, and rentals paid via our website, along with occasional other transactions.  The revenue shown is the gross revenue before PayPal fees are deducted.
7. Due to a medical insurance claim this past year, our insurance rates were raised.  Ultimately, since the claim was within the deductible, the insurance company deemed it to be "no claim".  It is possible that we might be able to have our insurance rates reduced as a result; this needs to be investigated.
8. To reduce costs and to potentially enhance the social aspect of the Volunteer Recognition Dinner, it was decided to have the dinner as a potluck dinner instead of a catered dinner, and to have it at someone's home instead of a venue at which rent would be charged.
9. To reduce costs and to potentially enhance the social aspect of the annual barbecue, it was decided to make it potluck.  Money was allocated for soft drinks, etc.
10. Since there was only one group trip last year, it was decided to budget for only a single trip this year.  To reduce the cost to the Club, it was also decided to set the participant fee to close to the actual cost, which is still very cheap compared to what an individual would otherwise pay to go to Mt. Tremblant.  Money was allocated to cover administrative costs.
11. Room rentals and food.
12. One of our background tasks is reviewing our possibilities for storage locations, so we allocated a small amount of extra money to explore possibilities.
13. To provide more flexibility for 2019, potential on-going expenses related to the canoeing program were merged  into the "Miscellaneous - procurement & maintenance" category.
14. One canoe and some related equipment were damaged or lost on a trip.  The executive estimates the value at $1200 (exact amount still to be finalized), to be reimbursed by the trip participants.  This is separate from the regular budgeted income for 2019.

Ottawa Outdoor Club - Annual General Meeting

Tuesday, 23 October 2018 - 6:30 - 9:00 PM
Sandy Hill Community Centre, 250 Somerset Street East, Ottawa

Attendance

Executive in attendance:

• Rob Burnfield, President & Webmaster
• Bonnie Lalonde, Treasurer & Membership Secretary
• Judy Smith, Equipment Officer
• Robert Bultitude, Hiking Co-ordinator
• Michael McCurrie, Canoe Co-ordinator
• Lana Doss, Snowshoe Co-ordinator
• Jennifer Dorr, Secretary

Executive absent:

• Richard Fernandes, Skiing Co-ordinator

Vacancies:

• Vice-president
• Social Co-ordinator
• Bicycling Co-ordinator

Meeting Minutes

1. Meeting called to order (Rob Burnfield, President)
   • Meeting called to order at 6:35 pm.

2. Quorum verification (Jenn Dorr, Secretary)
   • Quorum is 5% of the current membership (218) or 11 people.
   • In total, 22 club members attended the AGM, with attendance documented on the sign-in sheet that was circulated.

3. Approval of agenda (Rob Burnfield, President)
   • Rob provided a brief overview of the proposed agenda (ATTACHED).
   • Paul Gallagher moved to accept the proposed agenda. This was seconded by Judy Smith and the motion carried on division.

4. Approval of minutes of 2017 AGM (Rob Burnfield)
   • Rob provided a brief overview of the minutes of 2017 AGM (ATTACHED), noting that these minutes had previously been reviewed by the Executive.
   • Marion Perry moved to approve the minutes of the 2017 AGM. This motion was seconded by Bonnie Lalonde and the motion carried on division.

5. President’s Report (Rob Burnfield)
   • Rob provided an overview of his report (ATTACHED), highlighting some aspects of the past year, including an 18-20% increase in club activities, partially due to increased training offered by the club. He recognized and thanked Paul Gallagher for all of his efforts in organizing and training.
   • Rob also highlighted changes in the club’s Executive over the past year, and said he was looking forward to the work they would do in 2019, which will be the club’s 25-year anniversary.

6. Co-ordinators' reports

   Each of the co-ordinators gave a verbal update on their activities over the past year, with their supporting reports displayed on-screen.

