Time and Attendance

Meeting start and finish: 1:00 PM – 3:10 PM

Members Present (alphabetical order): Don Bailey (City of McCall), David Carey (McCall chamber), Scotty Davenport (Cascade Chamber), Karla Miller (member at large), Ken Minshall (City of Donnelly), David Papiez (member at large), Rob Terry (City of Cascade), Bill Willey (unincorporated Valley County), Willem Braak (non-voting/UI Extension).

Members absent:  none

Non-members present (all or part of the time): Rick Certano, Michelle Groenevelt, Cynda Herrick, Professor Stephen Miller, Marc Bybee & Joan Callahan

Presiding: David Papiez

Decisions and notable points

Welcome & Agenda

The meeting welcomed:

• Rob Terry, mayor of Cascade, as the new representative for the City of Cascade;
• Professor Stephen Miller and Law Students Marc Bybee, Joan Callahan from the University of Idaho Law School (Boise) Economic Development Clinic

Sub Committee Updates

VCED Structure Formalization:

With the January council decision to affirm the Valley County Economic Development Council as a worthwhile regional forum for economic development (see charter) , it was apparent that the council had to transition from the informal gathering and translate verbal agreements on representation, responsibility and accountability into a more sustainable and formalized structure. The sub-committee (David Papiez, Dick Carter and Willem Braak) had solicited the help from the (UI Law School) Economic Development Clinic in Boise under supervision of Professor Stephen Miller to help navigate the choices in corporate structures, and learn from the experience of similar organizations in Idaho as well as from other rural regions similarly endowed with natural amenities. The clinic students presented their findings at this council meeting and provided a report with overview memorandum and detailed examples. Marc Bybee reported on applicable bylaws and corporate structure; Joan Callahan reported on action planning and goal setting that should ideally precede incorporation; Nicholas Morgan, the third student on the team, could not be present. Two Economic Development corporations that surfaced in discussions as mirroring some of the intentions and regional characteristics of Valley County were Blaine County, ID and La Plata County, CO.

 Actions and decisions:

• The council will start the process of goal setting and action planning through a workshop in June (see next agenda items). Bill Willey and Don Bailey will consider joining this subcommittee.
• A trip to Ketchum to meet with economic development organizations in Blaine County is tentatively planned for the weekend of May 18^th-19^th.  David Carey, David Papiez, Karla Miller and Willem Braak have expressed an interest and possible availability to attend.  David Papiez is working to finalize plans for trip and coordinate lodging.

Department of Commerce RFP subcommittee (Bill Willey and Don Bailey)

The March Council had considered teaming up with the county to explore using the Department of Commerce grant for economic development to fund a recreation director that would specifically focus on economic development in the recreation sector. Since combining the current (county) snow grooming position with this type of development function did not seem feasible at this time, the subcommittee recommended abandoning the pursuit of the 2013 DOC grant and to postpone further considerations for an unspecified time – possibly next year if/when the DOC reissues the RFP.

Project updates

Winter Rec Survey and annual social event – Rick Certano

The Winter Recreation Committee will organize a symposium on the winter survey efforts where Guest Research (Colorado) will report on the survey results of the winter survey, and key-note speaker Emilyn Sheffield (California State University Chico) will put the recreation economy in a larger perspective. The date for the symposium will be Thursday June 20^th; since this date approaches high season this led to discussing the variety of constraints after which everyone reluctantly had to agree with the choice.

Tentative agenda

1:00pm Welcome RC McCall Area Chamber  President

1:15-2:30PM Emilyn Sheffield “Playing to win in a changing America”

2:30-2:45pm coffee break

2:45-3:45pm Karen Ballard, Idaho Tourism Dept.  “What do we do and how can you be involved.”

3:45-4:00pm coffee break

4:00-5:00pm Guest Research Overview of the results from the regional survey

5:00-6:00pm Three break outs, Scott Hannah, Scott Saunders and Vim Braak , lodging, snowmobiling, back country/Cross Country

6:00- 7:30pm finger food and drinks if we can find a sponsor

Actions and decisions:

• The social character of the event and the opportunity for region-wide networking was the original reason for the council to partner with the winter recreation group for this symposium. There was some preliminary discussion on further funding of the event which needs to be finalized.
• Promotion will be primarily done through email, but since it is the council’s objective to make this a region-wide networking opportunity it is important all businesses (not just recreation based business) are invited. Willem Braak will coordinate a mailing list to reach as many businesses in the county as possible.

Regional land-use visioning project

The March council meeting had a discussion on a coordinated regional land-use map or vision. Since not all chambers and communities were represented at the last meeting (spring break), this meeting’s full attendance allowed for a broader discussion of this important subject. The impetus for the original discussion was the discussion of a parks & recreation position for the county. With recreation as a strong and dual driver of the local economy (to attract visitors, but also to attract new residents and businesses to make the region their home because of its proximity to recreational opportunities), it is important to maintain competitiveness.  Recreational amenities like viewscape (real estate), downtowns (visitor attraction), landscape & wildlife (hunting; back-country recreation), water quality (boating; fishing), and the region’s productive lands (ranching, farming, timber – all also supporting our viewscape) form the base to much of our economy. It therefore makes sense to steward this base and make sure that we coordinate policies and incentives among communities to that effect. A regional land-use vision or map can facilitate a discussion among land-owners and communities to make comprehensive plans of cities and county compatible and to incentivize a more effective implementation. It also can create the predictability that developers and investors look for and preemptively alert investors and residents to potential incompatible land-use.

Actions and decisions:

• The council affirmed the importance of such a coordinated approach to land-use and asked a small team of County P&Z (Cynda Herrick), McCall Community Development (Michelle Groenevelt) and UI Extension (Willem Braak) to prepare a more structured discussion on this subject that would include stakeholders. The council suggested to not “crowd the agenda” and that this discussion could take place in September or October.

Council Development

The discussion on formalization underscored the importance of a longer term plan for the council based on a thorough understanding of the local economy and its primary drivers, and would make a selection of appropriate development tools.

Actions and decisions:

• The council decided to dedicate a full morning to this subject on Friday June 21, the day after the recreation symposium. This workshop would build on earlier workshops in 2011 and 2012 and, even though the specific objective of this workshop will be to define an action plan for the council, the workshop will be open to all community members interested in learning about and contributing to the economic development of the region. Willem Braak will take the initiative to organize this event.

Roundtable

• Michelle Groenevelt reported that McCall received a grant to receive the iCount training program from ITD and Idaho Smart Growth: bicycle and pedestrian pathways are strong assets for communities and recreation, and this training is to help develop consistent applications of bicycle and pedestrian data collection methodologies across Idaho. Michelle invited other communities to join into the McCall training program, which will take place on May 8.
• The UI student project partnering with the Y-camp to develop distributed small-scale energy development will present on May 2, from 10-11:30 at the county court. Anyone interested in energy development (hydro, geothermal, biomass, solar and wind) is welcome to join the presentation.
• McCall will consider passing an ordinance to require bear-proof garbage containers.
• Michelle Groenevelt reported that the first of several workshops focusing on the new/updated downtown McCall masterplan is scheduled for May 20^th-23^rd.
• David Papiez confirmed that the May 22^th council meeting will be held at Tamarack and that he will distribute directions to the venue location within the Resort once it is finalized.