Minutes of the ITS Trail Committee Meeting

August 1st, 2006

Members Present: Nelson Grman, Bryan Siegfried, Poonam Jain, John Fritsche, Larry Leone,

Members excused: Josh Ross, Phyllis Spurney, Rus Masinelli, Bill Napper

Also Present: Sylvia Lux, Shari Albrect, Mike Johnson, Jarid Ott, Conrad Kee, Nora Feuquay,

Old Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the July 25^th, 2006 meeting were discussed, and changes applied. Changes were minor. Bryan Siegfried moved to accept, seconded by Nelson Grman and passed on a voice vote.

Minutes of the July 11^th, 2006 meeting were discussed. John Fritsche moved to accept, seconded by Nelson Grman, and approved on a voice vote.

Feasibility Study

The next topic for discussion was a feasibility study.

Shari Albrecht spoke of the possibility of using funds from the Illinois Bicycle Path Program, operated by IDNR. This gives a 50% match, after the sponsoring organization(s) have already paid 100% of the fees. The next deadline for consideration is March 1st, 2006, with funding available in 2007. This program places a priority on linear trails and trails with provide interconnection between other trails. We would need a sponsoring government entity. Our project would likely be well received by this program.

We also enquired about another Illinois State program, Illinois Recreational Trails. Ms. Albrecht said that she would enquire about this program and report back at a later point. Direct Flood may be able to send a staff member to discuss the various programs with us.

John Fritsche informed us that the cost for a feasibility study through Greene and Bradford would be approximately $12,500 - $15,000.

A final suggestion was that we work to secure funding through fundraising and local govertnmentakl support to pay for the feasibility study. This would allow us to move more quickly towards a grant proposal for the main trail grant.

EIN Issues

Poonam Jain reported on her interaction with the IRS regarding the EIN. The EIN numbers for the ITS Trail Committee have been discussed with the IRS. We will retain the EIN which is already being used for the bank account.

Promotions

Staunton water bills will be going out with an advertisement for the bike trail committee and the website. Benld plans to do so, but still has not been able to include a message. Sawyerville's cards are apparently too small.

We are still looking into getting a message or flier in the First National Bank bills.

The Tour de Coal is a race being run in Gillespie. We plan on participating in some fashion, either biking the ride, or setting up a table, or likely both.

Flier, handouts, and such are being changed to bright fluorescent yellow.