Highlights of Dec. 18 Board Meeting
The CCA Board met virtually Dec. 18. The full minutes have been posted on the CCA website (Members Only > Documents > Meeting Minutes). Here are some highlights, from minutes taken by Secretary Jen Sass:
Present: David (Cotton) Cottingham (Chair), Jen Sass (Secretary), Hugh Hilliard (Chair-elect), Ed Gertler, Gary Steinberg, Paul Englehart, Rolo Arrieta, Risa Shimoda, Ryan Morrow, Mark Wray, Laura Kurup, Ginny DeSeau (Membership Chair), Marilyn Jones (Treasurer), Susan Sherrod, Gary and Ginny Quam, Tom Hackman, Kathleen Sengstock, Alf Cooley, Lynn Miller, Barb Brown, and Dean Hawes.
Potomac Access—Cotton. Cotton, John Snitzer, Rolo and a few others have been working with the Access Committee to identify access points between Fletcher's boathouse and Riley's Lock. The Park Service asked CCA to collect comments from other interested parties (e.g., Great Falls Foundation, Team River Runner, and Calleva) and provide a combined list of what access points are used by the paddling community and what issues need to be addressed. The CCA Access Committee will incorporate input from other interested parties to identify where access points need more work, including around Canal mile marker 21 near Blockhouse Point. A CCA group to include John Snitzer, Alf, and Cotton will meet with the Park Service some time in February.
Soul Trak partnership—Risa and Rolo. There are some staffing transitions upcoming at Soul Trak, and they are having to cut back their partnership with kayaking groups, including the CCA. Rolo will consider whether there are other ways to keep the momentum going with Soul Trak participants and to increase diversity in our paddling community. Rolo will come back to the Board with ideas. Please reach out to Rolo if you’d like to have a deeper conversation and share ideas.
Audit report – Paul and Hugh. In October and November, Paul and Hugh, with the cooperation of CCA Treasurer Marilyn, conducted an informal audit of the CCA books for FY2025, as required by the CCA bylaws. Recommendations included that CCA get its own license to QuickBooks (Marilyn currently accessing a version shared with the former Treasurer), which would cost roughly $1300 annually. Marilyn will get a proposal and report back to the Board. Paul has agreed to help with bookkeeping going forward. A new member, Sandra Wasden, has experience with QuickBooks and has offered to provide assistance.
Treasurer's Report – Marilyn. The balance in our operating account at Bank of America is $12,180.44. The balance in our investment account at BOA is $1,322.32. As of Nov. 30, 2025, the value of our Wells Fargo account is $32,791.47. Net income for the first two months of the fiscal year is $1,189.17. A significant expense coming up is $4,368 for pool rolling; payment will occur over three months. Attendee fees should cover most of this expense.
Trips Committee Report – Gary and Ginny Q. Gary reported that there was a total of 132 trips with 1,337 participants, which included 255 unique individual paddlers. An impressive total of 35 people coordinated at least one trip this past year. We beat our 2024 totals of 119 trips and 1,180 participants. Gary announced that he and Ginny are planning to step down from leading the Trips Committee. It was recommended that this remain a two-person role when they are replaced.
Conservation Committee – Kathleen. Kathleen will prepare a list of suggestions for groups to receive CCA charitable donations this year, to be considered by the Board at the next meeting.
Transition to 2026 Chair – Hugh. As his first official action, Hugh presented Cotton with a Certificate of Appreciation and a bottle of wine. An online card was sent to Cotton with messages from many of the Board and Committee members and volunteers, heaping praise on Cotton for his good work as Chair over the last five years.
Next meeting: Wednesday, March 4, online.