   • Canoeing (Mike McCurrie) (REPORT ATTACHED)
     • Robert Bultitude noted that he led a trip to North Frontenac that had been omitted from the report and should be added.
     • Mike McCurrie also mentioned an incident that occurred in Vérendrye in September, that the club will be following-up on to determine lessons learned. The report will be available in February, and there were questions about the timing. Mike acknowledged that they are still working and will need time to complete their report.
   • Cycling (Rob Burnfield, acting) (REPORT ATTACHED)
     • No questions or comments
   • Hiking (Robert Bultitude) (REPORT ATTACHED)
     • Robert spoke about his personal objectives in accepting the role of hiking co-ordinator, and how he’d managed to achieve these goals. In particular, he noticed that hikes were scheduled every Sunday, and it was a good year for hiking.
     • He did note a medical incident that occurred at Mt. Tremblant on October 1, 2017 which was the first day of the fiscal year.
     • No additional questions or comments.
   • Skiing (Rob Burnfield, on behalf of the Co-ordinator) (REPORT ATTACHED)
     • Rob thanked Paul Gallagher for offering lessons, and in particular Rob said he appreciated the theory that was presented.
     • No additional questions or comments.
   • Snowshoeing (Lana Doss) (REPORT ATTACHED)
     • Lana reported the snowshoeing season lasted from December 9th, 2017 to April 2nd, 2018. Unfortunately, this did not include any night time outings due to weather.
     • She highlighted the early season product demo and social, which allowed people to learn about snowshoe products and layering.
     • She felt it would be good to recruit more leaders for the coming year.
     • No additional questions or comments.
   • Social activities (no report)
     • Currently this position is vacant and so no formal report was provided. Rob Burnfield noted that there is a club member who has expressed interest in the position informally, and he will follow-up with her.

7. Equipment Officer's report (Judy Smith) (REPORT ATTACHED, INVENTORY ATTACHED)
   • Judy highlighted that one of her first undertakings in her position was to update the club’s equipment inventory.
   • There is one canoe that needs to be repaired for a leak.
   • Canoe #9 was damaged in the incident at Vérendrye, and the club is not looking to replace it right now, but the participants on the trip will re-imburse the club for the cost of damaged equipment.
   • Recently, 11 pairs of snowshoes were transferred back into the club’s inventory. These had been stored at the home of a former equipment officer.
   • Judy noted that the Executive is considering renting a central storage facility and amalgamating equipment there. A location on NCC property, near Woodroffe and Hunt Club, has been identified, but this is still in the exploratory stage. This led to several points of discussion, including:
     • how to organize the Wednesday night paddles around this location; and
     • alternative locations that could be considered. Mike McCurrie noted that many of these options had already been explored and presented other challenges.
     • The Ontario Trillium Foundation has been identified as a potential source of funding for a storage location; more research and an application for the grant are still required.

8. Membership Secretary’s report (Rob Burnfield, on behalf of the Membership Secretary) [REPORT ATTACHED]
   • Club membership for the year was 218 members, which is down about 9% over the previous year.
   • Rob noted that there were fewer people in the 18-40 age range, so the club’s average age had shifted to be a few years older. He recognized there is a challenge in getting new people in to club activities, but that the Executive is considering ways to increase marketing in 2019.
   • Rob Alvo asked a question about the discrepancy between having ~2000 members on Facebook, but only 200 club members.
     • Jenn Dorr discussed some recent changes to the club’s approach to social media, to try and engage more people and recruit them for club activities.
     • There was general support from members to include a screening question when members request to join the Facebook page. No formal vote was moved.

