Pine Valley Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 1:40-3:30pm

Present: Liz McLellan, Larry & Celinda Miller, Steve White, Bill Schuhle, Bill Shields, Mark Christianson, Ruai Gregory

This was a special mid-month meeting called to address the Cornucopia Arts Council’s request for $2,000 in funding for their planned fall music festival. Also on the agenda were meeting “norms” and discussion of UCP’s mission and strategies per our founding documents.

1. Meeting Norms. Mark Christianson, who had been tasked with drawing up some norms for conduct of our meetings, distributed copies of his typed list for discussion. Clarification of the “Listen respectfully” item included subcategories of “No side conversations”, “Wait until speaker is finished to ask points of clarification”, and “Use respectful language”. In collaboration with Mark and Steve, Bill will create a poster-size list of the agreed-upon norms to be posted at each meeting.
2. Mail List Issue. Liz stated very strongly that she would like to see our group email dissemination of information and discussion happen through Google Groups so as to simplify the mechanics of discourse as well as maintain a coherent record of that discourse for future reference. This was acceptable to all with the exception of Celinda who will meet with Liz individually to iron out any issues and come to a solution that Celinda can be comfortable with.
3. Cornucopia Arts Council Request for Funding. Mark re-read for the group’s benefit the overview from CAC’s written proposal/request. He strongly suggested that we honor the efforts being made by CAC to meet our request for a written proposal and respond to their request in the context of the recent granting precedents extant at the time CAC approached us and to take up consideration of other ways of handling such requests subsequent to making this particular decision. Bill Shields commented on the long history of CAC in the valley and its bringing of many musical and artistic events to the community, normally on a donation basis, and felt that they deserve our support in this new endeavor. Bill Schuhle indicated that, even though musical events are enjoyed by a good number of folks in the valley, we have already put approximately 25% of our available funds toward musical projects and that maybe it was time to shift our focus to supporting projects – such as an emergency gravity-fed drinking water system and less expensive, more environmentally friendly sewer treatment options – that would benefit an even larger portion of our community and materially address issues related to its sustainability and survivability. Celinda expressed that she would like to see us move away from a granting model and back to what, as best she could determine from a reading of the founding documents, was an assistive role rather than a granting role. She supported Bill Schuhle’s contention that community sustainability is an important issue to be addressed. Steve spoke of the potentially huge long-term benefits to the community of both the MainStreet Stage and the annual CAC Music Festival. He felt that support of these was money well spent and that denial of this particular CAC request would be “hurtful”. He offered his support of “sustainability”related projects, but pointed out that we’ve not yet seen any concrete proposals for such. He also felt that use of the term “sustainability” on our part would be a huge turn-off to the large conservative portion of the valley community and Liz confirmed this, suggesting that we get on with building a good track record of things done as a way to re-establish UCP’s credibility as an organization. Steve emphasized the need to get the word our about our support for grant writing efforts. Larry brought up the issue of responsibility for grant monies received and indicated that if recipients are not willing to pay the money back at some point, he would vote “no”.  Liz voiced strong concern for use of terms like “welfare” and “responsibility” in relation to the Arts Council which has done so much for the community. Bill Shields summarized our current position very succinctly and urged our support of the CAC request. After some further summarizing discussion, a vote was taken and unanimous approval was given for a $2,000 grant to the Cornucopia Arts Council in support of their first annual fall music festival. This with a proviso that they kindly remember UCP in the future as a conduit for giving back to the community. Bill Shields will put all of this in writing.
4. Discussion of Vision and Strategy Statements as presented in original UCP founding documents. Bill Shields indicated that the vision statement, including the “premier rural living experience” wording, was primarily written as a PR piece to appease the County. He suggested that the paragraph beginning with “Our desire…”, with “desire” changed to “vision” would be perfect. There was agreement all around. Regarding strategy and goals, Bill Shields suggested slimming our document wording down to include: 1. Strengthen locally owned businesses; 2. Advocate for a strong traditional and innovative agricultural base; 3. Encourage locally developed, owned, and operated tourist services; 4. Support City of Halfway growth within the 2000 urban growth boundary; 5. Actively network with regional economic development agencies and organizations. It was agreed that we would take Bill’s minimalist ideas and each add to them as we see fit or create our own version to compare with Bill’s and bring to our next meeting for further discussion.
5. Our next regular meeting will be May 6, 2013, and will be held at the Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall at 1:30pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill Schuhle, Secretary/Treasurer

