July 2023 Minutes

West Central Mountains Economic Development Council
July 2023 Board Meeting Agenda
July 11, 2023 3:00pm
Cascade Public Library, 105 N Front St, Cascade

In Attendance : Johanna Osterman, Dylan Martin, Vonna Torrey, Sherry Maupin, Belinda Provancher; Judy Nissula, Linnea Hall, Rachel Wessel, Kelly Hill, Delta  Julie Good

Guests: Trace McKellips, Beth Wegener

Board Meeting 3:09, not enough for quorum, so we moved forward without action items.  Meeting official –

• Call to Order
• Approval of July Agenda
  • Sherry moved to approve
  • 2^nd by Kelly – approved
• Approval of June Minutes
  • Belinda moved to approve
  • 2^nd by Sherry – approved
• Treasurer’s Report Review and Actions
  • Signatories Review on Idaho First Bank Account
  • Sherry moved to remove Jill Morris-Chapman and add Vonna Torrey as a signatory
  • 2^nd by Belinda – approved
  • Transfer of Funds from Housing Fund for Executive Director position for July meeting
    • Julie moved to approve; Julie’s suggestion was for 25K with the ability to review
    • 2^nd by Kelly – approved
  • Approval of Treasurer’s Report
    • Sherry moved to approve
    • 2^nd by Kelly – approved
  • Letter(s) of support – None this month, Lindsey will be reaching out to the letter of support policy crew to set a time to meet so we can move that forward.
  • Internship Update – Beth has been working on the website updates.
  • Board Business
    • Lindsey’s Contract Discussion, Agreed, she has done an excellent job, no issues that have arisen, continued discussion on funding her position with an increase if we are able to be successful with fundraising. Focus on incentivization for her to focus on grants and foundations. She understands emphasis on fundraising for continued success of the Council. Seeking an option of an increase in the next contract. Discussion as board members, our fiduciary duty to fundraise for the ED council.  Additionally, we see a great deal of growth opportunity for her.  Johanna will be engaged in asking for funding in conjunction with the summit meeting.
      • Belinda moved to approve extending the existing contract for a year at the same rate of pay
      • 2^nd by Julie – approved
    • Jill’s Board Resignation & Thank you suggestion for a nice dinner certificate, VENMO Joni
      • Sherry moved to approve, Jill’s resignation
      • 2^nd by Julie – approved

Board Business We discussed adding a Cascade or Donnelly representative and our efforts to approach both cities for representation to no avail. Maybe we shoot out some social media posts and potentially a Star News ad for Donnelly or Cascade representation to get someone outside of the city government?

• Grant Updates
  • Laura Moore Recipient for Housing Needs Assessment: We received $25k for our regional housing needs assessment. Lindsey has reached out to the City of McCall LOT administrator to find out when City Council will be approving the LOT recommendations. Unsure when that is, but if approved by City Council, we will be fully funded for our regional housing needs assessment. 20k from Perpetua, 20k from Valley County, 20k from McCall LOT, 25k from Laura Moore.
  • MCAR for Housing Needs Assessment: 7/12/23 Lindsey is presenting to MCAR at 10am for a 5k ask from their group. (Any additional funding received, will go toward the a la carte market study we wanted to have for real estate and rental data for the region.)
• Community Reports
  • Cascade – Mayor Judy was not available today, but information is the River District is selling some commercial properties including Growlers, Stinker, Market, Grocery Store. They have also sold all of their townhouse lots.  DEQ funding around geothermal system, study, DOE grant for full funding-Geothermal system much like St. Luke’s -install heat pumps which are very energy efficient for both businesses and resident’s potential use.   Cascade Parade was the largest they have ever had, 8-10K people in attendance (estimate).
  • Donnelly – Belinda, no updates today as she was on vacation last week.
  • McCall – Delta – Library is going vertical, 1st floor framing completed and working on the 2nd floor. Farmers Market is back downtown.  City of McCall, in partnership with ITD, wrote a grant which raised $2.88 million dollars.  This will be for detailed engineering planning, for E. Lake Street and Deinhard loop corridors (swapping Deinhart for Lake Street) after a certain level of improvements have been accomplished.  City Council Resolution – housing crisis for McCall to raise awareness for community and City Council to consider more action.  Delta mentioned the Teton County Study, Commercial and Affordable Housing Nexus Survey, “What does that need mean between employees and affordable housing?”  LOT Taxes are flat compared to last year, no significant drop off, however.  Creative District Soiree on July 25th, 5-7 p.m. at Bistro 45.  Celebration will encourage attendees to prioritize action steps for the Creative District going forward.  Additionally, there will be an Art Supply Swap held December 2nd at the McCall Community Center.
  • New Meadows – August 11th Celebration in the Mehan Memorial Skate Park and Warren Brown Park. Day care center letter of intent for grant, working with architects for a phased approach.  There is now free Internet at City Park (Airbridge) and will extend all the way through downtown (future) in the commercial areas only.  City taking MOU, groundbreaking in September, approved the track to be managed by parks.  At the Depot, there will be a local artist(s) on display July 23-Sept. 9th.  Sack lunch program at the library M-F has been very important/successful.  Transit program which started in June, Mondays, and Wednesdays only, had a ridership of 86 people.  Terrific numbers, especially in comparison with Eagle, larger Monday-Friday coverage, and significantly fewer riders.  Encouraging for additional days/grants.

