Minutes – 2015 Annual Meeting

United Community Partners

Annual Meeting

MINUTES

January 4, 2016

The meeting was held at the home of Steve and Summer White. A community potluck was held prior to the business meeting. The board expressed thanks to the Whites for hosting and providing a delicious turkey!

PLEASE NOTE THAT ASSIGNMENTS FOLLOW EACH AGENDA ITEM IN BOLD TEXT.

Board members in attendance: Liz, Kat, Steve, Chad.

Excused: Julie, Rev. Bill.

Guests: Inga Thompson, Bill Schuhle, Kay Young, Morgan Gover.

The meeting was called to order at 1:10 by UCP President, Liz McLellan.

Liz shared an overview of the UCP for the benefit of visitors and potential board members. She also suggested that the board consider moving the annual meeting to November to avoid the difficulty of scheduling around the holidays.

Changes to the agenda: “Officers and Nominations” moved to the end of the Public Annual Meeting.

Minutes:Minutes from the November 2015 meeting were summarized by Kat Davis, Secretary. Approved as written.

Treasurer’s Report: a verbal summary of the year’s financial activities was presented by Steve White, Treasurer. Due to a computer issue, a copy of the report was not available, but will be submitted for inclusion with the Annual Meeting notes by the February meeting.

Open Discussion: Bill Schuhle informed the board that he assumed the role of “Interim Coordinator” for the Main Street Stage as Kristin has resigned. One of his immediate issues was to look at the status of insurance as he had been informed by the Cornucopia Arts Council that the insurance provided for many community venues by the Lion’s Club was not actually valid. Bill said he was checking with Wheatland Insurance as they cover the History Museum for a reasonable annual cost. Steve White shared that to his knowledge, Rev. Bill’s work with the Lion’s had indicated that (with some changes) the Lion’s insurance policy would be a viable option. It was recommended that a small group with representation from Lion’s (Rev Bill) UCP (Kat) and Main Street Stage (Bill S) meet to hammer this out, as it is an important, ongoing issue for the entire community.

Bill also brought the issue of Main Street Stage ownership to the board for discussion. Initially, the plan was to transfer ownership of the stage to the Chamber of Commerce at completion, but this step was never taken. Kat will find a “transfer of real property” template online and modify it to address the oversight.

Inga Thompson shared information on a project she is working on to bring members of the Afghanistan Women’s Bicycle Team to Halfway for training. The group had a very interesting discussion on the personal courage required for women from that country to engage in this sport. Individual members of the Board expressed interest in being involved with the project outside of UCP. Inga was also encouraged to review the UCP mission and, if she felt it was a good match, to apply for any of the services UCP offers. As Inga was also present to consider board membership, the importance of keeping personal projects separate from board duties and responsibilities was also mentioned.

Successes, Snafus, Potentials & Plans: The accomplishments and “snags” encountered in 2015 were summarized in a handout which will be included with these notes. In general, the feeling was that UCP spent a good deal of the year reviewing and establishing standard practices. The objective is to ensure the community receives reliable information and service when they interact with UCP – whether online or with a board member. Chad shared his sense that UCP has a lot of “potential” – and that it will take a solid use of that potential to really make the organization feel like a viable part of the community. Kat noted that organizations such as UCP exist to facilitate success for others and are often in the background, providing services and leadership in securing funds and training where needed; and that the best way to find out what is needed is to have other community organizations complete a self-assessment. Asked if there are other organization similar to UCP that we could emulate, Kat mentioned the “Community Chest” model that gave rise to United Way. Liz shared info on BALLE (bealocalist.org). Ideas that emerged from the ensuing group discussion were recorded by Liz.

(Not prioritized).

• Complete a community needs assessment with other agencies/organizations
• Review and take action to address community insurance needs (initial committee: Bill S, Rev Bill, Kat)
• Determine organizational needs for capacity building (effective meetings, leadership, membership, building boards, etc)
• Plan and organize an annual meeting between community organizations
• Fundraising to build UCP’s financial resources. (Ex: solicitation letters)
• Preserve community knowledge and make it accessible (Website)
• Identify model to help board members and the community better understand and communicate about what UCP is and does (Community Chest, United Way or other)

There was a very brief discussion of action items left undone from 2015.

Kat will put the ideas from group discussion and any incomplete action items on the agenda at the next meeting for development as an action plan for the coming year.

Officers and Board Vacancy Nominations: Liz formally resigned as President, effective immediately. She did not resign from the Board, and will make that determination by the February meeting. She also stated she will continue to provide technical oversight for the UCP web presence and assistance for Board members in using technical tools – including social media. The board offered thanks for her help and guidance during her three years in this position. Liz recently made many video training materials available on the website under Resources 

Slate of Nominees for Officer Positions:

Kat Davis, President

Julie Zaccone, Secretary

Steve White, Treasurer

Millicent Simpson resigned from the Board leaving one vacancy for a board-member-at-large. Inga Thompson was nominated by Liz to fill this position.

As only one name was offered for this vacancy and each officer position, the Board chose to accept the slate by acclamation.

Noting that Julie is ill and may not be able to assume her duties in February, Chad agreed to stand in as back-up, if needed.

The Public Annual Meeting was closed.

Grant Application: Morgan Gover provided an excellent overview of the application, “Bikes and Kindles”. The board and guests were invited to ask questions or provide comments.

Following this presentation, the all invitees and guests left the meeting so the board could deliberate on funding the proposal.

All members present unanimously agreed to fund the project at the $500 level. This will allow the school to purchase the incentive items for each grade, rather than for each classroom as is currently the case.

Steve will write the check for the project – to be sent out by January 15.

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.

Submitted by Kat Davis, Secretary.