Trails Club of Oregon Board Meeting Minutes
Date: December 7, 2025 Time: 6:30-8:00 PM Location: Bev Drottar’s home
Attendees:
President: Bev Drottar
Vice President: Eric Zimmerman
Treasurer: Vacant
Secretary: Rebecca Knudeson
Publications: Joel Reitz
Membership: Lori Leach
Tyee Trustee: Paul Cutter
Trips Trustee: Craig Gwydir
Outdoor Ed/Outreach Trustee: Vacant
Committee Chairs: Jeff Churchill (Social)
Dolores Niebergall (Leave No Trace)
Incoming Outdoor Ed/Outreach Trustee: Sebastian Powers-Leach
Potential Treasurer: Sidney Jackson
Absent:
Nesika Trustee: Pete Recksiek
BUSINESS by email in between board meetings
• November board minutes were approved by email on 11/18/25 prior to the Blazer
publication.
• On 11/10/25 the board approved, via email, Tyee’s use by Outdoor Service Guides on Feb.
5-8, 2026.
REGULAR BUSINESS
Treasurer’s Report, Lori Leach
Due to the change of treasurer, October is included since the report was not ready last month.
Beginning Balance, 10/31/25: $10,137.25 11/30/25: $9331.08
Checks and Payment: 1,065.18 10,619.13
Deposits and Credits: 259.08 9538.14
Cleared Balance: 9,331.08 8250.09
Complete reports can be found by the Board in Dropbox:
Membership Report, Lori
Provisional:
Anne Deis, Jr Member
Elizabeth Markhart – Sponsored by Silke Brunning and Volker Czechowski
Membership Readings all approved unanimously
Inge Winters – Sponsored by Jeff Lawton and Catherine Schiedler
Kent Greenen – Sponsored by Glen Conrad and Dolores Niebergall
Silke Brunning – Sponsored by Lori Leach and Joel Reitz
Maggie Klaus – Sponsored by Sebastian Powers-Leach and Greg Barrell
Janet Mallon – Sponsored by Lori Leach and Celine Stroinsky
Wendy Maihack – Sponsored by Lori Leach and Joel Reitz
Brenna Stahr – Sponsored by Lori Leach and Joel Reitz
Sidney Jackson - Sponsored by Lori Leach and Joel Reitz
Membership Summary: Total: 261
9 Golden, 2 Junior, 32 Life, 3 Life/Golden, 19 Provisional, 1 Provisional Jr, 194 Regular
81 members have paid dues for 2026
Lori has developed a business card type format for the activity leaders to hand out to potential
members. It includes a QR code and blanks for the activity they were on, the date and
sponsors’ names.
Publications Report, Joel
Joel has been collecting the mail at the new mailbox. It is mostly membership checks that he
deposited and reported to Lori. He also has the PGE bill (auto-pay) and the insurance notice,
which was sent to Eric. We have a new PO Box address, 19891, with a 97280 zip code. Joel is
converting all online forms to reflect this change. We have already started mail forwarding.
LODGE HOSTS: make sure that any paper forms at the lodges reflect the NEW address.
Nesika Report, Pete
Dolores Niebergall gave a slide presentation on “Leave No Trace,” and Linda Conrad gave a
presentation on essential winter camping gear. The water system was shut down for the winter,
while the kitchen was cleaned and stocked for the winter trips. 35 gallons of diesel fuel and 5
gallons of propane were delivered. A wood processing trip was completed during which wood
was hauled, split and stacked for the winter. A trail was cleared to the spring box, which is in
decay (the cover is sagging and rotted). A repair is planned for spring.
Tyee Report, Paul
On the first weekend of the month, Troop 3969 (boys) and 5396 (girls) stayed overnight. There
were approximately 19 youth and 7 leaders ($445). The Pre-Thanksgiving meal was
a huge hit with 35 sitting down for dinner. The weather was very mild with no snow in sight.
Thanks to Eric Zimmerman for encouraging Paul to have this event for a 4th year. Five stayed
overnight on Friday and twelve on Saturday.
There was some dampness in the basement. The south wall will need some form of permanent
drainage installed.
Trips Report, Craig
There were 6 day hikes during the month of November. Thank you to Lori and Sebastian for
leading hikes this month. The TCO Stormy Trails committee examined the following trails and
found them clear of obstacles as of Nov 29: High Water Trail, Basin Cutoff Trail, Ornament Trail, Nesika/Franklin Ridge Connector Trail, Cougar Rock Trail
Please email tripschair@trailsclub.org if you are interested in assisting with trail work, including
trail scouting, restoration and maintenance.
Call for help: If you are interested in learning about adventures on the Multnomah Plateau and
willing to help co-lead hikes and/or join a TCO trips planning committee, please join our "TCO
Hike Leaders Meeting" this month, or send questions to tripschair@trailsclub.org.
Outdoor Education and Outreach, vacant
Sebastian, the incoming chair, already has several committee members: Tom Thrall, Eric
Zimmerman, and Gregory Barrell.
OLD BUSINESS
501c3 Nothing new to report
Insurance, Eric Zimmerman
Eric doesn't have a viable alternative to our current insurance provider yet and will likely delay a change until we have our 501c3 finalized. Brett Oliver is creating a packet for us to review.
The insurance numbers for the policy renewal this month follow:
Nesika Fire Insurance (Oregon Fair Plan Association): $7,235. This policy is barebones, only
covering Nesika if it burns down (No earthquake or flood).
Tyee & Liability Insurance (Nautilus): $4,737
Directors and Officers Insurance: TBD ~ $752 previously
Eric will see if we could decrease our insurance costs by raising our deductibles to $10,000.
NEW BUSINESS
Day use fee for lodges
Moved and seconded to suggest donations for day use, instead of charging a flat fee for a day.
(It is difficult for hosts to chase around after day users who might be in the lodge for a few
minutes or all day.) The motion was approved unanimously. Each lodge will have a locked
donation box. The lodge chairs will be responsible for submitting those funds.
Treasurer Position
It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to appoint Sidney Jackson as TCO
treasurer. Lori will work with her during the transition.
It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to add Joel as a signer on our checking
account.
It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to amend our Policies and Practices
document as follows:
There will be no less than 3 and no more than 5 board members as signers on the Club’s
checking account, as appointed by the Board.
Joel will make that change on the P and P document. He will also update our current safe
deposit box location.
Lori suggests that we get an online version of QuickBooks. She will let us know what she finds
out.
It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to discontinue our Garmin contract since
it is not being used. Lori will do that.
Adjourned at 8:00
Next meeting, January 13, zoom
Submitted by Rebecca Knudeson, Secretary
