Huff Run Home Minutes Archive_______________________________________________
In attendance: Jeremy Broadwater, Mike Steinmaus, John Slack, Merv Burton, Bo Hysong, Phil Rufener, Gary Alkire, Maureen Wise, Linda Thornton, Walt Petrime, Mike Farber, Glenn Beatty, Ed Taggart (arriving late)
Bo Hysong chaired the meeting in Ed Taggart’s absence.
Maureen Wise gave the treasurer’s report:
Balance Feb. 20, 2007 $1,806.92
Memberships/ donations + 65.00
Balance March 20, 2007 $1,871.92
Jeremy Broadwater motioned to accept the report. John Slack seconded. A vote was taken: ayes won.
Bo Hysong asked for approval of March’s meeting minutes. Gary Alkire motioned to accept the minutes. Merv Burton seconded. A vote was taken: ayes won.
New Business:
Litter Pick Up: Maureen Wise reported that the HRWRP will partner with the Sandy Township again this year to organize a litter clean up (Clean Sweep Day). Saturday, April 21, Earth Day, had been decided upon at the Sandy Township meeting. The event will be held 9am to noon. Maureen will send out email reminders and flyers closer to the day.
Summer Events: Maureen Wise asked if the Partnership would like to sponsor the annual 5K, photo contest and Fun Day with Mineral City’s Party in the Park again this year. All agreed that we should do all three. Maureen said that if the photo contest is not successful this year, she might want to make this the last year. The Party in the Park will be Sunday, August 19. A few suggestions were given to Maureen for the activities.
New Project Ideas: Maureen Wise presented two new community involvement project ideas. She and Michelle thought it would be considerate to educate people about the project to clean up the stream running through the Mineral City Park (the Mineral Zoar project). She asked if the group would like to apply for a grant for an interpretative sign about the project to put up in the park. All present agreed it is a good idea. More ideas about the sign project came up and Maureen took note. The second new project idea is to create a community mural. The mural would highlight Mineral City and its history. The HRWRP could help lead the effort to get the community involved in the decisions about what to include on it and the design. Rural Action has produced a handbook about how to go about the process. All present agreed it was also a good idea and for the staff to proceed in research about it.
New VISTA: Maureen Wise reported that Michelle Shively’s VISTA term will be over in July. In order to hire a new VISTA for July, the new person must be hired by May 13. Applications are due May 1. Maureen asked if she could use HRWRP funds to put ads in the local papers before the April meeting: Times Reporter (which cost $50 last year), Canton Repository ($50 last year) and the Carrollton paper ($30 last year). All agreed to hire a new VISTA. Phil Rufener motioned for Maureen to put ads in the papers. Jeremy Broadwater seconded. A vote was taken: ayes won.
A tangent from the agenda was taken at this point. Mike Farber asked if the HRWRP would be interested in adopting a highway in the area, hopefully St. Rt. 800. Everyone liked this idea as well. Mike Steinmaus had information about who to call and had notes saying that four clean ups a year must be made to keep the adoption status. Maureen will bring more information to the next meeting about it.
Rural Renewal: Maureen Wise shared that Rural Action is updating its strategic plan. In order to involve the public, a number of house parties are being held around the region where Rural Action works in Appalachian Ohio. At the meetings, people share their ideas about what Rural Action should be doing, what they have done well, what they haven’t done as well, stories, and thoughts for the future. Bo and Sue Hysong agreed to have one of these parties at their house. It will be held April 5 at 7pm. Contact Bo if you would like to attend.
Old Business
Project Update: Maureen Wise directed members to look at the project chart she prints out monthly for the meeting. She spoke about Belden probably being under construction this summer. ODNR may need to hold off until next summer. Both Mineral Zoar and Thomas are being written into the 319 grant and are expected to be under construction in summers 2008 and 2009 respectively. Ed Taggart asked about the Farr project. Maureen told the group that a TAC meeting would be held the next week and they will discuss that project as well as the Fern Hill project. No other changes since the month before.
Eagles Funding: Ed Taggart announced that the Sandyville Eagles club will be donating $5,000 to the HRWRP. John Kerrick from the Eagles told Ed that the Senior Center, and the Historical Society both received funds also. John said that the paperwork was just turned in so it wouldn’t be too long before we got the check. We will not be distributing the money to others as grants. Maureen asked the group to bring ideas to the next meeting about what we might do with the funds.
Awareness Day: Maureen Wise told the Partnership that a second Awareness Day has been scheduled for May 4. Three home school class groups have signed up to participate. May 10 has already been scheduled for Bell Herron to come. Maureen passed around a sign up sheet to volunteer for both days.
Lease: The Mineral City Village Council made some small changes to Section V of our lease. Maureen Wise read the changes to the group. Phil Rufener motioned to accept the changes and to resign the lease. John Slack seconded. A vote was taken: ayes won.
OMP Membership: The decision whether or not to join the Ohio Mineland Partnership this year was tabled at the last meeting. Ed Taggart revisited the subject. Glenn Beatty motioned to join the OMP. Merv Burton seconded. A vote was taken: ayes won.
Correspondence: Ed Taggart told the HRWRP about the OMP Spring Tour at the Wilds. A letter from the Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable was shared thanking us for our membership. Ed also showed some letters and handouts from a recent meeting of the South East Ohio Watershed Council.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00pm.
Respectfully submitted by Maureen E. Wise, Coordinator.