Developed the Square Foot Campaign software system and implemented it on the FLT web site. This is an automated system that permits individuals to donate to fund specific areas of the trail extension.
Successfully negotiated and signed a formal Operating Agreement between FLT and Sarasota County.
Advocated for county funding of the trail extension at a critical commissioner meeting, resulting in
Over 100 supporters in yellow shirts attending the meeting, and
Over 300 individually written emails of support sent to the commissioners, and
Commissioners subsequently allocated $8.6M to fund a part of the trail extension.
Maintained the FLT web site and updates to the program with no interruptions to service.
Met with county commissioners and staff to demonstrate the Square Foot Campaign and discuss other potential FLT fundraising plans such as trail amenity sponsorships.
Published a monthly newsletter to keep members and supporters informed about progress on the trail extension and other trail news. In addition, three special email announcements were sent for special announcements.
Created pages on the FLT web site for Tour de Parks information, registration, and payments.
Implemented used of the Stripe credit card payment system on the web site for Tour de Parks registration and merchandise sales. This system simplifies the checkout experience for the user and is a big improvement over our previous PayPal method.
Completed manual trail user counts to determine correction factors to improve the accuracy trail counts from automated counters.
Researched trail counters and bought a more accurate Eco-Counter that was donated to the county. This counter has now been installed on the trail.
Ordered a second Eco-Counter that will arrive in 2018.
Made improvements in computer programs for calculating trail usage and documented the programming and input guide.
Successfully tested the use of a small time-lapse camera to record a whole day of trail users passing a counter to develop a correction factor for the counter. Three tests of this type have been performed for a total of approximately 40 hours of observation.
Calculated usage for 2017 will be well over 200,000 users.
Trail usage numbers are now calculated and reported on a monthly basis on the FLT web site.
Attended stakeholder meetings of the county’s program to update the Trails Master Plan to provide FLT’s perspective on priorities.
Set up new membership types for regular members and we now include business members and the associated automated emails in the system.
Worked with Trust for Public Land, County staff and commissioners to purchase the land to Ashton Road.
Worked with the County to create a fundraising campaign with sponsorship of benches, bridges and naming rights of the Trail.
Worked with the County, Metropolitan Planning Office and Office of Greenways and Trails on SUN trail maps.
Wrote grants for the extension.
Worked with the press, TV, radio stations, social media to get the word out about the Extension.
Designed new signage for end of the trail
Working on new branding campaign for the 2018 referendum.
Applied for and were accepted to become a part of the Sarasota Community Foundation’s group of Charities.
Revised and updated trail brochures to accurately reflect changes to the Trail.
Created brochure and posters for Tour de Parks and distributed around the area.
Accomplished an extremely successful Tour de Parks ride with more than 800 riders. Many Thanks to Sarasota Manatee Bike Club and our many sponsors for making this event a big success!
Devised new materials to market the Trail: Created cards and posters to advertise the Square Foot Donor Program around the county.
Info table planning and implementation of various info tables in the area: Aging Sarasota, Sarasota, Philippi, Venice, Englewood and North Port Farmers Markets, Selby Gala, Health fair.
Arranged and sorted the Spur St. Storage location
Met with officials of Sarasota County Parks Department and MPO to plan events for Stay Active Weekend March 2018, which includes 10th Anniversary of the Trail, MPO Cyclovia and Tour de Parks.
Designed new logo wear and introduced New Pink shirts and Turquoise 10th Anniversary shirts.
Gathered a total of Total: 9000 signatures 22% from out of the area in favor of extending The Legacy Trail and presented these to the Board of County Commissioners
Gained 54 twitter followers =>85 current twitter followers.
Elected New President of the FLT Board March 2017
Attended TBARTA (Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority) second workshop of the year on March 29th in Sarasota with representatives of the Florida Office of Greenways and Trails (OGT), FDOT, Counties, MPO, and community advocates including the Friends of the Legacy Trail
Presented 20 Speakers Bureau talks around the county
Augmented the number of Business members by 17. Had 29 members in January, this increased to 46 in December
Conducted general membership meetings January, March, April, December