United Community Partners
Meeting of March 4, 2013
Pine Valley Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 1:40-3:10pm

Present: Bill Schuhle, Bill Shields, Mark Christianson, Celinda Miller, Denise Christianson, Liz McLellan

In the absence of President/Secretary Ruai Gregory, it was decided that Treasurer Bill Schuhle would conduct the meeting. Liz McLellan provided an agenda via email prior to the meeting and this was followed. Reading/approval of the previous meeting’s minutes was overlooked/omitted at this meeting.

1.    Financial Report. The finance report showed a net increase in the Checking balance of $226.32 and an increase of $32.47 in the Brokerage account since the last reported balance of 12/31/12. To review the Financials please contact Bill Schuhle, UCP Treasurer.

2.    Selection of Officers. Though a quorum of Board Members was present, it was decided that, due to Steve White’s absence (he was out of town), selection of officers would be postponed until next month’s meeting. It was determined that the minutes of our last meeting, which was our official Annual Meeting and included selection of Board Members, need to be kept on file in case at some point the need arose to provide proof to the State of Oregon that we did in fact have our Annual Meeting as required by our Articles of Incorporation.

3.    Bandstand Project Update. Bill Shields indicated that the project is at the point of entering the permitting process with the County. George Guarino’s CAD drawings of the building plans were passed around to much approval. Plans for drawing power (30 amp circuit) from Dale Denson’s Three Color Building were discussed. Denise urged a written agreement with Dale should we end up using power from his building. Power from the Sowers’ “rock bottom” apartment building would be an option of last resort. There was some discussion of whether sound levels from the bandstand could be considered a nuisance by some and therefore a problem. It was pointed out that since the performances will be conducted in compliance with City ordinances, this shouldn’t be an issue and could be considered “part of living in a small town” as are the sounds broadcast from the rodeo grounds, the high school football field, etc

4.    PEEF Grant Request. Bill Schuhle summarized a request from Vicki Johnson on behalf of the Pine Eagle Education Foundation for $700 to purchase sturdy shelving to store donated art supplies at the elementary school to be used in a new art teaching program being instituted in collaboration with the Carnegie Crossroads Art Center in Baker. After considerable discussion, it was decided that, recent disbursements notwithstanding, our purpose as UCP is to help build community capacity through assisting with grant-writing, etc., rather than through outright grants and that we do not wish to encourage the perception that we are a source of the latter. With this in mind, the decision was made to offer PEEF an interest-free loan of $700 to help them through this immediate need and to be re-paid within 60 days when they have obtained funds from other sources. Bill Shields informed us that Jacob’s Dream will soon be acting as an agency for small grants to different community projects as a way of disbursing its profits now that the summer youth job program is no longer and said that this is likely the very kind of request they will be considering.

5.    Rodale Institute Community Regeneration Update. Celinda indicated she had recently received extensive information in the form of PDF files which she and Bill Schuhle will go through and try to distill into a presentation to be made at either our April or May meeting.

6.    Expression of gratitude to Ruai for her five years of service as UCP President. Liz will compose a letter of appreciation and circulate it for the approval of all.

7.    Seed Sharing Station. Liz indicated that the seed sharing station will be once again set up at Jacob’s Dream and asked that we get the word out about its availability.

8.    Miscellaneous. Bill Shields recommended keeping minutes to basically a record of decisions made. He also urged the establishment of a mechanism for making it clear that a decision had been made. There was discussion of possibly holding UCP meetings at City Hall and also getting a City employee to become part of UCP.

