Albert N. Hopper Jr., the owner of the domain azcycling.com, refused the cyclist’s offer, which involved gifting it to the association once he purchased it, said ABRA president-elect Joey Iuliano.
Meanwhile, ABRA has begun revamping its website on a new domain, azcycling.org.
“I’m glad the situation is over and that ABRA owns azcycling.org outright,” Iuliano said. “We own the URL for azcycling.org and don’t have to worry about this situation arising again.”
Hopper Jr. disabled azcycling.com Saturday evening after the board voted 3-2 against paying him $1,500 to release the domain, which he owns, board members said.
He wrote in a message on the diabled site that he created it and maintained it for 20 years.
“I was hoping there would have been a smooth transition to a new webmaster and hosting service,” Hopper Jr. wrote. “ABRA has chosen to go their way. I wish them all the best in the continued development of the sport.”
ABRA paid Hopper Jr. $1,000 per year to run the site, Iuliano said.
Iuliano said Hopper Jr. considered the donation if the donor did not transfer the domain to ABRA; then Hopper Jr. decided he would not sell the domain. A new message on azcycling.com refers visitors to the new site, azcycling.org.
Over the weekend ABRA member-elect Stefanie Sichler volunteered to create a new website before January and already has a landing page up on the new URL, azcycling.org.
“I look forward to integrating it more with social media and other resources and making it easy for members and potential members to stay up to date with what is going on around the state,” Sichler said.
Iuliano said the association will also rely on social media and Clipped In in the meantime as resources and outlets for riders.