Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes: September 18, 2021

Board of Trustees Minutes

Mad River Glen Cooperative

Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021 8:00 am

Location: Online

Trustees Present: Matt Milan, Brad Noble, Carol Pierce, Meg Schultz, Will Kriewald, Andy Weis, Barclay Rappeport, Andrew Carey

Shareholders Present: Deb Steines, Eli Godwin

Staff Present: Matt Lillard

*The start of the meeting was delayed due to an incorrectly posted Zoom link. The link was corrected immediately upon discovery of the error in both the internal and public facing communications.

Shareholder Comments

8:06am Call to order, shareholder comments – There were no comments

Consent Agenda Items

Approve minutes for June 2021 Board Meeting

Reports and Discussion

Management report (Matt Lillard): see attached. Strong summer season with good attendance at the Pub, despite weather challenges. Pass sales have been very strong, with standard passes selling out. As always, shareholders can always purchase passes and tickets. The Stark Mountain Card will be available for this season.

There are currently no state mandates in place regarding COVID protocols, but management will continue to monitor the situation as the season comes upon us.

The Basebox will have roof repairs completed in two weeks.

Marketing is in full swing with robust social media engagement.

Mowing has commenced and has the mountain looking ready to go.

Fall Foliage will kick off next weekend for three weeks, with one last endurance event happening in October. 

MRG is in talks with WES to host the Ski & Skate Sale for this season on October 16/17.

New trail map based on the NIehues painting will be revealed this fall.

New to us groomer will be arriving in the beginning of October along with two new snow guns.

Freeski, race & ski school have all gotten up and running with sign ups.

Finance Committee Report (Andrew Carey): See attached.

In summary, for the period of May to August 2021:

• The Stark Mountain Pub operated at a slight profit with facility maintenance, office operations, taxes and insurance accounting for the majority of the $480,000 Operational shortfall (which was generally in line with budget)
• This loss was generally offset by stronger than expected preseason sales of $541,000, finally 
• Share sales generated additional income to offset any minor capital expenditures made by the Co-op this summer.

Of note:

• Line of credit balance remains at zero
• Rainy Day account remains at ~$500k
• The Federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been forgiven
• The construction loan is for $350k with a 20yr term. Payments are monthly of approximately $3,059. The current balance is $284k. 

Strategic Planning Committee Report (Brad Noble, John Skelly): See attached. The SPC has conducted 12 1:1 meetings with 79 listening posts having taken place. The feedback has been great and has ranged over three categories:

• Sustainability
• Community engagement
• Skier experience

Key insights: develop the customer journey from start to shareholder. Invest in staff and clarify capital. Expand the on-mountain experience.

Shareholder comment: Deb Steines, suggested that the SPC engage the homeowners to keep them informed on the planning process. Brad agreed and will present to the homeowners at their meeting during G&G weekend.

Plans for G&G Townhall Meeting (Matt Lillard): There will be a vaccine clinic during G&G weekend. The plan is to have a hybrid meeting with people in person and broadcasting out at the same time. Matt will present a status check on the facilities update and field questions regarding the upcoming season.

Discussion:2021-22 GM Goals (Matt Lillard, Matthew Milan): Matt Lillard presented his outline of goals for the coming season. Chief in mind is the safety and experience for guests and staff through the challenges of a pandemic. Further goals include increasing communication to shareholders, overseeing the base area completion/move in/operations going forward. In employee relations, Matt will be developing processes and instituting policies to increase employee engagement and responsibility. Additionally, overhauling employee communications to ensure all employees are up to date in operations, events, news and important information. 

Comments were made that the goals are in good alignment with the strategic planning committee. Additional discussion circled around employee engagement. Matt L discussed further on shareholder communications and has been exploring options to create easy access for shareholders.

Open Items & New Business: Action item: Extending tenure of the SPC 

Matthew asked to have the board extend the tenure of the Strategic Planning Committee. There had been a request to extend this tenure for a 2 year period in a prior board meeting, but no record of a vote.

Matthew proposed that the tenure of the SPC be extended to September, 30, 2022. Carol Pierceseconded the motion. Unanimous acceptance.

Further shareholder comments were encouraged. Eli Godwin asked for a bit more attention to detail on correcting misinformation regarding meetings. Eli also discussed the goal of increasing shareholder communications and suggested that information will need to be crossed through multiple channels in order to reach the greatest number of shareholders.

Matthew adjourned the meeting at 9:42.

Manager’s Report 9.18.21

September 2021 Finance Committee Report

September 2021 Strategic Planning Committee Report