June 2023 Meeting Minutes

by | Aug 7, 2023 | Uncategorized

West Central Mountains Economic Development Council
June 2023 Board Meeting Minutes
June 13, 2023 3:00pm
|City of New Meadows, 401 Virginia Street

Attendees: Joni Osterman, Sherry Maupin, Cynda Herrick, Julie Good, Belinda Provancher, Linnea Hall, Kelly Hill, Vonna TorreyGuests: Melissa Hamilton, Kim Glineski, Beth Wegener, Trace McKellips, Lindsey Harris

Executive Session 2:30 (Open unless otherwise specified)

  • Review agenda items
  • Work Plan for Beth Wegener review
  • Treasurer needs to pay Lamm’s office & PO Box

Board Meeting

  • Call to Order at 3:06pm by Vice President, Joni Osterman.
  • Approval of June Amended Agenda ACTION ITEM
    • Julie motion, Sherry 2nd. Motion passes.
  • Approval of May Minutes ACTION ITEM
    • Belinda motion, Linnea 2nd. Motion passes. Sherry abstained.
  • Executive Board Update for later this summer
    • Board roles and responsibilities
    • Crafting letter of support policy
  • Treasurer’s report
    • Approval for PO Box payment of $188, Lamm Office payment of $1,000 ACTION ITEM
      • Julie motion, 2nd Motion passes.
    • Approval of Treasurer’s Report ACTION ITEM
      • Sherry motion, Linnea 2nd. Motion passes.
    • Transfer of Funds from Housing Fund for Executive Director position for July meeting.
    • Regional Pathways Coalition – Horizon’s currently is the fiscal agent for McCall & Donnelly Farmer’s Market. Can get direction at fall meeting 2023 with group to be able to report back to WCMEDC Board.
  • Letter(s) of support ACTION ITEM
    • WCM Fiber Network LTR of Support Last Mile Funding
      • Motion by Vonna, 2nd by Sherry. Motion passes.
    • Updates on other LTRs of Support approved at last month’s meeting.
  • Internship for Summer 2023
    • Beth Wegener – proposed workplan ACTION ITEM
    • Motion by Julie, 2nd by Vonna. Motion passes.
  • Grant Updates: Kelly announced we were recommended full funding by the LOT Commission for the housing needs assessment, but it has not yet gone to City Council for approval. Valley County has approved housing needs assessment 20k ask. Lindsey applied for Stibnite Foundation, but no announcements yet. Julie requested clarification on the Valley County economic development funding and what’s for the ED Pro position vs. State Commerce funding, how to invoice, etc. This spurred Julie and she requested we review Lindsey’s contract based on July start, set for agenda next month. Also, Department of Commerce grant submitted for Ed Pro.
  • Community Reports
    • Cascade: Sherry reported the DOE asked Cascade to apply for a large Geothermal grant construction build. Belinda – letters of support for Valley County Grants for Daycare center in Cascade. Hoping for collaboration.
    • Donnelly: New Restaurant – Wine Bar and Tapas in red schoolhouse building that will be another for Steve Topple. New Gun store, appropriate pricing for the area. A lot of misinformation is being shared, please reach out to the city to request accurate information. Farmers Market is starting. Lindsey connected with City in an attempt to further develop Donnelly representation. Art Butler is working with them on their comprehensive planning because bids ended up coming back higher than they have a budget for.
    • McCall: No official info to share, just lots of construction and street striping/painting. Lot collections have plateaued. Mural is going in downtown.
    • New Meadows: Julie put in a new sculpture made out of reclaimed metal by the community center. Bench installed at the playground by a senior. Kicked off the new transit on Monday & Wednesday, reviewing ridership for an opportunity to apply for a grant to grow to 5 days/wk with the hope to get to 7 days/wk. Architect conversations for a youth center, city council approved a phased program, starting with a daycare center. Grant pays for the fees. Groundbreaking for the Warren Brown skate park and fundraising for helmets. City approved a MOU to approve the track be managed by parks. 5 local artists are holding a showing next week June 5th sack lunches have been given to 20 – 25  kids lunches each day. Tank and booster station is down, excited to see the new well. Working with the school and YAC for a mural on city council, centered around the history. 16 housing units are going in close to the existing Brundage Housing building. Vet clinic being built across the street. Dollar store was not approved to have a liquor license. July 1, farmers market starts, several youth events will be associated, pop-up playgrounds, t-ball, other activities etc…
    • Valley County: In the middle of budget season, can be found on the website, 3% caps are causing issues. Dept of Transportation, conversation about tree falling and fire danger issues. Hiring a new Sheriff. Recreation Dept has received all their grants, look to see new vault toilets, expansion of new campgrounds, etc. New Rec Council is in place and creating a new strategic plan. Almost to the end of the asset plan, identifying potential buildings that may need to be replaced. Master transportation plan is out there, please comment if you have an interest. National Association of Counties Task Force will be rolling out housing recommendations in July. Many positions available now and of course housing is the biggest issue to fill those. Cynda is working on an ordinance change, possibly looking at density to preserve the ground that needs to be preserved, possibly requesting a letter of support from the council.
  • WCMEDC Updates
    • Early Childhood Education (Trace): Recent meeting with AEYC is providing support for the Workforce Readiness grant. Cascade Chamber is seeking communication, it maybe happening amongst stakeholders, but not much collaboration, further looking for a letter of support. Recent symposium attended with other professionals, great networking and sharing of information. A volume of resources to connect – Wonderschool – free app to provide free business services for early childhood centers; Wonderschool has been funded by AEYC for 3 years. Workforce development grant is on-line at this time. More robust funding coming on-line in the future for childcare centers. Idaho STARS in the future will be visiting childcare centers. Final logo is complete for the early learning collaborative, look to see that in the future and Trace will send to the Board to have.
    • Payette River Scenic Byway (Cynda) – no update this month. Next meeting is in July at Tamarack Resort.
    • Community Development
      • Creative District Update: Cancelled studio tour to be launched at another date. July Idaho Arts council sponsoring concert at Ponderosa Center. Planning to have a Creative District social at Bistro in July as well.
    • Community Action Team (CAT) Updates
      • Housing:
        • WCM Housing Trust Updates: Next meeting is scheduled for June 22. MOU almost finalized with County for AARPA funding, hoping to have 3 housing units in the next 3 months. Concerned about the weeds with regard to the housing currently, Kelly will reach out
        • Housing CAT: meeting this month to finalize RFP for regional housing needs assessment and ideally launch by July 1st.
      • Infrastructure: CAT needs to meet and will be creating the regional planning document for “readiness team” concept.
      • Transportation: TV Transit had their strategic session. Lindsey attended in Sun Valley end of May. ED Pro Harry Griffith was the facilitator.
      • Business Retention & Expansion: Director of Idaho Travel Council is going to be here to tour the area, Lindsey will facilitate and reach out if she needs anything. Brundage, Tamarack and Perpetua should be areas of review.
      • Broadband: BSU Cybersecurity Workshop Wednesday, June 14 from 11am – 1pm. Julie said Broadband should be operational next week in the park, the first of many new connections. Middle Mile Project, waiting on state contracts.
      • Communications: nothing major to report. Beth to help with website, newsletter, and social media.
    • New Business: Melissa Hamilton on behalf of Trails Coalition. They are trying to identify if the EDC logo could be used for a regional trail system, looking perhaps to use a bit different logo, but hoping for branding consistency, can that be put on the agenda. Cynda brought up that there was a branding packet done years back and Lindsey will send to everyone.
    • Public Comment: None
    • Adjournment at 5:03pm

 

ZOOM MEETING LINK

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