May 2023 Board Meeting Minutes

West Central Mountains Economic Development Council
May 2023 Board Meeting Agenda
May 9, 2023 at 3:00pm
McCall, Idaho First Bank Board Room

Board Members Present: Dylan Martin, Julie Good, Kelly Hill, Delta James, Jill Morris Chapman, Cynda Herrick, Melissa Hamilton, Belinda Provancher, Joni Osterman, Judith Nissula, Tiffany Dobbs, Rachel Wessel, Sherry Maupin
Guests: Kim Glineski, Trace McKellips, Lindsey Harris

• Call to Order at 3:06pm
• Dylan Martin: Idaho Power update on their annual energy review. Commercial charges will be higher increases so if you have any businesses that have questions or need anything, please reach out to Dylan to go over impacts. These rates will go into effect June 1^st. Board reminder on being cognizant of communications with Lindsey and sticking to our mission and strategic plan.
• Approval of May Agenda ACTION ITEM
  • Motion by Julie; 2^nd by Joni. Motion passes.
• Approval of April Minutes ACTION ITEM
  • Motion by Belinda, 2^nd by Julie. Motion passes.
• Treasurer’s report
  • Approval of Treasurer’s Report ACTION ITEM
    • Belinda asked a question about regional stakeholder invoices. Lindsey to get together with Julie to review historical giving.
    • Belinda motion; 2^nd by Kelly to approve May’s financials. Motion passes.
  • Renewal for the D&O liability policy
    • Up by $32 from last year.
  • Google Voice Transfer from Andrew – Lindsey working on updates.
• Letter(s) of support requests ACTION ITEM
  • Garnet Valley Multi- and Single-family Project – discussion about letters of support in general and do we need a policy or perimeters in place to help us define what projects or organizations. For example, for-profit projects and companies vs. not-for-profit projects and projects that are open to all, not for one organization’s singular benefit.
    • Motion to NOT write a letter by Julie, 2^nd by Joni/Jill. Motion passes. Cynda and Sherry abstained from voting.
  • Donnelly Public Library – Dylan relayed what this was. Capital Funding grant for library expansions. We believe that all regional libraries will be writing grants, but Donnelly is the only one to have asked for a letter of support so far.
    • Motion by Joni; 2^nd by Belinda to approve letter of support for Donnelly Library, and also any future letters of support for this same grant from the other libraries if they approach the EDC. Motion passes.
  • Broadband Projects – again same discussion as the housing. Ziply had asked for a potential letter of support. No motion taken. Grant applications to come down the line for “last mile” funding through the next round of broadband funding.
  • City of McCall Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant – Delta DOT grant, federal competitive dollars geared toward alternative fueling efforts. These dollars would help do the siting plan for EV charging stations. This data would also be available to private businesses who were interested in pursuing EV charging stations. Level II charging. Sherry brought up that other communities in the region are interested in pursuing this as well, but Delta said with the quickly approaching deadline, the City of McCall will move forward with their application, but this information and data could still be helpful to the rest of the region. It sounds like next year there could be more funding available as well that could be pursued for more regional efforts.
    • Motion by Julie; 2^nd by Belinda. Motion passes.
  • Internship Applicant for Summer 2023
    • Beth Wegener (resume in packet)
      • Summit funds
      • General Funds for newsletter
      • At the next meeting we can have a formal plan that the board can approve, but board did identify funding sources for a paid internship opportunity.
    • Grant Updates
      • 2024 Commerce ED Pro Grant Application – Kim spoke from Commerce. Lindsey working on this. Deadline is May 26^th.
      • City of McCall LOT – housing needs assessment submitted and presented.
      • Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation – housing needs assessment submitted. Will know in August.
      • Stibnite Foundation – housing needs assessment to be submitted (closes May 31)
    • Community Reports
      • Cascade: LOT tax has been very successful and relief for road improvement projects, lots of unknowns with older infrastructure though, public hearing in June regarding workforce/transitional housing, relaunching Downtown Redevelopment project, Chamber is hosting a Memorial Weekend Main-opoly game, lots of new business owners are community oriented and want to take care of the fellow community members, draft comp plan coming forthwith, new bakery in old Whistle Stop, potential incubation space for local businesses.
      • Donnelly: nothing to update on, comp plan not moving forward due to high bids, Guns and Ammo store is open and working.
      • McCall: LOT collection trends are flattening out or cooling, lots of road projects this summer throughout town, public workshops around town deer, Parks and Rec open space plan draft is being reviewed.
      • New Meadows: four quadplexes going in. Curtis Blum is the developer. Will be reasonably priced rental units. More housing projects like this coming down the pipeline as well. Blue Cross Blue Shield foundation will be helping fund the architecture plans for their recycling center conversion. Park impacts. Free lunch program for all local kids for the summer. June 5^th ribbon cutting ceremony for transit line at 10am. Depot Road will be closed for pump and reservoir renovation, due to park closures the city will be bringing in bounce houses and such for the kids, free lunch for school children during summer with pickup at library.
      • Valley County: working on impact area agreements with cities, discussion about moving road department to Gold Dust, lots of P&Z applications coming in, rewrite of comprehensive plan also master transportation plan WCMEDC Updates
    • WCMEDC Updates
      • Early Childhood Education (Trace) – New Meadows meeting today with City and school district. Idaho Workforce Development Grant and the former recycling center that the City acquired. Met with WICAP at the Senior/Community Center in Cascade. The only potential drawback is that there is a registered sex offender within 100 feet of that building. Trace will do some legal research on how this may present a conflict. The coordinator at the center also will be moving soon so there may be flux with their programming that was a point of contention with that group i.e. “bingo room.” Working with St Luke’s and MDSD on partnership, Symposium in Boise early June (Perpetua donated funds for hotel) hopefully 4-5 community members
      • Payette River Scenic Byway (Cynda) – July 18^th at Tamarack Resort.
      • Community Development
        • Creative District Update – launch party on July 25^th from 6-7pm somewhere downtown McCall. Sponsored by Idaho Commission on the Arts. Also sponsor a concert at the Terrace that evening as well. 90% grant spent by end of June. Artisan tour over Labor Day. 35 artists participating. Currently 60-70 artisans listed in the “Count Yourself Creative” directory so far.
      • CAT Updates
        • Housing
          • WCM Housing Trust Updates- applied for LOT funding.
          • Regional Housing Assessment Update- continuing to pursue funding.
        • Infrastructure
          • Recent inquiries for grant opportunities- Warm Lake HOA reached out to the EDC. Lindsey researching options. Learned PLSW had also reached out to the USDA for grant program information.
        • Transportation- new bus line is coming from New Meadows to McCall, TVT transit board retreat in Sun Valley that Lindsey will be attending.
        • Business Retention & Expansion
          • Taxidermy space opening up in downtown New Meadows
          • DoneRight Management building – 2-year lease
          • Business owner downtown McCall updates
        • Broadband
          • Proposed BSU Cybersecurity Workshop Wednesday, June 14 from 11am – 1pm. Location TBD, but help spread the word.
        • Communications – none
      • New Business – none
      • Public Comment: St Luke’s May Mental Health Workshops in different locations, New facility open house on June 15^th, Perpetua has early action EPA work (300 thousand tons of fill moving away from river). Meet and greet at 730-9 on Thursday morning
      • Adjournment at 5:00pm

ZOOM MEETING LINK

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85476090711?pwd=UkxQU2QwU3JielVERjlVcEdGWFd4UT09