9.    Our next meeting will be April 1, 2013, and will be held at the Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall at 1:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,

Bill Schuhle, acting Secretary

City Hall unavailable – meeting moved to home of Steve & Summer White
7:30-9pm
Present: Ruai Gregory, Bill Schuhle, Steve White, Larry Miller, Celinda Miller, Mark Christianson, Liz McLellan, Bill Shields

I  Annual Wrap up; 2012 accomplishments

Ruai summarized the following:

• Fair Grandstand: successful fundraising effort
• Pine Eagle Education Foundation (PEEF): partnered with them in grantwriting efforts. Our support is no longer necessary since they have finally attained nonprofit status.
• Recycling Center: successful fundraising effort and contribution. Our support is no longer necessary since they have attained nonprofit status.
• Website and Facebook page: ongoing development and upkeep by Liz.
• Community group networking: Jacob’s Dream, Senior meal relocation to school
• Pine Eagle Community Preschool: doing well this year, and will be partnering for grant applications.
• Pine Valley Museum: video history and outdoor equipment display projects
• Community Center: The Binfords have donated their gym equipment to the Pine Eagle Charter School’s community wellness program, which will sponsor the gym, along with other community center – style classes and activities. The Bowling Alley building will continue to be available for private party rentals. Therefore, our community center subcommittee no longer needs to exist. Ruai will transfer the $224.00 balance of that account to the main UCP account.

II  Projects/Plans for 2013

• Downtown Bandstand: Bill Shields gave an update. The funds will be needed in two weeks, in order to get started on the project.
• Ford Family Foundation’s Leadership Institute (Pine-Eagle): the training has definitely been approved for this coming fall. Applications for participants will be due June 30.

• Organize and host community network meeting: Bill Johnson spoke with Ruai at length about this idea, and is also talking with representatives from the Chamber and City regarding who would be best to host and facilitate this.
• Continued support for Pine-Eagle Community Preschool and Pine Valley Museum
• Board Meeting facilitation training: Steve presented an outline for a proposed training he would like to give our new UCP board as they enter into leadership.
• Celinda described the Community Regeneration materials she plans to share soon with the group. The Time Bank and other community support projects could fall under this topic, with lots of strategies and ideas to assist us.
• Larry has information on the community effort to bring back the use of the spring as a water source in the west wall area. He is not sure if UCP or the City would be the best sponsor of this possible project.

III  Board appointments for 2013

It was agreed that the new board members are: Bill Shields, Liz McLellan, Celinda Miller, Bill Schuhle and Steve White.

IV Next meeting: March 4, 1:30pm, Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall

Halfway Library, 1:30-3:30pm

Present: Ruai Gregory, Bill Schuhle , Bill Shields, Mark Christianson, Steve White, Celinda Miller, Denise Christianson, Larry Miller, Liz McLellan

1. Minutes: the minutes from the Jan. 21 special meeting were read by Ruai and approved by all.

2. Discussion on the election process. According to the bylaws, we need to hold an annual meeting to which all members are invited, at which time accomplishments of the year will be covered and the new board will be elected (of five members). This new board will then elect the three officers from the board. The meeting will take place on Monday, February 25, at 7:30pm, ideally at City Hall. Denise will contact Sheila to set this up. Ruai will email all past and present members and will write an announcement for the HCJ. Liz will place the announcement on the website.

3. Treasurer’s report: no activity in the checking account this month. Bill Schuhle is in dialogue with US Bank regarding the process for donations for the Ski Club to be deposited, as it may be changing. The brokerage acct. made $59.28 in interest (see attached document).

4. Ford Family Foundation Leadership Training: Ruai reported on the Advanced Facilitation training she attended at Kahneeta from Feb. 1-3, and shared materials. She also shared progress on the organization of the proposed leadership training for Halfway (called “Pine Eagle Cohort”) next fall. The first organizational meeting took place last week, with 5 Ford graduates (Lauri Bryan, Andrea Bryan, Ruai Gregory, Spring Bartlett and Denise Cairns) making initial plans and filling out the Ford community cohort application. Lion’s Club has agreed to provide the Hall free of charge for the training, and Stephanie’s Bakery has agreed to cater the training sessions.

5. Website: Liz would like to post blogs on our website about various resources, topics, etc. She will email us her proposed blogs for our input before posting.

6. Projects:

Bandstand: Steve told us about matching grant opportunities, and that Cindy Thayer has agreed to be our grant writer. Bill Shields explained that the total budget, which includes the sound system, now comes to $16,700.00. It was agreed that we would pay Cindy up to $250.00 (approximately $20.00 per hour) to write one grant application. Denise expressed concerns about utilizing the “grant system”, which includes documenting in-kind contributions. Bill Shields and Celinda agreed that it can be seen as a type of wasteful approach, yet necessary if we wish to “play the game” in order to achieve results in the community. In-Kind was explained as a way to document community support. Bill Shields holds planning meetings each Wed. at 10am at Stephanie’s Bakery. All interested people are welcome. The conceptual plan will be  finalized this Wed., Feb. 6. Liz will put up a project page and Facebook page for the bandstand project.

