MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

BIKE TAUPO CYCLE ADVOCACY GROUP

WEDS 15 November 2006

At Scenic Cellars, Taupo

7:00PM

1. PRESENT:        Pete Masters; Lisa Rowland; Thomas Schwarz; Jonty Garlick;  Len Malcolm; Richard Balm; John Taylor; Mike Rendall; Peter McFarlane; Kevin Loe; Barry Shepherd; Steve Currie; Mike Langley; Alan Vane;.

3. 2005 MINUTES:  All present received a copy of the 2005 AGM minutes and it was moved they are accepted as a true and correct record.

                                        Accepted:  Barry Shepherd, Peter McFarlane

4.   CHAIRPERSON�S REPORT

•        Pete Masters presented his Chairperson�s report, a copy of which is attached to these minutes.  It will be Pete�s last year as Chairperson in accordance with the Constitution though he would like to remain on the committee. Pete was formally congratulated on his good work over the past three years which was received with much appreciation.

Accepted:    Len Malcolm, Jonty Garlick

3.      TREASURER�S REPORT

•        John Taylor presented a financial report, a copy of which was given to all present.  Jo Connell of Stretton & Co reviewed the Bike Taupo accounts and these were tabled. 

•        Jo�s and Stretton�s time and effort was again acknowledged with thanks.  

•        John reported that the audited accounts present are in draft only requiring now the peer review to be done before becoming official.  In brief the GST exclusive figures for the year are:  Receipts $50,190.00; Payments $45,578.00 and Cash Surplus $4,611.00.

•        In addition to this cash surplus we have made a one off gain of $3,218 in GST refunds due to the fact that this has been our first year of being GST registered and have been spending money receipted before registration on which we have not paid GST. In future we should be GST neutral.

•        During the year Bike Taupo�s assets have grown by $36,986.00 to a new value of $226,534.00.  A large portion of this value is attributed to the voluntary labour donated by members and friends.

•        A full audited report will be published on the website.

                                                   Accepted:  Richard Balm; Mike Langley

4.      ELECTION OF OFFICERS

•        The floor was opened for nominations for a Chairperson and the remaining 6 committee members.  

•        Chairman:          Richard Balm nominated by John Taylor and seconded by Mike Langley.  No other nominations received.

•        Committee:        A block nomination for the following who registered their interest in standing again:

Lisa Rowland

Thomas Schwarz

Mike Langley

John Taylor

Pete Masters                   All nominated and seconded by

                                     Alan Vane/Kevin Loe

Nomination for:

Geoff Smith                    Nominated by Pete Masters seconded by Lisa Rowland

                             Nominations were closed and all present voted in favour of the above persons to be the Bike Taupo committee.

All the above nominations accepted.

Accordingly the full committee to be elected for the coming year is:

Chairman:               Richard Balm

Committee:             Thomas Schwarz

                             Pete Masters

                             Lisa Rowland

                             John Taylor

                             Mike Langley

                             Geoff Smith

Other officer positions  (Secretary and Treasurer) to be decided at first committee meeting in accordance with the Constitution.

5.       GENERAL BUSINESS

•       W2K:    Environment Waikato have confirmed acceptance to register Limited Notification.  The process is now theirs.  Letters will be sent to the affected parties who will have 20 working days to submit.  It was asked what the track would be like and answered that track design will be similar to that of the Rotary Ride ie. Consideration of speed and line of sight.  It will be split into single track where possible but otherwise it will be two way.  Other queries were regarding land ownership and whether Maori could reclaim in future.  It is the same as for all DoC concession lands - has a termination clause for Treaty Claims.  The Iwis would probably continue the concession but terms may change. 