9. Webmaster’s report (Rob Burnfield) [REPORT ATTACHED]
   • Rob continues to perform basic updates to the website.

10. Training report (Lana Doss) [REPORT ATTACHED]
    • Given with the snowshoe report. No questions or comments.

11. Amendments to the OOC Constitution and Bylaws (John Galbraith) [REPORT ATTACHED]
    • Amendment 1a: Remove upper limit of 160% on reserve fund
      • The Bylaws contain limits on how much be accumulated or spent, based on the average of the 3-years previous income. John Galbraith noted that there were historical reasons for these clauses in the Bylaws, to ensure membership fees would be “spent” and returned to the members, without accumulating for too long.
      • During discussion, Tracey Vansickle noted that this could prevent saving up for a specific longterm projects. Others noted this type of project could include storage, which was an item discussed earlier in the meeting.
      • This should be viewed as separate from amendment 1b, which would remove the lower limit, which acts as a financial safeguard in case there are unexpected expenses.
      • The proposed amendment was moved by John Galbraith and seconded by Tracey Vansickle. The motion passed unanimously.
    • Amendment 1b: Remove all budgetary limits on reserve fund
      • The proposed amendment was moved by John Galbraith and seconded by Bonnie Lalonde. The motion was defeated on division.
    • Amendment 2: Remove extra "previous" in 80%-to-160% bylaw
      • This amendment would correct a grammar mistake.
      • The proposed amendment was moved by Rob Burnfield and seconded by Mike McCurrie. The motion passed unanimously.
    • Amendment 3: A person who leads 3+ trips of 4+ people receives free membership following year
      • This motion was discussed in conjunction with proposed Amendment #8, which would provide the same incentive for members serving on the Executive.
      • This amendment was proposed as a way to reward volunteers with the club and provide an incentive to attract more leaders.
      • In discussion, Paul Gallagher noted that this amendment would not be in the spirit of volunteerism, and there are other ways of rewarding the club’s volunteers.
      • Concerns were raised by Jim Burgess about who would be responsible for keeping track of the number of trips a person had led. Rob Burnfield noted that this information is tracked by the Treasurer. Others noted that they did not agree with the specific numbers proposed in the amendment.
      • Another consideration was the impact this amendment would have on the club’s finances, although this would not be felt until the following fiscal year (2019).
      • This motion was not moved.
    • Amendment 4: Add "hindering completion of trip" as reason for leader to exclude participant on activity
      • This is a housekeeping amendment to ensure duties are reflected in the appropriate section of the Constitution.
      • The proposed amendment was moved by Bonnie Lalonde and seconded by Rob Burnfield. The motion passed on division.
    • Amendment 5: Activity leader must comply with Club's policies and procedures
      • Bonnie Lalonde proposed this amendment because she said that it was difficult to ensure that people were following the Club’s policies and procedures, and she would like to have explicit language in the Bylaws to assist with enforcement.
      • In discussion, Tracey Vansickle expressed support for the amendment, citing the need to wear life jackets as an example of a policy that everyone should be required to followed.
      • Others asked if this would achieve the intended effect. Rob Alvo asked if the language of the amendment would actually assist with enforcement, as this does not include language for punishing people.
      • The proposed amendment was moved by Bonnie Lalonde and seconded by Tracey Vansickle. The motion was carried on recorded division (In favour: 9. Opposed: 7: Abstention 3.)
    • Amendment 6: Treasurer responsible for collecting sign-up sheets
      • Bonnie Lalonde noted that the Treasurer had traditionally been responsible for this duty, but it was not reflected in the Bylaws.
      • Don Haines noted that the wording ensured that the responsibility could also be delegated.
      • The proposed amendment was moved by Bonnie Lalonde and seconded by Rob Alvo. The motion passed on recorded division (In favour: 12. Opposed: 0. Abstention 4.)
    • Amendment 7: Submit incident report when injury requiring medical attention occurs
      • Lisa Weinberger presented the proposed amendment, and said that when injuries happen, it should be recognized in order to have lessons learned and prevent it from happening. She said the proposed amendment is a first step to recognize and share, and when patterns are identified they can be addressed.
      • Paul Gallagher found that the principle of the proposed amendment was well-founded, and there is a need to record that goes beyond personal injury and includes destruction of property. However, he noted that putting the burden on the trip leader might be a stretch if they are not properly trained. Therefore, there should be at least one level of peer review. He also said that the burden should not be on the injured person to ask for anonymity, as in the proposed wording.
      • Tom Brady said he agreed with the rationale, and that having a written record would be good for insurance purposes. However, he noted privacy laws and concerns, saying that the name of the injured person should be available to the Executive and anonymous in the public documents.
      • Robert Bultitude asked how the proposed amendment is different from the incident reports that are already used. In response Rob Burnfield said that the club does have an incident report form that is used and gets circulated to the executive.
      • Rob Burnfield also expressed concerns about requiring the trip leader’s name to be published in incident reports.
      • Each of the sub-amendments was moved separately:
        • Sub-amendment 7a was moved by Lisa and seconded by Tracey Vansickle. The motion was passed on recorded division (In favour: 15. Opposed: 0. Abstention: 3.)
        • Sub-amendment 7b was moved by Lisa and seconded by Bonnie Lalonde. The motion was passed on recorded division (In favour: 11. Opposed: 4. Abstention: 1.)
        • Sub-amendment 7c was moved by Lisa and seconded by Jim Burgess. The motion was passed on recorded division (In favour: 8. Opposed: 7. Abstention: 4.)
      • Following the break after voting, Rob Burnfield did note that a number of members had expressed concerns that sub-amendment 7c which had been passed, would be in violation of privacy laws and further follow-up would be required.
    • Amendment 8: Free membership for those who serve on executive for full term
      • Following discussion surrounding amendment 3, this motion was not moved.

