The Coldbrook Snowmobile Club held its seventh monthly meeting of the 2008

Due to Chuck Reed, who is the club's treasurer, being unavailable, no treasurer's report was given.

The first item on club president Gerry Balchuinas' agenda was to report to the present members that all of the club's groomers have received their necessary repairs as reported during February's meeting have been completed. He was pleased to report that all of the groomers are up and running and will be out on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, to groom the current snow received over the past weekend. Gerry followed the report on the club's groomers by acknowledging those members who helped make the repairs a reality. Special thanks was given to Mike Chojnowski who made parts to repair a groomer at no cost to the club. This commendable gesture saved the club a big repair expense.

The next items on the agenda were the recent fund raisers conducted by the club and the future of fund raising for the club. A proposed idea was to sell cord wood to customers who can order such through the website or by contacting club president Balchuinas. Jake Lyman volunteered to deliver the cordwood to the customer. A proposal was suggested to have the club sponsor a casino night during the off season as a fund raiser. More information for this proposal will be made available at the April meeting. Another proposal to have a night with a hypnotist was proposed.

The next topic for discussion was club vice-president Dean Zuppio's report on the topics discussed at the February SAM meeting in Springfield. Vice-president Zuppio reported that a registered SAM snowmobiler in the western area of MA has modified an ATV to have tracks and skis on the front to be capable of snow travel. Club president Balchuinas and club vice-president Zuppio were asked to take a vote among the meeting's members to determine if this person should be allowed to ride on all of SAM trails. The purpose for this discussion and vote was due to private landowners not wanting any form of an ATV on their property which is currently being used as a snowmobile trail. A spirited debate ensued among the members about whether or not this person's vehicle qualified to be on the private landowner's trails which have been granted permission to be used as SAM snowmobile trails. A show of hands vote overwhelming showed no support to this person's desire to ride their altered ATV on the SAM trails which were owned by private landowners. Although the idea was defeated valid points were offered on both sides of the issue as the MA law describing what constitutes a snowmobile qualifies this person to register this vehicle as a snowmobile.

Club vice-president Zuppio continued his report on the SAM February meeting by stating that this year the federal government may be awarding a SYMMS grant through the recreational trail fund. According to the grant policies, if a club can present a project that qualifies, significant monies may be available. Club president Balchuinas asked the present membership for suggestions as to what types of project the club may be interested in seeking from this grant. A suggestion was made to build a garage for the groomers with heat and electricity in order to conduct repairs on the club's groomers in a safe, warm, and lighted environment and also for off season storage where mother nature's creatures are limited in their ability to inhabit the machines. Another suggestion was made by club member, Louie Brassard, to build a clubhouse within the garage for the groomers which would solidify a location for meetings or possibly fund raisers and other club events. Proposed land areas to build this garage were bantered about among the members at this time. Several suggestions were made with a common theme of the ability for said garage to connect to local utilities for the purposes of heat and electricity. Club vice-president explained the requirement for the grant that the land purchased needed to connect two existing trails and without such a purchase the connection would not be possible. Club member, Jake Lyman, agreed to speak with a local landowner who has two possible locations for this possible project and he would report his findings to the club at the April meeting. The idea of incorporating a clubhouse within this garage structure was again brought up by club member and groomer operator, Louie Brassard, but the proposal was met with concerns of liability to the club if something happened during a club event.

Club president Balchuinas spoke about the possibility of the club receiving reimbursement from FEMA for its efforts in cleaning up after the December 2008 ice storm which devastated the central MA area. President Balchuinas reported that he tallied what would have been the possible financial cost to complete the work done on the trestle area in the Lake Dennison trail area. The estimate for materials, use of machinery, and labor was near twenty-four thousand dollars, but because of the extreme generosity of club members who gave their time, loaned the use of their equipment, and donated some of the needed materials, this expense was avoided in a major way.

The next topic of discussion was a recent news piece about the need to cut down on the amount of snowmobile riders who operate their vehicles in an intoxicated state. The news report indicated that the only punishment the driver would receive for operating in an inebriated condition was a fine of seventy-five dollars. Club president Balchuinas was pleased to report that the EPO's will be present on the trails and should an intoxicated driver should be stopped and questioned for operating while under the influence of alcohol the officers may choose to conduct a thorough safety inspection of the driver's snowmobile and fining the individual for every possible violation.

Club vice-president Dean Zuppio reported that SAM decals for next season will be increasing by five dollars and that club's were proposing to increase the late fees for club membership from ten to twenty dollars after the December 1st deadline. This possibility is being discussed among club leaders in order to assure that there will not be a club whose membership is at a lower rate than a neighboring club.