Present: Carol Pierce, Matt Lillard, Matthew Milan, Will Kriewald, Meg Schultz, Brad Noble, Andrew Carey, Jeff Whittingham
Shareholders: Lynda Mischler, Joe Verdone, Megan Nazinski, Rocky Blier
Shareholder Comments
Call to order at 5:03pm, shareholder comments (Matthew Milan)
Carol commented to the prowess of Lydia in her snow reporting and social media and well supported by Ry & Jose. Mad River is winning the internet.
Consent Agenda Items
Approve minutes for Nov 2021 Board Meeting (Matthew MIlan)
Reports and Discussion
Recognition & Thanks to Staff & Management (Matthew Milan): Matthew offered kudos and thanks to Matt Lillard and his team for their herculean efforts in getting us back up and running after the catastrophic flooding that occurred yesterday. Recoveries like that don’t happen without a crew that is invested emotionally in the success.
Management Report (Matt Lillard) See attached. The past month has been a wild ride, culminating in the floods yesterday. Matt had nothing but praise for the way the entire staff and all departments responded to the emergency to lend a hand.
The weather has thrown a lot of curveballs. We have had some sell-out days and are working to manage the skiing traffic. We continue to observe safe COVID practices.
IT department is moving forward with upgrades to the POS system and moving the Pub to the same system.
Basebox has had consistent staffing. Food costs continue to rise. We’ve also bumped up the labor costs while still keeping food options affordable. The BB crew thanks the patrol and lift ops who helped save the day in the flood.
Marketing/Events: The freeride comp had been pushed before the weather. Several other events are coming up with a lot of action the next few weeks.
Mountain Ops: All is going as well as can be expected with staffing challenges on lifts still. We are open to having board members scanning tickets this week!
Retail shop: They have had strong business and are enjoying hearing from all customers about their amazing experiences here at MRG.
Ski School is enjoying strong business with a great new staff.
Freeski/Race: both have had challenges with weather but the enthusiasm and passion is evident!
Retail/Rental: Tuning business has been strong and staffing consistent.
Patrol has been busy and supporting all other departments with filling in staffing as needed.
Cricket Club: Reservations are strong moving into the month of March.
Naturalist: Hoping business picks up as the weather improves.
Will questioned the flooding of the Basebox. It has happened in the past, but not to this level. In this case the ice jammed up under the bridge, diverting the water to the Basebox as it was seeking the lowest point. The facilities committee will be addressing in the future. The new doors also proved to be much tighter than in the past, resulting in water staying inside. Will also highlighted that the line management has been exceptional this year.
Finance Committee Report (Andrew Carey): The finance team continues to do a great job preserving the strong cash position of the Co-Op. Monthly revenue was generally on budget although there was a decline (25%) in ticket and Basebox revenue due to weather challenges. The Service Side (programs, lessons, retail, tuning) remains on budget. The operation team was able to make some rapid changes to reflect savings. NOI was short of expectations. YTD we remain ahead of budget.
Strategic Planning Committee Report/Draft Strategy Review (Brad Noble): The draft plan continues to evolve and collect comments/edits. This has been a two year process that has been built together with the MRG community. The expectation is that the strategic plan will be finalized at the nex committee meeting so that the final draft can be presented to the Trustees at the March meeting. Matthew suggested that a formal vote be held by the Strategic Planning Committee to present to the board. Rocky requested a warning/invite for all shareholders to the SPC meeting and to view the draft. The draft will be posted to the website for shareholders to view.
Timeline for Strategic Plan:
Feb 19
Committee to present the draft plan to the Board for final review
March 19
Committee to present the final plan to the Board for a vote to approve it
April 2
Board to present the Strategic Plan to the Shareholders
Finance Committee Draft Charter Review (Will Kriewald):
Proposed Mission Statement of the Finance Committee: The mission of the Finance Committee is to support Co-Op management and the Board in their fiduciary role of ensuring the financial integrity and the long-term economic viability of the Co-Op.
Authorization
This is a standing committee as authorized by the Board of Directors. Annually the Membership will be approved by the Board of Directors at the beginning of the Co-Op year.
Meeting Details
Annually, the Committee will determine its monthly meeting schedule. Meetings are open to Shareholders upon request. A quorum of the committee is defined as a majority of its members. Meetings of the Committee shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order, Newly Revised.
The proposed date for the final charter is the annual meeting.
Board Development Committee – Election Discussion (Barclay Rappeport)
Proposed Slate of Candidates:
In State
Carol Pierce
Lynda Mischler
Owen Palcsik
Mariah Moulton Riggs
Ram Verma
Out of State
Brad Noble
Seth Shrufo
Jennifer Roberts
Action Item
Approve 2022-2023 Board Election Candidate Slate (Barclay Rappeport): Barclay proposed that we accept the slate of candidates as presented. Carol 2nd. Slate is approved unanimously.
Open Items & New Business
Rocky would like to see the board entertain exploring the option of MRG applying for a cannabis dispensary license as it’s (cannabis) part of our culture and legal and may provide a further revenue stream. Matthew suggested that type of suggestion would fall under the board’s guidance to the GM in the strategic plan and could be prioritized in the yearly plan. Rocky also suggested that the forest & trails committee be revived and would like to see old-school methods of capturing snow and preserving trails, etc employed.
Brad commented that the new maps are out at the top of the double and single and wanted to give a shout out to Ry, for the production of those signs!
Matt moved to adjourn at 6:23pm, 2nded by Brad, meeting adjourned.
