To the editor:
I am writing this in response to the letter from Mr. James McBreairty of Washburn, in the March 4, 2009 edition of the Aroostook Republican. Let me preface my comments with the following information. I am on the Maine Snowmobile Association board of directors as one of four northern region directors elected at-large. I am also on the MSA trails committee as a trails coordinator responsible for approximately 600 miles of ITS and connector trails roundtrip to inspect. Additionally, I am vice-president of the Smoki-Haulers snowmobile club in Oakfield.
In his letter, Mr. McBreairty complains about MSA and a couple of bills backed by MSA as being selfish. He also complains about the MSA directors meetings and the way things are done. Let me address the issues he complains about, and at the same time, address his complaint about more funding being needed by clubs.
First, the board of directors’ meetings now are not all held on Tuesday as stated. The last board meeting was held on Saturday, March 14, 2009 in Fort Fairfield, Maine, a very short distance from Washburn where the letter writer is from. This meeting was advertised well in advance, yet Mr. McBreairty was not in attendance. Not attending is fine, no matter the reason, but a month later to write a letter of complaint to the papers with a false statement about the meetings being on Tuesdays, makes one question the writer’s motives. All the meetings for directors follow the same routine; at 4 p.m. the executive board meets, 5-6 p.m. is social hour, 6 p.m. is a sit-down dinner (paid for by those in attendance, not by MSA), and at 7 p.m. the directors’ meeting is held. This is the meeting where club directors vote on snowmobile issues.
Meeting on a Tuesday night is the trails committee, not the board of directors. We discuss trails issues and related items. Major policy positions may be discussed, but the trails committee is not the one that votes up or down any bill, etc. We do not have that authority. Months when a directors meeting is not scheduled, the executive board does meet on a Tuesday in Augusta. They, however, meet at the same location as the directors when a directors’ meeting is scheduled.
MSA is run like a democracy. Go to www.mesnow.com and click on bylaws and this will show how numbers of directors are selected and voted in by the individual clubs. It depends on the number of members the club has. The club in Washburn has approximately 150 members, so they get additional members on the board over clubs with less than 100 members such as mine.
Actual club and member numbers are as follows; northern region, 35 clubs with 2,015 members and the other four regions have 256 clubs with 11,651 members. Looking at these numbers then, it is obvious where the majority of director votes are. That is how democracy works.
There are trail grants and capital equipment grants, among others, available to the clubs. It should be noted that none of these grant funds are controlled, awarded or any of the policy regarding them, are determined by the MSA. These are totally controlled by the state legislature and the Department of Conservation, Bureau of Public Lands, Off Road Vehicle Division. All is public record and the source of these funds are available from the agency.
Mr. McBreairty discussed a meeting in Ashland at which I was also in attendance. After the meeting, the board of directors determined there was a problem with all the directors meetings in a couple of locations. The result of this being that the number of meetings were reduced and it was determined that in fairness to all, a meeting would be scheduled in each region with the northern specifically named. It should be noted that a northern meeting annually was already in existence. Again, democracy at work.
Mr. McBreairty complained about not enough funding and more funding needed in the northern region. I agree, but only to the point that all regions need more funding to advance the sport. The problem being is I can not figure out his stance. He wants more funding, but condemns two bills, one of which passed that did just that.
The bill about all sledders joining a club, he states, was selfish of MSA. This is a total misstatement of facts. The way it would have worked was that MSA would still receive the $12 per member that it does now. The remainder would go to the club treasury as it does now. That means a $30 membership would be $12 going to MSA and $18 going to the club.
Let’s look at facts. At present, there are approximately 100,000 snowmobiles registered in Maine. There are 13,666 MSA members. That means there are 86,334 registered sleds with no club affiliation. If they were affiliated, as the bill requested, it would have put approximately $1,554,012 directly into the club treasuries, in addition to the grant monies they receive. This may be slightly less, as some families own multiple sleds, so they would not be penalized. Even considering this, it would have been a tremendous amount of additional funding for the clubs. Mr. McBreairty didn’t like the bill because he states it was selfish. It did not pass, so MSA moved on to try and raise funds elsewhere through legislation.
The bill that did pass, allocated funds that were not there before, to the clubs and this was in addition to the grants they receive, which did not reduce or change the formula. More funds to the clubs as Mr. McBreairty stated and wanted to see. Again, he comes out stating that this was a bad bill. It was the groomer tax bill. The legislature passed a law that all groomers are required to be registered. To register them, it is required that sales tax has been paid on the purchase of the equipment. MSA tried to get the legislature to exempt the groomers from the required tax. Maine Revenue Service stood firm and the fiscal note showed a large revenue loss to the state. No exemption was going to be forthcoming. A compromise was passed that funds would be used from the trail funds as groomers are part of the trails. The club buying a groomer, etc. has to fill out paperwork at the purchase and present it at time of registration. This paperwork authorizes the Department of Conservation to transfer to Maine Revenue Services the tax due on the groomer from the trails funds held in escrow. This means the club does not have to cover anywhere from a couple to a few thousand dollars to pay the tax. Note that this is in addition to the other grant funds for the club. They are not affected in any manner. Hence, more funds to the clubs, as Mr. McBreairty stated is needed. I, in fact, took time on my own and drove to Augusta and testified. It is easy to sit back and complain. However, getting active and doing something about it, takes hard work and some of us actually do what it takes.
It sounds to me that if it is not just as he wants it to be, then, of course, the rest of us are all wrong. Thank God we belong to an organization that follows the bylaws and that all directors’ votes count.
This corrects much misinformation and blatantly incorrect statements that were in the letter.
Ludlow
