Archive for category: Meeting Minutes

The WMCC annual meeting was held at Central Rock Gym in Hadley, MA on 1/23/2026 at 7pm. Minutes to follow.

2026 Annual Meeting at CRG Hadley

A Zoom meeting of the board of directors of Western Mass Climbers Coalition (WMCC, a Massachusetts Nonprofit corporation), was held on November 19, 2025 at 7p ET pursuant to notice given in accordance with WMCC bylaws.

The meeting was called to order by Stephanie Giguere, Operating Executive at 7:pm.

Attendees
Ryan Shumeyko, Stephanie Giguere, Andrew Neuman, Rob Sullivan, Jenifer Dickinson, Josh Seamon-Ingalls, Laura Davis, Nick Friedman, Danielle Rao, Justin Raphaelson, Ryan Stefiuk

October Membership Drive – Stephanie

• 59 new members!
• 564 total members as compared to 400 this time last year

Maps for Farley – Ryan Shumeyko
Ryan Shumeyko has constructed a Farley Ledge Hiker Map and Climber Map. Board members will review this document and approve it for printing.

Rock Property – Group discussion led by Stephanie
Discussion about mountain biking trails at the Rock Property

• Jenifer has offered to help with a baseline documentation report.
• Wetlands Protection Act is the main enforcement mechanism
• Several members, Laura, Danielle, Ryan, Ryan expressed concern that any trail construction efforts follow the proper steps/due diligence prior to construction
• Nick clarifying his desire for a single track trail up/down loop that is non-public access that allows access to the cliff/Northfield Mountain Property
• Justin, Jenifer voicing articulating concerns about enrichment, liability
• Ryan Shumeyko says private trail entrance is not an issue. Also that trail would be impossible to make non-public/not visible.
• Danielle voicing concerns that adding a user group may complicate parking or that the parking lot may prove inadequately sized
• Andrew’s points
  • Nick is a neighbor – a good faith effort to accommodate users
  • He would like us all to get to a “yes”
• Nick mentioned NEMBA is considering more trails at Northfield Mountain
• Question about whether special permit would allow for mountain biking, or would need to be revised to allow “active recreation” Erving bylaws do not clearly define whether mountain biking is passive or active
• Trustees would not be in favor of motorized access in perpetuity, only on a short-term, transitional basis
• Is there space in the parking lot for an additional user group

Vote on this specific language to be added to the board handbook in order to guide this process at WMCC owned properties:

“The WMCC’s mission is to protect and conserve the climbing environment in western Massachusetts. The WMCC fully supports other forms of human-powered recreation such as hiking and mountain biking, as long as facilitating such activities is aligned with the WMCC’s mission. Trails are welcomed on WMCC owned property, upon review and approval from the WMCC. All applicable permitting processes for trail building must be obtained prior to project commencement and any changes in scope necessitate review and approval from the WMCC.”

All are yes votes (9), with Nick abstaining and Regina not present

Action Items

• Clarify special permit language to see if it includes mountain biking
• Reach out to NEMBA to see what their plans are at Northfield Mountain
• Talk with Trustees about their feelings on this?

Farley Parking Initiative – Ryan Shumeyko

• Ryan Sh reaching out to construction/contractors for parking lot project, board agrees this is sensible
• Three bids required in order to get any grants
• Is there the possibility of separate bids for a driveway and a parking lot?
• Is there a local construction company that may be amenable to smaller payments
• Brian Tickle from AF to provide mortgage terms for WMCC shortly, BOD members to review this.
• AF wants to announce this, and would like WMCC to close 12/4 for an announcement by them on 12/5, 12/14, or after New Year.
• Cal Brockie wanting to make a video about Farley
• Jackson Chen wants to publish an article about Farley acquisition, board is amenable to this
• Closing costs approximately $2000, title commitment secured for the AF

Review of Board Handbook
Can we review this prior to the next meeting?

Meeting adjourned at 20:56.