12. Financial statement (Rob Burnfield) [REPORT ATTACHED]
    • On behalf of the Treasurer, Rob provided an overview of the Club’s finances for the 2017-18 fiscal year, walking through each of the rows in the financial statement. He noted that this year, the financial management system was transitioned from being cash-based to accrual.
    • In terms of spending, the club has been budgeting and running a deficit in recent years, which cannot continue indefinitely, to conform with the 80%-to-160% reserve-fund bylaw that was in place. The club spent less than budgeted this past year.
    • Rob reminded members that the club’s income comes from membership fees, non-member activity fees, and equipment rentals, which balance the club’s various expenses, and in 2017-18, there were fewer non-members participating.
      • Robert Bultitude suggested a cap on the number of times individuals can pay the non-member fee (i.e., 4 trips), before they are required to become an official member.
      • Rob Burnfield and Bonnie Lalonde noted that this would be difficult to accomplish administratively.
    • This year, there was also less income from rental fees compared to the previous year.
    • Rob noted that the general liability insurance rate had been raised due to a medical claim submitted earlier this year by a member but that, because the insurance adjuster stated that ultimately there was no claim made because the deductible was not exceeded, he intended to follow-up to see if a lower rate could be negotiated. 

13. Presentation of and vote on 2018-2019 budget (Rob Burnfield) [ATTACHED:  ORIGINAL BUDGET, ACCEPTED BUDGET]
    • Rob presented a proposed budget for the 2018-19 fiscal year. This budget was based on a principle of achieving a balance, and not running a deficit as in previous years.  The proposed budget was presented as a starting point for discussion.
    • Some of the Club’s expenses, such as administrative fees and the cost of insurance are relatively fixed and will remain comparable to the 2017-18 amounts.
    • The initial proposal included a $55 membership fee, and charging everyone a rental fee for canoes (not just non-members).
      • There was considerable discussion surround the appropriate amount to charge for canoe rental. It was agreed to charge $10/day, $20/weekends and to leave Wednesday night paddles as free. In agreeing to these rates, members noted that the cost should not be so high as to deter people from coming out to try the Club’s activities, there is not a lot of direct competition and the proposed rates are comparable to attending a meeting.
    • In addition, members were supportive of increasing the non-member activity fee to $10, in conjunction with the increased member-fee.
    • In terms of expenses, the Executive has proposed:
      • A budget of $600 for increased marketing, including on social media, to attract new members;
      • A 25^th anniversary celebration. While some money is budgeted to cover costs such as decorations, attendees would also be charged a surtax to attend; this offset is included on the income side of the budget.
        • Jim Burgess noted there was enough money in the current reserve to cover this cost.
        • Tracey Vansickle expressed reservations about the proposed cost, saying that it is not necessarily the best use of money, and Rob Burnfield reiterated that these costs would be directly covered by 25th-anniversary-celebration participants.
      • $1000 for training, which Rob Burnfield noted could cover Wilderness First Aid and leader training through Hike Ontario. While members would cover some cost, the club would help to offset this cost because it’s a benefit to the club to have trained leaders.
