Whitehall, MT

January 3, 2008 Minutes
Community Development Board Meeting
Submitted by Tammy Johnson, Secretary

Mac Smith, Chair of the Community Development Board, called the meeting of the Board to order.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and the roll call was taken. In attendance were Mac Smith, Chair and Town Council representative; Terri Marx, Jefferson Valley Community Foundation representative; Holly Harper, Whitehall School representative; Barb Sunderland, Jefferson Local Development representative; Tom Harrington, MSU Extension representative; Tammy Johnson, member at large; and Taylor McQuesten and Josh Liebers, youth representatives from the Whitehall School District. A quorum of the board was present. Also in attendance were Mayor Terry Ross and Greg Corr from the Whitehall Ledger.

A motion was made by Tom Harrington and seconded by Tammy Johnson to approve the minutes from the December 6, 2007 meeting of the board. There was no discussion and the motion was unanimously approved.

Under Old Business, board members were reminded that the new e-mail address for the board is community_devel_whitehall@yahoo.com. Holly Harper is collecting and distributing e-mail from this account.

Holly Harper informed the Board that the final vision report, the action plan and coaching/capacity building budget had been submitted by the deadline of December 31, 2007 and that Dan Clark, Montana Horizons program director had stated, in an e-mail, that he was not only impressed with the work put into developing the plans but also with the continued commitment to the Horizons principles of reducing poverty, developing leadership and sustaining our community.

The final community vision statement, the action plan and the associated budget for action coaching and capacity building items have been placed on the agenda for the Town Council meeting on January 14^th for its approval. Holly Harper will attend the council meeting to speak to these documents and to answer any questions the Council may have.

The remaining Horizon funds, currently in the Jefferson Local Development Corporation account, will be transferred to the Town of Whitehall as soon as possible. Terry Ross reported that Darcy will set up the necessary accounting codes and procedures to ensure that the current and future funds will be handled properly and that any expenditure of these funds will adhere to all Horizon grant requirements. Funds being transferred from the JLDC account and the next incoming grant award can only be used for community capacity building and/or community coaching, and not for specific projects.

There are two remaining open seats on the Community Development Board. There is an open seat allocated to a Town of Whitehall Planning Board member and one open youth representative seat. Current members of the board will visit with potential candidates and it was agreed that these seats should be filled as soon as possible.

Under New Business, election of officers was held. Tammy Johnson moved a nomination for Holly Harper as Vice Chair. Tom Harrington seconded the nomination. No discussion was held and the vote was unanimous. Terri Marx moved a nomination for Tammy Johnson as Secretary. Tom Harrington seconded the nomination, no discussion was held and the vote was unanimous.

Action Plan items were discussed individually and in detail.

Holly Harper reported that February 2^nd has been scheduled for a tour of surrounding community animal shelters. Currently, the group of citizens interested seeing an animal shelter constructed in Jefferson County plan to visit the shelter in Missoula, which has been reported as a state-of-the-art facility, the shelters in Helena and Dillon and the new shelter in Bozeman. The group will report its findings back to the committee as soon as the tours have been completed. Funding for travel expenses will be paid from the Horizons funding.

Terri Marx reported that there is a good and growing group of people who are working on a walking trail(s) in the Whitehall area. Much work is progressing at a steady pace. There are currently 13 citizens involved in the effort and they will be taking a tour of surrounding trail systems and will be visiting with the individuals and groups that helped make community trails a reality in their communities. The tours will be scheduled soon and the group will report its findings to the Board upon completion of the tours. Additionally, a workshop will be scheduled as soon as possible, which will assist the citizens group in moving forward with the walking trail(s). Funding for travel expenses for the trails tour will be paid from Horizons funding, as will workshop expenses.

It was discussed and decided that a community gathering would be held in March to not only update all community members on the progress being made but to reinvigorate those who participated in the initial Horizons Study Circles. There was a great deal of enthusiasm coming out the Study Circle process that has waned some while other necessary processes have continued. The community gathering will be a great opportunity to gather further momentum and participation by the community. The calendar will be looked at and a date confirmed at the February meeting of the board.

The community blog is ongoing and is looking great but the board felt that more participation would be beneficial. Tammy Johnson reported that a plan is in the works to stimulate participation on the blog utilizing some training sessions, some advertising, posters, etc. to remind people that the forum is available and easy to access. For those citizens who may not be comfortable with computer and Internet technology or those who do not have home or work access to a computer system, training and alternate means of accessing the Internet will be provided and highlighted. Anyone with a desire to participate in the discussion can acquire the skill necessary to participate. The group will work with the library, the senior citizens center and others to provide training, coaching and access to the blog.

Tammy Johnson also reported that the current web presence for Whitehall, as a whole, is rather dismal. The Town of Whitehall does not have a web presence, the school web site is next to impossible to find using standard search engines, other web sites are lacking or are out of date. Tammy will arrange a meeting of all those who either have a web presence that could use some assistance, those who would like to have a web presence but currently don’t and others who might be interested. Initial invites will be extended to the Town of Whitehall, The Whitehall Chamber of Commerce, Whitehall Library, the Schools, and the Whitehall Ledger and an administrator of the Whitehall blog. Tammy will report back to the Board with the details of the meeting.

Holly Harper, in the absence of Glenna Waltee, reported that Glenna will conduct a grant workshop in Whitehall to provide instruction to other community members on researching and writing grant proposals. The workshop is not currently scheduled but will be scheduled soon. Expenses and a stipend for the workshop will be paid from Horizon funds.

Tom Harrington reported that he has been in contact with the Headwaters RC&D and that we will be scheduling two E-commerce workshops in Whitehall. These workshops will be scheduled in February and March and are designed to assist community members in setting up and selling items on E-Bay or in setting up an Internet store front for other products, crafts, items, etc. that can be sold via the Internet. Tom will report back to the board with dates and locations for the workshops. Expenses related to the workshop will be paid from Horizon funding.

Holly Harper and Tom Harrington reminded the board of the Rural Community Conference which will be held in Billings on January 15 and 16^th. Whitehall will highlight the wonderful progress made in the high school Leadership Plenty training and the other great things going on in the community. Whitehall will set up a display and will also try to take two students to the event and to assist in representing our community. It is a good networking opportunity and a good chance to learn more about rural communities. In addition, there will be many in attendance at the conference that are looking for partnership opportunities. Expenses for the conference will be paid from Horizon funding.

Under Other Business, the next meeting of the Community Development Board will be February 7, 2008. Agenda items will include updates on all the current capacity building tasks as referenced above and the Board will also begin researching grant criteria for future expected Horizon funds.

Tammy Johnson made a motion to adjourn, the motion was seconded by Terri Marx and with no discussion, and the motion was unanimously approved.