A hybrid Zoom/in-person meeting of the board of directors of Western Massachusetts Climbers Coalition (WMCC, a Massachusetts Nonprofit corporation), was held on March 19, 2025 at 7p ET  in accordance with WMCC’s bylaws.

The meeting was called to order at 7:10pm by Stephanie Giguere, Operating executive.

Attendees: Stephanie Giguere, Ryan Shumeyko, Danielle Rao, Justin Raphaelson, Regina Madden, Josh Seamon-Ingalls, Laura Davis, Nick Friedman, Jenifer Dickinson, Rob Sullivan, Ryan Stefiuk, Andrew Neuman

1. Software integrations (Shuo) – Presentation about a software integration service that would allow things like membership data to cross over automatically (it is currently entered manually when new members join). Shuo is offering integration solutions for WMCC to streamline the process. There were some questions about the cost of integration and whether this was needed. This may streamline tasks for OE during certain busier times of year. The projected cost is 200-300/yr and could be trialed during high season for new memberships. Board members agree to a trial of this service, Shuo is willing to donate several months of service for a trial.

2. Budget – raft budget was put forth by Stephanie for the upcoming year. Board to review and approve at upcoming meeting

3. Political Outreach & other updates (Rob) – Farley Ledge adjacent landowners is willing to sell their land to WMCC for a large sum – 110k is the maximum that could be offered for their parcel

4. Rock Property Updates (Ryan Shumeyko) – Bucky wants to move quickly since this is a slower time of year. Board members should review existing documents soon. A discussion of parking lot size, number of spaces, and environmental impacts of different sized lots/projects was had.

5. Silent Auction Recap – This year’s auction was our highest grossing yet.

• The crash pad from ZIGZAG was the most active item with 17 bids, the vintage Gunks guidebooks was the second most active item (thank you Regina)
• Question regarding timing of next year’s auction – early March would line up with the FarmTown Throwdown. Sat February 28th to Sat March 7th.

6. Board retreat – Board retreat is scheduled for June 27-29, 2025. Sunday June 29th Trail day is a possibility.

7. Reel Rock – The event is underway and we have already sold more than 40 tickets!

• Help needed to connect with local businesses who might want to sponsor the event. Conservation sponsorship goal: 7 advocates, 3 Stewards and 1 protector = $585. The cost to run these programs is high and this can offset the cost.
• Discussion about hosting an additional Reel Rock in the Boston area. Mixed feelings about getting organized and finding a suitable venue for this.

A Zoom meeting of the board of directors of Western Mass Climbers Coalition (WMCC, a Massachusetts Nonprofit corporation), was held on January 15, 2025 at 7p ET in accordance with WMCC’s bylaws.

The meeting was called to order at 7:03pm by Stephanie Giguere, Operating Executive.

Attendees: Stephanie Giguere, Regina Madden, Ryan Shumeyko, Ryan Stefiuk, Josh Seamon-Ingalls, Andrew Neuman, Jenifer Dickinson, Danielle Rao, Chris Neil (WMAMC Mountaineering)

1. Reel Rock – Chris Neil present for start of meeting

• Venue discussion – Concerns about screen quality addressed
• Viewed data from last year, members leaning toward CRG vs Hampshire, CRG may draw more people despite being a smaller venue. More details to come.
• Rough budgets for several venue options were reviewed
• April 11-13 for suggested dates. The following is Easter weekend.

2. Financial Update – Financial Report prepared by Stephanie

• Major takeaways:
  • Balanced budget!
  • Strict membership income has remained the same – any increase in funds is likely due to more of the donors making larger donations as members
• As mentioned above, general donations have increased significantly 
• Parking lot cash went down by over $1,000 from last year?
• Fundraising income went up drastically (from $13,776.74 to $23,283.22)
• No grant funds were deposited into our accounts this year, but we spent down previous grants
• Discussion of future projects

3. OE Position Vote and Update – Andrew Neuman

• Stephanie made two requests to the executive board.
  • Stephanie would like to attend the upcoming AF conference in Tucson.  She has requested a travel stipend of $500.  The executive board discussed this and approved the request, a formal vote will happen at the meeting
  • All members present vote in favor of travel stipend for Stephanie
  • Stephanie requested a pay increase:  The executive board is currently working on a fleshed out OF Position description and metrics to evaluate.  Our goal is to have a proposal and recommendation to the board at our next meeting.