• Valley County – Sherry – EDC Finalizing the transportation plan, master transportation plan for writing federal grants. Also working on the Waterways plan.  Broadband, IRON, community grant for 10 million $ McCall, Donnelly.  IRON should be to the southern end of Cascade by the end of next year (2024).  Ordinances for housing.  REC Council should see improvements immediately including Snowmobile parking lots will also now be summer camping.  Clear Creek Campground 18 units, Little Payette 8 sites, as well as other sites around the area.  IDL now has enforcement capabilities.   Solid waste transfer site is out of room funding 150K this year.  Woody biomass, grinder?  County looking at 1.5 million $ investment.  We bought the solid waste site.  Large conversations will be forthcoming.   Make our own dump sites?  Adams County does not want to expand their site.

• WCMEDC Updates
  • Early Childhood Education (Trace) Idaho Stars tour (Jim) of all childhood centers in the West Central Mountains area. Observed similarities/differences and the takeaways where there is an immediate (and likely) ongoing need for educational materials, playground equipment and improving the physical environments of the childcare centers. Discussed a “drive” for items needed as well as ways to get the word out, including social media, radio ads, Star News.   Mayor Good suggested grants for this type of ask which are tied to the manufacturers.  Delta suggested contacting the high school wood shops for items like blocks.  Community House Thrift store should also be contacted as they serve the community in this fashion.  Dylan suggested tying into the Raffle at the Summit by having attendees bring unused early learning toys and receiving a free raffle ticket.  Possible AEYC, Donors Choose Website and Lakeshore Learning were also mentioned.  Dylan inquired about the Cascade Project and Trace said he would check back with McKensie the grant writer as he has not heard an update and the “Intent to apply” deadline is next week.  Finding willing workers continues to be a challenge in the childcare arena.
  • Payette River Scenic Byway (Cynda) Meeting next Tuesday.
  • Summit Update: Notes from the summit planning meeting are attached in the board packet. Priorities are to ideally find a location in Cascade so we can start promoting save the date. Still locating best venue. Trinity Pines, Riverside Venue, American Legion, TBD but need to determine quickly.   Speakers mentioned in this meeting were Economics, Brian Davis with Firewise, Local Leaders Panel, Sustainability Panel, Keynote Speaker, Jackson Hole speaker, “What not to do…other strategies”.  November 6th still the date we prefer depending on site.  Cynda will look for the particulars regarding a speaker from CA- Mayor in a small town near SF.  She was very impressed and thought he would be excellent.
  • Community Development
    • Creative District Update: WCMEDC Board is invited to the July 25, 5-7pm at Bistro 45 – Creative District Summer Soiree/Launch event. Please invite your creative friends.
  • CAT Updates
    • Housing
      • WCM Housing Trust Updates- Transition of property manager, cross management compliance issues to iron out. New potential board members Kirby Robertson and Robert Lyons- each will bring great assets to the board.  MOU with the County is out for review right now.  1 million $ to be received shortly.  Developer/construction 3 units built and winterized, Cascade area.  Treasurer, new accountants, audit happening right now.
      • Regional Housing Assessment Update – Funding covered above in the grants section, we launched the RFP on July 1^st, running through August 1^st for responses. Received a few clarifications on the market study and our desired timeline outlined in the RFP. Many consultant groups have current or committed projects and our aggressive timeline may need to be modified depending on responses. Many consultant groups have expressed concern about the tight timeframe, may need to reconsider due dates.
    • Infrastructure: Mayor Nissula, Dylan and Lindsey met and notes from that meeting are attached. Lindsey is still working with the City of Cascade steering committee on their Geothermal grant applications. Trying to find out more information on the Warm Lake HOA water system inquiry. During the meeting discussions were had on who was involved, utilities that were existing and developing a plan to give developers all the information they need.
    • Transportation: ITD is taking down trees this week. They had 400K budgeted in 10 miles but Horseshoe Bend to Banks ate up all that budget.  Mayor issues, fire, design study to make sure they are engaging the Forest Service, more conversations are being had.
    • Business Retention & Expansion: We have been reached out to by both BSU’s hospitality program and Community Impact Program to help promote their programs and opportunities. BSU Hospitality would like to host an event for lodging and hospitality partners this summer. Looking at August on a weeknight when hopefully, people aren’t so busy!
    • Broadband: Last mile grant application submitted right before the 4^th of July to potentially service 1500 location in between McCall and Lake Fork with fiber to the home. No Middle Mile State contracts update. 1500 locations between McCall and Lake Fork in addition to IRON network.
    • Communications : Lindsey and Beth are working on a website update and newsletter launch, etc.
  • New Business
  • Public Comment
  • Adjournment

ZOOM MEETING LINK:

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