MWA 11/14/2023 meeting notes

[Katie Leeker]

Missouri Whitewater Association
November 14th, 2023rd meeting 7pm-8:18pm
Attendance: There were at least 25 people in attendance

Dan Prater started the meeting; it was a zoom meeting. MWA plans to make future meetings hybrid. So, there will be a physical meeting location, and an option to join online.

Training Director: Sally Haywood – We’re trying to get all events on the web calendar. If someone wants something on the web, please email the webmaster address: webmaster@missouriwhitewater.org
– Casara and I are supporting Brian Burke to put out a monthly enewsletter. He will mostly draw content from the web calendar. Email the newsletter address (webmaster?) if there is content or pictures, you want to suggest.
-I have heard that some people are not receiving the enewsletter. I would encourage them to email the newsletter address if they are not getting it and think they should.

– Please encourage people to take the spring courses that are on the web calendar, especially the kayak instructor combined L3 and L4. All details are there on the web calendar entry. note, applicant students need to have an ACÁ instructor sign off that the student has the pre-requisite skills to take the course, such as having a roll that works. Remind people of the MWA reimbursement policy after a student has fulfilled a volunteer commitment. again see the reimbursement policy on the MWA web in the training and events section.

– pool sessions – 1) experienced boaters {And pool class alumni} are encouraged to come to the Melville pool sessions and practice for the first hour, then help students the second hour. 2) Team River Runner will begin weekly pool sessions January 10 at the Pallottine center. anyone is welcome. $10 per session for non-veterans who are coming as students (a veteran can have a free +1 person).

Devin Gates: Holiday party will be December 9th at Seamus McDaniels.

Conservation: Jeff Clawges: Proposed that the MWA donate to stream teams united, possibly about $500. There was talk of something similar in the past like a grant that donations were made through. No one opposed the idea so we will pursue it further.
The volunteer water quality monitoring demonstration went well. About 6 tires were also removed from the area. We hope to have more people join and learn about it in the future.
-A MWA clean stream event is planned for January 27, 2024, 10am, at Millstream.

Float Director: Will Scherff. – no update from Will, but Dan Prater said he paddles flatwater almost every weekend, so if there isn’t an MWA trip going on, you can ask to join him.
-Can club members apply for permits out west for an MWA trip?

Loaner Boats
The ownership of the older practice boats at Mehlville is in question. Someone mentioned that they may be the Property of the pool classes, but no one is for sure. It was mentioned that Bilbo helped get these boats years ago, but they weren’t sure. More research and discussion are needed to clear up this issue.
New boats: there is an opportunity for the MWA to purchase new Pyranha boats at a fair price. It was discussed if the club should pursue this opportunity and buy new boats. No one outright opposed the idea, but some concerns were brought up. Dan Prader said that he will reach out to other clubs and/or the ACA to see if they use loaner boats, for some advice on how they are managed.
Storage: Where will these new boats be stored? Matt/Willow Ellis stated that they have room to store them if needed, while the club will figure out a more permanent solution.
Boat Keeper: We need to have a plan for who is in charge of the new boats. It was mentioned in a previous meeting that Linda Konkle would keep track of equipment rentals for the clinic. We will reach out to her to see if she would like to be in charge of the rental boats in general.
Regulation: Another concern was liability issues regarding how the boats are going to be used. It was stated that these new boats will only be used for pool classes and clinics. They are not intended for random river use. A more precise system and plan will be developed if the MWA ends up purchasing new boats.

Race Director: Mike Leininger: Michelle has volunteered to be the course designer for the 2024 Missouri whitewater races. Is she the first woman course designer?? She will work with Slim/Mike Olson for guidance due to his vast experience with the races.
-Chris and Deana are the volunteer coordinators for the races.
-Jo Newbold has a key to the storage building where the race equipment is stored. She will make a copy of the key and give it to slim.
-Submit your T-shirt designs for the race by December 9th.

Membership Director: Willow Ellis: A proposal has been made that the MWA raise its membership fee from $15 to $25. We think the last time the membership fee was raised was around 1993, when Greg Brown was president??? The increased fee will help fund new equipment like boats for the clinic, reimbursements for instructors and safety boaters, stream team donations, outreach programs, scholarships, etc.……
Increasing membership fees will need to be voted on by the board and club members during the annual September meeting.

Jo Newbold proposed that a three-year membership be an option like it had been in the past. Willow says that the current/new automated system does not support 3-year memberships. For now, it would be too difficult to manage.

Alpine Shop Containers: Dan Prader was contacted by the Alpine Shop, who has a surplus of large, waterproof containers they’re trying to donate. These can be requested by MWA for use in specific areas. Some of the ideas of who can use them are stream team, first aid kits, race equipment, start and finish line things at races.

Alex: Spoke about the possibility of an outreach program for new boaters coming from the pool classes. He said there is a disconnect now while moving from pool classes to moving water. Ideas: set up a mini class like pool to river ready. JoJo said that a mentor program would be a helpful option in this case.

Clinic Director: Jo Newbold: The clinic will be the last weekend in April 2024. If you would like to share ideas or suggestions for the 2024 clinic, e-mail JoJo (Clinic Director), subject: Clinic Idea, one paragraph, before 1/1/2024.

Treasurer: Matt Ellis: Matt has met with previous treasurer at bank to switch account access. Waiting on Bank of America to give approval for his access to MWA account. There will be a report at the next meeting.

Pool Slalom: SLU Kayak club, 11/18/2023, MWA at Mehlville, 2/11/2024

Discussion: At the 2023 MWA races, a few people who were in racer/volunteer parking found inappropriate notes on their cars. Whoever put the notes on was mad that the cars were apparently parked in no parking areas. The notes used foul & offensive language. We don’t know how many people had the note on their car, but even if it was only 1 note that would have been too many. While we may never know who did it, if they were part of the MWA or not, this type of behavior does not align with the MWAs standards & is unacceptable.

• This topic was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by Katie Leeker. Reason: Added training notes

[Katie Leeker]

Edited to include training notes I forgot to put in the 1st version.

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