May 2025 Board Meeting Minutes

by | Feb 27, 2026 | Meetings & Minutes

 

West Central Mountains Economic Development Council

May 2025 Board Meeting Minutes

May 13, 2025 3:00pm

New Meadows City Hall, 401 Virginia St, New Meadows, ID 83654
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88234961292?pwd=nSUrhBKZK9aumQR7GdPECJcnE0PDTl.1

Board Members In-Person: Dylan Martin, Julie Good

 

Board Members Online: Delta James, Kelly Hill, Vonna Torrey, Rachel Wessel, Cynda Herrick, Belinda Provancher

 

Guests: Trace McKellips, Lindsey Harris, Melissa Hamilton, Parker Ames – U of I intern, Mindi Anderson – Cascade Chamber

 

Board Meeting

  • Call to Order at 3:03pm, Welcoming of Guests
  • Approval of May Agenda
    • Motion by Vonna
    • 2nd by Julie
    • Motion Passes
  • Approval of April Minutes
    • Motion by Julie
    • 2nd by Julie
    • Motion Passes
  • Treasurer’s report
    • Approval of May Treasurer’s Report
    • Motion by Cynda
    • 2nd by Dylan
    • Motion Passes
  • Letter(s) of support: None this month
  • Executive Items
    • Joni Osterman’s LTR of Resignation
      • Motion by Dylan
      • 2nd by Rachel
      • Motion Passes
    • WCM Fiber Network Equity Letter of Intent
      • Motion by Julie
      • 2nd by Vonna
      • Motion Passes
    • Meadowlark Marketing Creative District Contract for Services to maintain a contact list for Creatives.
      • Motion by Julie
      • 2nd by Cynda
      • Motion Passes
    • Early Childhood June Conference Funding Allocation, Trace’s original ask was for 6 people for 2 days to attend the conference, after discussion, we support up to 3 attendees at a total of 2,055. Idaho AEYC has additional funds to support as well.
      • Motion by Dylan
      • 2nd by Vonna
      • Motion Passes
    • Idaho Rural Water Support – This is a pledge form to be shared on an individual basis, Lindsey will forward after the meeting.
  • Executive Director Update
    • April Event Round-Up
      • Cascade Geothermal Open House 4/10 held at the American Legion, 50 – 70 attendees. Geothermal and Vendors were present there to share
      • Small Business Panel Series 4/14 & 4/15, both locations. 40 attendees in McCall and 35 in Cascade for our first, 100% of attendees said they would attend WCMEDC events in the future. 5 Breakouts, packed a lot into it.
      • Cascade Career Fair 4/24 – Not as well attended as in the past, but we had great representation, looking to hold a community event under WCMEDC in the future.
      • Doc for a Day 4/25 at Heartland High School – 12 students participated, very hands on.
    • SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan – HWY 95 Closure, looking for more clarification on the opportunities to be reimbursed.
    • FY26 Rural ED Pro Grant Application, on-track.
    • Grant Applications: City of McCall LOT – will be looking to apply for funding for Small Business Panel events in the future. Housing Trust grant application lot, presented last week.
    • Idaho Gem Grant RFF in process, applying for reimbursement for our monies.
    • May 16th USDA WET Workshop in New Meadows 10am–12 noon.
    • June 26th Commerce Connect Event – Roadshow to our region, on the morning of the 26th at the McCall Library.

 

  • Early Childhood Education (Trace)
    • Healthy manhood is scheduled at the Roost May 19th 6-8pm, in Donnelly.
    • Community BBQ in New Meadows next week to gauge interest.
    • Progress on early learning center.
    • May 29th parent café – new model across the state.
    • ASQ Training success ALST week.
    • Another program – Parents as Teachers -developmentally appropriate play for families who need that support.
    • Requesting an executive team meeting to review his position based on the uncertainty at the Federal Level with regard to funding this position.
    • Dolly Parton Imagination Library – Books arrive on a monthly basis ages 0-5, there is one running in Cascade and one in McCall. Cost is $31/yr.  130 kids in McCall and 50 kids in Cascade, they are interested in expanding the programs, looking to do some targeted research to see if we can’t reach families who have not traditionally been involved with us in the past.
  • Community Reports
    • Valley County –
      • ITD Meeting, Transportation Corridor study for Valley County.
      • Approved the Cascade and Donnelly impact areas, still working on McCall.
      • Lots of Meetings at this time.
      • Coalition Cascade Annex cost is very high.
      • RFP has been submitted to Clearwater Financial to plan a Cascade Convention Center.
    • Cascade
    • Donnelly
      • Flower Shop has opened.
      • Circle K has withdrawn their application.
    • McCall
      • Tomorrow Community Development personnel will be presenting to land use and study committee about affordable housing here. Starts at 10am tomorrow morning.
      • Construction Season – Roadway projects, both Davis and ? streets.
      • Chamber Spring event at the Glass House.
      • ITD outreach regarding next steps, public meetings upcoming
      • 2021 Building permits are higher than last year.
      • Tourism LOT is up 4% from last year.
      • Street LOT is the same as prior year.
      • May 20th
      • https://www.idahoptv.org/shows/idahoinsession/ww02
    • New Meadows
      • Siding is going up on the new youth center as well as doors.
      • Grading on the skate park project, should be starting soon.
      • Julie will be teaching a non-profit class at the library. Best practices for non-profit boards 4 – 5:30 at the McCall Library.
      • Later in the month 4p-6p 22nd QuickBooks Class.
      • May 22 closing current location and moving the office to the Depot.
      • Grand opening celebration once the museum is set after Memorial Day.
      • Early Learning event is planned in the near future.
      • Possible renters are interested in existing city building.
    • Partners in Attendance
      • Actively searching for Cascade Food Pantry connections looking to focus on the community garden.
    • WCMEDC Updates:
      • Creative District Update (Delta)
        • 2 invoices will be issued with the website development.
        • Art galleries received some funding to build 3 kiosks, free, featured artists. Currently stationed in Cascade and McCall, soft launch.  Gallery show is planned for October.
        • July 20 – 21 Artisan Tour is planned.
      • Community Action Team (CAT) Updates:
        • Community Development (Lindsey) – covered in earlier discussion
        • Housing –
          • Housing Trust $2500 for hook ups confirmed.
          • Toured the modular housing plant, it was impressive.
          • Applied for a grant with Minnesota Housing Authority, they are coming in for 3 years to create a strategic plan, should be a game changer for our community.
          • Raven Ridge Tri-plex will be ready in June and that funding should allow us to pay an employee within the trust in the future.
        • Infrastructure (Julie)
          • Southlake Sewer conversations pending.
        • Workforce Development
          • Belinda, Rachel and Lindsey met this week. Will be pushing pause and look to grants to resume planning for next year.
        • Broadband (Lindsey) – covered in earlier approved letter
        • New Business – none
      • Public Comment
        • May 14th, tomorrow is the RiseUp2Thrive Fundraising Event at the Glass House – support of domestic violence victims, specific to our community. Please come support the funding of a memorial bench creating a legacy honoring Lynne Dooley.
      • Adjournment at 4:50pm