Cross Country Ski Club: Liz reported. She trained as an instructor and worked with some of the children at school. Several classes have met and the “Borrow Ski” day for the community was highly successful. Liz keeps the facebook page updated regarding the state of the various tracks.

Preschool: Ruai reported on the progress made on the two upcoming fund raisers: the trikeathon takes place the Friday before crab feed and the run/walk is the third Sat. in May. Larry suggested we add a “race-walk” category. He could train the judges in what to watch for. Ruai will tell the organizing committee about this.

7. New Business: Larry reported on the group that is looking into accessing spring water from the valley’s west wall. This would be used for emergencies and could also generate electricity. He and Denise also described the city’s ongoing sewage treatment problems.

Larry described the idea of providing “micro-loans” for business startups. These funds could be in a special account at the bank. Liz mentioned groups that are doing this that can be accessed online: Kiva, Prosper and others. She can write up these resources on our web page.

Celinda described the “community regeneration” project material she has researched. Bill Schuhle is scanning the material and will email it to us. The concept of internal and external inputs and resources was described. This can be helpful in guiding our community development mission.

Larry also talked about the idea of developing a list of classes that could be offered in the community which could generate funds in the summer. There would be a framework, and people would attend from other locations. He will bring material about this possible project. With all the talent in the area, there is a lot of potential for this project. Art Camp and Clear Creek Music Festival could be a part of this too. Steve mentioned the discussion around this same concept at the last LIEAP session a few years ago. The issue that always seems to come up around all the great ideas is the lack of a “champion” to organize, delegate, and implement the project. Liz said she can post something about possible classes to offer on the UCP website. Denise described the opportunity available to offer classes at the fairgrounds.

Next meeting: Feb. 25, 7:30pm – for annual meeting and board election.

1:30–3:30pm • Halfway Library

Present: Ruai Gregory, Bill Schuhle, Mark Christianson, Steve White, Bill Shields, Celinda Miller, Bruce Honeyman, Mary Jo St. Clair, Mimi Kauffman, Eric Kauffman.

Absent: Liz McLellan, Larry Miller, Denise Christianson

1. Minutes: approved as amended
2. Treasurer’s Report: see attached
3. Ford Family Foundation Leadership training proposal: Ruai announced that 20-25 participants will be needed for Ford to proceed with the proposed leadership training next fall. She will meet with them here on Jan. 22, and the decision will be made Jan. 31.  She encouraged all to sign up to take the fall training, which will take place over 4 weekends.
4. Project Updates:

Music Festival/Bandstand: Eric, Bruce, Mary Jo and Mimi spoke, representing the Cornucopia Arts Council. They are planning a Sept. 7 Music Festival at the Fairgrounds (the Sat. after the fair) and  3 dates during the summer at the Main St. bandstand, one on July 19 in the evening — Article 15 (Army Reserve Band).  They are applying for an Oregon Arts Commission grant, due Jan. 31, and are talking with Tim Bishop re using Baker County transient room tax funds.   They estimate total cost for all four events to be $9,000 which will include either renting or purchasing sound equipment and the development of a web page.

Discussion clarified the following topics:

•  Admission fees for festival: planned for $10, to include 4 performances

•  Mark suggested booking another group at the downtown bandstand (at Pat’s Park) for Sept. 6, thereby making it effectively a 2 day festival.  This will satisfy the transient room tax usage.

•  The festival will hopefully use multiple stages.  They will pursue the use of the Lion’s Club’s portable stage, located in the Pavilion.

•  Bill Shields informed us of a large mixing board (for sound system) which is located in and owned by the Pine Baptist Church.  The Arts Council will discuss its potential use with Shawn Thatcher.

•  Celinda asked about the timeline for the festival to become self-sustaining.  The answer was 4-5 years.

•  Eric clarified that it would be best for the Arts Council to own the sound equipment, for keeping inventory and storing properly between events.

•  It was agreed that a full, detailed budget is needed, and that the entire “summer of music and arts” should be included in the grants, applied for by the Arts Council, showing full community collaboration between UCP, Hells Canyon Chamber of Commerce, and the Cornucopia Arts Council.

