20 POLICY AND BY-LAWS COMMITTEE REPORT Submitted by Jeff Fay, Chair and VAST Vice President The following proposed bylaw addition is in response to concerns expressed by our legal counsel and our auditing firm based on the amount of money VAST is distributing to clubs statewide annually. Policy will be established if the bylaw is adopted to detail the audit process and requirements. It is expected that a number of random audits will be conducted on an annual basis, however specific audits may be warranted under special circumstances. Article II (Organization), Section 5 Right to Audit. All Clubs shall establish and maintain a reasonable accounting system that enables VAST to readily identify a Club’s assets, expenses, costs of goods, and use of funds. VAST and its authorized representatives shall have the right to audit, to examine, and to make copies of or extracts from all financial and related records (in whatever form they may be kept, whether written, electronic, or other). Such records shall include, but not be limited to, accounting records, written policies and procedures; all paid vouchers including those for out- of-pocket expenses; other reimbursement supported by invoices; ledgers; canceled checks; deposit slips; bank statements; journals; and supporting documentation; insurance documents; payroll documents; timesheets. The Club shall at any time requested by VAST, at Club’s own expense make such records available for inspection and audit (including copies and extracts of records as required) by VAST. Such records shall be made available to VAST during normal business hours subject to a three-business day written notice/without prior notice. Costs of any audits conducted under the authority of this right to audit and not addressed elsewhere will be borne by VAST. If the audit identifies substantive findings related to fraud, misrepresentation, or non- performance, VAST may recoup the costs of the audit work from the Club. Any adjustments and/or payments that must be made as a result of any such audit or inspection of the Club’s invoices and/or records shall be made within a reasonable amount of time (not to exceed 90 days) from presentation of findings to Club. VERMONT SNOW TRAILS CONSERVANCY REPORT Submitted by Patrick Poulin, Secretary The VSTC met throughout the 2016/17 season. We have investigated several possible easements but have not been able to secure any permanent easement this past year. As we were investigating those potential easements, it became clear that finding a funding source for the VSTC should be a primary mission. Many grant possibilities exist, but need to be pointed to a specific easement or project. A proposal was made to the VAST fiscal committee. We await information on funding from VAST. The trustee’s of the VSTC have been presenting information at county meetings on easements, funding ideas and general operations of the VSTC. These meeting have been well received and will be continued until all counties have been visited. The trustee’s of the VSTC have spent considerable time this past year investigating easements, for snowmobile trails, that have been procured in the past by VAST. These have not been filed in a central location. We have had considerable success in locating documentation on many of those easements. They are now kept in a single location in the VAST office. If members know of an easement that was granted in the past, please let the VSTC trustees know about it. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the trustees of the VSTC for their time and efforts over the past year. Jim Hill – President Cindy Locke – Vice President Mark Ellingwood – Treasurer Stan Choinere – Trustee Frank Stanley – Trustee Greg Rouleau - Trustee