      • The cost for group bus trips was reduced from the amount budgeted for two outings down to one ($1000 to $500) for the excursion to Mt. Tremblant. Rob Burnfield also noted that the club could increase the cost of the trip for members, while decreasing the subsidy in order to reduce the cost to the club, however the budgeted amount was not changed.
      • A slight increase in storage costs to cover the cost of renting a shed, as discussed during the Equipment Officer’s report.
    • Judy Smith suggested rethinking the format of the volunteer dinner which has previously been catered. Having a potluck could eliminate the cost entirely. Others agreed, saying this was not a primary motivation for volunteering.
    • Robert Bultitude suggested likewise eliminating the cost of catering the Annual End-of-Summer BBQ. Jenn Dorr noted that the late-season BBQ was a good way to incentivize people to buy a membership close to the end of the fiscal year, and ultimately some cost was retained.
    • A proposed budget with a surplus of $70 and a $45 fee for members was moved by Rob Burnfield and seconded by Paul Gallagher. The motion was carried on division.

14. Presentation and vote on membership fee and non-member activity fees (Bylaws Article 1, Section 2 (a)) (Rob Burnfield)
    • A proposed budget with a surplus of $70 and a $45 fee for members was moved by Rob Burnfield and seconded by Paul Gallagher. The motion was carried on division.

15. Presentation of carpooling fees (Bylaws Article 6, Section 3)
    • Carpooling fees to remain the same as the previous year.

16. Election of OOC executive
    • The election of the OOC executive was overseen by Don Haines
    • President: Mike McCurrie nominated incumbent Rob Burnfield. The motion was seconded by Bonnie Lalonde. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed on division.
    • Vice President: No nominations were put forward. The position remains vacant.
    • Treasurer: Rob Burnfield nominated incumbent Bonnie Lalonde. The motion was seconded by Emily Galvao. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Secretary: Rob Burnfield nominated incumbent Jenn Dorr. The motion was seconded by Paul Gallagher. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed on division.
    • Membership secretary: Rob Burnfield nominated incumbent Bonnie Lalonde. The motion was seconded by Judy Smith. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Canoeing co-ordinator: A member nominated incumbent Mike McCurrie.  Paul Gallagher seconded the motion. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Cycling co-ordinator: Rob Burnfield noted that there was at least member who had expressed interest in this position, but they were not present to confirm. He will follow-up directly. As no formal nomination was put forward, the position remains vacant.
    • Hiking co-ordinator: Tracey Vansickle nominated incumbent Robert Bultitude.  Paul Gallagher seconded the motion. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Skiing co-ordinator: Rob Burnfield nominated Paul Gallagher. Judy Smith seconded the motion. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Snowshoe co-ordinator: Lana Doss nominated Emily Galvao. Tracey Vansickle seconded the motion. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Equipment officer: Jenn Dorr nominated incumbent Judy Smith.  Paul Gallagher seconded the motion. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.
    • Social co-ordinator: No nominations were put forward. The position remains vacant.
    • Webmaster: Bonnie Lalonde nominated incumbent Rob Burnfield. Tracey Vansickle seconded the motion. No other nominations were put forward. The motion was passed by unanimous vote.

17. Other items
    • No other items.

18. End of meeting
    • Bonnie Lalonde moved the adjournment of the meeting. Lana Doss seconded the motion. The meeting was adjourned at 9:12.