•  Bill Shields proposed that any leftover funds from the Bandstand building could be applied to costs for booking acts that perform there.

•  The Arts Council will discuss further, then get back with us prior to the next UCP meeting.

1. New Year’s Officer Elections: to be done at the next regular meeting, Feb. 4.  Ruai will locate a full list of members and send out an announcement to them.
2. Special meeting scheduled: (to go over bylaws and history of UCP), 1:30-3, Jan. 21
3. Next regular meeting: Feb. 4, 2013

1:30-3:30pm, Halfway Library

Present: Ruai Gregory, Bill Schuhle, Mark Christianson, Denise Christianson, Linda Collier, Liz McLellan, Bill Shields, Brandie Lincoln, Lauri Bryan, Larry Miller

1. Minutes: Nov. minutes read and approved.
2. Treasurer’s Report: (see attached)
3. Project Updates:

Bandstand: Steve’s letter (see attached); Mark commented on sound systems: need for working with local musicians in researching appropriate components; Bill Shields: Cornucopia Arts Council would like to sponsor at least 3 events.  Community groups are expressing support.  Bill proposed placing the bandstand at a slightly different location at Pat’s Park for clearer visibility. Lauri and Brandie, representing the Chamber of Commerce, mentioned a concern regarding who the “event planner” would be.  It would be very important to have a main person in charge to promote and coordinate events.  Bill Shields reminded them that the proposal includes a budget to pay a person for this job, and would also plan to coordinate a few volunteers too.  Denise agreed that long range sustainability for this project is key, and the hiring of an event planner is a must.  Denise also expressed accessibility concerns regarding Main St. in terms of numbers of elderly who would have to walk several blocks if parking is a problem to attend a downtown event.  Bill Shields addressed this concern from an economic development viewpoint: the benefits to downtown business is the prime concern.  He also said the stage would be built on skids, and therefore moveable to other locations, such as Lion’s Park and the fairgrounds. Liz pointed out the role of online visibility (via our website and facebook page) in publicizing events. Denise spoke as a Baker City business owner regarding declining customers.  Brandie agreed that this is a current issue out here as well.  Discussion ensued regarding various ways to increase customer attraction.  Lauri mentioned the importance of vibrant, attractive additions such as the bandstand.  Ruai shared the success of the latest Ford Family Foundation’s Baker cohort that is moving forward with a project to create a bronzed salt lick sculpture for downtown Baker City.  Denise expressed opposition to the idea of UCP contributing funds to the project, but said she’s in favor of the project.  She provided information on two online classes in grant writing, and felt a better role for UCP, reflecting our mission and vision, is to fund a grant writer.  She also felt that at least 3 other groups in town would like UCP to donate funds to their projects.  Ruai reminded her that the other 3 projects are not on the table. Larry mentioned that there are at least 15-20 events going on each weekend in NE Oregon. The possibility of people traveling from event to event is quite strong.  Brandie and Lauri addressed this concept too, and mentioned Timothy Bishop’s (Marketing Director for Baker County) work in promoting Halfway, along with the rest of Baker County.

Action: among the members present, (with one member, Denise, dissenting) it was agreed to accept the Bandstand proposal and provide $5,000.00 to launch it.

PEEF: Lauri gave an update.  They advocated strongly for the school to hire a new music teacher, which they have done.  Wix Covey will be offering a Friday morning art class for jr. high-high school students beginning in January.  They are still funding after school guitar and fiddle classes.  The group is still awaiting news on their application for nonprofit status.   They will be reapplying for the Braemer grant again through UCP this spring. They have a new website. Liz described the new report form available for each project to use on our UCP website.

Cross Country Ski Group: Linda said they are waiting to hear from the Leo Adler foundation.  They applied for $7,000.00.  They have a room at the school to use for equipment, and are working with the PE teacher.  Now, all they need is snow!

1. Website update: Liz continues work on the website.  She added information on it to Mark’s article he wrote for the Hells Canyon Journal.  Linda took photos of this meeting and will edit the article so that it appears soon in the paper.
2. UCP future plans: Ruai would like to have a meeting soon during which by-laws and vision statement are revisited.
3. Next mtg. date: Jan. 7, 2013, 1:30pm, Halfway Library.