•       Gullies:  Three gullies are completed with good tracks through and now a fourth (Elizabeth Street) is completed.  Crown Park cycle facility is completed and Bike Taupo aligned the kids little off-road cycle track.  It was asked who is responsible for maintenance of gullies and answered that Bike Taupo has agreed to maintain for a six month ‘settling in’ period from date of completion.  It will then be handed over to Taupo District Council.  However, Bike Taupo�s Service Contract with Council is up for renewal and we have applied for more funding from Council to reflect future track maintenance.  Theres also a possibility of looking at a gully maintenance scheme where businesses or residents in each gully vicinity ‘own a gully’ and fundraising and look after maintenance through doing working b�s.  There is also options of approaching Cycle Strategy Team to offer to use their ear-marked funding for projects with Bike Taupo managing them.

•       Value on tracks:  It was asked how we put a value on tracks.  The tracks in and around Wairakei are valued at about $3,000 per km which includes donated labour.  Bridges are around $500 per linear metre.   It was suggested we talk to Jeff Carter who builds the Rotorua tracks as to what they value their tracks at.  We are not sure of the NZ status.  The total length of tracks around Taupo we maintain is 60 kms.

8.  CLOSE OF MEETING:       7:36pm

CHAIRMAN�S REPORT 2005-2006

As Bike Taupo matures it may be harder to have the impact that we have had over the last four years.  Some of the work we have done is just taken for granted now but we mustn�t forget how much work went into getting some things up and running.

The 1.5 metre road safety signs went up the other day and it seemed to take Lisa just one email to get things going this year, not all the hours of running around and trying to get funding.  The sign still works too, because within 3 days of them going up I had three people wanting to debate 1.5 metres with me.  Of course debating what was wrong with it, but I went away happy as it had made its impact yet again.  All publicity is good publicity.  In fact our road safety campaign has been requested by two other districts in New Zealand, namely Hastings and Christchurch.  So we may soon see ‘our’ signs all over New Zealand.

We recently rode down the Rotary Ride to check out the summer maintenance program and where we need to improve the track.  It only took two bike rides not days of work as in the past.

One important thing we need to always be mindful of is that all bikers protect what we have built up in the last few years.  The financial statements for this year show the value of the tracks.  This figure reflects what it has cost to build them not always in cash but still the true value.  It also shows the value of the equipment that it takes to look after and build new tracks.  We now have a steady income based not only on long term funding but also some smaller business support. Haven�t we come a long way?

The gully tracks have been a highlight for me this year.  It�s been great to see the impact they have had not only for bikers but for walkers as well.  That�s what it�s about, getting people out in the reserves and away from the roads enjoying nature and a bonus is breaking down the pea brained bike vs. walker argument.  Walk Taupo has now formed and we have been instrumental in encouraging their formation.

We now have three gully tracks built in town with another one just about to be built.  There are others we are working on and for as long as we get funding we will keep searching for potential to build more tracks in town.  The turn out to Thomas and Lisa�s Gully Treasure Hunt event shows how much interest there is in the gully tracks built to date.  Opening up the culvert under the highway at Rainbow Point didn�t happen, but we have the funding to hopefully get a safe crossing built on State Highway One in this vicinity.

Other highlights have been developing an even better relationship with DoC.  We are now co-sharing tracks and making them more cycle friendly.

Recently we moved the Rotary Ride onto the DoC controlled Gun Club land which means the Rotary Ride is now solely on public land.

Membership is up to 1134 and the website has links to Taupo Mountain Bike Club and Taupo Cycling Club.  So many people now keep up to date with goings on via our website.

W2K may seem as though its not been started however we are closer to the first spade of dirt being lifted than we were a year ago.

So even though we didn�t achieve everything we set out to in the last year, we certainly continued to make an impact on our community by advocating for cycling.

This is my last term as Chairman so I want to take the opportunity to thank the many people who have helped over the last four years.  The number of people and the way they have helped has been humbling.

It�s been a lot of work but I hope you will all say that it�s been worth it and we now have a much safer and more fun biking environment in Taupo than we ever had.  We still have a lot to do but we are a long way down the road now.

Cheers,

Pete Masters

Chairman 2003 - 2006