UCP Board Meeting: September 19, 2025

Pam called our board meeting to order at 5:05 PM on Thursday, with most of the usual suspects present. Jack couldn’t make it but we had enough folks to get business done.

Here’s what we covered and where things stand:

Money Matters

Pam walked us through financials. Simple math: our CD that matured in August got renewed for five months at 3.92% interest. We put $35,000 in there since we’ll likely be spending most of our cash on the Fire Wise grant work.

Current balances show we’re in good shape across projects. Pine Valley 2050 is down to $94.22 after we used most of that Oregon Community Foundation money for track cleanup work. The Ford Foundation grant has $4,000 left, and they gave us an extension until October 31st to spend it.

Main Street roofing grant is moving along – we’ve finished the Tri Color Building and Mamaste, with the liquor store, Merc, and Main Street Tire still to go. The state reimbursement process took about two weeks, which was better than expected.

Tech Updates

Liz has been busy on the website front. She’s moving us from Mailchimp and PayPal to something called Give Butter – a platform built specifically for nonprofits. The idea is better donor tracking and fundraising tools for the track project. Give Butter will allow us to provide better fundraising tools for the community.

There was some back-and-forth about QuickBooks integration. Jen pointed out the double-entry problem we’ve had with PayPal – transactions showing up both as PayPal and bank entries. Liz assured us they’ll work out those details before going live.

Website redesign is in the works using a theme called “Giving Press.” Liz showed us some mockups that look more dynamic than our current setup. She’s planning to work with Mallory on a branding package – new logo, color scheme, the works. As Jen put it, the current site is “very boring.”

We’re hoping Mallory will take on the rebranding project since she’s already familiar with UCP and did such great work on the Pinefest t-shirts. If you are interested in submitting a brand redesign proposal – Take a look at the Request for Proposal: United Community Partners Rebranding Package. If she’s not available, we’ll be sending out this RFP to other designers.

The track fundraising platform will have a dedicated committee working on outreach and campaigns. Mallory, Denise, Karen, Cindy, and Annie Johnson are organizing the fundraising efforts, with a meeting scheduled for Tuesday night at the Lions Club.

Track Project Status

Here’s the thing: we’re still waiting on the school board to sign off. Pam met with them last week along with the design guy and a few committee members. The board seems more comfortable now that they understand maintenance won’t cost $30,000 a year – it’s more about setting aside money for resurfacing in 15-20 years.

Mike Ludens chairs the track committee and has been a real go-getter on this project. Annie Johnson serves as treasurer, bringing her financial expertise to keep everything organized. They’ve assembled a solid group of volunteers committed to seeing this through. Julie and other folks who were involved in the original 2005 effort have been sharing valuable historical context about what was accomplished before and what still needs finishing.

If the school board approves in October, the track committee will become an official UCP sponsored project. The fundraising platform will let teams compete against each other, which could be interesting. Plus options for matching funds if US Bank or others want to get involved.

Project Updates

Fire Wise: Final fuels reduction work scheduled for October. We also used some Fire Wise money for track cleanup – hauling tires and such, which fits our community cleanup mandate.

Mentor Match: Just wrapped up with three kids. They did their “shark tank” presentations with some hefty awards this year thanks to US Bank ($2,000) and Ford Foundation money. Two participants got website training from Kevin and startup costs covered.

Dark Sky: Mike McKee finished the lighting survey and is putting together a report. When we revisit the lighting ordinance, we’re planning “carrots, not sticks” – incentives rather than penalties.

Village Fund: Nothing new to report. We’ve got updated sponsorship agreements ready when they’re ready to meet.

Pine Valley 2050: The Pine Valley 2050 steering committee has had some changes recently. Rachel stepped down from the committee, while the current steering committee includes Mallory, Sally, and Cindy. Debbie, who was previously paid for her coordination work, is back as a volunteer contributor. The committee continues to oversee the transition of projects to UCP sponsorship.

Officers and Next Steps

We approved the officer slate as expected- no change in the current board. Thanks everyone for stepping up to serve another term. Next meeting is October 17th at 5:00 PM – already on the books from annual meeting scheduling.

Practically speaking, October should bring the school board decision on the track and movement on several pending projects. The new fundraising platform should be ready to go once we get that MOU signed.

Questions about any of this? Contact us through the website or catch one of us around town. As always, we’re looking for folks who want to pitch in on projects that matter to Pine Valley.