4. Access Updates

• DCR (Ryan St) – Doing work identifying ways to increase visibility of climbing at DCR, discussed attending some DCR Stewardship Council meetings

• Rock Property Updates (Ryan Sh) – No action at this time due to cold ground

• Great Barrington Access Committee (Nick F) – agree to form.

5. OE items (Stephanie G)

• Silent Auction – February 22nd- March 1st
  • Still needing more donations to meet auction goals
• T-shirts
  • Consideration of giving out T-shirts at a higher donation value
  • Board agrees to keep shirt design the same and order in different color

The meeting was adjourned at 7:20pm.

A Zoom meeting of the board of directors of Western Mass Climbers Coalition (WMCC, a Massachusetts Nonprofit corporation), was held on October 16, 2024 at 7p ET pursuant to notice given in accordance with Article 11, Section 3 of the WMCC’s bylaws.

The meeting was called to order by Andrew Neuman, President of the Board of Directors, at 7:06pm.

Attendees

Jenifer Dickinson, Rob Sullivan, Andy Neuman, Stephanie Giguere, Ryan Shumeyko, Regina Madden, Ryan Stefiuk, Josh Seamon-Ingalls, Danielle Rao, Justin Raphaelson

General Review of Events

• Tony Gardner’s passing
  • WMCC is planning a memorial of some kind – bench? possibly at the Highlands? During a trail day?
• Board of Directors election follow up:
  • Discussion of what went well and what didn’t – Stephanie will incorporate the questions that the board agreed upon into the nomination google form. Some questions around whether everyone received the voting email or not, but overall, one in five people voted which is a pretty high percentage. 
  • Board-appointed position – Some board members would like to see this filled now to ensure an uneven number to break tie votes and take advantage of currently available candidates. Laura Davis is interested and provided a bio. More discussion will be had over email.
• Secretary and Vice president positions are open
  • Ryan Stefiuk volunteered to be the secretary. No one volunteered for vice president. More discussion will be had over email.
• 4th Quarter board meeting date and location
  • There will be an open, hybrid meeting at CRG Worcester on Dec. 4th. Sound quality was not great last time. Jessica Schiffman has offered to provide a mic and speaker.

Access Updates

• Farley
  • Ryan Shumeyko has been in touch with an engineer – Bucky Sparkle. He could start in Dec./Jan.
  • Ward recommended Chuck Caron to complete the wetland delineation, which would probably cost $600. Ryan just sent Chuck the plans.
• DCR may purchase the Sanctuary. This would be the central division of DCR – we have not made contact with this office yet. 
• Corp wall work is making good progress towards opening.

Other Operating Executive Items

• Oct. Membership Drive
  • Stephanie is working on a direct mail campaign to lapsed members
  • Regina is interested in helping with email marketing and strategy for fundraising campaigns. 
• Tabling opportunities
  • SNECC Boulder Bash at Lynn Woods oct. 19th 3:00pm
  • Jeremy Katz will table at the BBP boulderfest Nov. 9th
• Grants
  • AMC Boston chapter grant was accepted! We will work with the AMC to schedule a two day volunteer workshop with Hermit Woods at Hanging Mountain. 
    • AMC to pay for expenses directly as they arise.
    • We have an AF grant pending for the spring that would add some additional money to this, allowing us to bring on a second trainer and more volunteers, pay for food, etc.
  • Forest Reserves Grant: we will not be receiving this grant – they decided we were ineligible. 
    • There was brief discussion about updating our mission statement so that we are eligible for more of these grants with a conservation focus.
  • MassTrails grant: Opens Nov. 1st and closes Feb 1st

Meeting was adjourned at 8:25pm.