JROC December 2000 Meeting Minutes

	MEETING ATTENDEES: Dave Gunn, Steve Barnard, Bob Burch, Steve Ellison, Brian Mutchler, Ralph White, Jeff Ault, Buzz Kraft, Barry Dixon, Stephen D. Ensign, Greg Velzy, Mike McGuire, Dan Caston, Shari Caston, Jim Juritzqrxjkpqblsch, Chris Hull, Jon Montgomery, Monty McNiel. Elysha couldn't be at the meeting because she went to audition for a part on the Weakest Link. Lets hope the years of abuse we've piled on her have toughened her up enough to slap that cheesy TV witch around.
	MINUTES The notes from last meeting were taken by Shari Caston and approved by acclamation. Shari did a great job and should be rewarded with our next trip to Aruba. I couldn't be at the meeting since I was out of town trying to catch trucks on I-40. I hooked up a couple but had to throw them back (there is a rigidly enforced catch and release program in Tennessee).
	TREASURER'S REPORT There was a treasurers report saying we still have some money and more should be coming in, but I didn't get the details (the details...$410.26 forward + $1503 in deposits = $1913.26 now). A big part of the money we spend for park improvements comes from dues, so we need for all you people reading this to send us money or you'll end up on the List of Shame? coming soon. It's only $15 bucks a year, so get off your duff, find your checkbook and send in $15 or more to: JROC c/o James River Park 4100 Hull Street, Richmond, VA 23224.
	PROJECT REPORT North Shore Takeout - Parking area has lots of dirt and we need to cover it up with gravel so we don't get our shiny automobiles dusty and dirty. RW going to see about getting more gravel and the price. We want four loads if we have to pay and seven to ten to twenty five loads if its free. We're still planning on putting up phony cameras and signs saying something like "This area is under surveillance, don't do it." Steve Barnard is going to contact Va Power to get permission to mount the cameras by banding the power pole. Jeff Ault and Barry Dixon will coordinate the five fingered appropriations for the dummy cameras and installation.
	Tredegar Street Access - JROC members and members of the Seal Team moved ELEVEN tons of riprap by hand and then Jeff Ault showed up with 3 more tons of topsoil. These guys are amazing ? eleven tons of riprap?!?!!! I want them on my side when the revolution comes. Next in the area is grass seed then it's done. Coastal Canoeists has agreed to sponsor the work to the tune of $1,000. Greg is going to talk to them about a sign on the wall. There may be a dedication ceremony, more details to come.
	Pictures and Projects - Steve Ellison and Greg V went around and took digital pictures of some of the interesting projects they have been working on. After they were thrown out of Paper Moon, they wandered down by the river and took more pictures. Jim J is going to put some of the pictures without excess skin on the website.
	Missing Link Trail – Our next project is Saturday 3/9/02 on the "missing link" trail. Meet at 10 AM, Barry Dixon is going to coordinate the beer drinking and supervise the volunteers who might know more about it than he does. We even get to ride down the railroad's access road. Each car needs to have a sign in the window or on the dash saying "I'm a James River Park Volunteer and Ralph White told me I could ride down here so don't even think about bothering me." Need to bring pry bars and small shovels. Will be moving rocks to try to even out the surface and filling in holes with sandbags.
	Publicity! - Susanne has had contacts with Style Weekly. For some reason, (probably general nosiness) they want to do an article on JROC and our army of volunteers (or maybe there's a more nefarious reason - just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there really isn't someone after you).
	Banner - Greg V is going to talk with Mark Pizzini (the guy with brains oozing out of his helmet) about printing JROC.NET on our banner. I talked to him a little while ago and I think we can get some good stuff cheap if we're nice to him.
	Mountain Bike races are coming to town. Xterra in June, Hitech in September. The mountain bike guys have created a proposed race event protocol to attempt to minimize, moderate, and mitigate the impacts these events have on the trails in the park. The City managers office is coordinating with Ralph White. There will be a $2 for each racing head charged at large events. Good things ? money goes to park, each organization makes public statements supporting impact minimization, moderation and mitigating, and it helps makes the parks beauty and nature pay for its own upkeep. XTERRA games from last year collected $350 for impact mitigation and wants to give it to someone involved in Park Projects. They finally decided to give out the money when they started scheduling this year's event.
	Liaisoning with other groups. It was discussed that we sometimes need someone to talk to other groups like Richmond Sportsbackers and since I don't return phone calls, we decided that the President should be the contact person.
	Belle Isle - Big things are being proposed for Belle Isle. Somewhere there is $250,000 for a study on transportation enhancement on Belle Isle. This is the most ridiculous thing to happen here since the flood wall. Just as the money spent for the flood wall could have purchased most every building ever flooded in Richmond, the money used to just study transportation needs could put a superhighway all the way around Belle Isle. If we could get 10% of that money, think of the things we could do. Instead all that money will go to pay some consultant who is most likely a political crony of some big wig and won't do much worthwhile. If I was the crony, it would be OK, but I'm not and it pisses me off.
	Jam on the James. Mark Brown, a local promoter, has scheduled a big event on June 8, 2002 on Brown's Island. He's been contacting local clubs, including us, to do a beer selling fundraiser. He's looking for about 100 volunteers. We would probably need to get about 10 or so people to work there in the afternoon and evening. So start thinking about it and if you can, keep your schedule open.
	Here's another one. $300k is proposed for work around Ancarrow Marina to build another access road outside the wastewater treatment plant. How much fence could you put up for $300k? How big a berm to isolate the wastewater treatment plant? A portion of this one is for stabilizing the old slave docks, which is a good thing, but does anyone else see some twisted priorities and a wasteful attitude?
	WEBSITE We approved paying for JROCs website (JROC.NET) instead of continuing to sponge off Jim J. OK, Jim, now that you don't have JROC as a monthly drag on your wallet, you should be able to get rich. You can't blame us anymore.
	MEMBERSHIP We voted and approved on a new slate of officers, Greg V.- President, Chris Hull- Vice President, me (Dave Gunn) -Secretary, Jim J -Treasurer. Susanne Smith, Steve Ellison and Ralph Hambrick onto the Board of Directors. Jim's probably got it up on the web-site, and I expect he got it right.
	Fundraising - Monty McNiel has been thinking a lot and it shows (he's getting kind of thin on top). His most recent thinking is about ways to get corporate sponsorship of specific JROC projects. He's developing a 2-4 page brochure with JROC history, completed project list with pictures, and a project wish list for the next year or so. These will be available to any member who might have a money contact in the corporate world and would beg for us . JROC is a tax deductible organization 503 b c, or something like that (Monty will put in the right reference) so this might be a way to get larger sums of money easier.
	Next meeting is on April 3, 2002 at the Reedy Creek Nature Center. The 4/6/2002 project will probably be working on the West Buttermilk trail...Fun with Chainsaws!!! David M. Gunn

JROC March 6, 2002 Meeting Minutes