Manchester Community Council                               www.manchesterwa.org

PO Box 173

Manchester, WA  98353-0173                           “it’s a great place to live…”

 

Draft Minutes of the MCC Executive Board meeting of November 3, 2005

 

Those in attendance: B. Ballard, R.Ballard, C. Kowalski, C. Leininger,  P. Paquette, R. Rada,  D. Trudeau, J. Winslow, A. Rebelowski

Excused Absences: JB Bartel, R. Robinson

 

Action Items:

1)      P. Paquette to forward copy of abbreviated Robert’s Rules to John for forwarding to Ex Bd for their input and agreement prior to 11/22.

2)      J. Winslow to draft a 2006 budget for review at 12/1 meeting.

3)      C. Kowalski to conduct review of Bylaws-vs.-Articles of Inc. meeting 11/15 and J. Winslow to remind membership of that meeting and add to 11/22 agenda.

4)      J. Winslow to send reminder to membership of the 11/29 LID #9 meeting on about 11/22.

5)      Potential of merger of MCA with MCC to be discussed at 11/22 meeting.

6)      C. Leininger and C. Thompson to discuss contact with downtown businesses with M. Rebelowski.

7)      D. Trudeau and “Agencies” group to assemble a list of questions for Commissioner Angel to address at 1/24 meeting.

8)      J. Winslow to add question to 11/22 agenda on regular monthly meeting space for sub-committees.

 

Minutes:

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Bob Ballard at 7:02PM.  Minutes of the previous meeting were approved as written.   

 

Old Business:

 

Follow-up items from previous meeting:

In a review of action items from the past meeting, the following was reported:

 

A)    Phil presented a draft of a simplified one page version of Robert’s Rules for use at our meetings.  Phil will forward the digital version of the file to John for distribution and comment by all.  We would like to get agreement on this prior to the 11/22 meeting so we can have a vote by the membership to accept the proposed approach.

B)     Bob Ballard worked with Chip Augello on the activities of the developers and arranged for Bill Palmer to make a short presentation on progress at the 11/22 meeting.

C)     John Winslow will prepare a draft 2006 budget with review by C. Kowalski for presentation at the 12/1 Ex. Bd. meeting.

D)    Carol Kowalski agreed to schedule a financial records review meeting with Bob Lamb and Carole Leininger via email prior to 12/31, and be available to discuss in person any discrepancies found.

E)     The motion to form an Architectural Review Committee was approved at the 10/25 meeting.

F)      Carol Kowalski has scheduled a special review of our Bylaws versus the proposed Articles of Incorporation prepared by Todd Smith.  The meeting will be 11/15 at Manchester Realty at 6:30.  John W. will send a reminder of the meeting to all MCC members.  This will lead to filing for Washington State non-profit status.  It is still unclear what direction we want to pursue the Federal 501c3 non-profit status, so John will add this as a discussion topic to the 11/22 meeting agenda.

G)   John Winslow reported that Joe Guariz has volunteered to be a member of the nominating committee (Ballard, Gilligan, Guariz), but no other members have volunteered for office.  Bob Ballard has called a meeting of the committee on 11/5.

 

TREASURER”S REPORT: Carol’s reported no change to the treasury, with the balance remaining at $878.54.  Carol also commented that she was holding $120 in checks written to the MCC which could not be cashed due to lack of a bank account in that name (still pending Wash. Non-profit status).  It was agreed that several board members would approach these individuals directly to resolve this discrepancy.

          No significant new mail had arrived since our last meeting.  

 

SEWERS SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT: Ron reported that the 11/29 County meeting with all those in the potential LID #9 is firmed-up at the Long Lake Community Center.  The County agreed to waive the requirement of liability insurance for use of the building.  Ron ascertained that a special liability policy could be written for $149/day.  J. Winslow will send reminders to the membership of this important meeting.

 

CRIME PREVENTION SUB-COMMITTEE REPORT: No report.

 

Old Business: Arlene Rebelowski reported that the MCA (Manchester Community Association) is floundering with a crisis in active membership.  She asked whether there was interest in merging the MCA with the MCC.  Per the current MCA Bylaws, if the group is terminated, the remaining funds would be dispensed to the Friends of the Library.  As a key point to the finances, it was reported that the MCA treasury is sufficient to pay-off the remaining debt and leave a $28 balance.  Chairman Ballard commented that the MCC needs to encompass more than just a land-use issues and he suggested that we bring the situation to the membership for review and input.

 

New Business:  The status of the five action teams was reviewed individually.  C. Leininger reported that she and C. Thompson will act as co-chairs of the Village Center Revitalization group.  It was suggested that they contact Mark Rebelowski for his feedback on contact with the downtown businesses and proposed actions.

            Bob Ballard said the Village Character group leadership has stirred interest by M. Valentino and B. Turk.  Their interest lies in the areas of lot aggregation and building height.  This group will meet on 11/5 at 10:30.

            Debby Trudeau reported that Commissioner Jan Angel has agreed to speak to our group on January 24th.  Her topics will revolve around the Comprehensive Plan and Manchester specifics.  The “Agencies” group will develop a list of questions to help Angel address topics dear to our membership.  It was also suggested that interest in this meeting may be sufficient to necessitate our rental of the Long Lake Community Center building for this event.

            In reviewing the status of the Recreational Venues group, Carol Kowalski said that she had received little show of interest by the membership in this action team’s goals.  Carol restated her definite interest in pursuing ideas such as further park development, walking/hiking trails mapping, etc.

            The Village Commons activities are continuing on a variety of fronts.  The Friends of the Library has shown interest in an intermediate term plan to expand the facilities, which could work in concert with the development of a Village Commons space.  Further organization and coordination of this effort is a must!

            Carol Kowalski expressed interest and concern in our efforts to promote membership in the MCC.  She felt we need to further define our demographics and insure that new members feel welcomed to the Council.  Carole Leininger mentioned earlier efforts by the MCA to have a mass-mailing to alert the community to volunteer opportunities.

            Carol Kowalski also asked whether we should rent the meeting room on a regular evening each month for meetings of our sub-committees.  It was agreed that this is a question to be posed to the membership at our 11/22 meeting.

            In reviewing agendas for future meetings, Bob Ballard reported that Jan Angel will participate as a speaker at our meeting on Jan 24th.  Eric Baker will speak on the permitting process and Bill Palmer will speak on the downtown developments status at our 11/22 meeting.

There being no further business, Chairman Ballard adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM.

Our next regular meeting will be Tuesday November 22nd 6:30-8:30PM in the Manchester Library and the next Executive Board meeting will be Thursday December 1st at 7:00PM at the Library. 

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

John Winslow, Secretary-Manchester Community Council